JP2007241681A - Mobile terminal and program determining input character by voice tone and stroke - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal and a program that can refine the number of candidate character strings to be selected by a user when inputting characters in the mobile terminal even in the case of a language such as the Chinese language with many pronunciation patterns and many Chinese characters used as candidates. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile terminal has a ten-key panel for inputting pronunciation patterns formed of character strings, and a soft key for inputting voice tone numbers. The mobile terminal also has a pronunciation pattern storage part which registers pronunciation patterns, and a language dictionary storage part for storing the pronunciation patterns and voice tone numbers correspondingly for every character code. The mobile terminal further has a pronunciation pattern retrieval part for retrieving the pronunciation patterns by prefix search using the pronunciation pattern storage part, and a dictionary retrieval part for retrieving one or more character codes corresponding to the pronunciation pattern and the voice tone number, by prefix search using the language dictionary storage part when the voice tone number is input by the soft key. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal capable of inputting characters and a program. In particular, it is suitable for character input in a language having a tone and a stroke such as Chinese.

  The portable terminal has a kana-kanji conversion function and can input characters into the application. For Japanese-specification mobile terminals, the user inputs the English characters that will be the pronunciation pattern using the keyboard, converts the pronunciation pattern, and selects from the displayed candidate "kanji" Determine the character to be entered.

  A cellular phone is usually provided only with a numeric keyboard for inputting numbers from 0 to 9. As shown in Table 1 below, a plurality of English characters are assigned to one key for each number.

When inputting a character using the numeric keypad, it is necessary to press the key several times for the input of one character. For example, when inputting the character “shu”, the following operation is performed.
“S”: [7PQRS] key is pressed four times P->Q->R-> S
“Y”: Press the [9WXYZ] key three times W->X-> Y
[U]: Press the [8 TUV] key twice T-> U
[U]: Press the [8 TUV] key twice T-> U

  As a result, the pronunciation pattern “Syu” is displayed, and in the case of Japanese, the kanji characters “Zhou”, “Acquire”, “Week”, “State”, “Collection”,. The user selects “around” using the direction keys. In this way, it is necessary to press a key a great number of times in order to input one Chinese character.

  According to the prior art, there are mainly the following two approaches for inputting a desired character with a small number of operations.

  As a first approach, there is a technique of rearranging the appearance order of character candidates (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This displays the characters that have been input just before, in the order of appearance in the next key operation. This makes it easier for the user to select a character to be input than in the preset order of appearance.

  As a second approach, there is a technique for assigning a plurality of characters to one character input key (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Thereby, one reading character can be decided by one operation.

JP 2004-118253 A JP 2004-348695 A

  The above-described method is suitable for character input in a language such as Japanese that has a relatively simple pronunciation pattern and relatively few candidate kanji characters due to the presence of hiragana. However, the conventional character input is not suitable for a language having many pronunciation patterns and many candidate kanji characters, such as Chinese.

  In the case of Chinese, it is composed of “consonant + vowel”, and there are about 23 consonants and about 37 vowels. In Chinese, even if the pronunciation pattern is the same, there may be different kanji depending on the tone. Further, since Chinese is composed only of Chinese characters, there is a characteristic that there are many candidate character strings. Therefore, the number of input operations in Chinese is significantly greater than the number of input operations in Japanese.

  Therefore, the present invention reduces the number of candidate character strings to be selected by the user when inputting characters into the mobile terminal, even in languages with many pronunciation patterns and many candidate kanji characters, such as Chinese. It is an object to provide a portable terminal and a program that can be narrowed down.

  According to the present invention, a portable terminal capable of inputting characters is characterized by having a first keyboard for inputting a pronunciation pattern consisting of a character string and a second keyboard for inputting a tone number.

  According to another embodiment of the portable terminal of the present invention, it is also preferable that the first keyboard is a numeric keypad and the second keyboard is a soft key.

