Patent ID: 7412441

Claim:
A computer implemented method for predictive phonetic data search in a television based entertainment system, comprising: receiving a search request to locate a term; facilitating the search request wherein the search request comprises elements, the elements comprising; a combination of alphabetic characters and at least one numeric character; a phonetic equivalent of the term; a phonetic equivalent of the term which is a misspelling of the term; a phonetic equivalent of the term which includes only consonants; a phonetic equivalent of the term that includes a number in place of a word or part of a word; searching a numeric index to locate a number that matches a numerical equivalent of the term; obtaining the term from a term index that is mapped to the number in the numeric index which matches the numerical equivalent of the term; and returning the term in response to the search request, wherein the term is returned as at least one of a program schedule, a broadcast television selection, an on-demand selection, or an application program.