WO2006057488A2

WO2006057488A2 - Crossdial keypad

Info

Publication number: WO2006057488A2
Application number: PCT/KR2005/002829
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chan Young Park; Bong Sook Ahn
Original assignee: Chan Young Park; Bong Sook Ahn
Priority date: 2004-11-29
Filing date: 2005-08-26
Publication date: 2006-06-01
Also published as: KR20060059586A; KR100627964B1; WO2006057488A8

Description

Description CROSSDIAL KEYPAD

Technical Field

[1] This invention, CrossDial Keypad relates to a unique geometric configuration for text input and its text arrangement for mobile devices, particularly to a cell phones, PDAs, interactive TV's remote controls, etc. The alphabetic-clockwise text ar¬ rangement creates a frequency-related cluster which provides the easiest, fastest way of inputting data. The geometric configuration of the frequency-related cluster is an important feature of the invention.

[2]

Background Art

[3] The letter-number(Alphanumeric dial plate) was developed by William G. Blauvelt

(AT&T) during the 1920s. This was the first customer dialing system to become widespread. Initially it had only numbers, but letters were soon added to designate exchanges. By 1937, the arrangement was largely standardized: the letters (q) and (z) were dropped but (x)remained for ( exchange ). In 1964, telephones were introduced which offered buttons rather than rotary dialing; this, naturally, reflected the new tone dialing, in which automated switching systems translated tones into numbers. By the 1980s, rotary telephones were quite rare.

[4] The first telephone numbers included abbreviations of the street name; long¬ distance calling required the operator as an intermediary. After 1961, letters were phased out from telephone numbers and long-distance dialing was automated; area codes were standardized and it became possible for direct dialing to any other part of North America. As a result, the combination of letters which began each telephone number were replaced by the corresponding letters; over the years, as people moved and changed telephone numbers, even this was erased. Consumer goods which are universal, however, are of all things the most conservative. Decades after letters became entirely superfluous in telephone numbers, businesses and public service orga¬ nizations continue to use letters as mnemonics for their telephone number (1-800-FLOWERS).

[5]

[6] Meanwhile, in the parallel universe of computing, the Internet was introduced by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the Pentagon in 1971; other, competing forms of network protocols were later melded with the Internet TCP/IP as demands for bandwidth increased. Text messaging evolved from bulletin board services (BBS) to the modern HTML-based email applications (National Center for Supercomputing Applications, c. 1989). As this happened, the mobile phone was rapidly evolving from a distinctly handicapped, inferior version of its landline cousin to a talented prodigy.

[7] The most spectacular developments in the mobile phone industry were cellular technology ( 1980s), which allowed far more reliable connections; digitalized transmission (1995), which would lead to better fidelity, and paging. Pagers were introduced in 1980s, and actually introduced numerical messaging. The first pagers were intended to beep the user when she received a call, and then display a call-back number entered by the caller. Almost at once callers began paging not just telephone numbers but number sequences with certain significance. For example, in gangland argot, the number, 187 was used as a death threat (as in Section 187 of the California Penal Code, addressing homicide).

[8]

[9] Countries where reliable conventional communications were not as reliable, as usual, led the way in user innovation. In 1986, for example, lists of numerical codes for common Tagalog phrases were widely circulated and enabled resistance to the Marcos Regime to spill over into the People Power Movement by which time secret police began to pay attention to those dog-eared lists of numeric codes.

[10]

[11] In the mid-1990s, cellular phones had liquid crystal displays (LCD) and the PCS now offered paging services or their equivalent in cell phones. Pagers were perilously close to being cell phones; they had large LCD and could accept letters as well as numbers. The brief era of the pager, therefore, can really be said to have introduced text messaging.

