Patent ID: 6400805
Filing Date: 2002-06-04
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
A method of recognizing an identifier entered by a user, the identifier including a first plurality of predetermined characters, the method comprising the steps of:a) providing a recognized identifier based on the entered identifier, the recognized identifier comprising a second plurality of predetermined characters; b) providing a plurality of reference identifiers, each one of the plurality of reference identifiers comprising a different plurality of predetermined characters; c) providing a plurality of confusion sets, each confusion set grouping together a different set of character members; d) comparing at least one character in the recognized identifier with a character in a corresponding character position of a current reference identifier to determine which characters in the recognized identifier do not correspond to the characters in the corresponding character positions of the current reference identifier; e) eliminating the current reference identifier if the character of any character position of the recognized identifier does not match the character in the corresponding character position of the current reference identifier and if the characters in the corresponding character positions of the recognized identifier and the current reference identifier are not from the same confusion set; f) repeating steps d) and e) for every reference identifier, the remaining non-eliminated reference identifiers comprising a set of candidate reference identifiers; g) reducing, if the set of candidate reference identifiers includes more than one reference identifier, the set of candidate of reference identifiers to a single reference identifier in accordance with a set of predetermined criteria; and h) selecting the candidate reference identifier remaining in the set of candidate reference identifiers as corresponding to the input identifier.