Patent Publication Number: US-2013249803-A1

Title: Method of facilitating user input in handheld electronic device employing a text disambiguation function

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to handheld electronic devices employing a text disambiguation function, and, more particularly, to a method that is executable on a handheld electronic device that facilitates user input based on the intent of the user. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     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. Many handheld electronic devices also feature wireless communication capability, although many such handheld electronic devices are stand-alone devices that are functional without 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 Roman 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 keyboard by providing twelve keys, of which ten have digits thereon, and of these ten keys, eight have Roman letters assigned thereto. For instance, one of the keys includes the digit “2” as well as the letters “A”, “B”, and “C”. 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 (by actuation of the key) generally is an ambiguous input and is in need of some type of disambiguation in order to be useful for text entry purposes. Other known reduced keyboards have included other arrangements of keys, letters, symbols, digits, and the like. One example of a reduced keyboard is the keypad  20  forming a part of the handheld electronic device  4  shown in  FIG. 1  and described in greater detail herein. Keypad  20  is what is known as a reduced QWERTY keyboard. 
     In order to enable a user to make use of the multiple letters, digits, and the like on any given key in an ambiguous keyboard, 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&#39; key. For example, on the aforementioned telephone key that includes the letters “ABC”, if the user desires to specify the letter “C”, the user will press the key three times. Similarly, on the aforementioned keypad  24 , if the user desires to specify the letter “C”, the user will press the key that includes “CV7” once, and if the user desires to specify the letter “I”, the user will press the key that includes “UI3” two times. 
     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 a 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. 
     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 predict the intended input. Numerous such systems have been proposed. One example of such a system is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0058995, entitled “Handheld Electronic Device With Text Disambiguation,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. As is known, many such systems display an output component as the user is typing (pressing keys) that includes a list of possible intended input character strings (i.e., what the user intended while typing) that are generated by the disambiguation software. For example,  FIG. 3  shows an exemplary prior art output screen  50  that may be provided by the disambiguation software system described in the aforementioned commonly owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0058995. As seen in  FIG. 3 , the output screen  50  includes a text component  52  and a variant component  54 . The variant component  54  includes a default portion  56  and a variant portion  58 . The variant component  54  represents a list of possible intended inputs (in the form of a number of character strings or combinations) as generated by the disambiguation software. A user may select one of the items listed in the variant component  54  for inclusion in the final text component  52 . 
     In the example output screen  50 , the user has pressed the “AS” key followed by the “ER” key followed by the “ER” key again. As a result, the variant component  54  lists the following possible intended inputs: “are”, “see”, “ser”, “aer” and “an”. The “are” and “see” possible intended inputs represent words (in the current language of the handheld electronic device) that may have been intended by the user (with “are” being the default), and the “ser”, “aer” and “an” possible intended inputs represent other letter sequences (corresponding to the pressed keys) that do represent words (in the current language of the handheld electronic device) that nonetheless may have been intended by the user. In addition, the “arr” possible intended input represents a possible intended input wherein the last character of the possible intended input of the default portion  56  (“are”) as been “flipped” to the other character provided on the key corresponding to that last character. In any given circumstance, the user may have intended any one of the possible intended inputs, and may wish to select one of them for inclusion in the final text component  52 . If the user wishes to select the possible intended input of the default portion  56 , that is relatively easy because, as shown in  FIG. 3 , that possible intended input is by default included in the final text component  52  and is highlighted in the variant component  54 . However, additional user action is required if one of the possible intended inputs of the variant component  54  is desired by the user, which action typically includes scrolling or stepping through the possible intended inputs of the variant component  54  on the output screen. If the number of possible intended inputs of the variant component  54  is large, this will be time consuming and often frustrating for the user, especially if the possible intended inputs of the variant component  54  span more two or more additional screens. Furthermore, existing systems do not organize the possible intended inputs of the variant component  54  based on the user&#39;s possible intent while typing. A user will, however, know their intent while typing, such as whether they are trying to enter a word or whether they are trying to input a character sequence that is not a word. 