[12]

[13] The most interesting aspect of the globalized paging/cellular industry, dominated as it was by firms such as Finnish Nokia, was that companies operating in Finland and Italy could cross-pollinate user trends in those different societies so that Italian customers were exposed to Finnish techniques, and vice versa. As a result, the pressure on telecoms in the EU led to the move to 3G networks, where mobile phones almost completely match the capabilities of home computers. No doubt this is on the horizon, but for the next decade or so we are looking at a world where vast proportions of the human race ( perhaps a third ) will be unable to count on reliable telecom in¬ frastructure anywhere in their society. For such people, many of whom use the Roman alphabet (e.g., the bush of South America, most of Africa, the Moluccas and Papua) efficient, cheap text messaging technology is an immediate hope for bridging the digital divide.

[14] [15] With text messaging, the dial of the telephone made a full circle: from letters (for selecting another telephone line) to numbers only (with the letters serving as a mere mnemonic) and back to letters (where phones can now be used exclusively for text messaging). But even with the introduction of the keypad in 1994, no one in the world of Roman characters sought to re-arrange those letters for convenience. In the world of other, very different writing systems, such as Hangul, efforts are being made now to optimize the keypad.

[16]

[17] Why is the Roman keypad regarded as immutable? It has survived longer than the keypad itself. With the introduction of the PDA, with the handwriting recognition, we actually see icons which allow a user to key-in numbers using a stylus on a virtual keypad was unchanged since 1937! We believe this is silly. Unlike keyboards used at work, cell phone users enjoy little benefit using a previous design; they are unlikely to use a phone for text messaging issued by their employer. The introduction of PDAs such as the Newton have spawned a huge variety of interfaces which allowed natural selection to do its work. The absence of a universal interface for PDAs has been offset by the fact that the applications for them are changing so rapidly; the same is true for cell phones. Users are willing to accept and learn new interfaces if the appliance they are using is changing application rapidly.

[18]

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[19]

[20] At this time, data entry on small electronic devices takes three possible formats:

[21] 1. 12-key pads, based on a 3- wide by 4-high array of numeric symbols and ac¬ companied by letters; multiple strokes, or taps, are required to achieve letters;

[22] 2. replicas of the familiar QWERTY arrangement of letters on full-sized computer keyboards;

[23] 3. stylus entry with a combination of menus and handwriting recognition software.

[24] Combinations of the first two have also been introduced, such as arrangements that superimpose the 12-keypad found on touch-tone telephones upon the QWERTY ar¬ rangement, or superimposing a simple alphabetical arrangement of characters on a cellular telephone keypad. The QWERTY-based version allows the user to switch between the two arrays; the 12-keypad-based arrangement uses the principle of overlapping keys (so that, for example, selecting N, involves pushing the adjacent keys for 4, 5, 7, and 8 as well as N). These design elements may be combined with our proposed to capture further improvements. [25] However, there remains a failure to take measure of ergonomics in design. The fa¬ miliarity and base of skill that users develop from using the QWERTY keyboard, for example, is of little use when using a keypad with thumbs. Likewise, the 12-key number pad on cellular phones has the letters superimposed, and users can enter letters by repeatedly pressing keys. However, the 12-key design appears to be a slave to the legacy technology of touchtone telephone receivers; the sequence of letters used on tele-phones was for randomly-chosen telephone numbers, not spelling out words as they appear in language. Hence, no preference is given to the more commonly-used letters, like "s" or "e" In the late 1990s, a group of inventions incorporated overlapping keys, in which a keypad user would push a cluster of buttons and thereby select the one in the center of the cluster; this has been successfully implemented in cell phones. However, this technical advantage did not lead to an ergonomic improvement; the keypads that use this feature merely inserted the letters between the numbers in an al¬ phabetical order.

[26] Ordinary cell phone keypads(8-keys) require one to push a key four times to get "S" and once to get "P". Why is this, when S is far more commonly used than P? It is simply because the order of letters in the alphabet, fixed since biblical times, says that S has to come after P Q and R. No other reason exists for this arrangement, (the invention, CrossDial Keypad considers the movement of the finger when common combinations of letters, the frequency of usage of each letter, and so on). Conventional cell phone keypads ignore four keys (out of twelve) because the format was developed forty-five years ago when no one expected tiny versions of the keyboard would ever be used as a typewriter keypad substitute or geared for digital text in cyber world.. There was absolutely no need for letters to have any particular arrangement on the cell phone keypad. Traditional keypads have remained unchanged for decades, with letters in an arbitrary layout. Original alpha/numeric keypad layout only intended to recall phone- made-name easy in a rotary phone era, not intended for a digital text input in cyber world.

