Abstract:
A method for enabling generation of text on a handheld electronic device which has a plurality of input members, at least some of which have a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto, and a memory having language objects stored therein. The method comprises enabling detection of a number of input member actuations corresponding with an ambiguous input, making at least one of a determination that the number of actuations exceeds a first threshold and a determination that a quantity of predicted language objects corresponding with the ambiguous input is less than a second threshold, generating prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input and predicted language objects corresponding with the ambiguous input, each predicted language object comprising a prefix object portion and a completion portion, and providing at a text input location an output comprising a prefix object and a completion portion of a first predicted language object.

Description:
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/398,906, filed Apr. 6, 2006 incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The disclosure relates generally to handheld electronic devices and, more particularly, to an improved method of inputting text on a handheld electronic device. 
     2. Background Information 
     Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples of such handheld electronic devices include, for instance, personal data assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellular telephones, and the like. Although some handheld electronic devices are stand-alone devices, many feature wireless communication capability for communication with other devices. 
     Such handheld electronic devices are generally intended to be portable, and thus are of a relatively compact configuration in which keys and other input structures often perform multiple functions under certain circumstances or may otherwise have multiple aspects or features assigned thereto. With advances in technology, handheld electronic devices are built to have progressively smaller form factors yet have progressively greater numbers of applications and features resident thereon. As a practical matter, the keys of a keypad can only be reduced to a certain small size before the keys become relatively unusable. In order to enable text entry, however, a keypad must be capable of entering all twenty-six letters of the Latin alphabet, for instance, as well as appropriate punctuation and other symbols. 
     One way of providing numerous letters in a small space has been to provide a “reduced keyboard” in which multiple letters, symbols, and/or digits, and the like, are assigned to any given key. For example, a touch-tone telephone includes a reduced keypad by providing twelve keys, of which ten have digits thereon, and of these ten keys eight have Latin letters assigned thereto. For instance, one of the keys includes the digit “2” as well as the letters “A”, “B”, and “C”. Other known reduced keyboards have included other arrangements of keys, letters, symbols, digits, and the like. Since a single actuation of such a key potentially could be intended by the user to refer to any of the letters “A”, “B”, and “C”, and potentially could also be intended to refer to the digit “2”, the input generally is an ambiguous input and is in need of some type of disambiguation in order to be useful for text entry purposes. 
     In order to enable a user to make use of the multiple letters, digits, and the like on any given key, numerous keystroke interpretation systems have been provided. For instance, a “multi-tap” system allows a user to substantially unambiguously specify a particular character on a key by pressing the same key a number of times equivalent to the position of the desired character on the key. For example, on the aforementioned telephone key that includes the letters “ABC”, and the user desires to specify the letter “C”, the user will press the key three times. While such multi-tap systems have been generally effective for their intended purposes, they nevertheless can require a relatively large number of key inputs compared with the number of characters that ultimately are output. 
     Another exemplary keystroke interpretation system would include key chording, of which various types exist. For instance, a particular character can be entered by pressing two keys in succession or by pressing and holding first key while pressing a second key. Still another exemplary keystroke interpretation system would be a “press-and-hold/press-and-release” interpretation function in which a given key provides a first result if the key is pressed and immediately released, and provides a second result if the key is pressed and held for a short period of time. While the systems have likewise been generally effective for their intended purposes, such systems also have their own unique drawbacks. 
     Another keystroke interpretation system that has been employed is a software-based text disambiguation function. In such a system, a user typically presses keys to which one or more characters have been assigned, generally pressing each key one time for each desired letter, and the disambiguation software attempts to determine the intended input. More specifically, the disambiguation software produces a list of suggested prefix objects that the user may select while typing a message. Typically, after selecting one of the suggested prefix objects, the user must press additional keys to enter the remaining characters needed to complete the desired word. 
     It would be desirable to provide an improved handheld electronic device with a reduced keyboard that seeks to mimic a QWERTY keyboard experience or other particular keyboard experience. Such an improved handheld electronic device might also desirably be configured with enough features to enable text entry and other tasks with relative ease. More specifically, it would be desirable for such an improved handheld electronic device to have improved text entry capabilities. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A full understanding can be gained from the following Description of the Preferred Embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a top plan view of an improved handheld electronic device. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic depiction of the handheld electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary output during a text entry operation. 
         FIG. 4  is another exemplary output during another part of the text entry operation. 
         FIG. 5  is another exemplary output during another part of the text entry operation. 
         FIG. 6  is another exemplary output during another part of the text entry operation. 
         FIG. 7  is another exemplary output during another part of the text entry operation. 
         FIG. 8  is another exemplary output during another part of the text entry operation. 
