Patent ID: 7453439

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a device for presenting a displayed keyboard, said displayed keyboard includes a set of keys wherein each letter of the alphabet is associated with at least one key; an input device which detects a trace of an input path on said displayed keyboard, said input path comprising a sequence of input path locations on or near said displayed keyboard; an output device; a database for storing words; and a processor coupled to the input device, the output device, and the database, the processor comprising: a first component for 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; a second component for 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; and a third component for 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; a fourth component for determining a numerical score for one or more of the compared one or more words to establish a relative ranking of the words according to the comparison and the frequency associated with the word.