[27]

[28] US5251163 Oct., 1993 Rouhani 364/709

[29] US6766179 Oct., 1999 Shiau 345/467

[30] US6657560 Dec, 2003 Jung 341/22; 400/486

[31] US5999827 Sep. 1997 Sudo 455/564

[32] US5059048 Oct., 1989 Sirkin 400/486

[33] US5479163 Dec, 1995 Samuelwicz 341/22

[34] VS5332322 JuI 26,1994 Gambaro 400/489

[35]

[36] References: Shumin Zhai, Michael Hunter and Barton A Smith, [37] The Metropolis Keyboard-An Exploration of Quantitative

[38] Techniques for Graphical Keyboard Design,

[39] IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, CA 95120

[40]

[41] The closest patent to CrossDial Keypad was awarded to Richard Jung, U.S.

6,657,560 U.S.Class:341/22 on December 2, 2003. CrossDail's inventor, Chan Young Park gathers that Mr. Jung's invention departs from Park's principally in that hisJung's uses an alphabetical arrangement of the characters and Park's CrossDial Keypad ar¬ rangement features some further logical subdivisional cluster.(Figs.8d,8e,8f,8g and 8h)

[42]

[43] None of the foregoing prior art patents discloses or suggests the CrossDial Keypad's functions proposed by applicant that is adaptable and unusually flexible for various languages, nor do they disclose the unique geometry of the dynamic keypad con¬ figuration proposed by applicant.

[44]

[45]

Technical Solution

[46] The proposed invention is for an improved layout of keys for use on small electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), multi-purpose cellular telephones (3G phones) and Smart phones.

[47] This invention relates to a CrossDial Keypad, an integration of a cross, a dial and an intuitive character's arrangement wherein letters are arranged into the four clusters: 1. a cross cluster(Fig3a31), 2. a dial face cluster(Fig3b,32), 3. an inner corner cluster(Fig3c,34), 4. a subscripted consonants cluster(Fig 4c). The most frequent single letter "E" among 26 Alphabets, is positioned on the focal point of the cross. The rest four vowels,A I O and U are positioned on the cross in a clockwise alphabetic order(Fig.3a31). The twelve most-frequent consonants are arranged on the dial face in a clockwise, alphabetic order with the last three consonants,xYz are assigned to the 12 O'clock hand.(fig.3b32) The four less-frequent consonants (B K P W) are arranged at the 4 corner keys of the inner 3x3 array cluster(3c34). The five least-frequent consonants(j q v x z)are subscripted to four consonants(B K P W)with a double or a triple tapping.(Fig 4c) All the vowels and consonants are arranged in a clockwise, alphabetic order in line with letter-frequency of use and operated by a minimum movement radius of the operator. The invention also pertains to the schematic and er- gonomical arrangement of the keys on a CrossDial Keypad that provides a new and improved keypad having a unique geometric arrangement of keys with the improved learnability, and flexibility. [48]

[49] The said Keypad may involve a universal language mode activated by a ALPHA/

KOR mode key ( Fig.2i ). [50] The CrossDial Keypad also includes an appropriate function keys generally located at the bottom of the keypad body. The function keys provide directions to the device receiving input from the CrossDial Keypad such as "CTRL", "delete", "shift", etc.(

