KR100761606B1 - Method and appratus for entry of multi-stroke characters - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is directed to an apparatus for receiving a set of direction codes via input device 130 and converting the direction codes into corresponding characters. The user operates the input device 130 configured to generate a direction code that indicates the basic stroke used in the formation of the character. The processor 110 receives the direction code and converts it into standard characters such as letters, numbers, or punctuation marks. The transformation may be established through a database 120 such as a lookup table, decision tree or other data structure. The device includes a display 140 for displaying standard characters to a user. A method corresponding to the apparatus is also described.

Description

METHOD AND APPRATUS FOR ENTRY OF MULTI-STROKE CHARACTERS}

The present invention relates to symbol input. In particular, the present invention relates to the input of multi-stroke symbols or written language characters into an electronic device.

Recent advances in technology and design have enabled the production of portable electronic devices (cellular telephones and portable digital assistants or 'PDAs') with new capabilities for storage, processing, and / or communication. The device may perform a data storage function that includes a number of systematic textual information, such as name, address, email address, phone number and facsimile number, for business and / or personal contact. A data access function can be performed to retrieve and display a selected portion of the information, which will be retrieved to be provided as a parameter for other device communications such as email, telephone or facsimile communication.

Using a device such as a laptop or desktop computer, information can be easily stored or retrieved by entering text through keyboard typing. However, due to the portability and miniaturization associated with portable devices, there is no room for keyboard typing at all, and other methods are required for the device to support entering text or search parameters to search for text.

One option is to use the current user interface, such as a telephone keypad with standard 12 buttons for text entry (i.e. numbers 0-9 and '#' and '*' characters). In this way, 26 Roman alphabet letters are mapped to the selected key (as shown in FIG. 1). However, this method is inadequate for entering textual information, in part because the mapping must be performed in plural to singular. For example, to enter one level of the letter 'C', the user must press the '2' key three times. The method is also slow because the user must know the pause between keystrokes to represent the character area (to distinguish between one level of the letter 'B' and two levels of the letter 'A'). .

In any case, processing to clarify characters can be used to reduce the number of times needed for keying. In US Pat. No. 5,818,437, Grover et al. Describe that computers use dictionaries to map arrays of keystrokes to corresponding words on a one-to-one keypress-to-letter basis. Unfortunately, some arrangements require the user to perform additional actions to resolve the ambiguity in response to one or more words or strings. In the described device, for example, the array '1226' corresponds at least to the strings 'FOOD', 'GOOD', and '1226'. In addition, typing becomes more difficult for words that are not already present in the computer dictionary. In this case, this method requires a number of strange operations for entering characters. In one embodiment described, for example, each key is mapped to nine symbols, and at least two keystrokes are required to select any desired symbol.

In addition, the method is inadequate for languages with about 30 or more alphabets or character sets because the number of required keys (and / or the number of characters mapped to a given key) will be more than in actual use. For languages with thousands of characters, such as those written in Chinese or Japanese kanji, any method that relies on character-to-key mapping would be completely impractical.

Another option is to enter text characters using strokes that don't break at once, called "unistrokes." In US Pat. No. 5,596,656, Goldberg describes a method for using a stylus on a suitable recording surface for entering a unistroke, each of which is a letter of the Roman alphabet, Arabic numerals, or functional symbol. Is displayed. However, since this method is strictly limited to single stroke input, it requires the user to learn a new recordable alphabet that is not at all similar to the characters they display. For example, a unistroke according to the letter 'E' is a single stroke from right to left, whereas a unistroke according to the letter 'R' is a single straight stroke from top left to bottom right. Unistroke methods may be inappropriate for languages containing more characters than are conveniently displayed by the technique.

Moreover, the unistroke method requires a dedicated pen. On the other hand, the pen may be lost or broken. On the other hand, a dedicated pen can be inconvenient to use if the user only has one hand free and must support the device with that hand. In addition, the recording surface required to support the method consumes a portion of a significant area of the appearance of the device. As a result, any combination of a dedicated pen and a recording surface to support the method can add significantly to the cost of the device.

