Patent ID: 7382358

Claim:
A method of inputting alphabetic text to an electronic device having a displayed keyboard, said displayed keyboard includes a set of keys wherein each letter of the alphabet is associated with at least one key, the method comprising: recording input path data corresponding to a trace of an input path on said displayed keyboard, wherein said input path data include an initial path location, a sequence of one or more locations along which said input path continues, and a final path location at which said input path terminates, identifying one or more words of a set of words stored in a database, one or more of said set of words associated with an indication of frequency of use, wherein one or more letters of each identified word are each associated with keys that are within a determined threshold distance of one or more determined points on said input path; comparing said input path with one or more of said identified words, wherein comparing includes comparing a sequence of locations of the keys associated with the letters comprising the spelling of a word with said input path; determining a first numerical score for one or more of the compared one or more words, wherein determining said numerical score for a word includes: determining two or more points along said input path, including at least one point at or near said initial path location and one point at or near said final path location, that are designated as points of inflection; for each of one or more of said keys associated with the letters comprising the spelling of said word, determining a corresponding matching point on said input path; calculating said numerical score from a function of one or more of the distances from each determined matching point on said input path to the location of the corresponding matched key associated with a letter of the compared word; determining one or more penalty amounts that are included in the calculation of said function when one or more of said designated points of inflection is not determined as a matching point for any key associated with a letter of the compared word; determining one or more penalty amounts that are included in the calculation of said function for each instance in which no corresponding matching point is determined for one or more keys associated with letters of the compared word; determining one or more penalty amounts that are included in the calculation of said function for each instance in which the order of the sequence along the input path of matching points does not correspond with the sequence of said associated letters in the spelling of the compared word; and establishing a relative ranking of the words according to the numerical score and the frequency associated with the word.