TWI398784B - Method for providing information, machine for providing information, and computer readable memory device - Google Patents

Description

Information providing method, information providing machine and computer readable memory device

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for providing information.

Once the data has been stored, it is important to retrieve the data in an efficient manner. In devices with electromagnetic memory, the time taken for data retrieval is usually longer than desired. Large memory has been used to overcome the delay caused by the retrieval of data. However, in some devices, there is a problem with using large memories. Large memories can be expensive, bulky, bulky, and can consume a lot of energy. For example, if consumers need cheap, small, lightweight, and more energy-efficient phones and PDAs, the ability to use large memories in mobile phones or personal digital assistants ("PDAs") will be limited (or impossible). .

In addition, there may be restrictions on the amount of area available to display the captured data. Machines such as mobile phones and PDAs typically have a small screen that can be used to display information such as phone numbers or addresses. In order to make better use of these small screens, the information retrieved should be organized to show the information that the user is most likely to need. In this way, the user will be more likely to find the desired information in the material originally displayed on the screen. If the user does not find the desired information in the material that they originally displayed on the screen, the user is requested to request a display of the captured data that was not originally displayed. Typically, the small machine will respond to additional requests by scrolling through all the captured data.

The delay in providing the user with the desired information can be unpleasant for the user. To reduce this discomfort, manufacturers have adopted distraction techniques. For example, an illustration of an indication delay can be presented. The illustration may take the form of a moving hourglass, a progressively filled slider or some other similar timepiece. The illustrations convince the user that the machine is operating despite occasional representations indicating that the machine is down (such as no significant activity for a relatively long period of time).

In the case where the material is stored as a list, the list is usually combined and stored in alphabetical or numerical order. Using a list of words, for example, when a user enters a starting character of a desired word, the list of words can be searched from the beginning of the list. The search can begin by comparing the first character of the first word in the list with the entered character. If it is determined that there is no match, the first character of the second word in the list is compared with the entered character. This process continues until the first character of a word in the list matches the entered character. Once a match is found between the first input character and the first character in a word in the list, the machine can stop searching for the word list and then be ready to accept the second character of the desired word.

When the second character of the desired word is entered, there is no need to check again the words stored in the list before the words matching the first and first input characters - the previous words have been determined not to be the desired words match. Therefore, the list of words can continue to be searched from the first word in the list that matches the first input character. The search can be resumed from this point in the word list until a word with a second character matching the second input character is found.

For example, if a list contains a sequence of words...bleat breathe camera character charm chocolate corporate deny determine....., as a response to the input "c", the first match occurs at the camera and at the camera The first mismatch after the occurrence occurs at the word deny. The five steps will take place between camera and deny. Thus, the number of words beginning with "c" can be determined by calculating the number of words between the first match and the first mismatch and then decrementing the count by one.

At the end of the first search, parameters identifying where the first match is located and the length of the list are known and stored for later use. Using the above example, the stored parameter can be {addr1, 4}, where addr1 is the address of the camera and 4 is the number of words beginning with the letter "c". Whether the word information is displayed on the screen to the user at the time of the search is a preferred question.

Despite the significant improvements in the performance of recent computer processors, when a list is long and the number of words stored in a particular area (in this case, the word beginning with "c") is large, the time required to search the list can be Make the machine slow down significantly or in extreme cases the machine performance stops working.

The invention can be implemented as a method of providing information. The method provides an input device having at least two keys and provides a plurality of objects stored in a database. Each item can be stored at a unique address. Indicators can be stored in a database, and each indicator can identify one of the unique addresses. Each indicator may have an identification code of at least one tuple in length. One of the keys can be selected to provide a first selection, and one of the keys can then be selected to provide a second selection. These selections can be associated with each other as a first input. The first input can be compared to the first byte of the identification code and the indicator can be identified. The identified indicator may be one of the indicators having a match between the first input and the first byte of the identification code. The identified indicators can be provided as a first set of indicators. An object corresponding to the identified indicator can be provided to the user.