Fig.2h ) [51] [52] Another object of this invention is to provide a full sized CrossDial Keyboard which provides quickness and convenience in inputting information at the same level as a computer keyboard. [53] [54] Another object of this invention is to arrange an individual keyset(Fig.2g) for five least frequent consonants, j,q,v,x and z which provide quickness and convenience in inputting information.(Fig.2g) [55] [56] Still another object of this invention is to provide a CrossDial Keypad device, which is configured to facilitate data entries chording(pressing several keys simul¬ taneously) method in a more convenient and quick manner. [57] [58] . According to another aspect of the invention, each of a cross cluster, a dial face cluster and inner corners cluster define a virtually CrossDial Keypad with elliptical, square or other circular configuration.(figs.la,2b and 3c) [59] [60] According to still another aspect of the present invention, other international language character, such as the whole set of non-English characters (such as Cyrillic) are mapped to the modified configuration, triple dial face with split keys on the cross(

Fig 5a ). [61]

Advantageous Effects

[62] The objects and advantages of the present invention are:

[63] a. It specifically anticipates the needs of users of handheld computing devices;

[64] b. It incorporates an intuitive shapes and an ingenious letter-frequency arrangement to expedite learning of new data entry techniques; [65] c. It reduces the number of taps required to enter the most commonly used strings of characters; [66] d. It can be integrated easily with other closely related art. [67] e. Its Ergonomic Design enhances effectiveness and reduces the finger/arm stresses.

[68] f. The EZ Chording Input ( pressing several keys simultaneously ) speeds text messaging with accuracy. When ( O U S ) pressed simultaneously in any such order as ( O U S ) ( O S U ) ( U O S ) ( U S O) ( S O U ) ( S U O ), it primarily produces ( OUS). When ( T N M E ) pressed in any order simultanously, MENT will pop up.

[69]

Brief Description of the Drawings

[70]

[71] FIG. Ia-- through— Ig , is a plan view illustrating the evolution of the geometric

CrossDial Keypad frames comprising the twenty-one interactive keys.

[72] Integration of a cross(Fig Ia) and a dial(Fig Ib) creates a twenty-one crossdial con¬ figuration, that has evolved several shapes; a 21-keys Wheel/Compass shape(Fig Ie), a 21 -keys Oval/Ellipse shape(Fig Id), a 21-keys Square shape(Fig If) and expanded 25-keys Square shape(Fig Ig).

[73]

[74] FIG. 2a~through-Fig.2i.

[75] Fig 2a is a plan view illustrating the value code of the Roman and Arabian numerals

[76] Fig. 2b, 2c and 2d are the various English layout.

[77] Fig 2e illustrating a Korean layout.

[78] FIG. 2f is a plan view illustrating a English letters mapped to the 25-keys Square shape(Fig lg)that accommodates twenty-six alphabets and symbols at the four exterior corners(fig.2f).

[79] Fig 2g defines the five individul keyset for the least-frequent consonants,j,q,v,x and z leaving double or triple subscripts out.(Figs.2f,2g).

[80] . Fig 2h,2i two outward cross-keys that employ funtions, such as

CTRL,ALT,DEL,SHIFT, directional keys and Alpha/Kor mode keys

[81]

[82] FIG. 3a— through— 3e, is a plan view illustrating

[83] the evolution of the schematic letter arrangement

[84] by the clusters.(see frequency % rate below )

[85]

[86] FIG. 3a-31 Five vowels on the cross(38 %) .

[87] FIG. 3b-32, Twelve most-frequent consonants( 52.4 % )

[88] FIG. 3c-34 Four corner keys of the inner 3x3 array cluster(7.6%) Fig.3c, Five consonants j,q,v,x and z subscripted with the K P W Y(Fig 4c)(2%).

[89] FIG. 3d: — 21 -most-frequent letters with single tap are arranged on the CrossDial Keypad(98%)

[90] FTG 3e ~ Complete 26- Alphabets arrangement on the CrossDial Keypad(100 %)

[91] [92] [93] FlG. 4a through 4c is a plan view illustrating the detailed letter frequency chart by the cluster. [94] FlG. 4d is a letter frequency rate table Concise Oxford Dictionary(9th edition,

1995) [95]

[96] FlG. 5a— to— Fig.5e. is a plan view illustrating the various extended key layout

[97] of the dynamic CrossDial Keypad

[98] FlG. 5a a triple dial face configuration

[99] FlG. 5b,5c the extended configuration(25 keys)

[ 100] for English and Korean Alphabets( FlG. 1 e)

[101] FlG. 5d a double set of a dial face configuration that employs

[102] Function keys, Fl through F12.