     There is thus room for improvement in handheld electronic devices that employ text disambiguation functions, and in particular there is a need for methods for facilitating user input in such handheld electronic devices based on the intent of the user. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A full understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can be gained from the following Description of the Example Embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of an improved handheld electronic device in accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the handheld electronic device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of a prior art output screen of a handheld electronic device which includes a text disambiguation routine; and 
         FIGS. 4-13  are schematic representations of output screens of the handheld electronic device of  FIGS. 1 and 2  according to various embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     In one embodiment, the disclosed and claimed concept provides a method of facilitating input into a handheld electronic device based on the intent of the user. The handheld electronic device includes a text disambiguation function, a multi-directional navigation mechanism, such as a trackball, a joystick, a touch screen, or a similar device, a display and a reduced keyboard, such as, without limitation, a reduced QWERTY keyboard, having a plurality of keys, wherein one or more of the keys has multiple characters provided thereon. The method includes receiving an ambiguous input resulting from a selection of a plurality of the keys, generating a plurality of possible intended input strings based on the ambiguous input using the text disambiguation function, organizing the possible intended input strings into a plurality of groups (with each of the groups including one or more of the possible intended input strings), displaying each of the groups on the display in a respective directional orientation relative to a reference location on the display, and enabling the selection of one of the possible intended input strings based on a directional input received from the multi-directional navigation mechanism. In particular, the directional input received from the multi-directional navigation mechanism is in a direction that corresponds to the directional orientation of the group that includes the desired one of the possible intended input strings. 
     In one particular embodiment, the groups include a first group and a second group, wherein the one or more possible intended input strings in the first group represent words in the current language of the handheld electronic device and the one or more possible intended input strings in the second group do not represent words in the current language of the handheld electronic device. In addition, the plurality of groups may also include a third group including an input string wherein the final character of a default string has been flipped to the other character on the key corresponding to the final character of the default string. In a particular embodiment, the respective directional orientation of the first group is perpendicular to the respective directional orientation of the second group, and the respective directional orientation of the third group is parallel and opposite to the respective directional orientation of the second group. For example, the respective directional orientation of the first group may be a horizontal orientation, the respective directional orientation of the second group may be a downward vertical orientation, and the respective directional orientation of the third group may be an upward vertical orientation. 
     The disclosed and claimed concept also provides an alternative method of facilitating input into a handheld electronic device based on the intent of the user. The handheld electronic device includes a text disambiguation function, a multi-directional navigation mechanism, such as a trackball, a joystick, a touch screen, or a similar device, a display and a reduced keyboard having a plurality of keys, wherein one or more of the keys has multiple characters provided thereon. The method includes receiving an ambiguous input resulting from a selection of a plurality of the keys, generating a plurality of possible intended input strings based on the ambiguous input using the text disambiguation function, displaying a group of one or more of the possible intended input strings on the display in a first directional orientation relative to a reference location on the display, wherein the one or more possible intended input strings in the group represent words in the current language of the handheld electronic device, and displaying an alternate character on the display in a second directional orientation relative to the reference location that is different from the first directional orientation. The possible intended input strings in the group includes a default string having one or more initial characters and a final character. The final character and the alternate character are both disposed on the same one of the keys. The method further includes enabling the selection of one of the possible intended input strings in the group based on a first directional input received from the multi-directional navigation mechanism, the first directional input being in a direction that corresponds to the first directional orientation, and enabling the selection of the alternate character based on a second directional input received from the multi-directional navigation mechanism, the second directional input being in a direction that corresponds to the second directional orientation. In addition, the method may further include, in response to a third directional input which selects one of the initial characters and which is in a direction different from the first directional input and the second directional input, (i) replacing the alternate character with a second alternate character, the one of the initial characters and the second alternate character both being disposed on the same one of the keys, and (ii) enabling the selection of the second alternate character based on a fourth directional input received from the multi-directional navigation mechanism, the fourth directional input being in a direction that corresponds to the second directional orientation. 
     The disclosed and claimed concept also provides for handheld electronic devices which implement the various method embodiments just described. 
     An improved handheld electronic device  4  in accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept is indicated generally in  FIG. 1  and is depicted schematically in  FIG. 2 . The improved handheld electronic device  4  comprises a housing  6 , and further comprises an input apparatus  8 , an output apparatus  12 , and a processor apparatus  16  disposed in the housing  6 . The input apparatus  8  provides input to the processor apparatus  16 . The processor apparatus  16  provides output signals to the output apparatus  12 . 
     The input apparatus  8  comprises a keypad  20  and a trackball  24 . The keypad  20  in the exemplary embodiment depicted herein comprises a plurality of keys  26  that are each actuatable to provide input to the processor apparatus  16 . The trackball  24  is rotatable to provide navigational and other input to the processor apparatus  16 , and additionally is translatable in a direction inwardly toward the handheld electronic device  4  to provide other inputs, such as selection inputs. The trackball  24  is freely rotatable on the housing  6  and thus is able to provide navigational inputs in the vertical direction, i.e., the up-down direction, in the horizontal direction, i.e., the left-right (side to side) direction, as well as combinations thereof. In additional, the trackball  24  may be adapted to provide navigational inputs in diagonal directions. The keys  26  and the trackball  24  serve as input members which are actuatable to provide input to the processor apparatus  16 . Alternative mechanisms for providing similar multi-directional navigation may be used in place of the trackball  24 , such as, without limitation, a joystick, a touchpad, a touch-sensitive display, and hard buttons disposed on the housing  6  of the handheld electronic device  4 . The exemplary output apparatus  12  comprises a display  32 . 
