WO2007071870A2

WO2007071870A2 - Method of transmitting a message between two communication terminals, communication terminal, computer program, recording medium and data stream that can be downloaded

Info

Publication number: WO2007071870A2
Application number: PCT/FR2006/051352
Authority: WO
Inventors: Laetitia Mathieu; Jérôme BERNARD
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2005-12-16
Filing date: 2006-12-14
Publication date: 2007-06-28
Also published as: FR2895194A1; WO2007071870A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of inputting a message from a first communication terminal (10) and of transmitting this message to a second communication terminal, the message comprising words consisting of a succession of ordinary characters terminating with a special character called the semantic separator, the set of characters being input with the aid of an interface of the first terminal comprising in particular an input cursor (15). The transmission of a word to the second terminal is triggered: - either by the inputting, at the end of the message, of a special character following this word, - or by the moving of the cursor out of a modified area of the message, said area being previously defined following the addition, replacement or deletion of at least one character.

Description

A method of transmitting a message between two communication terminals, communication terminal, computer program, recording medium, and data streams that can be downloaded.

The present invention relates to a method of transmitting a message between two communication terminals, a communication terminal, a computer program, a recording medium and a data stream that can be downloaded.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of transmitting a message from a first communication terminal to a second communication terminal, the message comprising words each consisting of a succession of ordinary characters, the words being separated two two by at least one special character, the set of characters being entered using an interface of the first terminal including an input cursor. In the following we distinguish, among the existing set of characters, the special characters semantic separators type and characters different from a semantic separator, called ordinary characters. By "special character" is meant a predefined semantic separator so that it is recognized by the first communication terminal as a special character. For example the space "_" (symbolized in the following by an underlined space) is a semantic separator that can constitute a special character. Note that a semantic separator may include a special character or a succession of several special characters. Examples of semantic separators include space, underlined space, punctuation, and line break. Examples of ordinary characters are alphanumeric characters or control codes for formatting, such as bold, italic, underline, font change.

"Message" means a succession of words and special characters as defined above. For example, "le_petit_chaperon" is a message. By "cursor input" means an indicator, movable on the interface of the first terminal, which can be positioned in front of or on any character (an ordinary character or a semantic separator), so as to indicate that the next operation performed on the interface will focus on that character or on the one that precedes or follows it, or that a next character entered will be inserted at that position. Thus, this character or the one that precedes or follows it may be modified. Often, such a cursor is represented on the interface of the first terminal with a flashing line. In the subsequently, he will be represented by "| ". However, an input cursor within the meaning of the invention is not necessarily visible, it can be implicit.

The term "modification" refers to all types of modifications that can be made to a word or message, including the replacement of one or more characters, their deletion, their addition.

Already known in the state of the art, a method of capturing and transmitting messages for interactive dialogue between two users of fixed computers interconnected by a network type Internet. In an example of this type of process, as any characters are entered on a keyboard by one of the two users, they are automatically sent via the Internet to the other user, and display one after the other on his screen. In other words, pressing a key on the keyboard, which allows you to enter the character corresponding to this key, triggers the sending of this character.

It would be particularly interesting to be able to implement such an interactive dialogue method on mobile phones.

However, a mobile phone has, for reasons of space limitation, a restricted input keyboard, that is to say that the same key is associated with several different characters. Several input modes are then adapted for this type of keyboard. One of these input modes allows the user to enter different characters according to the number of times he successively presses the same key. Another example of input mode used on restricted input keypads is to press each key once per character to be selected, then, during word input, to recognize and display a predefined word from the possibilities of possible combinations of selected character. Thus, with such input modes, as the pressing of the same key makes it possible to enter several characters, the transmission of characters by the mobile telephone network, one after the other, would considerably encumber the network whose bit rate is a rare resource.

In the field of mobile telephony, a method of transmitting messages is known in which the user enters a complete message and then sends it. But this type of process is less interactive than the process used on desktop computers.