[103] FlG. 5e 25-keys CrossDial Keypad(Square with circle shape)(Fig.le)

[104] FlG. 6a-to— 6i Comparison of the various keypad layout

[105] such as Dvorak, Mini-QWERTY, BlackBerry, CrossDial, Cell phone, Identical

Footprint and SpeedScript

[106] FlG 7a to 7i Comparison of the various keypad layout

[107] such as Fitaly, Softava Q12, Exideas, CrossDial,

[108] OPTI( I, II ), ChuBon Key Board

[109] FlG 8a to 8i Comparison of the various keypad layout

[110] such as Metropolis, Hooke's Key Board, IBM Shark,

[111] CrossDial, Rounded Keypad(Richard Jung), FasTap

[112] FlG. 9 Error Lists by Text Assistance Software, T9, i-Tap and Suretype

[113] FlG. 10 The perspective views of Mouse,

[114] illustrating application embodiments

[115] wherein the CrossDial Keypad device actually serves as a mouse input device.

[116]

[117] FlG. 11 a-through-Fig.11 c Character/Value code TableO 1

[118]

[119] FlG. 12a-to-Fig.12c Character/Value code TableO2

[120] [121] While there has been described in connection with the preferred configuration of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be aimed, therefore, to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. [122]

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[123] In order to be the best text input mode for wireless decive, the intuitive, single-le tter/single-tap should include the adjacent frequent-letter which is otimized for ease of learn and ease of use. (e.g. digram, trigram, strings of letters )

[124]

[125] Multi-tapping QWERTY layout was not designed for the efficiency, never intended for EZ Learn/ EZ Use.

[126] Dvorak layout( the upgraded QWERTY ), was not accepted by the majority.

[127] Traditional keypads have remained unchanged for decades,

[128] with letters in an arbitrary layout.

[129]

[130] For small hand held mobile devices, its text input area is minimal so a fewer keys with several characters are needed with multi-taps. 12-key s conventional cell phone inherited the same rotary alpha/numeric layout. There are numerous keypad layouts were published but none is to replace the eight keys cell phone yet. IT industries are now forced to try the soft/mini QWERTY phone. However, since full sized QWERTY requires spacious area for 26 alphabet keys, it can't be reduced to fit a minimum sized area for small, handheld wireless device. You could make it to fit but not practical for small devices. Pecking tiny QWERTY keys is quite arduous and frustrating for cell phone users"

[131] Geometrically designed and optimized for general purpose text entry on small devices, CrossDial Keypad system has fewer keys and utilizing an innovative clustered layout for entering most frequent 21 characters with a single tap. All characters are assigned in an alphabetical order, clockwise and based on their frequency of use; this design leads to an ideal text entry when only a single stylus or a single finger is used, and since there are interactive key design, the area required for is much smaller than that of a QWERTY keyboard. These fewer and interactive key layout also makes CrossDial Keypad an ideal technology for cell phones.

[132]

Mode for the Invention

[133] The proposed invention incorporates a small array of 21 buttons, consisting of an inner array of 3 by 3 buttons in the center, and a perimeter array of 12 keys cor¬ responding to the hours of a 12 hour clock.(figs.ld,le,lf and Fig.3e). The invention includes EZ Chording Input( press several keys simultaneous ). The arrangement of keys is designed pedagogically and in accordance with principles of dynamic programming to achieve optimal ease of learning and ease of use within a movement radius of the 5 fingers of an operator. Therefore, the assignment of symbols to keys is language-specific.