The present invention can be embodied as a machine having: an input device having at least two keys, a database, a processor capable of executing instructions, and a set of executable instructions. The database may have a plurality of stored objects, each of which is a potential need of the user, and the database may also have stored indicators, each of which identifies the address of an object. Each indicator may have an identification code of at least one tuple in length. The executable instructions can instruct the processor (a) to accept selection of one of the keys to provide a first selection, and (b) accept selection of one of the keys to provide a second selection, (c) Associating the selections as a first input, (d) comparing the first input with a first byte of the identification code, and (e) identifying a match between the first input and the one of the bytes The indicator provides a first indicator group, and (f) provides an object corresponding to the identified indicator.

The invention can be implemented as a computer readable memory device. The memory device can have instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform the method in accordance with the present invention.

In the case where multiple objects stored in a database are to be accessed and provided to a user, such as on a mobile phone or PDA display, it is not certain that the object can be positioned in an alphabetical list structure to make the addressing space All items are included continuously. For example, a user may store an item with an attribute that is not suitable for a standard letter index. Thus an intermediate step can be taken whereby the object is associated with a number sequence. For example, a letter appearing on one of the keys of the input device can be associated with a number that also appears on the key. In one embodiment of the invention, no attempt is made to determine whether a button is used to indicate a letter appearing on the key or to indicate a number appearing on the key, and thus all matches are candidates. For example, to search for a simple word list to get an item starting with the letter c, the user can press a key labeled "2abc" and then recognize 2, or a, or b, or c All candidates at the beginning. Although it results in a potentially large number of objects for display as a candidate, other logic may be utilized to provide the candidate to the user in an order that may place the candidate on top of or near the top of the candidate list. .

Figure 1 depicts a method in accordance with the present invention. In this method, an input device is provided. The input device can have at least two keys, some or all of which can correspond to more than one character. For example, in many standard input devices that can be found on mobile phones and PDAs, there is a key corresponding to the number "2" and corresponding to the letters "a", "b" and "c", and another key. It corresponds to the number "3" and also corresponds to the letters "d", "e" and "f". The input device can be in communication with a microprocessor capable of executing instructions in a step-wise manner. When a key is selected, the microprocessor can execute instructions as part of the effort to determine what the user needs. The end result of executing the instructions may be to provide the user with the desired object. For example, if the selected key is a "3def" key, the microprocessor can provide an object starting with the number "3", such as a phone number or address. The microprocessor can also provide the word "d" or the letter "e" or the letter "f" to the user. A screen can be used to provide items, such as on a mobile phone or PDA.

It should be appreciated that a device such as a mobile phone or PDA may be in an idle state prior to selecting a button. In the idle state, the device can wait for the user to provide an initial indication of what the user needs. In the idle state, no specific application is indicated to the device, and it is assumed that any possible action that can be taken using the device can be used by the user - meaning that the device is in its "original" position. From this origin location, the device can provide the maximum number of options to the user, and therefore it is most desirable to quickly identify what the user wants the device to do. From this origin position, the method according to the invention is most advantageous to the user.

Each object can be stored in a library memory and located at a unique address. The library memory is accessible by the microprocessor. Indicators can be stored in the database and each indicator can identify one of the unique addresses. Each indicator can be associated with an identification code having a length of at least one byte. Therefore, the indicator can be found by knowing the identification code, and by using the indicator, an object can be accessed, retrieved, and provided to the user.

Using the input device, a user can select 22 one of the keys to provide a first selection. The first selection can be interpreted as an indication of the identification code corresponding to the item desired by the user. Next, one of the keys of the 25 input device can be selected to provide a second selection. For example, if the user needs to display the word "better" on the device, the user can press the "2abc" button and then press the "3def" button to recognize that the desired object starts with the letter "b" followed by the letter. "e". Of course, other items can be identified by this series of choices, such as the word "after" or the address "23 Oakridge Drive".

The first and second selections can be associated with each other 28 and provided as a first input. For example, using the above example, the first input generated by the user pressing the "2abc" key followed by the "3def" key may include a binary carry code corresponding to the two keys. For example, the selection of the "2abc" key may result in a binary digit 2 (0010) being provided as the first nibble of the first input, and the selection of the "3def" key may result in the first input being The second half of the byte provides a binary digit of 3 (0011). Thus, in this example, the binary 2 can be placed in series with the binary 3 to provide the first input, which will be a code of one byte length and represented as 00100011.

