KR20120103667A - Method and device for character entry - Google Patents

Abstract

An autocomplete function text input method and apparatus may include inputting at least one symbol, displaying at least one candidate string predicted from the symbol; And selecting only a portion of the candidate string, which portion is not independently displayed as the entire candidate string.

Description

Character input method and device {METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CHARACTER ENTRY}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to entering text into an electronic device, and more particularly to methods of predictive text entry.

Personal devices typically provide autocomplete function text input methods that use algorithms to present candidate characters, candidate words, candidate phrases, and / or candidate columns after at least one character has been entered. Examples of such devices are predictive of candidate letters, candidate words, candidate phrases, and / or candidate columns using autocomplete function text applications in response to input of letters and numbers of characters on a touch screen or keypad. Mobile phones, smartphones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

For example, in a letter input mode using Roman characters, the user selects the first symbol (letter) associated with the desired word and, in response, presents a list of candidate words and phrases corresponding to the letter in the display. do. The list is based on common usage statistics, for example, so that the most common words appear first and the less common words appear later. The user can select the displayed word or phrase, or continue entering symbols until the desired word or phrase is presented as a candidate. One advantage of such character input is that it uses a relatively small number of symbols (letters A-Z) that can be easily represented on a small keyboard, such as a 3X4 telephone keypad or a standard qwerty keypad.

Chinese and other character-based languages are more difficult to accept because they do not have a manageable number of alphabetic letters that can be overlaid on the numeric keypad. For example, Chinese characters do not use alphabets, but instead have approximately 5000 to 7000 commonly used characters. Advantageously, many speech systems have been developed to standardize the pronunciation of, for example, Mandarin Chinese. Several of these voice systems, such as Wade-Giles and pinyin systems for Mandarin Chinese, use Roman characters as phonetic symbols, and zhuyin for Mandarin Chinese with 37-symbol phonetic alphabet. Other speech systems, such as the system, use a unique set of speech symbols. Cantonese Chinese also has a phonetic system using Roman characters.

Although there are more than 5000 Chinese characters commonly used, there are only about 400 basic phonetic syllables in Mandarin Chinese voices. Thus, many different Chinese characters use the same Mandarin Chinese phonetic syllables. An extreme example is the Mandarin Chinese pin, the word "yi," which represents over 100 different Chinese characters, each with a different meaning.

In addition, Mandarin Chinese uses four standard tones to distinguish meanings. Thus, the same phonetic syllable has a different meaning when pronounced using different tones. Using the phonetic word "yi" as an example, at least 20 letters use a first tone, at least 31 letters use a second tone, at least 16 letters use a third tone, and at least 63 The characters use the fourth tone.

Although there are various methods of inputting Chinese characters into a computer system using a general-size keyboard having keys corresponding to all four voice symbols and four tones of one of the voice systems, a mobile phone, a smartphone, or There is a need for a reduced keypad entry method of characters for use in portable handheld devices such as personal digital assistants. It is also desirable to provide fast input in a manner that uses fewer key strokes and easier selection with reduced user restrictions.

An autocomplete function text input method comprises the steps of: inputting at least one symbol; displaying at least one candidate string predicted from the at least one symbol; And selecting only a portion of the at least one candidate string, wherein the portion is not independently displayed as the entire candidate string.

The method may further comprise displaying the result candidate characters, which are appended characters corresponding to the selected portion, to facilitate selecting the next character following the selected portion in the text field.

The method may further include highlighting the portion with sustained press, which may be implemented, for example, as a mechanical button press associated with a cursor position or a finger press on the display touchpad.

The method may further include committing to the text box when the user follows the sustained press.

The method may further comprise inputting symbols into the pin-in to generate candidate strings of Chinese characters.

The method may further comprise selecting one symbol of a symbol input box other than the first symbol of the symbol input box.

The method may further include selecting a portion that does not include the first character of the candidate character phrase.

Also described is an apparatus in which the method is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to the same or functionally similar elements throughout the individual drawings, are included in and form a part of this specification, together with the following description, and include the claimed invention. To further illustrate the embodiments and to explain the various principles and advantages of such embodiments.
Figure 1 shows a mobile handset.
Figure 2 shows the display of a cellular phone according to Figure 1 after additional user actions.
3 shows the display of the cellular phone according to FIG. 2 after further user actions.
4 shows the display of the cellular phone according to FIG. 3 after further user actions.
5 shows an alternative interface.
6 illustrates another alternative interface.
7 illustrates a method according to one embodiment.
It is to be understood that the elements in the figures are shown for brevity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
Apparatus and method components are shown by way of illustration only of specific details relevant to understanding embodiments of the invention in order not to obscure the description with details that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Are represented where appropriate by conventional symbols.