Thus, it is difficult to adapt the interactive dialogue method on terminals with restricted input keyboard, especially because of the input mode used for these input keypads. The present invention aims to overcome this disadvantage by providing a method and a terminal for the transmission of a message by which the interactivity between the transmitter and the receiver is improved, even in the case of message exchange from terminals whose interface includes a restricted input keyboard and an input cursor.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method for transmitting a message from a first communication terminal to a second communication terminal, the message comprising words each consisting of a succession of ordinary characters, the words being separated two by two by at least one special character, the set of characters being entered using an interface of the first terminal comprising in particular an input cursor, characterized in that the transmission of a word to the second terminal is triggered by moving the cursor outside a modified area of the message, previously defined after the change of at least one character. Of course, the invention does not exclude that another event can also trigger the transmission of a word to the second terminal.

Thanks to this method, it is possible to transmit to the second terminal any modifications of one or more previously transmitted words, or even of the complete message. This transmission of the modification or modifications is done automatically, when the cursor leaves a zone, this zone being defined beforehand as a result of the modification or modifications made on at least one character in this zone. This movement of the cursor triggers the transmission of the word, contained in this zone, and therefore of the one or more modifications, without the user having to implement a step that is added to the movement of the cursor. Note that changing a character includes adding, replacing, or deleting that character.

A method according to the invention may further include one or more of the following features.

- The transmission of a word to the second terminal is also triggered by the input, end of the message, a special character. Thus, not only can the invention automatically transmit changes of words previously transmitted to the second terminal, but it also allows words to be transmitted to the second terminal as they are entered at the end of the message on the first terminal. , which considerably improves the interactivity between the two terminals, in particular because the user of the first terminal does not have to execute an operation particular to trigger the transmission of a word. Indeed, it suffices, to transmit a word, that the user enters a semantic separator type special character, which operation is part of the message entry operation and therefore does not constitute an additional operation to be implemented by the user. 'user. Preferably, the special character whose input triggers the transmission of a word follows the transmitted word. The modified area is defined as a word containing at least one added, replaced or deleted character, or as a sequence of words adjacent to that character or characters. Thus, since this zone preferably includes the word transmitted to the second terminal, the latter can display the modification made to update the message. Note however that the modified area does not necessarily include the word transmitted to the second terminal. Indeed, the modified area may be different from the zone transmitted to the second terminal. For example, it could be envisaged that the so-called modified zone is in fact a supervised zone corresponding to a special character (for example that following a word that has undergone a modification), and that the zone transmitted to the second terminal when the cursor moves in outside this guarded zone (of this special character) corresponds to the word that precedes it. The method includes a step of warning the second terminal that a modified area has been defined on the first terminal. The method comprises a step of invalidating, on the second terminal, a word containing at least one added, replaced or deleted character, or a sequence of words adjacent to this or these characters. Such invalidation can thus be an indication to the user of the second terminal that a word recently transmitted is being modified, for example by blocking the word displayed on the second terminal. When the cursor moves outside the modified area, the contents of this modified area are compared to words containing at least one added, replaced or deleted character, or words adjacent to that character or characters as they were before adding, replacing or deleting this or these characters. Such a comparison makes it possible to identify whether the zone has actually been modified. When the cursor moves outside the modified area, the message content is compared to the message as it was before the replacing or deleting at least one character. Such a comparison makes it possible to identify whether the message has actually been modified. In the process, if a difference has been revealed by the comparison, the transmission is triggered; otherwise, the method comprises a step of warning the second terminal that no difference has been revealed by the comparison. Thus, it avoids cluttering the network in the event that a modification has taken place without finally leading to a modification of the word, and the second terminal, which has been warned of a modification, is warned that it has not been modified. not occurred. The invention further relates to a method according to claim 14.

The invention also relates to a communication terminal comprising an interface including in particular an input cursor, means for transmitting, to a second communication terminal, a message input using the interface, the message comprising words. each constituted by a succession of ordinary characters, the words being separated two by two by at least one special character, said terminal comprising:

means for detecting the movement of the input cursor,

means for detecting the modification of at least one character, characterized in that it further comprises: means for defining a modified zone of the message, following the modification of at least one character in this modified area, and

means for detecting movement of the cursor outside a modified zone of the message and

means for triggering the transmission of a word. Such a terminal may further comprise input means comprising a keyboard provided with keys each associated with several different characters.