The first input can be compared 31 to the first byte of the identification code. Some microprocessors can quickly search for a list of codes, such as an ARM processor, on a tuple-by-tuple basis. It is believed that when the microprocessor is able to quickly compare the bytes, and when the length of the first input is one byte and compared to the first byte of the identification code, as compared to by using the first selection Performing a first search to locate an identification code having a first selection in the first nibble and then performing a second search using the second selection to identify having a second selection in the second nibble In the search performed by the codes identified in the first search, their identification codes having a first byte that matches the first input can be found faster and with less power consumption.

An indicator that a match exists between the first input and the first byte of the identification code can be identified 34. For the purposes of reference, these identified metrics are referred to herein as "first set of metrics" or sometimes as "indicators in the first set." Objects corresponding to the indicators in the first group can be provided 37 to the user.

If you need to reduce the number of items available to the user, you can choose an extra key. For example, another key of the input device can be selected to provide a third selection, and an indicator having a certain identification code in the first group can be identified, the identification code having a pair in its second byte The third selects the matching character. For example, the first one of the second bytes of the identification code of the first set of indicators can be compared to determine if the first half of the second byte matches the third selection. The indicators in the first group that have characters in the second byte that match the third selection may be identified as a second set of indicators and used to identify the item to be provided to the user. Therefore, the second set of indicators can be a subset of the first set of indicators.

Alternatively, one of the input devices can be selected to provide a fourth selection, and the third and fourth selections can be associated as a second input. The second input can then be compared to a second byte corresponding to the first set of identification codes. As described above, one-by-one tuple comparison can be performed quickly. The first set of indicators determined to have an identification code containing a second byte that matches the second input can be determined to be within a second set of indicators. Therefore, the second set of indicators can be a subset of the first set of indicators. Objects corresponding to the second set of indicators can be provided to the user.

To illustrate a method in accordance with the present invention, the first input is considered to specify a series of addresses to be searched for, and such addresses may be considered to be locations that identify indicators of the location of the desired object by the user. Using the above example and noting that the first input can be represented as hexadecimal as 0x23, the address from 0x23000000 to 0x23FFFFFF can be searched for the metric corresponding to the first input. In this example, the address 0x238837FF may contain an indicator of the object "better", and the address 0x2337377F may contain an indicator of the "address" of the object. In this example, the appearance of "F" is used to indicate an empty bit. Since many mobile phones have fewer than 16 keys, the "F" in the hex system can be used as a flag to indicate a particular state, such as a vacancy. When the user uses the keys of the input device for further selection, the number of addresses containing the indicators of the desired object will be reduced.

To illustrate another method in accordance with the present invention, the first input is considered to specify a location in which information about the object is available. Using the above example, if the first input is 0x23, a computer can interpret the first input as an identification code indicating an address starting at 0x23 (eg, 0x23FFFFFE). At 0x23FFFFFE, the computer can find all objects starting with "2" or "a" or "b" or "c" and having the second character "3" or "d" or "e" or "f" The starting address. The computer can be programmed to use the next address, 0x23FFFFFF, as a second identifier containing an indicator that represents the number of objects or begins with "2" or "a" or "b" or "c" and has The end address of the object that is the second character of "3" or "d" or "e" or "f". By having an indicator for the starting address and an indicator for the number of objects or an ending address, the computer can retrieve the object corresponding to the selection of the "2abc" key followed by the selection of the "3def" key.

To further illustrate the examples in the above paragraphs, the computer can get different indicators when selecting extra keys. For example, if the user selects the "6mno" key as the third choice, the computer can interpret the third choice as an instruction to go to the address starting at 0x236 (eg, 0x236FFFFE). At 0x236FFFFE, the computer can find a single address and at 0x236FFFFF the computer can find several objects or an end address. Using these metrics, the computer can then retrieve objects such as "benign" and "cesium" and phone numbers beginning with "236".

