WO2008136647A1

WO2008136647A1 - A keypad array of mobile phone for inputting characters of russian language

Info

Publication number: WO2008136647A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/002588
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Jae Jung; Hong Jae Jung
Original assignee: Young Jae Jung; Hong Jae Jung
Priority date: 2007-05-08
Filing date: 2008-05-08
Publication date: 2008-11-13
Also published as: KR20080099060A

Abstract

Disclosed is a keypad array of a mobile phone for inputting Cyrillic characters of languages of the Russian region, including key buttons each allocated with numbers and functional marks from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom, in the same manner as general key pads. According to the keypad array, consonants and vowels of the Cyrillic characters are allocated to the respective buttons, as grouped into a plurality of characters having geometrically similar forms, the consonants and the vowels of each group are arranged in order of frequency of use based on statistically obtained data, the key buttons disposed along a left line and a lower line of the keypad array are defined as a vowel area, in consideration of better visual recognition and easier access of a user's fingers to the keypad array during the user's operation of the keypad array, and characters A,E,H,O,bI and Y among the vowels and characters B,K,H,T and III among the consonants are selected as main characters of the respective key buttons.

Description

A KEYPAD ARRAY OF MOBILE PHONE FOR INPUTTING CHARACTERS OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a keypad array of a mobile terminal for inputting characters of languages used in the Russian region, and more particularly to a keypad array applied to mobile terminals including a mobile phone and a personal digital assistance (PDA) and further to a computer keyboard, being capable of inputting characters of Russian or other similar languages more efficiently than conventional inputting systems. Background Art

[2] In general information devices such as a mobile phone and a PDA, a keypad as a human-machine interface has been the most efficient device ever, capable of inputting characters through a limited number of operational keys by user's manual operation.

[3] Such a character inputting system physically provides the limited number of operational keys for the user to learn the usage of the keys and accordingly input desired characters, and therefore is being widely used to deliver specific messages.

[4] In recent days, short message service (SMS) for delivery of messages or notification is in increasing use. Especially, in case of the mobile phone, the use range of the SMS is infinitely increasing. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[5] Meanwhile, although characters of each language have their own forms and characteristics according to the language regions, due to lack of developmental capability of minor countries, inputting of the characters has been achieved on the basis of English as the international standard language having a high technical applicability. Whereas, characters of other languages having similar vowel and consonant systems to English are input by compositely inputting vowels and consonants of the corresponding language in the same manner as English.

[6] However, compared to English given high priority of technical consideration, other similar languages such as Russian is not much considered when the characters thereof are grouped and arranged on the keypad, in spite of considerable differences from English in view of the word formation and the structure of characters. That is, the grouping and arranging of the characters of the other languages have been performed just taking after the English alphabet arranging method, without any consideration of human engineering, psychology and the principle of forming the characters. Ac- cordingly, to smoothly input the characters as desired, the user has to get familiar with the inputting system only by repeated use and dedicated practice. Technical Solution

[7] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a keypad array for inputting characters of a Russian language, being structured in consideration of not only similarity between Russian and English but also peculiar design of the Russian alphabet.

[8] It is another object of the present invention to provide a keypad array for inputting characters of Russian, being optimized for inputting of characters in mobile terminals and capable of maximizing the convenience in use so as to be applied to mobile phones for exportation to countries of the Russian region of which the market is growing and promising, thereby overcoming difficulties of inputting characters of the languages other than English.

[9] Since an inputting system dedicated for Russian characters is not yet standardized, the keypad array according to the present invention will provide the optimal efficiency and thereby enable technological domination.

[10] A basic language applied to the keypad of a mobile phone for inputting Russian characters according to the present invention uses the Cyrillic alphabet comprising totally 33 characters classified into 10 vowels, 21 consonants and 2 marks.

[11] At present, languages notated by the Cyrillic alphabet include Abbazia, Abkhazian,

Adighean, Afar, Azerbaijan, Kazakh, Kirghizstan, Komi, Macedonian, Ruthenian, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Yakut, Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Mongol and so on.

[12] Accordingly, the keypad array of a mobile phone for inputting languages of the

Russian region is applicable not only to Russian but also to many other languages having similar linguistic systems to Russian. Thus, the applicability of the present invention will be infinite.

Advantageous Effects

[13] As can be appreciated from the above description, the present invention provides a keypad array for inputting characters of Russian region languages in a mobile phone, capable of reducing the number of key operations by about 50% in comparison with the conventional character inputting method, and enabling any user to easily get aware of the keypad array within a few days.