According to another embodiment of the mobile terminal of the present invention,
Pronunciation pattern storage means for registering pronunciation patterns;
A language dictionary storage means for storing a pronunciation pattern and a tone number in association with each character code;
Each time a character is input by the first keyboard, a pronunciation pattern search means for searching for a pronunciation pattern by using a pronunciation pattern accumulating means in a forward match;
When the tone number is input by the second keyboard, the dictionary search unit may search for one or more character codes corresponding to the pronunciation pattern and the tone number with a forward match using the language dictionary storage unit. preferable.

According to another embodiment of the mobile terminal of the present invention,
You can use the second keyboard to enter more stroke numbers,
The language dictionary storage means further stores a stroke number in association with each character code,
Preferably, the dictionary search means searches for one or more character codes corresponding to the searched pronunciation pattern and the tone number and the stroke number input by the second keyboard.

According to another embodiment of the mobile terminal of the present invention,
The language dictionary storage means further stores the general-purpose level and the usage history in association with each character code,
It is also preferable that the dictionary search means sorts and outputs the searched one or more character codes in descending order of versatility and new usage history.

According to the present invention, in a program for causing a computer mounted on a portable terminal capable of inputting characters to function,
The mobile terminal has a first keyboard and a second keyboard,
The first keyboard is used to input pronunciation patterns consisting of character strings.
The second keyboard makes the computer function so as to input a tone number.

  According to another embodiment of the program of the present invention, it is also preferable to cause the computer to function so that the first keyboard is a numeric keypad and the second keyboard is a soft key.

According to another embodiment of the program of the present invention,
Pronunciation pattern storage means for registering pronunciation patterns;
A language dictionary storage means for storing a pronunciation pattern and a tone number in association with each character code;
Each time a character is input by the first keyboard, a pronunciation pattern search means for searching for a pronunciation pattern by using a pronunciation pattern accumulating means in a forward match;
When a tone number is input by the second keyboard, the computer is caused to function as a dictionary search means for searching one or more character codes corresponding to the pronunciation pattern and the tone number with a forward match using the language dictionary storage means. It is also preferable.

According to another embodiment of the program of the present invention,
You can use the second keyboard to enter more stroke numbers,
The language dictionary storage means further stores a stroke number in association with each character code,
The dictionary search means preferably causes the computer to function to search for one or more character codes corresponding to the searched pronunciation pattern and the tone number and stroke number input by the second keyboard.

According to another embodiment of the program of the present invention,
The language dictionary storage means further stores the general-purpose level and the usage history in association with each character code,
The dictionary search means preferably causes the computer to function so as to sort and output the searched one or more character codes in order from the highest versatility and the newest usage history.

  According to the portable terminal and the program of the present invention, by further inputting a tone and a stroke, even in a language with many pronunciation patterns and many candidate kanji characters such as Chinese, characters are input to the portable terminal. In this case, the number of candidate character strings to be selected by the user can be narrowed down.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of user operations in the present invention.

  The input unit of the mobile phone shown in FIG. 1 includes a numeric keypad and soft keys. The ten keys are twelve keys to which numbers 0 to 9 (English letters and hiragana) are assigned. Using the numeric keypad, input a pronunciation pattern consisting of an English character string.

  A soft key is a key to which a function is custom-assigned by an application for each operation. According to FIG. 1, there are four keys on the left, right, top and bottom arranged below the display part.

(S100) First, the user uses the numeric keypad of the mobile phone to input English characters that will be a pronunciation pattern. Each time the key is pressed, the phonetic pattern is searched with a forward match and one or more phonetic patterns are displayed.

(S200) Next, the user inputs a tone number using the soft key of the mobile phone. According to Chinese, one of the first to fourth voices is input. According to FIG. 1, each of the first to fourth voices is assigned to each soft key.

(S300) Further, the user inputs the first stroke number using the soft key of the mobile phone. Enter one of the following characters according to Chinese.

  FIG. 2 is a Chinese pronunciation pattern table. Chinese is composed of “consonant + vowel”. According to FIG. 2, consonants are enumerated vertically and vowels are enumerated horizontally, and the pronunciation pattern is expressed only when pronunciation in Chinese.

  Hereinafter, a procedure for inputting characters of “Zhou” (zhou) will be described in detail.