     Many of the keys  26  each have a plurality of letters, i.e., linguistic elements, assigned thereto. For instance, one of the keys  26  has assigned thereto the letters “A” and “S”. Another of the keys  26  has assigned thereto the letters “Q” and “W”. The letters of the exemplary keypad  20  are in an arrangement of a reduced QWERTY keyboard. 
     The processor apparatus  16  comprises a processor  36  and a memory  40 . The processor  36  may be, for example and without limitation, a microprocessor (μP) that interfaces with the memory  40 . The memory  40  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), FLASH, and the like that provide a storage register, i.e., a machine readable medium, 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  40  has stored therein a number of routines  44  that are executable on the processor  36 . As employed herein, the expression “a number of” and variations thereof shall refer broadly to any nonzero quantity, including a quantity of one. One or more of the routines  44  implement a text disambiguation function that is operable to disambiguate ambiguous text input, such as when one or more of the keys  26  having a plurality of letters assigned thereto is actuated, and provide to the user a number of possible intended inputs that may be selected. 
     The disclosed and claimed concept provides a display and selection method which organizes the possible intended inputs that are output by the text disambiguation function based on the user&#39;s intent and employs the multi-directional input that may be provided using the trackball  24  or a similar device in order to allow the user to express actual intent and more easily make a selection of one of the displayed possible intended inputs. One embodiment of such a display and selection method is illustrated in connection with  FIG. 4 . As seen in  FIG. 4 , when a user of the handheld electronic device  4  is inputting text using the text disambiguation function, such as, without limitation, when the user is using the email or SMS functionality of the handheld electronic device  4 , an output screen  60  is provided on the display  32 . In the example shown in  FIG. 4 , the output screen  60  results from the user pressing the “AS” key  26  followed by the “ER” key  26  followed by the “ER” key  26  again (the possible intended inputs are “are”, “see”, “ser”, “aer” and “an”). As seen in  FIG. 4 , the output screen  60  includes a text component  62  and a variant component  64 . The variant component  64  represents a list of possible intended inputs (in the form of a number of character strings or combinations) as generated by the text disambiguation function. The variant component  64  is different than the variant component  54  shown in  FIG. 3  in that it is not oriented in a straight line like the variant component  54 , but instead extends in a multi-directional fashion. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the variant component  64  extends in vertical (up and down) and horizontal (left and right) directions. Specifically, the variant component  64  includes a default portion  66 , a first variant portion  68  including one or more possible intended inputs that extends to the right of the default portion  66 , a second variant portion  70  including one or more possible intended inputs that extends downwardly from the default portion  66 , and a third variant portion  72  including one possible intended input that extends upwardly from the default portion  66 . More specifically, the first variant portion  68  includes possible intended inputs that represent words that may have been intended by the user (“see”), the second variant portion  70  includes possible intended inputs that represent other letter sequences (corresponding to the pressed keys) that do represent words that nonetheless may have been intended by the user (“ser” and “aer”), and the third variant portion  72  includes a possible intended input wherein the last character of the possible intended input of the default portion  66  (“are”) has been “flipped” to the other character (“r”) provided on the key  26  corresponding that last character (the “ER” key  26 ). As such, the possible intended inputs of the variant component  64  are organized and displayed based on the user&#39;s possible intent when pressing the keys  26 . 
     According to an aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept, a user is able to select one of the possible intended inputs of the variant component  64  by using the trackball  24  to navigate from the default portion  66  in either an up-down manner or a left-right (side to side) manner so as to highlight a desired one of the possible intended inputs, and may select the desired one of the possible intended inputs once highlighted by pressing the trackball  24 . User input is thus simplified as less navigation and/or actuation steps are required to select the desired one of the possible intended inputs of the variant component  64 . Once selected in this manner, the desired one of the possible intended inputs of the variant component  64  is added to the text component  62  (it will replace the default string (“are”) shown in  FIG. 4 ). 
       FIG. 5  is another example of the output screen  60  that is provided on the display  32 . In the example shown in  FIG. 5 , the output screen  60  results from the user pressing the “GH” key  26  followed by the “OP” key  26  followed by the “OP” key  26  again followed “DF” key  26 . The possible intended inputs generated by the text disambiguation function are “good”, “hood”, “goof”, “hoof” and “hopf”, “hopd” and “goof”. The “good” possible intended input is the default portion  66 , the “hood”, “goof”, “hoof” possible intended inputs are words, and thus are included in the first variant portion  68 , the “hopf” and “hopd” possible intended inputs are not words, and thus are included in the second variant portion  70 , and the “goof” possible intended input (which is a word) is included in the third variant portion  72  because it is the possible intended input wherein the last character of the possible intended input of the default portion  66  (“good”) has been “flipped” to the other character (“f”) provided on the key  26  corresponding that last character (the “DF” key  26 ). 