Finally, sufficient key selection will be made such that the number of possible items indicated by the selected key can be provided to a user, such as on a display associated with the user's mobile phone or PDA. If the desired item is provided to the user along with other items that the user does not need, the user can deterministically select one of the items, for example, by using an arrow key to highlight the desired item and then use one" Enter the "Key" to select the object that is highlighted.

When the user selects an item that has been provided to the user, the microprocessor can execute a program corresponding to the selected item. The program can cause the microprocessor to display prompts and information to guide the user through the process of using the object in the context in which the object was selected. By way of example, if the user selects the "2abc" key twice, thereby indicating (for example) an identification code of 00100011 or an identification code of 0x22, and in response to the displayed candidate, the user selects the camera, then the machine Can provide users with a choice of camera features. The options provided to the user may include information describing how to use the camera function, or a button that causes a photo to be taken, or a button that causes a previously stored image to be sent. Assuming that the user decides to take a photo in this example, the user can be provided with the option to save the image or send the image or even erase the image. If you choose to send an image, you can ask the user to enter the recipient. Then, when the user selects a key on the input device, the executable command can cause the microprocessor to obtain an object in the memory, which is the address of the person to whom the image should be sent. If you then select the "5jkl" key twice, the machine may find all matching data types and may display phone number 403 5551 212 as a matching contact number, and others. However, if the user selects the "7prs" key followed by the "2abc" key, Patricia can appear as a candidate. The machine can cause the image to be sent by selecting the desired object from the candidate list. In this way, the selection of the key will be explained in the context in which the need to send the image has been previously indicated, and thus the object provided to the user may be an item identifying a recipient.

The invention can be implemented as a machine 90. 2 is a schematic illustration of the machine 90. In FIG. 2, an input device 100, a database 103, a processor 106, and a number of executable instructions 109 in the form of software are shown. The input device 100 can have at least two keys 112, some of which can correspond to more than one character. The database 103 can have a plurality of objects stored therein, each of which is a potential need of the user. The database 103 can also have indicators stored therein, each of which identifies the address of an object. Each indicator may have an identification code having a length of at least one byte.

The processor 106 can be capable of executing the executable instructions 109. The executable instructions 109 may instruct the processor 106 to (a) accept selection of one of the keys 112 to provide a first selection, (b) accept selection of one of the keys 112 to provide a second selection, (c) The selections are associated as a first input, (d) comparing the first input with a first byte of the identification codes, and (e) identifying an indicator that a match exists between the first input and the one of the bytes To provide a first set of indicators, and (f) to provide an item corresponding to the identified indicator. The objects can be provided to the user via a display screen 115.

The executable instructions can have instructions that can instruct the processor 106 to (a) accept a selection of one of the keys to provide a third selection, and identify one and the first from the first set of indicators Three indicators of matching characters are entered, and (b) a second set of indicators is provided.

In another embodiment of machine 90, the executable instructions can have instructions that can instruct processor 106 to (a) accept selection of one of keys 112 to provide a third selection, and (b) accept Selecting one of the keys 112 to provide a fourth selection, (c) associating the third and the fourth selection as a second input, and (d) associating the second input with the second of the identification codes a byte comparison, (e) identifying that there is a matching indicator between the second input and the second byte and providing the indicators as a second set of indicators, and (f) providing corresponding to the second set An object that identifies the indicator.

The present invention can be implemented as a computer readable memory device 200 having executable instructions stored thereon. For example, the memory device 200 can be a CDROM having an object code that can be read by a computer to cause a microprocessor to perform certain functions. The executable instructions can include instructions that cause the computer to accept a first selection and a second selection. The selections can be provided to a computer via an input device, such as the input device described above. The instructions may also cause the computer to associate the selections as a first input, and then compare the first input to a first byte of the plurality of identification codes, wherein each identification code corresponds to an indicator. The instructions may instruct the computer to identify that there is a match between the first input and the byte, provide a first set of indicators, and then instruct the computer to provide an object corresponding to the identified indicator.

The memory device 200 can also include instructions that cause the computer to accept a third selection and identify from the first set of indicators that they have a character that matches the third input in the second byte of the identification code. Indicators to provide a second set of indicators. The second set of indicators can be used to locate, access, and provide corresponding items to the user.

