Patent ID: 7386882

Claim:
A key-pad device comprising: a key-pad including a plurality of keys arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns; and a key-pad controller providing a key value signal when one of the keys is activated, said controller determining which key is activated by a process including a predetermined number of steps comprising: assigning each key a key press value; determining if a key has been pressed in one of the columns; advancing a counter by a counter value if a key has been pressed; determining if a key has been pressed in a next column and adding the counter value to the counter if a key has been pressed, otherwise keeping this counter value the same; adding the key press value of all the keys that had been pressed in a first row to generate a first row added key value; adding the key press value of all the keys that have been pressed in a second row and adding the added key press values of the second row to the added key value; determining whether the added key value exceeds a predetermined value; transferring the key value from the key-pad device, if the added key value does not exceed the predetermined value; comparing the added key value to a predetermined key value to determine if multiple keys had been pressed simultaneously.