(S101) First, the [9WXYZ] key is pressed once to input "z". As a result, a plurality of character strings that match forward with "w""x""y""z" as the first first character are candidates. According to FIG. 2, candidates for which the first first character is "w""x""y""z" are as follows.

  A forward match refers to searching for a character string that matches one or more first characters. For example, there are “search engine”, “search result”, “search character string”, and the like as character strings that match the keyword “search”. According to a general search engine, it is possible to perform a search by inserting a wild card character “*” representing an arbitrary character string at the end of a keyword, such as “search *”.

(S102) Next, the [4GHI] key is pressed once to input 'h'. As a result, a plurality of character strings that match forward with “g”, “h”, and “i” as the first second character are candidates. According to FIG. 2, the next candidate is:

  What should be noted here is that pronunciation patterns “xg ...”, “zg ...”, etc. that are not in Chinese are not candidates. Then, according to Chinese, the candidate character strings of the pronunciation pattern of [9WXYZ] + [4GHI] are necessarily narrowed down as described above.

(S103) Next, the [6MNO] key is pressed once to input "o". As a result, a plurality of character strings that match forward with “m”, “n”, and “o” as the first third character are candidates. According to FIG. 2, if a pronunciation pattern that does not exist in Chinese is excluded, the next candidate is as follows.

(S104) Furthermore, the [8 TUV] key is pressed once to input "u". Thereby, “t”, “u”, “v” is the first fourth character, and a plurality of character strings that match forward are candidates. According to FIG. 2, excluding pronunciation patterns not found in Chinese, only “zhou” remains as a candidate.

Here, for example, the following kanji characters are candidates as kanji characters having the pronunciation pattern “zhou” at the head.

(S201) Next, in order to input a tone, the soft key is pressed once. The tone of “Zhou” is the first voice. Then, the user presses the soft key “first voice” at the upper left.

(S301) Next, in order to input the first stroke, the soft key is pressed once. As the first stroke of “Zhou”, the user presses the lower left soft key. As a result, the following kanji characters remain as candidates.

  Finally, the user inputs a character by moving the cursor using the direction key and selecting one ("round") from the remaining candidate character strings.

  FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of the mobile phone according to the present invention.

  According to FIG. 3, the mobile phone 1 includes a numeric keypad input unit 101, a soft key input unit 102, a display unit 103, a pronunciation pattern search unit 104, a dictionary search unit 105, a pronunciation pattern storage unit 106, a language And a dictionary storage unit 107. These functional units can also be realized by a program that executes a computer mounted on a mobile phone.

  The numeric keypad input unit 101 notifies the pronunciation pattern search unit 104 of the English characters input by the numeric keypad.

  The soft key input unit 102 notifies the dictionary search unit 105 of the “tone” and “stroke” input by the soft key.

  The display unit 103 displays characters input to the application and a candidate character string.

  The pronunciation pattern accumulation unit 106 accumulates in advance a pronunciation pattern to be pronounced in the language as an English character string. Thereby, when a character is input by the numeric keypad, a character string that is not pronounced by the language can be excluded from candidates.

The language dictionary storage unit 107 stores the following language dictionary table.

  The language dictionary table includes a pronunciation pattern, a tone, and a stroke for each character code. This makes it possible to narrow down candidate character strings.

  The language dictionary table further stores a general degree and a usage history in association with each character code. The versatility indicates how much the character is used. In the case of Chinese, there is first-class Chinese (about 1/3) as a highly versatile character. Characters with higher versatility are listed ahead of the candidate character string. In addition, the character most recently used as the usage history is listed in front of the candidate character string.

  Each time a character is input from the numeric keypad input unit 101, the pronunciation pattern search unit 104 uses the pronunciation pattern storage unit 106 to search for a pronunciation pattern with forward matching. Since pronunciation patterns that are impossible for the language are excluded, candidate pronunciation patterns are narrowed down each time a key is pressed.

  When the tone number and the stroke number are input by the soft key input unit 102, the dictionary search unit 105 uses the language dictionary storage unit 107 to forward match one or more character codes corresponding to the pronunciation pattern and tone number Search by. The dictionary search unit 105 notifies the display unit 103 of the searched character code.