The memory device 200 can also include instructions that cause the computer to accept a third selection and a fourth selection and associate the selections as a second input. The instructions may cause the computer to compare the second input with the second byte of the identification code, and identify, from the first set of indicators, the second input and the second byte to match each of the indicators to provide a second Group indicator. The second set of indicators can be used to locate, access, and provide corresponding items to the user.

Additional details regarding the invention and additional embodiments of the invention are disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/628,209. The disclosure of this patent application is incorporated herein by reference.

While the invention has been described with respect to the specific embodiments of the present invention, it is understood that other embodiments of the invention can be implemented without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is considered to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

90. . . machine

100. . . Input device

103. . . database

106. . . processor

109. . . Executable instruction

112. . . key

115. . . Display screen

200. . . Computer readable memory device

Figure 1 depicts the steps of a method in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 2 depicts a machine and a storage device in accordance with the present invention.

Claims (17)

A method of providing information, comprising: providing an input device having at least two keys, each of the at least two keys corresponding to more than one character; storing the objects in a database, each object having a unique address Storing indicators in the database, each indicator identifying at least one of the unique addresses, and each indicator having an identification code having a length of at least one byte; accepting selection of one of the at least two keys a first button to generate a first binary digit; after accepting the first button, accepting a second button selecting one of the at least two keys to generate a second binary digit; Connecting the first binary digit and the second binary digit to generate a first input having a real length of one tuple, wherein the first binary digit is one of the first nibble of the first input and The second binary digit is a second half byte of the first input; the first input byte is compared with the first byte of the one of the identifiers, and Generating a set of identification codes based on the comparison result, the group identification Each of the identification codes has a first byte that matches the first input bit group; and a matching indicator between the first input and the first byte is identified to provide a first set of indicators; And providing an object corresponding to the identified indicators; wherein when the number of objects provided is to be reduced: Accepting a third button that selects one of the at least two keys to generate a third binary digit, wherein the third binary digit is one of the third input bytes of the first input; The number of digits is compared with one of the second nibble of one of the identification codes of the first set of indicators, and a second is identified from the first set of indicators based on the comparison result a byte having a first one of the first half of the pair of bits matching the third binary number to provide a second set of indicators for the subset of the first set of indicators; and providing a second corresponding to the second set The object of the group indicator. The method of claim 1, further comprising: accepting one of the at least two keys to generate a third binary digit; after accepting the selecting the third key, accepting selecting one of the at least two keys a fourth button to generate a fourth binary digit; concatenating the third binary digit and the fourth binary digit to generate a second input having an actual length of one tuple, wherein the third binary digit Corresponding to the first half of the second input and the fourth binary is the second half of the second input; the second input of the byte is related to the first group Comparing the second byte of the one of the bits of the identifier of the indicator, and generating a second set of identification codes based on the comparison result, each of the identification codes of the second set of identification codes having a match with the second input a second byte of the byte; identifying an indicator for each identification code in the second set of identification codes to provide a second set of indicators; An object corresponding to the identified metrics from the second set of metrics is provided. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification code is an address of the database. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the indicators is a start address corresponding to a location at which a first object of the objects corresponding to the first input can be found . The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the indicators is an end address corresponding to a location at which the last object of the objects corresponding to the first input can be found. The method of claim 4, wherein at least one of the indicators is a number representing how many objects correspond to the first input. A machine for providing information, comprising: an input device having at least two keys; a database storing a plurality of objects, each object being a potential need of a user, and storing in the database Having an indicator, each indicator identifying at least one address of an object and each indicator having an identification code having a length of at least one byte; a processor capable of executing instructions; and executable instructions capable of indicating the processor Performing the steps of: accepting a selection of the first key of one of the at least two keys to generate a first binary digit; after accepting the selection of the first key: accepting one of the at least two keys Selecting a second button to generate a second binary digit; Serializing the first and second binary digits to generate a first input having a real length of one tuple, wherein the first binary digit is one of the first input first digit and the second The binary digit is a second half of the first input; the first input byte is compared with the first byte of the ones of the identification codes, and based on the The comparison result generates