[134] The following claims describe subcomponents of my invention. The claims presuppose that any combination thereof, or any combination of the following with additional modifications, embellishments, or prior art, will be covered under this patent as well as the preferred embodiments described above. Where ever relevant, the following claims shall apply to, but by no means be limited to, usage of the specified invention on personal digital assistants (PDAs) or industrial device requiring a small ( Less thanl5 centimeters across) input device. It shall apply to input devices adhering to the same principles using the Roman alphabet, but also other alphabets (e.g., Cyrillic, Arabic, Din Bizaad, or Mkhedruli) and syllaberies (e.g., Hangul, Hiragana, Ethiopic, Chero-kee). In all cases, letters /symbols will be arranged on a basis optimized for the primary language of a target market. For ease of exposition, this patent application will hereafter focus on the usage of English.

[135] The Cross Dial keypad may be also presented in various configurations such as ellipses, ovals, squares, rounded, circles, etc.(figs.ld,le,lf) The Cross Dial keypad may be used with any number of keys, which may be arranged clockwise or counter¬ clockwise. In the various key arrangements, applicant has not shown the particular device on which the keypad is mounted or to which it is connected such is within the skill of the art. The possible keypad configurations shown in FIGS. 2a to 2i, 5a to 5e. are an important aspect of the invention and can be used with any type keypad device.

[136] While the invention has been explained by a detailed description of certain specific embodiments, it is understood that various modifications and substitutions can be made in any of them within the scope of the appended claims, which are intended also to include equivalents of such embodiments.

[137]

[138] Integration of a cross and a dial( CrossDial Keypad, )creates an ingenious and intuitive keypad pattern that provides both EZ Learn and EZ Use. CrossDial Keypadis based on the principle of the Learning Psychology, i.e. how humans process in¬ formation.

[139] The principle of the Learning curve (process) requires an optimized letter-frequency layout that facilitates text entry. CrossDial Keypad arranged the most commonly used 21 characters including all 5 vowels in a clockwise, alphabetic order, that account for 98% frequency in any input-text. This schematic layout makes the key area more in¬ terrelated and compact. This has a number of advantages:

[140]

[141] EZ to learn, EZ to use due to the dynamic interactive arrangement: [142] 1. An overall reduction in the finger/stylus distance.

[143] 2. Friendly interface of keystrokes

[144] 3. Optimum use of digrams, tri grams, and strings of letters, etc.

[145] The fact that users are already familiar with a household name, a cross and

[146] a dial, integrated layout frame improves usability/flexibility and means that writing with the said layout can be learned very quickly. What makes CrossDial Keypad unique are the three elements

[147] 1. Integration of a cross and a dial creates a dynamic CrossDial Keypad frames.

[148] 2. Ingenious character arrangement in a clockwise, alphabetic order in line with the letter frequency of use creates the user friendly interface. [149] 3. Three distinctive clusters have been developed in line with an ergonomic principles that make text input EZ Learn and EZ Use. [150] CrossDial Keypad has fewer but bigger keys... You enter the 21 most frequent letters with a single tap(98 % frequency oftext input) and the rest 2 % text input of five consonants(j q v x z) with double or triple taps. Compared to 26 QWERTY keyboard,

CrossDial Keypad has only 21 keys. CrossDial Keypad's keys are bigger, hence easier and faster to target. Also, since the letter patterns are based on their frequencies, 98% of the times you only need to single tap. [151] CrossDial Keypad specializes in user friendly text interface and is committed to user interactive innovation for the emerging mobile devices [152]

Industrial Applicability

[153]

[154] CrossDial Keypad's text input technology applies to any language regardless of its alphabet in accordnce with an optimized user interface, making text entry on small electronic devices faster and more intuitive.

[155] CrossDial Keypad's technology is particularly useful since working with it is much faster, easier and more accurate than entering text either with the soft QWERTY keyboard or any handwriting recognition system.

[156] Available for Tablet PCs,Pocket PCs and Palm PDAs, CrossDial Keypad's revo¬ lutionary text-entry system is applicable to any small electronic device: cell phones,TV remotes, watches, car navigation system etc.