  Here, the dictionary search unit 105 sorts candidate characters according to the general-purpose degree and the usage history, and notifies the display unit 103 of them. Sorting is performed so that the candidate character string having a high versatility and a new usage history comes forward. The user is more likely to input the character displayed forward.

  Note that the pronunciation pattern storage unit 106 and the language dictionary storage unit 107 are preferably built-in hard disks or external memory devices that can be exchanged according to a predetermined language. Thereby, a multilingual dictionary can be used and customized.

  According to the portable terminal and the program of the present invention, by further inputting a tone and a stroke, even in a language with many pronunciation patterns and many candidate kanji characters such as Chinese, characters are input to the portable terminal. In this case, the number of candidate character strings to be selected by the user can be narrowed down.

  According to the various embodiments of the present invention described above, those skilled in the art can easily make various changes, modifications, and omissions in the scope of the technical idea and the viewpoint of the present invention. The above description is merely an example, and is not intended to be restrictive. The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.

It is explanatory drawing of user operation in this invention. This is a Chinese pronunciation pattern table. It is a functional block diagram of the mobile telephone in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 101 Numeric keypad input part 102 Soft key input part 103 Display part 104 Pronunciation pattern search part 105 Dictionary search part 106 Pronunciation pattern storage part 107 Language dictionary storage part

Claims (10)

On mobile devices that can input characters,
A first keyboard for inputting a pronunciation pattern consisting of character strings;
A portable terminal comprising a second keyboard for inputting a tone number.   The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the first keyboard is a numeric keypad and the second keyboard is a soft key. Pronunciation pattern storage means for registering pronunciation patterns;
A language dictionary storage means for storing a pronunciation pattern and a tone number in association with each character code;
Each time a character is input by the first keyboard, a pronunciation pattern search means for searching for a pronunciation pattern with a forward match using the pronunciation pattern storage means;
Dictionary search means for searching for one or more character codes corresponding to the phonetic pattern and the tone number with a forward match using the language dictionary storage means when a tone number is input by a second keyboard; The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal is provided. Using the second keyboard, a stroke number can be further input,
The language dictionary storage means further stores a stroke number in association with each character code,
The dictionary search means searches for one or more character codes corresponding to the searched pronunciation pattern and a tone number and a stroke number input by a second keyboard. Mobile devices. The language dictionary storage means further stores a general degree of use and a usage history in association with each character code,
5. The mobile terminal according to claim 3, wherein the dictionary search unit sorts and outputs one or more searched character codes in order from the highest versatility and the newest usage history. 6. . In a program that allows a computer mounted on a mobile terminal capable of inputting characters to function,
The portable terminal has a first keyboard and a second keyboard,
The first keyboard is used to input pronunciation patterns consisting of character strings.
A program for a mobile terminal, wherein the second keyboard causes a computer to function so as to input a tone number.   The program for a portable terminal according to claim 6, wherein the computer is caused to function so that the first keyboard is a numeric keypad and the second keyboard is a softkey. Pronunciation pattern storage means for registering pronunciation patterns;
A language dictionary storage means for storing a pronunciation pattern and a tone number in association with each character code;
Each time a character is input by the first keyboard, a pronunciation pattern search means for searching for a pronunciation pattern with a forward match using the pronunciation pattern storage means;
A computer as a dictionary search means for searching for one or more character codes corresponding to the phonetic pattern and the tone number with a forward match using the language dictionary storage means when a tone number is input by the second keyboard The program for a portable terminal according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that Using the second keyboard, a stroke number can be further input,
The language dictionary storage means further stores a stroke number in association with each character code,
The dictionary search means causes a computer to function to search one or more character codes corresponding to the searched pronunciation pattern and a tone number and a stroke number input by a second keyboard. A program for a portable terminal according to claim 8. The language dictionary storage means further stores a general degree of use and a usage history in association with each character code,
The dictionary search means causes the computer to function so as to sort and output one or more searched character codes in descending order of the versatility and new usage history. 9. A program for a mobile terminal according to 9.

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