Handheld electronic device and associated method enabling the generation of a proposed character interpretation of a phonetic text input in a text disambiguation environment

Abstract

An improved handheld electronic device and associated method enable the phonetic inputting of text using a reduced keyboard and transformation algorithm. The handheld electronic device and method advantageously enable the inputting of languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and the like without limitation. The transformation algorithm subjects each of a number of linguistic element permutations to an algorithm such as the Maximum Matching Algorithm or other algorithm to generate a string of words. The transformation algorithm then selects one string of words as a default textual output based on at least one of its minimal number of words and its relatively high attributed frequency value.

1 - 8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . A method of enabling input on an electronic device, the method comprising:
 detecting an ambiguous text input comprising a set of key selections, at least some of the keys each having a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto;   determining a plurality of linguistic element permutations of the ambiguous input;   for each of a plurality of linguistic element permutations of the ambiguous input:
 generating a string of language objects that corresponds with at least an initial portion of the linguistic element permutation, and 
 generating a character interpretation string that comprises a number of words comprising characters that correspond with the string of language objects; 
   selecting from among the generated character interpretation strings a set of generated character interpretation strings having the smallest number of words;   if the set includes more than one generated character interpretation string then determining an attributed frequency value for each of the selected character interpretation strings, and selecting the character interpretation string with greatest attributed frequency; and   outputting, as at least partial output, the selected character interpretation string.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the step of selecting a generated character interpretation string comprises:
 determining an attributed frequency value sum for a plurality of the set of generated character interpretation strings; and   selecting the generated character interpretation string having the highest frequency value sum.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein determining an attributed frequency value sum for a generated character interpretation string comprises:
 determining an attributed frequency value for each of the words that comprise the generated character interpretation string; and   summing the attributed frequency values for each of the words to obtain a frequency value sum for the generated string.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 detecting as the ambiguous text input an ambiguous text input in Latin letters.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the characters corresponding to each string of language objects comprise at least one of Chinese characters, Japanese characters, or Korean characters. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the step of outputting the selected character interpretation string further comprises:
 outputting the selected character interpretation string in a first location on the electronic device; and   outputting at least one other generated character interpretation string in a second location on the electronic device.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection of the at least one other generated character interpretation string; and   outputting the at least one other generated character interpretation string in the first location; and   outputting the selected character interpretation string in the second location.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the electronic device comprises an output apparatus, and
 wherein the operation of outputting the selected character interpretation string further comprises outputting the selected character interpretation string on the output apparatus.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 determining that the length of the portion of the linguistic element permutation corresponding to the outputted character interpretation string is less than the length of the linguistic element permutation; and   outputting the remaining portion of the linguistic element permutation in Latin characters.   
     
     
         18 . An electronic device, comprising:
 a processor apparatus comprising a processor and a memory;   an input apparatus comprising a plurality of input members, each input member having at least one linguistic element assigned thereto; and   an output apparatus structured to receive output signals from the processor apparatus;   the memory having stored therein a number a routines which, when executed on the processor apparatus, cause the handheld electronic device to perform operations comprising:
 detecting an ambiguous text input comprising a set of key selections, at least some of the keys each having a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto; 
 determining a plurality of linguistic element permutations of the ambiguous input; 
 for each of a plurality of linguistic element permutations of the ambiguous input:
 generating a string of language objects that corresponds with at least an initial portion of the linguistic element permutation, and 
 generating a character interpretation string that comprises a number of words comprising characters that correspond with the string of language objects 
 
 selecting from among the generated character interpretation strings a set of generated character interpretation strings having the smallest number of words; 
 if the set includes more than one generated character interpretation string then determining an attributed frequency value for each of the selected character interpretation strings, and selecting the character interpretation string with greatest attributed frequency; and 
 outputting, as at least partial output, the selected character interpretation string. 
   
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the operation of selecting a generated character interpretation comprises:
 determining an attributed frequency value sum for a plurality of the set of generated character interpretation strings; and   selecting the generated character interpretation string having the highest frequency value sum.   
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 19 , wherein the operation of determining an attributed frequency value sum for a generated character interpretation string comprises:
 determining an attributed frequency value for each of the words that comprise the generated character interpretation string; and   summing the attributed frequency values for each of the words to obtain a frequency value sum for the generated string.   
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 detecting as the ambiguous text input an ambiguous text input in Latin letters.   
     
     
         22 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the characters corresponding to each string of language objects comprise at least one of Chinese characters, Japanese characters, or Korean characters. 
     
     
         23 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the operation of outputting the selected character interpretation further comprises:
 outputting the selected character interpretation string in a first location on the electronic device; and   outputting at least one other generated character interpretation string in a second location on the electronic device.   
     
     
         24 . The device of  claim 23 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving a selection of the at least one other generated character interpretation string; and   outputting the at least one other generated character interpretation string in the first location; and   outputting the selected character interpretation string in the second location.   
     
     
         25 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the operation of outputting the selected character interpretation string further comprises outputting the selected character interpretation on the output apparatus. 
     
     
         26 . The device of  claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining that the length of the portion of the linguistic element permutation corresponding to the outputted character interpretation is less than the length of the linguistic element permutation; and   outputting the remaining portion of the linguistic element permutation in Latin characters.