[157]

[158]

Claims

[1] 1. An integrated geometric configuration(clusters), emerged from the integration of a cross and a dial(hereafter, CrossDial Keypad) comprising: a. a cross cluster( five keys ),(Fig 3a) b. a dial cluster ( 12 keys )(fig 3b32) and c. inner comer cluster( 4keys )(fig 3c34) within a minimum movement radius of the operator. [2] 2. An integration of said Claim 1 and an intuitive,ingenious arrangement of

English characters is being operated with any finger/fingers comprising: the Roman Numerals, I,π,III through IX,X,XI and XII are sequentially assigned to the dial face and Arabian numerals, 1,2, through 7,8 and 9 are assigned to the

3x3 array and 0 to the 6 O'clock hand coupled with VI.(Fig. 2a) [3] 3. An integration of said Claim 1 and an intuitive,ingenious arrangement of

English characters is being operated with any finger/fingers comprising:

The 26 English characters, A,B,C,D,— through— ,v, W,X,Y and Z are sequentially assigned to the value key, 2,3,1,11,111 — through — ,

(1,1), 1, (XII Xn), XE and XII XII XII.

(Fig 1 Ia₅TaWe 01) [4] 4. An integration of said Claim 1 and an intuitive,ingenious arrangement of

English characters is being operated with any finger/fingers comprising:

The numerals, 1,

2,

3,

4,

5,6,7,8 and 9 are assigned to the nine keys of the inner 3x3 array and 0 to the 6 O'clock key(VI/0)

These numerals are coupled as follows:

(l,vW) (2, A) (3, B)

(4, U) (5, E) (6, 1)

(7, Pq) (8, O) (9, JK)

(VI/0, L) (Fig 1 Ia₅TaWe 01) [5] 5. An integrated geometric configuration(clusters), emerged from the integration of a cross and a dial(the CrossDial Keypad) comprising: the way of the characters assigned, of which a. five keys on the cross cluster being assigned with all vowels. The most frequent English letter "E" is positioned at the cross focal point and the remaining 4 vowels being arranged in a clockwise, alphabetical order thereabout; and b. a 12 keys of the clock face cluster, being assigned with most frequent twelve consonants in a clockwise, alphabetical order with high frequency consonants on the dial face, thereabout; and c. Four keys of the corner cluster being assigned with four less-frequent consonants((B K P W), in a clockwise, alphabetic order, thereabout; and The remaining five least-frequent consonants(j q v x z) are being subscripted with (K P W Y), i.e. GK) (Pq) (vW) (xYz).

[6] 6. An integrated geometric configuration(clusters), emerged from the integration of a cross and a dial comprising:

Symbols are inserted in the consonant keys on the dial face like folio wings: ( C ; :)(D + -)(F->)(G.,)(H#)(L0)(M*)(N()) (R<-)(S)(T?!).

[7] 7. An alpha/numeric inputting keypad, being operated with respect to claim 1 wherein:

The EZ Chording Input is applied to enhance the text entry, (e.g.) When (OUS) pressed simultaneously in any such order as (OUS)(O SU)(UOS)(US O) (SOU)(SUO), it primarily produces ( OUS). When (TNME) pressed in any order simultanously, MENT will pop up.

[8] 8. An integrated geometric configuration(clusters), emerged from the integration of a cross and a dial comprising:

The keys of the three clusters,(a focal cross, a dial and an inner corner ) permit mapping of any international alphabets or symbols.

[9] 9. An integrated geometric configuration(clusters), emerged from the integration of a cross and a dial(the CrossDial Keypad) comprising: a function key section constituted by two sets of directinal keys located outward within the finger distance from the said keypad.

[10] An integrated geometric configuration(clusters), emerged from the integration of a cross and a dial comprising:

The array of claim 1 wherein an assignment of letters are laid in accordance with the principles of dynamic programming for optimized efficiency with al¬ phabetical order, of which 5 Vowels( AEIOU) laid on the inner cross and 12 frequent consonants( C D F G H L M N R S T Y) are on the clock-hand array and less common used consonants ( B jK Pq vW ) are placed on the 4 corner keys.(Fig.3e)