The direction code set is received from the input device. Each direction code relates to one of a predetermined number of directions in the paint, each set of direction codes associated with a stroke. Characters containing strokes are displayed.

Figure 1 shows the mapping of the Roman alphabet letters to the keys of a conventional twelve button keypad.

Figure 2 shows the mapping of the basic strokes and keys of the EOC delimiter.

3 shows another mapping for the basic stroke and the key of the EOC delimiter.

4 shows a further mapping to the key of the basic stroke and EOC delimiter.

5 shows a mapping to the position of the selection input device adding four directions of basic stroke and EOC separator.

6 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the invention.

7 shows a block diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.                 

8 shows an example of a character with a changed stroke.

9A shows two possible stroke combinations of the letter 'A'.

9B shows three possible stroke combinations of the letter 'V'.

Fig. 10 shows a set of select rocker switches in four directions.

11 shows a selection pogo pin in four directions.

12 shows a set of selective rocker switches in eight directions.

13 shows the selection pogo pins in eight directions.

Figure 14 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

15A shows the points of a 3x3 bounding box array.

15B shows points in a matrix array of 3x5 and 5x7.

16 shows an example of a stroke.

17 shows a flowchart of a method according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

In the method according to one embodiment of the invention, each set of basic character strokes is associated with a key of a keypad. 2 shows a basic stroke (horizontal stroke, vertical stroke, ascending (left to right) diagonal stroke, descending diagonal stroke, curve stroke, and point or accent stroke) mapped to a keypad (or a portion of a larger keypad); An example of a symbol termination (EOC) delimiter set is shown.

Although the example shown in FIG. 2 uses seven keys, a set requiring fewer keys can be used to combine two diagonal strokes into one element (such as in the six key mappings of FIG. By deleting the accent element, it can be obtained by using a predetermined minimum period of pause between key strokes rather than keying in the EOC delimiter. In addition, a set that requires more keys may include a shift key indicating, for example, whether uppercase or lowercase letters are entered, by dividing one or more basic strokes into long and short strokes, or by breaking loop loops. By distinguishing from a cyclic stroke (as in the eight key mappings of FIG. 4) and the like. FIG. 5 shows the mapping of the EOC delimiter and four elements to locations of a four-way-plus select rocker switch set. Using this set, pressing one of the four tabs indicates entering the corresponding element, and pressing the middle of the set (ie selecting a selection operation) represents the input of the EOC delimiter. Similar mapping can be used with a selection of pogo sticks or pogo pins in four directions (as shown in top and side views in FIG. 11).

6 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. At task P110, the input of the basic stroke or EOC delimiter (i.e., keystroke as described above, or similar operation) is received from the device. In task P120, the combination of strokes entered for the current character is used in connection with an internal database that maps the combination of strokes to characters. The database may be determined by a lookup table, decision tree, or another known data structure.

If the combination does not appear in the database, then an error is indicated at task P130 (eg, via a beep and / or visual indication on the display), the stroke is deleted, and task P110 is repeated. If the combination is valid (ie appears as at least part of a mapped combination in the database), then the operation entered in task P110 in task P140 is compared with the EOC delimiter. Echoes of strokes input to the display may occur upon input at task P110, or the echoes may be suppressed until confirmation of task P130 is completed so that only valid combinations of strokes are displayed.

If no match is detected in task P140, input of the next operation continues in task P110. If a match is detected in task P140 (ie, if the user indicates the end of the character), then the characters mapped to the entered combination are displayed for selection by the user in task P150. In one example, such characters are arranged on the display in the same configuration as the keys or positions of the input device so that the user can easily select the desired characters by selecting the corresponding keys or positions. A scroll function can be provided if the entered combination is mapped to more characters than can be displayed at one time. Audible feedback may also be provided to indicate that the input of the character was successfully completed.

If the total number of possible character matches remaining is reduced to a point that can be conveniently displayed, these remaining characters can be easily selected by the user by selecting the corresponding key or location before the EOC operation is performed. May be arranged on the display in the same configuration as the key or position of the input device. Similarly, a word dictionary can be added to the method or apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the number of possible word matches remaining can be displayed for selection.