         FIG. 9  is an exemplary flowchart depicting certain aspects of the disambiguation and predictive text functions that can be executed on the handheld electronic device of  FIG. 1  according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is an exemplary flowchart depicting certain aspects of the disambiguation and predictive text functions that can be executed on the handheld electronic device of  FIG. 1  according to another embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is an exemplary flowchart depicting certain aspects of the disambiguation and predictive text functions that can be executed on the handheld electronic device of  FIG. 1  according to another embodiment. 
     
    
    
     Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     An improved handheld electronic device  4  is indicated generally in  FIG. 1  and is depicted schematically in  FIG. 2 . The exemplary handheld electronic device  4  includes a housing  6  upon which is disposed a processor unit that includes an input apparatus  8 , an output apparatus  12 , a processor  16 , and a memory  20  for storing at least a first routine  22 . The processor  16  may be, for instance, and without limitation, a microprocessor (μP) and is responsive to input signals from the input apparatus  8  and provides output signals to the output apparatus  12 . The processor  16  also interfaces with the memory  20  and is capable of executing the at least first routine  22 . Examples of handheld electronic devices are included in U.S. Pat. No. 6,452,588, U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,317, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,950, which are incorporated by reference herein. 
     As can be understood from  FIG. 1 , the output apparatus  12  includes a display  60 , an LED  15 , and a speaker  14 , each of which may be responsive to one or more output signals from the processor  16 . The input apparatus  8  includes a keypad  24  and a thumbwheel  32 . The keypad  24  is in the exemplary form of a full QWERTY keyboard including a plurality of keys  28  that serve as input members. The keys  28  are disposed on a front face of the housing  6 , and the thumbwheel  32  is disposed at a side of the housing  6 . The thumbwheel  32  can serve as another input member and is both rotatable, as is indicated by the arrow  34 , to provide input to the processor  16 , and also can travel in a direction generally toward the housing  6 , as is indicated by the arrow  38 , to provide other input to the processor  16 . 
     Many of the keys  28  include a number of linguistic elements  48  disposed thereon. As employed herein, the expression “a number of” and variations thereof shall refer broadly to any non-zero quantity, including a quantity of one. As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , one of the keys  28  of the keypad  24  includes as the linguistic elements  48  thereof the letter “O” and the letter “P”. Generally speaking, the handheld electronic device  4  is structured such that the processor  16  recognizes, as an input thereof one of the number of linguistic elements  48  disposed on an actuated key  28 . For example, when a user is composing a message and actuates the key  28  having the linguistic elements  48  “O” and “P” disposed thereon, the processor  16  is structured to recognize that the user is attempting to insert the letter “O” or the letter “P” into the message. 
     The memory  20  can be any one or more of a variety of types of internal and/or external storage media such as, without limitation, RAM, ROM, EPROM(s), EEPROM(s), and the like that provide a storage register for data storage such as in the fashion of an internal storage area of a computer, and can be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory. The memory  20  includes a number of routines depicted generally with the numeral  22  for the processing of data. The routines  22  can be in any of a variety of forms such as, without limitation, software, firmware, and the like. As will be explained in greater detail below, the routines  22  include a disambiguation application and a predictive text application, as well as other routines. 
     An exemplary input sequence is depicted in  FIGS. 3-8 . In this example, the user is in the process of entering the message “I am having my carpet cleaned tomorrow” (See  FIG. 8 ). Referring briefly to  FIG. 3 , the words “I am having my” have been output as a text component  68  on display  60 . Each word (e.g., “I”, “am”, “having”, and “my”) represents a delimited input as is generally know. As seen in  FIG. 3 , the user has also actuated the key  28  having the linguistic elements &lt;C&gt; and &lt;V&gt; disposed thereon. As a result, the disambiguation application  22  generates a first prefix object “C” as well as another prefix object “V”. Each prefix object is associated with a frequency object. In the current embodiment, the frequency object associated with the prefix object “C” has a frequency value greater than that of the frequency object associated with prefix object “V”. Thus, the prefix object “C” is provided at a text input location  69 . 
     Additionally, the disambiguation application generates a variant component  72  comprised of a default portion  76 , a variant portion  80 , and a functional portion  46 . In the current embodiment, the prefix object located at the default portion  76  is the same as the prefix object displayed at the text input location  69  (i.e., the prefix object “C”). In the current embodiment, the functional portion  46  allows, for example, the user to scroll to view additional prefix objects should the number of prefix objects returned by the disambiguation application exceed the display space available in the variant component  72 . 
     In the current embodiment, the number of actuations detected by the processor  16  (e.g., after a delimited input) is compared to a first threshold value. If the number of actuations detected is less than the first threshold, the predictive text application is not executed by the processor  16 . However, if the number of actuations detected is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the predictive text application may be executed by the processor  16 . 
