Portable Terminal Input Correction via Keypad-Specific Edit Distance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Portable terminals, such as mobile phones and PDAs, face issues with incorrect input due to miniaturized keypads with small key sizes and dense key intervals, leading to user burden and frequent errors, especially with combination keypads where multiple letters are allocated to one key.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that identifies input character strings, searches for similar candidate words, calculates similarity based on keypad type-specific edit distances, and presents recommendations in descending order of similarity to reduce incorrect input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the portable terminal is miniaturized, then the portability is improved, but the key size becomes small and key interval becomes dense leading to frequent incorrect input
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a similarity calculation module as an intermediary between the input unit and the output unit. This module calculates similarity between input character strings and candidate words based on edit distance, serving as a mediator to identify and correct incorrect inputs without requiring physical keypad redesign
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by presenting candidate words to the user when incorrect input is detected. The similarity calculation results feed back into the input process, allowing users to select from suggested corrections, thereby improving input accuracy while maintaining miniaturized terminal design
2Device complexity
If combination keypad is used to reduce key count, then the device complexity is reduced, but the number of key pressings increases leading to more frequent incorrect input
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing candidate words in the database before actual input occurs. When input is received, the system quickly retrieves and compares against pre-prepared candidate words, compensating for the increased key pressings required by combination keypads
Solution Approach 2:
The similarity calculation module acts as an intermediary that processes the increased number of key pressings by comparing the resulting character string against candidate words, identifying incorrect inputs, and presenting corrections without requiring the user to manually correct each error
3Reliability
If existing similar word presentation technique is used, then incorrect input is addressed, but the solution is dependent on particular character form and difficult to accommodate multiple keypad types
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements universality by designing a similarity calculation method that works across multiple keypad types (Qwerty, combination, etc.). The edit distance-based approach is adaptable to different character encoding schemes and keypad layouts, making the incorrect input handling system universally applicable rather than specific to one character form or keypad type
Data Source
AI summary
According to certain embodiments, a method and apparatus for preventing incorrect input in a portable terminal includes identifying an input character string and, among previously registered candidate words, searching among a plurality of candidate words recommended for the input character string, calculating a similarity between the input character string and each of the searched candidate words, and presenting one or more of the searched candidate words in order of descending similarity associated with the one or more searched candidate words.