7 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Input device 130 may be a keypad, a set of rocker switches, or a pogo pin, as described above. Display 140 may be a liquid crystal or other type of flat panel display suitable for portable devices. As mentioned above, the database 120 includes a mapping of stroke combinations to characters and may be arranged as a lookup table, decision tree, or other known data structure. Processor 110 executes instructions to perform the tasks described herein. Such instructions may be stored or loaded from storage elements (not shown), such as semiconductor memory, magnetic conductors, or other storage devices as known in the present invention. Processor 110 may include one or more microprocessors, digital processing units, or other arrangements of programmable logic elements to execute instructions.

In applications for uppercase and lowercase alphabets, recognition support may be limited to characters in certain cases (eg, the database only contains mappings to uppercase letters). In implementations that support the recognition of uppercase and lowercase letters, the shift key is between letters in different cases (for example, between uppercase and lowercase letters of 'O', or between uppercase 'D' and lowercase 'b' or 'p'). It may be included to clarify. The clarity can reduce the number of keystrokes, in which case the user is required to enter by reducing the number of characters displayed in job P150. In this implementation, the shift key can be pressed before the character entry starts. In an alternative implementation, the shift key may be pressed or locked while the stroke of the character is being input, in which case the shift key may be placed on the side of the device to make it easier to use.

Whereas the letters of the Roman alphabet contain only a few strokes that can be drawn in any order, the letters of languages written in East Asia, such as China, may contain a number of strokes drawn in an arrangement strictly determined by convention. Can be. For this application, clarity about the characters can also be facilitated by considering the successive order in which the strokes of the characters are entered. For example, the clarity can be supported by constructing the crystal structure of the database taking into account the arrangement. In the example of a lookup table, this arrangement may require reducing the number of valid stroke combinations. In the example of the decision tree, the configuration may need to reduce the number of edges between nodes.

Even in applications for alphabets where stroke order is less strictly defined, continuous information may be used for clarity because it may not be necessary or desired to support a stroke order that is difficult to appear without error. In the Roman alphabet, for example, no characters will be drawn using horizontal strokes, usually following curve or loop strokes.

In any written language, the manner in which the stroke ends may also mean to distinguish information about characters. 8 shows an example of the Japanese hiragana letter 'ka', wherein the ends of the first and third strokes are changed when compared with the ends of the second strokes. In a method according to a further embodiment of the present invention, the user action (eg a specific keystroke or position selection) is mapped to indicate a change in the last stroke entered.

The apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention may allow any different stroke combinations to be mapped to a single character. For example, the letter 'A' can be entered in three or four strokes (as in FIG. 9A), and the letter 'V' is one of three different combinations of two strokes (as in FIG. 9B). It can be entered as one, and the letter 'J' can be entered as a vertical and horizontal stroke, a vertical stroke and a curve stroke, or simply as a curve stroke. While an apparatus comprising an embodiment of the present invention may be set such that all such combinations are recognized as valid, the device may be programmed to personalize the device so that the user accepts only one of the possible combinations for a particular letter. Convenience can be increased. Optionally, the device may be configured to learn a particular combination that the user prefers by reducing the number of keystrokes that the user may be required to enter.

Apart from the number of keystrokes involved, the method or apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention described above provides a user with a conventional interface. For example, such an interface is more similar to the writing of a character's stroke than the conventional method of selecting a character by pressing the assigned key a predetermined number of times.

In a method according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the stroke of the character is formed by user manipulation of the input device. The input device can be a rocker switch (as shown in FIG. 10) or a four-way selection device such as a 'pogo stick' or 'pogo pin' (as shown in the side and top view of FIG. 11). The four directions of motion using the device represent two orthogonal directions in the drawing plane and vice versa, and the selection operation is carried out by the drawing pen above (ie moving but not drawing) or below (ie It is used to indicate whether or not to draw a stroke while moving. The EOC indication can be supported by a designated button or a predetermined action (such as a quick toggle of the select action at the center stop position).