a set of identification codes, each identification code of the set of identification codes has a first byte of a byte matching the first input; and an identifier is identified for each identification code in the set of identification codes to provide a first set of indicators; and an object corresponding to the identified indicators; wherein when the number of objects provided is to be reduced: accepting a third button selecting one of the at least two keys to generate a third a number of digits, wherein the third binary digit is one of the third digits of the first input; the third binary digit is associated with the second byte of the identifier of the first set of indicators One of the first half of the bytes is compared, and based on the comparison result, the first set of indicators is identified Having, in a second byte, an indicator of a first half of the first pair of bits matching the third binary number to provide a second set of indicators that are a subset of the first set of indicators; and providing a corresponding The object of the second set of indicators. The machine of claim 7, wherein the executable instructions have instructions that instruct the processor to perform the following steps: Accepting a selection of one of the at least two keys to generate a third binary digit; after accepting the selection of the third key, accepting a selection of the fourth key of one of the at least two keys to generate a a fourth binary digit; concatenating the third and fourth binary digits to generate a second input having an actual length of one tuple, wherein the third binary digit is one of the first digits of the second input And the fourth binary digit is a second half byte of the second input; the second input byte is associated with one of the bytes of the first set of indicators The second byte is compared, and a second set of identification codes is generated based on the comparison result, wherein each identification code in the second set of identification codes has a second byte that matches the second input of the byte; Each of the second set of identification codes identifies an indicator to provide a second set of indicators; and provides an object corresponding to the identified indicators from the second set of indicators. The machine of claim 7, wherein the identification code corresponds to an address of the database. The machine of claim 7, wherein at least one of the identified indicators is a start address corresponding to a location at which a first one of the objects corresponding to the first input can be found object. The machine of claim 10, wherein at least one of the identified indicators is an end address corresponding to a location at which the last object of the objects corresponding to the first input can be found . The machine of claim 10, wherein at least one of the identified metrics is a number that represents how many objects correspond to the first input. A computer readable memory device having stored thereon instructions executable by a computer, the instructions causing a computer to perform the steps of: accepting a selection of a first button of one of the at least two keys to generate a first a binary digit; after accepting the selection of the first button, accepting a selection of a second button of one of the at least two keys to generate a second binary digit; concatenating the first and second digits The number of digits is generated to generate a first input having a real length of one tuple, wherein the first binary digit is one of the first digits of the first input and the second binary digit is the first input a second half byte; comparing the first input byte with the first byte of the ones of the identification codes, and generating a set of identification codes based on the comparison result, Each identification code in the group identification code has a first byte that matches the first input bit group; an indicator is identified for each identification code in the group identification code to provide a first set of indicators; and the corresponding one is provided The identified indicators of the object; The number of objects: accepting a third button of one of the at least two keys to generate a third binary digit, wherein the third binary digit is one of the third digits of the first input; The third binary digit and the knowledge about the first set of indicators Comparing one of the second bytes of one of the other digits of the second byte; and identifying from the first set of indicators that one and the third binary are in a second byte based on the comparison result The numbers match the indices of the first half of the bytes to provide a second set of indicators that are a subset of the first set of indicators; and provide an object corresponding to the second set of indicators. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that cause the computer to perform the steps of: accepting selecting one of the at least two keys to generate a third binary digit; selecting the After the third button, accepting selecting a fourth button of one of the at least two keys to generate a fourth binary digit; concatenating the third binary digit and the fourth binary digit to generate an actual length a second input of a tuple, wherein the third binary digit is a first half byte of the second input and the fourth binary digit is a second half byte of the second input; Comparing the second input byte with a second byte of the one of the first group of indicators, and generating a second set of identification codes based on the comparison result, Each of the second set of identification codes has a second byte that matches the second input bit group; and an identifier is identified for each identification code in the second set of identification codes to provide a second set of indicators; And providing the identified fingers corresponding to the second set of indicators Objects. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the fingers in the first group One of the targets is a start address corresponding to a location at which the first object of the objects corresponding to the first input can be found. The memory device of claim 13, wherein one of the indicators in the first group is an end address corresponding to a location at which the objects corresponding to the first input are found The last object. The memory device of claim 13, wherein one of the indicators in the first group is a number representing how many objects correspond to the first input.