Patent ID: 7508380

Claim:
A method for generating characters or words by means of a character entry device having a small keypad with a limited number of keys, comprising: generating a first letter of pinyin of a Chinese character; predicting next letters of pinyin using said letter of pinyin of a Chinese character generated and displaying predicted letters of pinyin on the display of the Chinese character entry device; and selecting and entering desired letters of pinyin from among the displayed letters of pinyin by means of a numeral combination key or a function key, wherein the generating of the first letter of pinyin of the Chinese character comprises: grouping letters of pinyin of Chinese characters into sets of characters; designating representative characters for each of said sets of characters; allocating said representative characters to each of the keys and marking said representative characters on each of the keys; identifying a representative character which stands for a set of characters including a desired letter of pinyin, and selecting a key to which said representative character is allocated; displaying the set of characters belonging to said representative character on the display of the character entry device if said representative character is entered solely; changing a real keypad input mode into a virtual keypad input mode; and selecting the desired letter of pinyin from said displayed characters by means of a key.