Possibly the terminal comprises means for detecting a number of successive presses on a key associated with several different characters, for the determination of the character entered. Alternatively, the terminal comprises means for detecting at each moment a combination of keys activated successively during the input of a word and means for associating, with this combination of activated keys, a combination of characters. from a list of predetermined possible combinations.

Optionally, the terminal comprises a character display screen, display means of the message being inputted to be transmitted to the other terminal in a first predetermined area of this screen, and display means a message transmitted to the other terminal and received by said terminal in a se∞nde predetermined area of this screen, different from the first.

The invention also relates to a computer program for transmitting a message from a first communication terminal to a second communication terminal, the message comprising words each constituted by a succession of ordinary characters separated in pairs. by at least one special character, comprising program code instructions for implementing the method defined above, when said program is executed on calculation means.

The invention further relates to a recording medium readable by a computer on which is recorded such a computer program.

Finally, a subject of the invention is a stream of data that can be downloaded, containing the information necessary for reconstituting this computer program.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a communication terminal according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of the completion of a message during a method of capturing and transmitting messages according to the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a functional diagram of the modification of a message during a method of capturing and transmitting messages according to a first embodiment of the invention.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, a communication terminal according to the invention is for example a mobile telephone 10, comprising an interface enabling a user to enter or read information. This interface includes a keyboard 12 for character input and a screen 14 for displaying characters. The keyboard 12 comprises an input cursor 15, any character input keys 16 to 25, a "return" or "delete" key 26, as well as other unrepresented input keys.

The "return" key 26 is a key for correcting an error by clearing from screen 14 the last character entered.

The input keys 16 to 25 are each associated with several different characters. Thus, the key 16 is associated in particular with the number 1 and the character "space". The character "space" is a special character within the meaning of the invention, forming a semantic separator for separating the words between them. The key 17 is associated with ordinary characters, namely the number "2" and the letters "a", "b" and "c". The key 18 is associated with the number "3", as well as the letters "d", "e" and T. The keys 19 to 24 are also each associated with a number and with three or four letters (for example, the key 21 is associated with the number "6", as well as with the letters "m", "n" and "o"). Finally, key 25 is associated with the digit "0" as well as the character ".", The character "." being also considered as a semantic separator according to the invention. In this embodiment, only the characters "space" and "." are predefined as semantic separators in the mobile telephone 10. According to other embodiments, other characters can be predefined as semantic separators, such as the underlined space, the line break, the pound sign (#), the at sign (@), punctuation characters, such as comma, semicolon, question mark, exclamation point.

The mobile phone 10 further comprises means 27 for detecting the seizure of a character, including means 27a for detecting the seizure of a semantic separator, and means 28 for detecting the position and movement of the cursor . These means 27, 28 are connected to calculation means 29, a microprocessor cooperating with storage means 30, constituting a recording medium readable by the calculation means 29, notably comprising a buffer memory. By combining these means, the phone has means for detecting the entry of a special character at the end of the message and also means for detecting the addition, deletion or replacement of a character. The means 29 may further define a modified zone and activate means 31 for triggering the transmission of one or more words or a message to another terminal.

The mobile telephone 10 finally comprises means for displaying a message being inputted and intended to be transmitted to another terminal in a first zone 32 of the screen 14, and means for displaying a transmitted message. by the other terminal and received by the mobile phone 10 in a second zone 34 of this screen, distinct from the first.

In a first step, the following describes the seizure of a succession of any characters by the user on the mobile phone 10 regardless of their place in a message.

The user pre-programs the telephone 10 so that it is set in input mode and proceeds as follows.

If he wishes, for example, to enter the word "hello", he begins by entering the first letter "b" by successively pressing the key 17 twice. Then the means 27 recognize that it is the letter "b" which has have been entered, display it on the screen and the means 29 then trigger the storage of this letter in the buffer memory 30. To enter At the second letter, the user successively presses the key 21 three times. The means 27, 29 then detect that it is the letter "o" which has been entered after the letter "b", display it and store it in memory 30, following the letter "b". To enter the letter "n", the user successively presses twice the key 21. The means 27, 29 then recognize the letter "n" which is added after the other two characters "bo" stored in the memory 30 The rest of the character input is done in the same way and ends with the complete word "hello".

