Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display peripheral interface input device – Including keyboard
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-16
2004-07-20
Tran, Henry N. (Department: 2674)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display peripheral interface input device
Including keyboard
C345S169000, C341S022000, C341S023000, C341S026000, C379S052000, C379S093180, C379S093270, C700S084000, C700S089000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06765556
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention is in the field of alphanumeric keyboards. More particularly, the invention relates to the ability to enter letters on a phone keyboard by using two keys for each letter.
BACKGROUND
With the advent of the information age, composing text with the keys of telecommunication devices has become commonplace. For example, consumers are frequently called upon to spell out words using the keys of a phone pad. Entering text with phones has proven to be awkward, since there are many more letters (26 in the English alphabet) than keys on a standard phone keyboard (generally 12). This necessitates that more than one key be chosen to specify a single letter, thereby resulting in a relatively low text entry rate. The small size of the typical cell phone presents further special challenges, since both the size of the text input area and the number of any additional keys on the cell phone may be limited. While graphical keyboards with alternative key layouts are becoming more popular, the learning curve associated with their text input language can be steep.
FIG. 1
shows a phone layout
20
that includes 12 different keys designated by the numeral
24
, which are arranged in 4 (horizontal) rows and 3 (vertical) columns. Ten of the keys
24
have a numeral (
0
,
1
,
2
, . . .
9
) thereon, denoted by the numeral
28
. In addition, the letters (denoted by the numeral
32
) of the English alphabet, along with special symbols
36
(* and #), are displayed among the keys
24
. The 26 letters of the English alphabet are distributed in alphabetically arranged groups among the numeral-bearing keys
2
-
9
, with each of these groups including at least 3 letters. (The letters S and Z are conventionally assigned to the keys
7
and
9
, respectively, although other configurations can be used, e.g., these letters may be displayed on the key
1
.) Thus, the letters A, B, and C are assigned to the key
2
, the letters D, E, and F are assigned to the key
3
, and so on. While the conventional layout shown is not necessarily optimal for the purpose of text input, this layout and ones similar to it have nevertheless become the de facto phone layout standards, and are thus the layouts to which text entry methods and apparatuses conform. (Although the keys
24
shown in
FIG. 1
are common to almost all phones, many cell phones include additional keys and switches for which there may be no common standard.)
In order to use one of the standard phone key layouts for text entry, it is necessary to use a technique that distinguishes or “disambiguates” which letter
32
on a given key
24
is the intended one, since a group of letters is generally assigned to a single key. One way of doing this is to algorithmically disambiguate letters with an electronic dictionary of common words (the so-called T-
9
technique). In this technique, only one key is tapped for each letter, and a microprocessor or computer in communication with the keypad checks the dictionary to resolve any ambiguity. For example, entering the key sequence
9
-WXYZ,
6
-MNO,
7
-PQRS,
5
-JKL,
3
-DEF, in that order, would result in the word “WORLD”. However, this method requires a dictionary that may not contain special words (such as people and place names). Additionally, short words consisting of three or four letters can be difficult to disambiguate. Thus, entering the key sequence
4
-GHI,
2
-ABC,
6
-MNO,
3
-DEF could correspond to either the word “GAME” or “HAND”. Accordingly, this method may require that the user pay close attention to the text as it is being generated and make any necessary corrections as he or she proceeds, thereby slowing the text entry rate.
Another disambiguation technique is the so-called multi-tap technique. In this technique, the number of taps on a given key specifies the desired letter by the ordering of the letters within the group of letters on the key being tapped. For example, tapping the key
2
-abc just once produces the letter A, tapping this key twice produces the letter B, and tapping it three times produces the letter C. Since the number of taps varies from letter to letter, however, some users find this approach counterintuitive and unsatisfactory.
In a two-key sequence method, the user presses two keys consecutively to uniquely determine a letter or symbol. As discussed by M. Silfverberg et al., (“predicting text entry speed on mobile phones”, Chi 2000, Apr. 1-6, 2000), the keys
1
,
2
,
3
, and
4
can be used to disambiguate the intended letter on a key. For example,
7
-PQRS followed by
1
corresponds to the letter P;
7
-PQRS followed by the key
2
corresponds to the letter Q;
7
-PQRS followed by the key
3
corresponds to the letter R; and
7
-PQRS followed by the key
4
corresponds to the letter S. In another two-key sequence method taught by Burrell in U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,761, the keys *,
0
, # are used to specify the intended letter within a group of letters. Thus, the letter J is input as
5
*, the letter K as
50
, and the letter L as
5
#. Although these two-key sequence methods are conceptually straightforward, users may be frustrated that some of the two-key sequences involve keys at opposite ends of the keypad, which can result in a slow text entry rate.
Thus, there remains a need for a simple, time-efficient, easy-to-learn text entry method tailored to a standard key layout.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed herein that involve two-keys per character text entry, in which two keys in a single row (or column) are used to specify each letter.
In one implementation of the invention, there is provided a method of selecting letters with a keyboard that is interfaced with an electronic component. The method includes providing a keyboard that includes a first, a second, and a third row of keys (in that order), with the rows being oriented along a first dimension, in which each of the numerals
1
,
2
,
3
,
4
,
5
,
6
,
7
,
8
, and
9
is displayed on a respective key. The first row includes three keys displaying the numerals
1
,
2
, and
3
, respectively, in that order; the second row includes three keys displaying the numerals
4
,
5
, and
6
, respectively, in that order; and the third row includes three keys displaying the numerals
7
,
8
, and
9
, respectively, in that order. The key displaying the numeral
5
further displays a first language character, a second language character, and a third language character, and other the numeral-displaying keys each further display at least three language characters. The method further includes inputting the first character into the electronic component by selecting the numeral
5
key and then selecting the numeral
4
key; inputting the second character into the electronic component by selecting the numeral
5
key and then selecting the numeral
5
key again; and inputting the third character into the electronic component by selecting the numeral
5
key and then selecting the numeral
6
key. In a preferred implementation, other language characters are input into the electronic component using similar methodology, and the language characters are letters of the English alphabet.
In another implementation of the invention, there is provided a method of selecting letters with a keyboard that is interfaced with an electronic component. The method includes providing a keyboard that includes a first, a second, and a third row of keys (in that order), with the rows being oriented along a first dimension, and in which each of the numerals
1
,
2
,
3
,
4
,
5
,
6
,
7
,
8
, and
9
is displayed on a respective key. The first row includes three keys displaying the numerals
1
,
2
, and
3
, respectively, in that order; the second row includes three keys displaying the numerals
4
,
5
, and
6
, respectively, in that order; and the third row includes three keys displaying the numerals
7
,
8
, and
9
, respectively, in that order. The key displaying the numeral
5
further displays a first language character, a second language character, and a third language ch
Kandogan Eser
Zhai Shumin
International Business Machines - Corporation
Johnson Daniel E.
Tran Henry N.
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