     In the current embodiment, for example, the first threshold is set at two. As seen in  FIG. 3 , because only one input member actuation has thus far been detected (i.e., the actuation of the key  28  having linguistic elements &lt;C&gt; and &lt;V&gt; disposed thereon) after the last delimited input (e.g., the keystroke sequence &lt;m&gt;&lt;y&gt;&lt;space&gt;), the predictive text application is not executed by the processor  16 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the user has actuated the key  28  having the linguistic elements &lt;A&gt; and &lt;S&gt; disposed thereon. As a result, the disambiguation application  22  generates the prefix object “CA” at the default portion  76  and the prefix objects “VA”, “CS”, and “VS” at the variant portion  80 . The prefix object “CA” is also provided as an output at the text input location  69 . Because the number of input member actuations thus far detected is greater than or equal to the first threshold (i.e., two), a determination is made as to whether the number of predicted words corresponding to the detected input member actuations is less than a second threshold. The second threshold prevents the predictive text application from running should a large number of predicted language objects correspond to the detected input. In the current example, the second threshold is selected such that the predictive text application is not executed by the processor  16  for the detected input because the detected input corresponds to a large number of predicted words (i.e., a large number of predicted words begin with the letters “ca”, “va” “cs” and “vs”). 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the user has actuated the key  28  having the linguistic elements &lt;E&gt; and &lt;R&gt; disposed thereon. As a result, the disambiguation application  22  generates the prefix object “CAR” at the default portion  76  and the prefix object “VAR” at the variant portion  80 . The prefix object “CAR” is also provided as an output at the text input location  69 . Because the number of input member actuations detected is greater than the first threshold and the number of predicted words is less than the second threshold, the predictive text application is executed by the processor  16 . The predictive text application generates a number of predicted language objects each having a frequency object associated therewith. As shown in  FIG. 5 , for example, the predictive text application generates the predicted language objects “carpenter”, “carpet”, “various”, and “variable”. Each predicted language object is comprised of a prefix object portion and a completion portion. For instance, the predicted language object “carpenter” is comprised of the prefix object portion “car” and the completion portion “penter”; the predicted language object “carpet” is comprised of the prefix object portion “car” and the completion portion “pet”; the predicted language object “various” is comprised of the prefix object portion “var” and the completion portion “ious”; and the predicted language object “variable” is comprised of the prefix object portion “var” and the completion portion “iable”. 
     In the current embodiment, the completion portion of a first predictive language object is provided at the text input location  69 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the completion portion “penter” from the predicted language object “carpenter” is provided at the text input location  69  in a different font type (e.g., backlit). The user is able, among others, to select the prefix object “car”, select the predicted word “carpenter”, select one of the prefix objects or predicted words listed in the variant portion  80 , or continue text entry. More specifically, the user can highlight a desired object/word by, among others, positioning a cursor at the desired object/word and select the desired object/word by, among others, actuating the thumbwheel, pressing the space key, pressing the return key, and/or dwelling at the word for a certain amount of time. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the user has actuated the key  28  having the linguistic elements &lt;O&gt; and &lt;P&gt; disposed thereon. As a result, the disambiguation application  22  generates the prefix object “CARP” at the default portion  76  and the prefix object “CARO” at the variant portion  80 . The prefix object “CARP” is also provided as an output at the text input location  69 . Because the number of input member actuations detected is greater than the first threshold and the number of predicted words is less than the second threshold, the predictive text application generates a number of additional predicted language objects. As shown in  FIG. 6 , for example, the predictive text application generates the additional predicted language objects “carpet”, “carpenter”, “carpets”, “carpetbag”, and “carotid”. Each additional predicted language object is also comprised of a prefix object portion and a completion portion. 
     In the current embodiment, the completion portion of a first predictive language object is provided at the text input location  69  in a different font type (e.g., backlit). As shown in  FIG. 6 , the completion portion “pet” from the predicted language object “carpet” is provided at the text input location  69 . The user is able, among others, to select the prefix object “carp”, select the predicted word “carpet”, select one of the prefix objects or predicted words listed in the variant portion  80 , or continue text entry. 
     It should be noted that even though the predicted language object “carpenter” has an associated frequency object that is greater than the frequency object associated with the predicted language object “carpet”, the completion portion “pet” for the predicted language object “carpet” is provided as an output at the text input location  69  in  FIG. 6 . This is because an assumption is made that the user, who could have selected the predicted language object “carpenter” when the completion portion “penter” was provided as an output at the text input location  69  (i.e.,  FIG. 6 ), does not wish to enter the word “carpenter” in the text input location  69 . 