According to another type of character input by a user, the mobile phone 10 stores in its memory 30 a predefined list of words that can be entered by the user for the writing of his messages. When the user wants to enter the word "hello", he presses only once each key associated in particular to the character he wants to enter, activating means 27, 27a, 29. Thus, he first presses the key 17. As it means that the word he wants to enter begins with the letter "a", "b" or "c", means 29 selects, in the predefined list of words, a list including all the words beginning with the letter "a", "b" or "c". The screen then displays for example the letter "a" in the zone 32. Then, when it presses the key 21 to enter the second letter of its word, the means 29 select from the list previously selected, all the words for which the second letter is the letter "m", "n" or "o". Thus, this new list has fewer words than the list previously selected. If this list contains words beginning with "am" then the screen displays this string. When the user then presses the key 21 to enter the third letter, the means 29 select, from this list, only the words whose third letter is "m", "n" or "o". When the user then presses the key 20 to enter the fourth letter of "hello", there is more in the last list selected by the detection means 27, the character strings "hello" and "cool" ". "cool" is for example displayed on the screen 14. But when the user presses the key 21 to enter the fifth letter of "hello", only the word "hello" is in the list. This word is then displayed on the screen of the telephone 10 and also stored in the buffer memory 30. The method according to the invention for transmitting a message to a recipient mobile telephone 40, for example same type as the mobile phone 10. This description is made with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

It is assumed that the user has already transmitted to the terminal 40 the message "le_petit_chaperon", using the method according to the invention, and that it is about to complete this message or to modify it. The message being typed is displayed in field 32 of the terminal 10, and the transmitted message is displayed on display means of the second terminal 40.

The case where the user wishes to complete the message is shown in FIG.

For example, he wants to send the message "le_petit_chaperon_rouge_". It is assumed that the input cursor 15 is positioned at the end of the message displayed in the display area 32: "le_petit_chaperon_ |"

When the user enters the first character "r" during a step 42, pressing one or more times successively on the same key, we go to a step 44 of display, in the display area 32 of the 14, the character entered, as well as a detection step 46, by the means 28, the position of the cursor 15 in the zone 32 and the type of character entered by the means 27.

Step 46 is followed by a test step 48 on the position of the cursor 15. If the cursor is not positioned at the end of the message in the zone 32, the process is returned to a method 50 similar to that described on Figure 3. If the cursor is positioned at the end of the message, we move on to another test step

52 on the category of the character that has been entered.

Indeed, the character entered can be part of two distinct categories: either the category "special character", if the entered character is recognized as being one of the predetermined special characters, or a category "ordinary character" otherwise. The result of the test 52 being the category "ordinary character", we go to a stage

54 in which the character entered, in this case "r", is stored in the buffer memory 30, then the process is carried over to step 42.

The user then enters in the same way the other characters of the word "red" then the special character "_". After entering the "_" character, the test result is the "special character" category. In other words, the means 29 detect the entry of a special character at the end of the message. We first go to a step 56 for storing the word "red" in the memory 30. Then, we go to a step 58 of triggering by the means 31 of the transmission of the word "red" stored in the buffer memory 30 in the mobile telephone 40. In the example described, the word "red" is completed with the special character "_", which is sent together with this word. However, the special character "_" can be sent at the same time as the next or only word.

The transmission 60 of the word to the mobile telephone 40 is followed by the reception 62 of the word and the display 64 of this word on the screen of the telephone 40, following the other words already transmitted, thus displaying "the_small_red_percent_" . The method is carried over to step 42 so as to send other words following the words transmitted.

When the user has entered the last ordinary characters of his message and he does not seize a semantic separator, he can however press a key for sending this word, for example an "Enter" key or a specific key provided. on the telephone 10, to transmit the end of the message to the second communication terminal. He can also press this key at any time and send the current word, without having to enter the special character.

In addition to the transmission of the words as they are entered at the end of the message on the first terminal, described above, the method according to the invention makes it possible to update the message recently transmitted when the user there makes changes. This possibility is described below, with reference to FIG.

It is assumed that the user of the telephone has already transmitted the message "le_petit_chaperon_" to the telephone 40 and that he is about to modify it. Specifically, the user wants to replace the word "small" with "nice".