The present invention allows a user to quickly enter symbols and popular phrases to create a target candidate list of candidate character fields that are more relevant to the desired character output and then generate a string of characters that appear in the candidate character field to process the selection process more quickly To select an arbitrary portion of < / RTI >

Communication device 100 (FIG. 1) includes a display 102 with an associated touch screen device. The communication device includes circuitry, not shown, that enables operation. For example, device 100 may include a controller, such as a transceiver, antenna, microprocessor, memory, microphone, speaker, and battery, or other conventional components. Exemplary device 100 includes a touch screen associated with display 102, as known in the art and typical of cellular phone devices, which may be implemented using resistors and / or capacitor sensors. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the device may replace the display and typical mechanical keypad and navigation keys (not shown), as found in Motorola RAZR or other handsets using poppel keys, or any other suitable input mechanism. You will know that you can have. The apparatus may include other additional circuits or portions of circuits. In any case, the apparatus 100 includes applications stored in a memory executed by a controller to perform the methods described herein. The device shown also includes a speaker port 160, a microphone port 162, and three mechanical buttons 164, 166, 168, which are provided for explanation.

Some more particularly, the illustrated display 102 allows for direct finger control of the images presented on the display, for example using a touch screen. The display includes a text field 104, a symbol input box 106, and a candidate character field 108. The display also includes a simulated keypad 110 presenting a 3 × 4 matrix keypad of the type found in a telephone handset that presents numbers and letters in a manner familiar to those using the telephone. The display also includes a dynamic pinyin character and word keyset 112. Dynamic pinyin character and word keysets present pinyin to the user for selection by tapping the display. The display also includes a device application stored in memory for presenting control keys to the user, shown as including the delete key 114, the enter key 116, the space key 118, and the keypad select key 120. Are controlled according to the The keypad selector, for example, allows the user to toggle the keypad between qwerty and telephone keypads.

The depicted display includes an address field 128 for the message recipient to be entered in the text field 104. The user enters a message recipient in the address field in a conventional manner. The text field 104 is a field in which text under construction is presented to the user, and is, for example, a social networking post, or device (such as a short message, an email message, a status message, or the like used in a short message service (SMS)). Text field for any other application on 100).

Symbol input box 106 displays the user's input, such as symbols, words or columns, which are pins input by the user in the illustrated example. As used herein, pinyin words, letters, or columns are individual phonetic characters for sounds associated with Chinese characters, and will be referred to herein as pinyin words. Pinyin phrases refer to a plurality of Pinyin words with appropriate spaces between words. The symbol input box 106 provides the user with feedback that facilitates symbol input and confirms to the user that the device application is using correct words or phrases to generate candidate characters in the candidate character field 108. Although the application has been shown to use pinyin, which is advantageously used to generate Chinese characters, the symbol input box will contain any form of text being entered by the user via the keypad, which is selected by Zhuyin or by the user. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the device 100 may include any other desired input language supported by the device 100 application.

The candidate character field 108 is a continuous field that presents the user with consecutive input candidate characters, words, columns, and / or phrases corresponding to the symbols entered and displayed in the symbol input box 106. Candidate characters are a string of words, such as a common phrase or combination of words, or a pinyin, as shown in FIG. 1, corresponding to the phrase "wo men dou you shi" where the characters displayed in the candidate character field 108 are piny. It may correspond to letters of a word, such as a plurality of letters corresponding to the word "yi". The candidate field also includes arrow keys 122, 124 that allow the user to scroll to candidate characters not displayed in the field, thus extending the number of characters available to the user for selection. For example, as described above, if a user only enters the word "yi" in the symbol input box 106, 100+ characters correspond to this word. The device application will present the most common characters in the candidate character field 108, but the user can use the arrow keys to scroll through all of the 100+ characters corresponding to the word "yi".