Alternatively, the input device can be an eight-way selection device such as a rocker switch shown in FIG. 12 or a pogo stick shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the movement in eight directions represents two pairs of right angle directions on the paint board and vice versa, one pair being angled at 45 degrees relative to the other pair. Again, the selection operation is used to indicate whether the drawing pen is above or below. In another optional implementation, the input device may be a joystick or a related button with a select action capability or a trackball with other select action capabilities.

14 shows a flowchart for a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In operation P120, the information for determining the start position for the stroke is received from the input device. This information is generated by the user's operation of the input device, which relates to the position at which to start drawing the stroke. The starting position can be one point in the bounding box array (such as a 3x3 array shown in Figure 15A, although any other sized array can be used). Optionally, the location may be one point in the matrix array (such as the 3x5 and 5x7 examples shown in Figure 15B) although arrays of any other size may be used. It may be desirable for the size of the particular array used to match the grid of the display.

In operation P220, an instruction is received to start drawing the stroke as if the pen was positioned on the paper in the starting position (as if the pogo pin or rocker switch set was lowered down). One set of direction codes in task P230 is received as the user draws a stroke. This set may be configured as a string of codes representing motion in each direction. In the drawn stroke shown in FIG. 16, for example, the 'up' direction is indicated as A, orthogonal to the 'up' direction and the right direction is indicated as B, and the string of codes is (+ A, + A, + B , -A, -A). Two optional representations are (+ 2A, + 1B, -2A) and (2 (+ A), 1 (+ B), 2 (-A)).

In addition to the distance in space, or alternatively, the direction code may represent a relative period of exercise time in a particular direction. In this case, the direction code received from the input device is preferably normalized to an array for display purposes but need not be associated with a bounding box or matrix array. The reference clock can be used to normalize the exercise period. Audible feedback can be provided for each clock tone during stroke drawing, and the speed of the clock can be adjusted by the user (these clocks can also be used to support the EOC timeout feature in addition to or in addition to the specified EOC delimiter behavior). have). The code string entered in the execution for the stroke of FIG. 16 can be normalized to (+ 2A, + 1B, -2A) for display and / or further processing, for example (+ 18A, + 7B,- 23A).

In operation P240, an instruction to raise the pen signaling that the stroke input is completed is received from the input device. In task P250, if the next signal received from the input device is not an EOC delimiter, then the input is interpreted as the starting position for the next stroke in the character in task P210 (in an alternative embodiment, the test of task P250 is performed in a loop May be executed in the first step).

It should be noted that in the method of FIG. 14, a user enters text in the same form as it normally appears. In other words, immediately recognizable characters are input, and it is not necessary to support the recognition to complete the character input operation to the device in this embodiment.

In the method according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 17, recognition of the stroke combination input as the character is performed. The method may output characters recognized in ASCII or ASCII code, Unicode, or similar standard encoding for text characters. Operations P310 through P340 of this method are similar to operations P210 through P240 as described above.

The apparatus for carrying out the method of FIG. 17 includes a database for mapping the combination of basic strokes for characters as described above. The set of direction codes received at task P350 is compared with the set of basic strokes. Each stroke in this set may be represented as a set of direction codes, or the received direction code set may be mapped to a basic stroke form before comparison.

If it is determined that the received direction code set corresponds to one of the basic stroke sets, then the test of operation P360 will pass. Otherwise, the received set is rejected at task P390 and the stroke is deleted. Acoustic and / or visual error indications may also be generated. Operations P370, P380, P400, and P410 may be performed similarly to operations P120, P140, P130, and P150 in the method of FIG. 6 described above.

As described above, the sequence in which the stroke of the character is input may be incorporated in the recognition decision. Other information that may be received from the input device and incorporated into the determination includes the stroke direction and the relative speed of the stroke or other portion of the stroke.

In addition, information relating to the relative position of the strokes in the text may be used for clarity. For example, the position of the loop relative to the downstroke can be used to distinguish between lowercase 'b' and uppercase 'P'. Clarity may also include ignoring the insignificant spatial relationships between strokes. The uppercase 'H' can be recognized regardless of the distance between the downstrokes and / or depending on whether the crossstroke actually meets all the downstrokes.