     As discussed above, the user desires to enter the word “carpet” in his message. Accordingly, the user highlights and/or selects the completion portion “et” of the predicted language object “carpet” in the text input location  69 . The word may be highlighted by, among others, positioning a cursor at the desired word and selected by, among others, actuating the thumbwheel, pressing the space key, pressing the return key, and/or dwelling at the word for a certain amount of time. Referring to  FIG. 7 , the word “carpet” (a delimited input) is displayed at the text component  68  and the text input location is blank (e.g., only a cursor is present).  FIG. 8  illustrates the full message input by the user in the current example. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates an operational process  30  for generating text on the handheld electronic device  4  shown in  FIG. 1  according to one embodiment. Operational process  30  is initiated at operation  31  when, for example, processor  16  detects the actuation of a number of input members, such as and without limitation, keys  28  and/or thumbwheel  32 . 
     A determination is then made at operation  32  as to whether the number of actuations detected is greater than a first threshold. If the number of actuations detected is less than a first threshold, operational control branches “NO” and operation  33  generates a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input. After the prefix objects are generated, at least one prefix object is output, for example, to a text input location  69  of the display  60  in operation  34 . 
     If the number of actuations detected is greater than a first threshold, then operational control branches “YES” and operation  35  generates a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input and a number of predicted language objects corresponding to the ambiguous input. Each predicted language object is comprised of a prefix object portion and a completion portion. After the prefix objects and predicted language objects are generated, at least one prefix object and a portion of one of the predicted language objects is output in operation  36 . In the current embodiment, for example, at least one prefix object and the completion portion of one predicted language object is output to the text input location  69  of the display  60 . It should be noted that, in the current embodiment, the processor  16  only provides at the text input location the completion portion of a predicted language object which has a prefix object portion that is the same as the prefix object being output at the text input location. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates an operational process  30 ′ for generating text on the handheld electronic device  4  shown in  FIG. 1  according to another embodiment. Operational process  30 ′ is initiated at operation  31  when, for example, processor  16  detects the actuation of a number of input members, such as and without limitation, keys  28  and/or thumbwheel  32 . 
     A determination is then made at operation  32   a  as to whether the number of corresponding predicted words is less than a second threshold. If the number of corresponding predicted words is not less than the second threshold, operational control branches “NO” and operation  33  generates a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input. After the prefix objects are generated, at least one prefix object is output, for example, to a text input location  69  of the display  60  in operation  34 . 
     If the number of corresponding predicted words is less than the second threshold, then operational control branches “YES” and operation  35  generates a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input and a number of predicted language objects corresponding to the ambiguous input. Each predicted language object is comprised of a prefix object portion and a completion portion. After the prefix objects and predicted language objects are generated, at least one prefix object and a portion of one of the predicted language objects is output in operation  36 . In the current embodiment, for example, at least one prefix object and the completion portion of one predicted language object is output to the text input location  69  of the display  60 . It should be noted that, in the current embodiment, the processor  16  only provides at the text input location  69  the completion portion of a predicted language object which has a prefix object portion that is the same as the prefix object being output at the text input location. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates an operational process  30 ″ for generating text on the handheld electronic device  4  shown in  FIG. 1  according to another embodiment. Operational process  30 ″ is initiated at operation  31  when, for example, processor  16  detects the actuation of a number of input members, such as and without limitation, keys  28  and/or thumbwheel  32 . 
     A determination is then made at operation  32  as to whether the number of actuations detected is greater than a first threshold. If the number of actuations detected is less than a first threshold, operational control branches “NO” and operation  33  generates a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input. After the prefix objects are generated, at least one prefix object is output, for example, to a text input location  69  of the display  60  in operation  34 . 
     If the number of actuations detected is greater than a first threshold, then operational control branches “YES” and a determination is made at operation  32   a  as to whether the number of corresponding predicted words is less than a second threshold. If the number of corresponding predicted words is not less than the second threshold, operational control branches “NO” and operation  33  generates a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input. As discussed above, after the prefix objects are generated, at least one prefix object is output, for example, to a text input location  69  of the display  60  in operation  34 . 
     If the number of corresponding predicted words is less than the second threshold, then operational control branches “YES” and operation  35  generates a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input and a number of predicted language objects corresponding to the ambiguous input. Each predicted language object is comprised of a prefix object portion and a completion portion. After the prefix objects and predicted language objects are generated, at least one prefix object and a portion of one of the predicted language objects is output in operation  36 . In the current embodiment, for example, at least one prefix object and the completion portion of one predicted language object is output to the text input location  69  of the display  60 . It should be noted that, in the current embodiment, the processor  16  only provides at the text input location  69  the completion portion of a predicted language object which has a prefix object portion that is the same as the prefix object being output at the text input location. 
     While specific embodiments have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the disclosed and claimed concept which is to be given the full breadth of the claims appended and any and all equivalents thereof.