The process begins with user movement of the cursor 15 within the message displayed in the display area 32 of the telephone 10. The cursor 15 thus moves from the "small_chaperon" position. at the position "le_petit | _chaperon_".

The user begins by removing, during a step 72, the character "t". This step triggers a step 74 of definition, by the means 29, of a zone, called "modified zone", constituted, at this stage of the process, by the word "peti". During this step, the buffer memory 30 stores the modified area.

This step is followed by a step 76 of the telephone 40 warning that a modified zone, corresponding to "small", has been set on the telephone 10. The reception 78 of this warning by the telephone 40 is followed by a step 80 of invalidation of the word "small", in which the character "t" was deleted, on this phone, and display 82 of this invalidation, to warn the user of this phone 40 that the word is In the process of being modified. For example, the message appears as "le_petit ₌ chaperon_". The display of the invalidation can take a form other than the strikethrough, one can use a different color of the not invalidated words, or simply erase the invalidated word, or a part of the invalidated word.

On the phone 10, the displayed message is "le_peti _ _ chaperon_", the cursor 15 being positioned in the modified area.

The warning step 76 is followed on the telephone 10 by further steps 84 of adding, replacing, or deleting a character in the area being edited. In this case, the user deletes successively the characters "i", "t", "e", "p" and add the characters "g", "e", "n", "t", "i", "I". The content of the modified zone is thus successively "peti", "pet", "pe", "p", "", "g", "ge", "gen", "gent", "genti", and finally "kind". The message thus becomes "le_gentil | _chaperon_", with the cursor 15 always positioned in the modified zone, always constituted by the word in which the characters were added or deleted, namely, at this stage of the process, the word "gentil | ". Once all the modifications made to the word "small", the user again moves cursor 15, during a step 86, for example until the end of the message, to complete it according to a method 88 such as that described in Figure 2.

During the displacement 86, the cursor 15 leaves the modified zone, which triggers a step 90 of storage of the contents of this zone in the means 30.

The storage 90 is followed by a step 92 of comparison, by the means 29, of the content of the zone modified with the word "small", which corresponds to the word in which at least one character has been added, replaced or deleted, such it was before adding, replacing, or deleting this or these characters. If the content of the zone is identical to the word, which would have been the case if the user had deleted "small" then finally added the same characters "small", it triggers a warning step 76 of the second terminal that no difference has been revealed by the comparison, and the transmission of the corrected word is therefore not necessary. This triggers a cancellation of the invalidation by the second terminal and then the process is reported in step 70.

If the content of the field is different from the word of the field as it was before the addition, replacement or deletion of one or more characters, in this case if it is different from the word "small" , step 92 is followed by a step 94 of transmitting this content to the telephone 40. Upon reception 96 of this content by the telephone 40, the word "small", which had been invalidated during step 80 , is replaced in the message by the received content, ie the word "nice", during a step 98, followed by the display 100 of the updated message "le_gentil_chaperon_".

In the case where the user wants to insert a special character, for example "_", in the middle of a word, for example if he wants to change "chaperone" into "chape_ron", the modified zone is defined as being a continuation words adjacent to this character "_", ie, when the addition of this character has been done by the user, the modified area includes the words "clevis" and "ron".

The invalidation 80 of a part of the message on the second terminal is then the invalidation of the word "chaperone", displayed "chaperone". In the case where the user wants to delete a special character between two words, for example "_", for example if he wants to change "nice_chaperon" to "gentilchaperon", the modified zone is defined as being the word in which this character "_" has been deleted. In fact, when the deletion of this character has been done by the user, the modified zone includes the word "gentilchaperon".

The invalidation 80 of a part of the message on the second terminal then includes the invalidation of the word sequence adjacent to the added, replaced, or, as here, deleted character. It is here the invalidation of the words "nice" and "chaperon", being able to be displayed "gθntil_chapθron" or "gθntil_chapθron". According to another embodiment, the comparison 92 is a comparison of the content of the message to the message as it was before the addition, replacement or deletion of at least one character.

In a variant not shown, it does not implement the comparison step 92 and the transmission of the word or words of the modified area is implemented in all cases.