       FIG. 6  is yet another example of the output screen  60  that is provided on the display  32 . In the example shown in  FIG. 6 , the output screen  60  results from the user pressing the “DF” key  26  followed by the “ER” key  26  followed by the “OP” key  26  followed “M” key  26 . The possible intended inputs generated by the text disambiguation function are “from”, “drom”, and “deom”. The “from” possible intended input is the default portion  66 . The key selection sequence described above has no possible intended inputs that are words, and thus a first variant portion  68  is not provided. The “drom” and “deom” possible intended inputs are not words, and thus are included in the second variant portion  70 . The key selection sequence described above has no last letter alternative (the “M” key  26  has only one letter), and therefore no the third variant portion  72  has been provided. 
     In one particular embodiment, the variant component  64  shown in  FIGS. 4-6  is automatically displayed as the user is typing. In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the variant component  64  is not displayed as the user is typing, but instead a mechanism is provided for enabling the user to activate and display the variant component  64  when desired as the user is typing. In particular, as seen in  FIG. 7 , a trackball indicator  74  is provided on the output screen  60  just below the text component  62  which indicates to the user that, if the user navigates left using the trackball  24 , the variant component  64  will be displayed so that the user can more easily choose a desired possible intended input generated by the text disambiguation function. In the example shown in  FIG. 7 , if the user navigates left using the trackball  24 , the output screen  60  will (in the illustrated embodiment) appear as shown in  FIG. 4 . In a further alternative embodiment, illustrated in  FIG. 8 , a word alternative indicator  76  may be provided on the output screen  60  to indicate to the user that a number of possible intended inputs that are words have been generated by the text disambiguation function. By navigating to the right with the trackball  24 , the user is able to cause an alternative variant component  64 ′, shown in  FIG. 9 , to be displayed on the output screen  60  that includes only the possible intended inputs that are words. In the present embodiment, the user may then select one of the possible intended inputs for inclusion in the text component  62  by navigating to the right using the trackball  24  and pressing the trackball  24  when the desired possible intended input has been highlighted. Preferably, the word alternative indicator  76  also provides an indication of the number of possible intended inputs that are words that have been generated by the text disambiguation function. For example, as shown in  FIG. 9 , the word alternative indicator  76  may comprise a number of rightward facing arrows, wherein the number of arrows indicates the number of possible intended inputs that are words that have been generated by the text disambiguation function. 
     A further alternative embodiment of a display and selection method which organizes the possible intended inputs that are output by the text disambiguation function based on the user&#39;s intent is shown in  FIGS. 10-13 . In this embodiment, an output screen  77  includes a text component  79  and a variant component  78 , wherein the variant component  78  includes a default portion  80 , a first variant portion  82  including one or more possible intended inputs generated by the text disambiguation function that are words that extends downwardly from the default portion  80 , and a second variant portion  84  that extends upwardly from a selected character of the default portion  80  and which represents the other character provided on the key  26  corresponding that selected character. Unlike the variant component  64  shown in  FIGS. 4-6 , the variant component  78  does not include a variant portion that includes one or more possible intended inputs generated by the text disambiguation function that are not words. In the example shown in  FIG. 10 , the user has pressed the “AS” key  26  followed by the “ER” key  26  followed by the “ER” key  26  again. As a result, the default portion  80  is the word “are”, the first variant component  82  is the word “see”, and, because the letter “e” is selected in the default portion  80 , the second variant portion is the letter “r”. The user may select one of the possible intended inputs in the first variant component  82  (only one is generated in the example shown in  FIG. 10 ) by navigating down (or back up) using the trackball  24  and pressing the trackball  24  when the desired possible intended input is highlighted. In addition, the user may “flip” the last character of the default portion  80  by navigating up using the trackball  24  and pressing the trackball  24 . In addition, the user may select other characters of the default portion  80  by navigating to the left (or back to the right) using the trackball  24 . As demonstrated in  FIG. 11 , when the user does so, the second variant portion  84  will change as appropriate with each selected character of the default portion  80 .  FIGS. 12 and 13  illustrate another example of the output screen  77  according to this embodiment that would result from the user pressing the “GH” key  26  followed by the “OP” key  26  followed by the “OP” key  26  followed “DF” key  26 . 
     While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Additions, deletions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.