Handheld Device Keyboard Disambiguation via Temporary Proper Noun Dictionary

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Solution Overview

Problem

Handheld electronic devices with reduced keyboards face challenges in efficiently entering unconventional words that are not pre-stored in the device's dictionary, leading to significant user effort and processing burden, especially when dealing with proper nouns or low-frequency words.

Innovation Solution

The device identifies proper nouns in incoming data, such as those starting with an upper case letter, and stores them in a temporary dictionary, allowing for facilitated language entry without substantial processing overhead, using a processor with a disambiguation routine that prioritizes these words for quick retrieval and suggestion during text entry.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Volume of moving object

If a reduced keyboard is used to minimize device size, then device portability is improved, but text input efficiency deteriorates due to multiple linguistic elements per key requiring complex disambiguation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice sizeVSAvoidtext input efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Volume of moving objectVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by scanning incoming data for proper nouns and pre-storing them in a temporary dictionary before text input occurs. This advance preparation eliminates the need for complex real-time disambiguation during typing, resolving the contradiction between compact keyboard design and input efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If comprehensive disambiguation routines are implemented to handle all possible words, then text input accuracy is improved, but device processing burden increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetext input accuracyVSAvoidprocessing power

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSPower

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of applying uniform comprehensive disambiguation to all words, the system applies localized processing by identifying and pre-storing only proper nouns (words with initial capital letters) in a temporary dictionary. This selective approach maintains high accuracy for proper nouns while minimizing overall processing burden.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts proper nouns from incoming data using a specific rule (initial capital letter detection) and separates them into a temporary dictionary. This extraction approach isolates the processing burden to only necessary words, maintaining accuracy while reducing overall computational load.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Ease of operation

If a temporary dictionary is used to store proper nouns, then user input effort is reduced for expected words, but device memory requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser input effortVSAvoidmemory usage

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements a partial dictionary solution by storing only proper nouns (a subset of all possible words) in temporary memory. This partial approach provides sufficient benefit for common proper nouns while keeping memory consumption manageable, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and memory requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS7796121B2Handheld electronic device with reduced keyboard and associated method of providing improved disambiguation with reduced degradation of device performance

Publication Date: 2010.09.14 MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LTD

AI summary

An improved handheld electronic device having a reduced keyboard provides facilitated language entry by making available to a user certain words that a user may reasonably be expected to enter. Incoming data, such as the text of a message, can be scanned for proper nouns since such proper nouns might not already be stored in memory and might be expected to be entered by the user when forwarding or responding to the message. A proper noun can be identified on the basis that it begins with an upper case letter. The proper nouns can be stored in memory that may be a temporary dictionary.