Data processing: speech signal processing – linguistics – language – Linguistics – Translation machine
Reexamination Certificate
1996-12-02
2002-02-26
Thomas, Joseph (Department: 2644)
Data processing: speech signal processing, linguistics, language
Linguistics
Translation machine
C704S007000, C704S271000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06351726
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and, more particularly, to a method and system for unambiguously inputting multi-byte characters into a computer from a Braille input device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Nonsighted or visually-impaired people have had difficulty in being integrated into the workforce due in part to the difficulty of working with computers to perform such tasks as word processing. In order to integrate visually-impaired people into the workforce, conventional systems have been developed that receive Braille input, store it into a computer, and output it to the user.
One such conventional system
100
for inputting Braille into a computer is depicted in FIG.
1
A. The Braille system
100
comprises a computer
102
with a video display
104
and with a Braille I/O device
106
. The Braille I/O device
106
is responsible for inputting Braille to the computer
102
via input keys
108
-
119
and for outputting Braille to the user via the output array
120
. As shown in
FIG. 1B
, each unit of Braille
130
is expressed as a Braille cell having six predefined locations
132
-
142
. Information is conveyed using a Braille cell through the presence or absence of an elevation at the predefined locations
132
-
142
. For example, when Braille is conveyed on a paper medium, a punch behind the paper causes the paper to be elevated at one or more of the predefined locations
132
-
142
. It is the elevations and the absence of elevations at the predefined locations
132
-
142
that convey meaning to the reader. The depression of the input keys
108
-
118
causes the computer
102
to receive a signal that a corresponding location
132
-
142
should be construed to be in an elevated position. Input keys
112
,
110
,
108
,
114
,
116
, and
118
correspond to predefined locations
132
,
134
,
136
,
138
,
140
, and
142
, respectively. Input key
119
is a space bar which is used to indicate that none of the predefined locations have an elevation. Therefore, by using keys
108
-
118
, a visually-impaired user can input information into the computer
102
.
The output array
120
contains 20 output units (e.g.,
122
), where each output unit can output one Braille cell. As shown in
FIG. 1C
, each output unit (e.g.,
122
) contains six apertures
152
-
162
, which correspond to the predefined locations
132
-
142
of a Braille cell
130
, through which the system can provide a protrusion that is perceptible to the human touch.
FIG. 1D
depicts a left side elevational view of output unit
122
and further shows apertures
124
and
128
with a protrusion and aperture
126
without a protrusion. In this manner, the Braille system
100
can output up to twenty individual units of Braille (Braille cells) via the output array
120
.
In order to read information from the video display
104
, the user uses the arrow keys
122
-
128
in conjunction with the output array
120
. The arrow keys
122
-
128
manipulate a reference cursor on the video display
104
. The reference cursor highlights information on the video display
104
that is then output to the output array
120
. For example, if the reference cursor were at the top of a document, the user could depress arrow key
126
to move down a line so that the user could read a line of information by feeling the output array
120
. Similarly, the depression of arrow key
124
moves the reference cursor to the right, the depression of arrow key
128
moves the reference cursor to the left, and the depression of arrow key
122
moves the reference cursor up. By using the Braille system
100
, a visually-impaired user is able to store Braille information onto the computer
102
and read Braille information from the computer.
When the Braille system
100
is used with the English language, the user can exactly indicate an English language expression because each Braille cell corresponds to exactly one letter of the English language. Therefore, the user can input one letter at a time and can read the output one letter at a time. However, such Braille systems are significantly less helpful when used with multi-byte languages. A “multi-byte language” is a language in which more than one byte is needed to uniquely identify each character of the language. In other words, there are more than 2
8
(or 256) characters in the language. The characters of a multi-byte language are referred to as multi-byte characters. Multi-byte languages, such as Kanji-based languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, have approximately 40,000 characters.
In Kanji-based languages, the elements of grammar are known as “Kanji characters.” The phrase “elements of grammar” refers to units of a given natural language that are capable of comprising parts of speech. For example, the elements of grammar in the English language are words. As such, each Kanji character is a higher-order linguistic symbol that is analogous to a word in the English language. That is, natural languages tend to have three levels of linguistic elements. The lowest of these levels depends on the specific alphabet used and is associated with the sounds of the spoken language. For example, the first and lowest level of linguistic elements in the English language comprises letters. The third level of linguistic elements is the highest level and contains those linguistic elements conveying full creative expression. In the English language, the third level comprises sentences. It is the second level of linguistic elements to which the phrase “elements of grammar” refers. This second level is an intermediate level of linguistic elements and, in the English language, the second level comprises words. In Chinese, the second level comprises Kanji characters.
Because there are approximately 40,000 Kanji characters in Kanji-based languages and only 2
6
(or 64) characters can be uniquely identified by one Braille cell, well-known systems have been devised to map individual Braille cells onto the phonetics of the multi-byte language. The phonetics, usually three, are then combined to identify an intended character, although the identification is inexact. The intended character is inexactly identified because many different characters sound alike, but have different meanings. For example, the following Chinese characters all sound like “wong” and thus are identified using the same Braille input, but each character has a different meaning:
Because many characters sound alike in multi-byte languages, when using Braille to input and output multi-byte characters, there is an inherent problem of ambiguity.
FIG. 2
depicts a well-known phonetic mapping scheme for mapping Braille onto the phonetics of the Chinese language spoken in the Cantonese dialect. This phonetic mapping scheme groups all phonetics into three categories: consonants, vowels, and tones. A number of Braille cells are defined to indicate specific consonants, some of which are depicted in Table 202. Table
202
indicates a specific Braille representation, such as “
”, that corresponds to a particular consonant, such as “F as in Fay,” and indicates the particular representation stored in the computer (e.g., “F”). In this example, when a user inputs “
” via the Braille I/O device, they intend the consonant “F as in Fay.” The Braille I/O device sends the input to the computer where it is stored as an F character to indicate the particular Braille input and the phonetic represented by it. Using this system, some sounds have representations in the computer that do not correspond with the sound. For instance, although the sound for Braille input “
” is “G as in Gay,” the representation in the computer is “K.”
Table
204
contains some sample phonetic mappings of vowels, where the Braille input corresponding to the specific sound and its representation within the computer are depicted. For example, the Braille input “
” corresponds to the vowel “iy as in sight,” and is represented in the computer as “%.” Likewise, Table
206
depicts the phonetic mapping of various tones. One of these tones is t
Banner & Witcoff , Ltd.
Microsoft Corporation
Thomas Joseph
LandOfFree
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