[14] This can be achieved because allocation of the vowels and the consonants to the key buttons constituting the keypad is performed not merely according to the dictionary order but based on morphological forms. Therefore, any user who knows the Russian characters is able to easily and associatively learn the usage. Also, since the allocation is performed to greatly improve the user's psychological access, the moving path of the user's fingers can be considerably reduced during inputting of the characters. Brief Description of the Drawings

[15] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[16] Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a keypad array of a mobile phone, being conventionally used in the Russian region;

[17] Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a keypad array of a mobile phone for inputting characters of languages of the Russian region, according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[18] Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a keypad array for inputting characters of Russian, according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and

[19] Fig. 4 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a keypad array for inputting characters of Russian, according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[20] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a keypad array of a mobile phone for inputting Cyrillic characters of languages of the Russian region, including key buttons each allocated with numbers and functional marks from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom, in the same manner as general key pads, wherein consonants and vowels of the Cyrillic characters are allocated to the respective buttons, as grouped into a plurality of characters having geometrically similar forms, the consonants and the vowels of each group are arranged in order of frequency of use based on statistically obtained data, the key buttons disposed along a left line and a lower line of the keypad array are defined as a vowel area, in consideration of better visual recognition and easier access of a user's fingers to the keypad array during the user's operation of the keypad array, and characters A,E,H,O,bI and Y among the vowels and characters B,K,H,T and III among the consonants are selected as main characters of the respective key buttons. Mode for the Invention

[21] Hereinafter, a keypad array of a mobile phone for inputting Russian characters according exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[22] Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a conventional keypad array of a mobile phone, being used in the Russian region. Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a keypad array of a mobile phone for inputting characters of languages of the Russian region, according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a keypad array for inputting characters of Russian, according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a partial perspective view and a plan view showing a keypad array for inputting characters of Russian, according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[23] In the conventional keypad K of a mobile phone for languages used in the Russian region, as shown in Fig. 1, the Russian characters are grouped and allocated to respective key buttons B to the numeric keys from a numeric key 2 in alphabetical order as in conventional mobiles phones for English. In case of English, respectively three characters are sequentially allocated to each key button B. Meanwhile, in order to allocate totally 33 characters of the Cyrillic alphabet to the limited number of key buttons B, the Cyrillic characters are grouped by four and allocated from the numeric key 2.

[24] For this reason, it is inconvenient for a user to find each vowel or consonant to be input, according to the alphabetical order. Furthermore, since the arrangement of the vowels and the consonants has nearly nothing to do with linguistic characteristics or the frequency of use, when the user actually inputs characters using the key buttons B each including four characters thereon, it does not merely cause arithmetic difficulty due to addition of only one character, but greatly increases the complexity. That is, inconvenience in the inputting operation actually increases by several times.

[25] Hereinafter, a keypad array KR of a mobile phone P for inputting characters of

Russian according to the first embodiment will be explained in greater detail with Fig. 2. A modified keypad array according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be explained with Fig. 3.

[26] [Embodiment 1]

[27] Russian characters include 10 vowels of A(a), E(ye), E(yo), H(i), O(o), Y(u), BI(y),

3(e), K)(yu), and Λ(ya). The Russian characters further include 21 consonants of B(b), B(v), r(g), A(d), EC(Zh), 3(z), H(y), K(k), Jl(I), M(m), H(n), II(p), P(r), C(s), T(t), Φ(f), X(kh), rJ,(ts), H(tch), IΙI(sh), and IH(shc). Additionally, the Russian characters include a fortis mark TD called 'TBep^biή 3Haκ' and a long vowel mark b called 'T5IΓKHH 3Haκ.' Hereinafter, the pronunciation of the above characters will be repeatedly explained.

[28] In the keypad KR of a mobile phone PR for inputting the Russian characters according to the first embodiment, key buttons BR of the keypad array KR are allocated as follows: [29] (1) As in general conventional keypad arrays, numeric keys and function keys (*, #) are sequentially arranged in order from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom.

[30] (2) The consonants and the vowels are grouped by three characters on the basis of geometrical similarity. That is, respectively three consonants or vowels having similar forms to one another are allocated to each key button BR. Therefore, the user will be able to learn the arrangement of the characters more easily than the conventional arrangement in which each key button includes four characters in the alphabetical order.

[31] (3) Among the three similar vowels or consonants of each group, a vowel or a consonant most frequently used in general sentences is selected as a main character of the group representing the corresponding key button BR of the keypad array KR. Vowels A,E,H,O,bI and Y and consonants B,K,H,T and III are selected as the main characters.

[32] In addition, on a numeric key 1 where the character A is allocated, characters ,U, and

Α having similar forms to the A are arranged in an order of the frequency of use.