It will be noted that the means 27, 28, 29, 30 constitute hardware and software means, the software means comprising a computer program, intended to transmit a message from the telephone 10 to the telephone 40. This program includes code instructions for the implementation of the method described above, when the program is executed on the calculation means.

This program is able to detect, among other things, that the message has been modified, the cursor has been moved and the user requests the sending of the message.

The information necessary for reconstituting this computer program on the telephone 10 constitutes a data stream that can be downloaded from another communication terminal.

Finally, note that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above.

In particular, the so-called modified zone may be a "monitored" zone, different from the zone transmitted to the second terminal. Thus, this monitored area does not necessarily include the word transmitted to the second terminal. For example, the modified area corresponds to a special character, such as the one following a word that has undergone a modification, while the zone transmitted to the second terminal when the cursor moves outside the modified area, that is, to say apart from the special character, corresponds to the word which precedes it.

In the case where the transmitted message is "small_chapter_", the modified zone could be defined as the "_" following the word "peti" which is modified, while the zone transmitted to the second terminal (transmitted at the moment when the cursor is moved and is no longer positioned just in front of the "_") corresponds to the word "nice" which precedes the modified zone.

Claims

A method of transmitting a message from a first communication terminal to a second communication terminal, the message comprising words each constituted by a succession of ordinary characters, the words being separated two by two by at least one special character, the set of characters being entered using an interface of the first terminal including in particular an input cursor (15), characterized in that the transmission of a word to the second terminal is triggered by the movement ( 86, 106) of the cursor outside a modified area of the message, previously defined following a change of at least one character.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of a word to the second terminal is further triggered by the input (58), end of the message, a special character, preferably according to this word.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the modified area is defined as a word containing at least one added, replaced or deleted character, or as a sequence of words adjacent to this or these characters.

The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, including a step of warning (76) of the second terminal that a modified area has been defined on the first terminal.

5. Method according to claim 4, comprising an invalidation step

(80), on the second terminal, a word containing at least one character added, replaced or deleted, or a sequence of words adjacent to this or these characters.

The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein when the cursor (15) moves out (86) of the modified area, the contents of this modified area are compared (92) with the words containing the minus an added, replaced or deleted character, or words adjacent to that character or characters, as they were before the addition, replacement or deletion of that character or characters.

A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein when the cursor (15) moves out (86) of the modified area, the message content is compared to the message as it was before the adding, replacing or deleting at least one character.

The method according to a combination of claims 4 and 6 or 4 and 7, wherein:

- if a difference has been revealed by the comparison, the transmission is triggered; - Otherwise, the method comprises a warning step (76) of the second terminal that no difference has been revealed by the comparison.

9. Communication terminal (10) comprising an interface including in particular an input cursor (15), means for transmitting, to a second communication terminal, a message input using the interface, the message comprising words each consisting of a succession of ordinary characters, the words being separated two by two by at least one special character, said terminal comprising:

means (28) for detecting the movement of the input cursor (15); means for detecting the modification of at least one character, characterized in that it further comprises:

means for defining a modified zone of the message, following the modification of at least one character in this modified zone,

means for detecting the movement (86) of the cursor outside a modified zone of the message, and

means (31) for triggering the transmission of a word.

10. Terminal according to claim 9, comprising input means comprising a keyboard (12) provided with keys each associated with several different characters.

A computer program for transmitting a message from a first communication terminal (10) to a second communication terminal, the message comprising words each consisting of a succession of ordinary characters separated two by two by at least one a special character, comprising program code instructions for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, when said program is executed on computing means.

12. A computer-readable recording medium on which a computer program is recorded according to claim 11.

13. Data streams for download, containing the information necessary for reconstitution of a computer program according to claim 12.

A method of transmitting a message from a first communication terminal to a second communication terminal, the message comprising words each consisting of a succession of ordinary characters separated two by two by at least one special character, set of characters being entered with the aid of a interface of the first terminal including an input cursor (15), characterized in that the transmission of a word to the second terminal is triggered:

or by the input (58), at the end of the message, of a special character following this word, or by the movement (86, 106) of the cursor outside a modified zone of the message, previously defined afterwards the addition, replacement or deletion of at least one character.