In the example shown, the user enters the symbols by touching the display at the keys of keypad 110 (FIG. 1), as indicated by box 702 (FIG. 7). For example, the user can enter the pinin string "wo" by repeatedly pressing the "9wxyz" key until "w" is displayed in the input field. As shown in block 704 (FIG. 7), a list of candidate characters will appear in the candidate character field 108. Thereafter, the user can repeatedly press the "6mno" key until "o" appears after "w" in the symbol input box 106. At this time, a plurality of characters corresponding to the pinin string "wo" will appear in the candidate character field 108. The user can select one of the characters by tapping a finger over the desired character, causing the selected desired character to be written in the text field 104 as the next character.

Alternatively, if the user wishes to enter a phrase, such as a common phrase starting with the pinin column "wo", after "wo" is displayed in the symbol input box 106, the user can press the space key 118. have. In the example shown, the user may then press the "6mno" key repeatedly until the "m" key appears in the symbol input box 106. The user continues to enter symbols and spaces using the keys 110 in the same manner until the phrase “wo men dou you shi” is displayed in the symbol input box 106, as shown in FIG. . The candidate Chinese character string will be "我們 都有 是" highlighted in the candidate character field 108 of FIG. If this string is the desired string that the user wishes to enter as text, the user can simply tap in the highlighted area of the candidate character field and the entire highlighted phrase 我們 都有 是 will be selected and listed in the text field 104. .

However, if the user wants to input "我們 都有 事" instead of the candidate kanji column "我們 都有 是", the user can select and list only "我們 都有". This is accomplished by the user placing a finger over the first letter "我" and keeping the finger down to move across the "們 都有" keys, causing a sustained or continuous press. Partial selection is represented by box 706 of FIG. The device application displays a bubble 130 (FIG. 2) that displays the selected column as each character intersects until the bubble displays 我們 都有 above the last consecutive character of the candidate column to be selected, as shown in FIG. Respond to successive presses to generate. When the user raises a finger after a continuous press, the device application writes a string of bubbles in the text field 104. The pinyin characters and strings corresponding to the selected characters will be removed from the symbol input box 106, thus "wo men dou you" is removed from the field.

A new list of candidates corresponding to "shi", which is the piny word of the unselected symbol input box 106, will be displayed. Since "shi" was in the symbol input box but no corresponding character was selected, the candidate characters for "shi" reflect the character attached to the previous selection. Thus, candidate characters with the highest probability will be presented to the user, as indicated in box 708, when associated with the previously described phrase. In other words, the most likely candidates for "shi" would be characters that match "wo men dou you". Other characters that correspond to "shi" but are less likely when considering the phrase will be accessible using the arrow. Thus, the user can continue to select "task" from the Chinese character candidates for the pin "shi" by simply tapping the "task" symbol in the candidate field 108.

If the user continues to enter the pin-in words adjacent to “shi” in the symbol input field without selecting the letter for “shi” as described in the previous paragraph, the device application now has a symbol phrase in the symbol input box 106. In response, we will change the prediction candidate string.

Thus, in the above example, it can be seen that the starting word is the first word touched by the user following a permanent touch (continuous pressing). The application switches from the tab selection mode (the entire highlighted candidate string is selected and listed, regardless of where the highlighted area is touched by the user) to the variable input mode (only the character or characters selected by the user are selected and listed). Respond to constant presses to change. Variable mode uses characters from the beginning to the end of the continuous press, or single characters if the cursor does not move during a held touch, and displays the characters to be selected when the user raises a finger in the pop-up bubble. It is anticipated that the time threshold can be used as a trigger for changing from tap select mode to variable mode.

In addition, as the user moves his or her finger, it is selected (as shown by bubble 130 changing from “我們 都” in FIG. 2 to “我們 都有” in FIG. 3 in response to movement to the next character). This changes. When the user raises a finger, the selected candidate "我們 都有" is listed in the text field. Next, candidates for the remaining pin "shi" are displayed in the candidate character field. The target character "事" is the third item and is indicated by a red circle in FIG. The user taps this character for easy entry into the text field 104, as shown in FIG.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a user can select a particular character from a pinyin phrase using the method. For example, if the pinyin word or column has multiple associated letters, such that the selection requires scrolling in multiple candidates, the method may allow the user to enter a popular phrase containing the desired letter associated with the pinyin word. You can do that. To accomplish this, the user enters a pinyin phrase into the symbol input box 106 as described above. For example, if the user wants to enter "是" rather than "我們 都有" in the text field 104, the user may enter the candidate character field 108 of FIG. 1 until the bubble above the candidate field displays "是". ) And the user can raise a finger, and only "是" will be moved to the text field 104. Thereafter, the user can continue entering text. Can be.