[33] (4) On each key button BR including the vowels or the consonants grouped by the above principle, the vowels or the consonants are arranged in order of the frequency of use thereof which is statistically obtained by collecting and analyzing words used in daily life.

[34] According to such a principle, the vowels and the consonants appearing in frequently used words are given priority in the arrangement order. As a consequence, the number of key button operations can be highly reduced, thereby enabling easier and faster inputting of the characters than in the conventional system.

[35] (5) In order for the user to more easily learn the character arrangement during use of the keypad, a vowel area VA comprising the vowels is defined on key buttons BR disposed along a left line and a lower line of the keypad.

[36] (6) Functional marks frequently used or necessary for terminating a sentence, including a dash (-), a comma (,), a question mark (?), an exclamation mark (!), a semicolon (;) and the like, are allocated to a numeric key 8 and arranged according to the frequency of use, thus providing a mark area. Therefore, the user can conveniently use the functional marks while inputting other characters.

[37] (7) Frequently used numbers may be input by pressing corresponding key buttons BR once for a long time, using the conventional method.

[38] (8) An example of actual application will be specifically described:

[39] On a numeric key 2 where the character B is allocated, the characters B and T having morphologically similar forms to the B are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[40] On a numeric key 3 where the character K is allocated, the characters 5K and 3 having similar forms to the K are arranged in order of the frequency of use. [41] On a numeric key 4 where the character E is allocated, the characters E and 3 having similar forms to the E are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[42] On a numeric key 5 where the character H is allocated, the characters Jl and Il having similar forms to the H are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[43] On a numeric key 6 where the character T is allocated, the characters P and C, although not having similar forms to the T, are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[44] On a numeric key 7 where the character H is allocated, the characters M and H havi ng similar forms to the H, are arranged in order of the frequency of use as an exceptional case.

[45] On a numeric key 9 where the character III is allocated, the characters LLJ and IJ, having similar forms to the III are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[46] On an asterisk key where the character O is allocated, the characters K) and Φ having similar forms to the O are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[47] On a numeric key 0 where the character BI is allocated, the characters B and TD having similar forms to the BI are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[48] On a sharp key where the character Y is allocated, the characters H and X having similar forms to the Y are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[49] (8) Example of practical use

[50] Using the above-described keypad array KR of the mobile phone PR for inputting

Russian, the number of key operations can be saved. The actual saving effect will be explained by taking examples of sentences.

[51] (a) When inputting a sentence "EIHE HE 3HAK), MO)KET BbITb, πOHflY B

KHHO," (Not sure yet, maybe going to the theater.) with the conventional keypad array K, the numeric keys of the keypad array K are operated in order of 233 32 1314 24424 2142 14311 3 4234. That is, the inputting operations is performed totally 70 times. However, when the keypad array KR according to the embodiment of the present invention is used, the numeric keys are operated in order of 122 11 3112 21211 2112 31221 1 1111, that is, totally 41 times. Thus, the number of key operations can be reduced by up to 43%.

[52] (b) In case of inputting a sentence "A KOFflA HAHHHAETCϋ CπEKT AKJIB

?" (When is the play going to begin?), the numeric keys of the conventional keypad array K are operated in order of 1 44411 3112312435 312441412. That is, the numeric keys are input totally 62 times. On the other hand, in the keypad array KR according to the embodiment of the present invention, the numeric keys are operated in order of 1 11321 1121111123 231111122, that is, totally 37 times. Thus, the number of key operations can be reduced by 41%.

[53] [Embodiment 2] [54] Referring to Fig. 3, a keypad array KR2 of a mobile phone P2 for inputting Russian characters, according to a second embodiment of the present invention, will be described in detail. [55] The basic structures are the same as in the first embodiment. Distinctive features of the second embodiment are as follows: [56] (1) The consonants and the vowels are grouped into two or three characters having geometrically similar forms. [57] (2) On a numeric key 1, cited by a reference numeral 2-1 in the drawing, where the character A is allocated, the character ,U, having a similar form to the A and functional marks '-' and ',' being frequently used are arranged. [58] On a numeric key 6, cited by a reference numeral 2-6, where the character T is allocated, the character C, although not being similar to the T, and frequently used marks 7' and ';' are arranged. [59] On a numeric key 8, cited by a reference numeral 2-8, the characters P and Α are allocated. In addition, only the marks '?' and ' !' may be further allocated to the numeric key 8. The second embodiment with such an allocation also has the effect of saving the number of key inputting operations as much as the first embodiment. [60] [Embodiment 3]

[61] A keypad array KR3 of a mobile phone P3 according to the third embodiment is structured in almost the same manner as the second embodiment but is just a bit modified. Key buttons BR3 of the keypad array KR3 are allocated in the following manner, as shown in Fig. 4. [62] (1) From a numeric key 4, cited by a reference numeral 3-4, where the character E is allocated, the E allocated to the numeric key 4 in the second embodiment is excluded.