  In further embodiments no stroke characterization (such as in operation P350) is performed. In this case, if the pattern of input strokes (e.g., determined by the bounding box or matrix array point that intersects when drawing a character) receives an EOC indication without referring to an individual stroke (e.g., configured as a decision tree) It can be recognized by the database.

Additional features may be provided to the input device to facilitate feedback and for ease of user. For example, the input device may provide a click that can be identified at the corner or edge location to clearly indicate to the user the current location. In addition, the handle of the pogo pin or joystick can be extended to provide optimum resolution and control. In that case, it is desirable to provide a locking mechanism for the extended handle to maintain the availability of the up-down selection operation.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment will enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that many changes to the present invention are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the present invention relates to a fixed wiring circuit, a circuit structure assembled into an application specific integrated circuit, or a firmware program loaded on a nonvolatile storage device or a soft program loaded on a data storage medium as mechanically readable code. Or may be executed entirely, and the code may be an instruction executable by an array of logical elements such as a microprocessor or other digital signal processing unit. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein but corresponds to the widest range of principles and principles disclosed herein.

Claims (17)

As a method for the input of characters, Providing a plurality of stroke codes, each indicating stroke directions in an X-Y plane; Providing at least one delimiter code; Providing a plurality of switches that cause one of the plurality of stroke codes or the delimiter code to be generated when activated; Receiving a sequence of stroke codes terminated by the delimiter code; Sequentially checking each of the sequence of stroke codes until a combination of delimiter code or invalid stroke codes is found; And If the sequence of stroke codes corresponds to at least one valid character, displaying the at least one valid character corresponding to the sequence of stroke codes, Displaying the at least one valid character further comprises displaying all valid characters, and wherein displaying all the valid characters further comprises selecting a desired character from the valid characters. Character input method. 2. The character input of claim 1 wherein providing a plurality of stroke codes indicative of stroke directions in the XY plane comprises providing stroke codes indicative of stroke directions that are essentially 90 degrees apart. Way. 2. The character input of claim 1 wherein providing a plurality of stroke codes indicative of stroke directions in the XY plane comprises providing stroke codes indicative of stroke directions inherently separated by 45 degrees. Way. delete delete delete delete A device for the input of characters, An input device providing a plurality of stroke codes or delimiter codes indicative of the stroke direction in the X-Y plane; A database containing a sequence of valid stroke codes; A processor programmed to receive a sequence of stroke codes terminated by a delimiter code and to sequentially check each of the sequence of stroke codes until a delimiter code or invalid stroke code sequence is found; And A display for displaying at least one valid character corresponding to the sequence of stroke codes, The input device includes a plurality of switches such that when activated each one of the plurality of stroke codes or a delimiter code is generated, The plurality of switches representing stroke codes essentially indicate four stroke directions in the X-Y plane that are separated by 90 degrees, The display displaying at least one valid character corresponding to the sequence of stroke codes is configured to display all valid characters, further comprising a selector for selecting a desired character among the valid characters, wherein the selector is selected from the plurality of characters. Character input device, characterized in that one of the switches. A device for the input of characters, An input device providing a plurality of stroke codes or delimiter codes indicative of the stroke direction in the X-Y plane; A database containing a valid sequence of stroke codes; A processor programmed to receive a sequence of stroke codes terminated by a delimiter code and to sequentially check each of the sequence of stroke codes until a delimiter code or invalid stroke code sequence is found; And A display for displaying at least one valid character corresponding to the sequence of stroke codes, The input device includes a plurality of switches such that when activated each one of the plurality of stroke codes or a delimiter code is generated, The plurality of switches representing stroke codes essentially indicate eight stroke directions in the X-Y plane separated by 45 degrees, The display displaying at least one valid character corresponding to the sequence of stroke codes is configured to display all valid characters, further comprising a selector for selecting a desired character among the valid characters, wherein the selector is selected from the plurality of characters. Character input device, characterized in that one of the switches. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

Images