5 shows a display according to an alternative embodiment. In this embodiment, the user uses QWERTY keypad 502 to enter letter symbols. As shown, the user types symbols “it is ve” directly into text box 504 by tapping keys on the qwerty keypad. At the same time, candidates are displayed in candidate list 506. The user can tap the entire candidate words from the list 506, or the user can use a continuous press and slide to select a portion of the candidate words (such as “vehi”) from the list. User selection is described in the text field when the user's finger is released following the held touch.

6 illustrates another alternative embodiment. In this embodiment, for example, when entering the symbol "F" using the QWERTY keyboard, the symbol F appears in the symbol input box 602. Multiple passages appear as candidate passages. A user using a computer mouse can select an entire passage column by moving the cursor and clicking at any location on the candidate passage, thus initiating a search for the entire candidate column in a search engine, such as a Google ^TM search site. In this way, the user can initiate a search of the "Food network" by clicking anywhere on the column "Food network". Alternatively, the user may slide the cursor down to highlight any portion of the candidates in candidate list 604, such as desired column "food net" or word "network". When the user releases the right mouse button, the Google search for the highlighted portion is initiated. Thus, it can be seen that a navigation device such as a mouse can be used instead of the touch screen.

The methods and apparatus described herein provide the ability for a user to select a character string that is part of one candidate string in a candidate list and to describe a symbol string without the selection of a complete string or repeated entry of symbols. The method and apparatus also allows the user to indicate the beginning and end of a Hanja string, referred to herein as a phrase, so that Chinese words between the beginning and ending characters can be described in the selection and text. The method and apparatus allow users to select a portion of candidate Chinese characters by highlighting the characters desired by the user. The application can highlight any character or continuation string within the continuation character candidate column. When the user releases his finger from the touch screen or lifts it from a stylus control (eg, a right button of a mouse or a button associated with a trackpad), the highlighted content will be described as the text to be generated.

Existing input methods can estimate the result when the user presses the keys one by one and generates a real-time candidate list to be used for selection. However, when the device prompts the user to select from a candidate list, the user can select only complete columns from the candidate list. Existing applications prevent users from selecting partial columns. There are a number of reasons why this requirement restricts users. Desired characters or characters are not high probability candidates because they are not commonly used, and may force the user to scroll through a very wide list of candidates or to enter an entire string. In addition, the user may not have pressed the key correctly (eg, a wrong key when entering characters using a 3 × 4 telephone keypad, known as a “Bell Keypad,” or a touch on the display screen). Missing keys when using the pad), as a result, the candidate strings may not meet the user's expectations.

Known systems do not provide the user with the flexibility to select a portion of the entire item as the exact result of degrading the user experience-especially in Chinese sentence continuous input mode. When the user finds only a portion of the kanji in the candidate character field, the user forces to scroll through the candidate field to find the desired character, or type the character, and then repeatedly enter each remaining kanji until the text is complete. , Search, discover and describe.

In the foregoing description, specific embodiments have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all changes are intended to be included within the scope of the present teachings.

Benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element (s) from which any advantage, advantage, or solution may arise or become even more apparent is critical or necessary of any claim or all claims, or It will not be construed as essential features or elements. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims, which include all equivalents of the claims and any amendments made during the pending application.

Claims (7)

As a way of predictive text,
Inputting at least one symbol;
Displaying at least one candidate string predicted from the at least one symbol; And
Selecting only a portion of the at least one candidate string, wherein the portion is not independently displayed as the entire candidate string;
≪ / RTI > The method of claim 1,
Displaying result candidates corresponding to the selected portion to facilitate appending a result letter to the selected portion. The method of claim 1,
The selecting step includes highlighting the portion by an associated sustained press. The method of claim 3,
The portion is described in a text box when the user follows the sustained press. The method of claim 1,
Wherein the candidate column input includes pinyin words and the candidate column includes Chinese characters. The method of claim 1,
And said selected portion corresponds to only one symbol of said symbol input box other than said first symbol of a symbol input box. The method of claim 1,
And wherein said selected portion does not comprise said first character of a candidate string.

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