Instead, the 3 which is allocated to the numeric key 3 in the second embodiment is now allocated to the numeric key 4. [63] This is because the E and the E can be easily distinguished by users of Russian.

Therefore, by arranging the 3, which is more frequently used, in the numeric key 4 where characters having similar forms to the 3 are allocated, the number of key inputting operations can be reduced.

[64] On a numeric key 3, a functional mark '.' being frequently used is allocated.

[65] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Industrial Applicability [66] The present invention provides an improved and distinctive keypad array for users of Russian, as well as still providing a keypad array for users of various language regions.

Claims

[1] A keypad array of a mobile phone for inputting Cyrillic characters of languages of the Russian region, including key buttons each allocated with numbers and functional marks from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom, in the same manner as general key pads, wherein consonants and vowels of the Cyrillic characters are allocated to the respective buttons, as grouped into a plurality of characters having geometrically similar forms, the consonants and the vowels of each group are arranged in order of frequency of use based on statistically obtained data, the key buttons disposed along a left line and a lower line of the keypad array are defined as a vowel area, in consideration of better visual recognition and easier access of a user's fingers to the keypad array during the user's operation of the keypad array, and characters A,E,H,O,bI and Y among the vowels and characters B,K,H,T and III among the consonants are selected as main characters of the respective key buttons.

[2] The keypad array of a mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein functional marks including a dash (-), a comma (,), a question mark (?), an exclamation mark (!), a semicolon (;) are focusedly allocated to at least one numeric key.

[3] The keypad array of a mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the consonants and the vowels are grouped into two or three characters having geometrically similar forms and allocated to the respective key buttons by the group.

[4] The keypad array of a mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein allocation of the Cyrillic characters to the keypad array is performed in such a manner that the consonants and the vowels are grouped by three characters on the basis of geometrical similarity and, more specifically, on a numeric key 2 where the character B is allocated, the characters B and T h aving morphologically similar forms to the B are arranged in order of the frequency of use, on a numeric key 3 where the character K is allocated, the characters 5K and 3 having similar forms to the K are arranged in order of the frequency of use, on a numeric key 4 where the character E is allocated, the characters E and 3 having similar forms to the E are arranged in order of the frequency of use, on a numeric key 5 where the character H is allocated, the characters Jl and FI having similar forms to the H are arranged in order of the frequency of use, on a numeric key 6 where the character T is allocated, the characters P and C, although not having similar forms to the T, are arranged in order of the frequency of use, on a numeric key 7 where the character H is allocated, the characters M and H having similar forms to the H are arranged in order of the frequency of use as an exceptional case, on a numeric key 9 where the character III is allocated, the characters LLJ and IJ, having similar forms to the III are arranged in order of the frequency of use, on an asterisk key where the character O is allocated, the characters K) and Φ having similar forms to the O are arranged in order of the frequency of use, on a numeric key 0 where the character bl is allocated, the characters b and TD having similar forms to the bl are arranged in order of the frequency of use, and on a sharp key where the character Y is allocated, the characters H and X having similar forms to the Y are arranged in order of the frequency of use.

[5] The keypad array of a mobile phone according to claim 4, wherein allocation of the Cyrillic characters is to the keypad array is performed in such a manner that the consonants and the vowels are grouped into two or three characters having geometrically similar forms and, more specifically, on a numeric key 1 where the character A is allocated, the character ,H₁ having a similar form to the A and functional marks '-' and ',' being frequently used are arranged, on a numeric key 6 where the character T is allocated, the character C, although not being similar to the T, and frequently used marks 7' and ';' are arranged, and the characters P and Α and the marks '?' and '!' are allocated on a numeric key 8.

[6] The keypad array of a mobile phone according to claim 4, wherein the key buttons are allocated in such a manner that, from a numeric key 4 where the character E is allocated, the E allocated to the numeric key 4 is excluded and instead, the 3 is allocated to the numeric key 4.

[7] The keypad array of a mobile phone according to any one of claim 1 through claim 5, being applicable for inputting of characters of languages including Abbazia, Abkhazian, Adighean, Afar, Azerbaijan, Kazakh, Kirghizstan, Komi, Macedonian, Ruthenian, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Yakut, Russian, Ukrainian, Be- lorussian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Mongol.