U.S. patent application number 11/716667 was filed with the patent office on 2007-08-23 for device interface.
Invention is credited to Kevin W. Dinn.
Application Number | 20070198954 11/716667 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 3834670 |
Filed Date | 2007-08-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070198954 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Dinn; Kevin W. |
August 23, 2007 |
Device interface
Abstract
The present invention relates to a small computing device with
an improved interface. The interface comprises a display screen
which extends the majority of length of the face of the housing,
and a plurality of multi-function buttons extending on either side
of the display screen.
Inventors: |
Dinn; Kevin W.; (Mount
Kuring-Gai, AU) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JONES DAY
222 EAST 41ST ST
NEW YORK
NY
10017
US
|
Family ID: |
3834670 |
Appl. No.: |
11/716667 |
Filed: |
March 12, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10495585 |
Oct 1, 2004 |
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PCT/AU02/01114 |
Aug 20, 2002 |
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11716667 |
Mar 12, 2007 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/864 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0237 20130101;
H04M 1/7243 20210101; G06F 1/1626 20130101; G06F 3/0238 20130101;
H04M 1/27475 20200101; H04M 1/72466 20210101; G06F 3/0481 20130101;
G06F 3/0482 20130101; G06F 1/1662 20130101; H04M 1/236 20130101;
H04M 1/72445 20210101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/864 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/14 20060101
G06F003/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 13, 2002 |
AU |
PS 1072 |
Claims
1. A mobile telephone, including a housing, a display screen
extending along a face of the housing, a single row of a first
plurality of keys positioned on or adjacent a side of the housing
and adjacent one side of the screen, a single row of a second
plurality of keys positioned on or adjacent an opposite side of the
housing and adjacent of the opposite side of the screen such that
each key is on or adjacent a side of the housing and adjacent the
screen, the face of the housing having a major, longitudinal
dimensions and a minor, width dimension, the rows of keys extending
in substantially the same direction as the longitudinal dimension
of the face of the housing, and a control means responsive to
operation of the keys to implement at least a telephone number
dialing function, the telephone not including a conventional
telephone-type key layout.
2-5. (canceled)
6. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 1, the control means
being arranged to control the mobile telephone to operate in a
plurality of operating modes wherein at least a plurality of the
keys operate as multi-function keys, the particular function of the
key in a particular operating mode being designated by indicia
appearing on the display screen.
7. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, wherein the
control means is arranged to control the mobile telephone so that
the particular function of a key in a particular operating mode is
designated by indicia appearing on the display screen adjacent the
key.
8. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first
plurality of keys comprises three or more keys and the second
plurality of keys comprises three or more keys.
9. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 8, wherein the first
plurality of keys comprises between four and ten keys inclusive and
the second plurality of keys comprises four and ten keys
inclusive.
10. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 9, wherein the
first plurality of keys comprises between six and eight keys
inclusive and the second plurality of keys comprises between six
and eight keys inclusive.
11. A small mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, wherein
one of the plurality of operating modes, at least a plurality of
keys are associated with numerals, operation of the plurality of
keys resulting in the input of numerals.
12. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 11, wherein the
first plurality of keys comprises at least 5 keys and the second
plurality of keys comprises at least 5 keys, and at least 5 keys of
each of the first and second plurality of keys are associated in
one operating mode with each of the ten digits of the decimal
numeral system appearing as indicia on the display screen.
13. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, wherein the
control means is arranged to control the mobile telephone in a hard
key operating mode, and where at least a plurality of the keys are
associated with hard labels which indicate function of the keys in
the hard key operating mode.
14. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 13, wherein the
hard labels are arranged on the keys.
15. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 13, wherein the
hard labels include numerics and in the hard key operating mode the
control means controls the at least plurality of keys to input
numerics corresponding to the hard labels.
16. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 13, wherein the
hard key operating mode the control means is arranged to operate
the at least plurality of the keys to input the character from the
Arabic alphabet, and the hard labels include Arabic characters.
17. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, wherein one of
the plurality of operating modes a plurality of the keys operate to
provide a scrolling function, instructing the information on the
display screen to be scrolled.
18. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, in a menu
operating mode the control means being arranged to cause the
display screen to display a plurality of menu options, each menu
option being designated by an associated one of the plurality of
keys, whereby one of the plurality of menu options may be selected
by actuating the appropriate one of the plurality of keys.
19. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 18, the control
means being arranged, on actuation in the menu operating mode of
one of the plurality of keys to select a menu option, to control
the display to present a plurality of menu item for the particular
menu option selected, each menu items being associated with one of
the plurality of keys, whereby operation of a key results in
selection of the associated menu item.
20. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 19, the telephone
being arranged so that the menu options include a number of menu
items which are less than or equal to the number of the first and
second plurality of keys, whereby selection of a menu item is a two
key step process, comprising, firstly, selection of the menu option
and, secondly, selection of the menu item within the menu
option.
21. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, wherein in one
of the plurality of the operating modes the control means being
arranged to control the display screen to present a plurality of
items for selection, each of the items being associated with one of
the first or second plurality of keys, selection of the associated
item being carried out on actuation of the associated key, the
control means being arranged to enable that more than one of the
displayed items can be selected.
22. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, wherein in one
of the plurality of the operating modes the control means is
arranged to control the display screen to present a plurality of
items for selection, each one of the items being associated with
one of the first or second plurality of keys, selection of the
associated item being carried out on selection of the associated
key, the control means being arranged to enable only one of the
displayed items to be selected.
23. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 6, wherein one
operating mode, the control means is arranged to control the
telephone so that selection of alpha-numerics may occur by
operation of the keys, to enable entry of text to the telephone,
and wherein the telephone is provided with text sense means
arranged to provide a suggestion of characters to be entered by a
user of the device, and the control means controlling the display
so that the text sense suggestion appears on the display screen
associated with one of the plurality of the keys and may be
selected by actuation of the associated key.
24. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 23, wherein the
text sense means is arranged to provide a suggestion of characters
which may include one or more characters but does not provide a
complete word but only a start or continuation of a word.
25. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 23, wherein the
text sense means is arranged to provide a suggestion of one or more
of characters to complete the word.
26. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 1, and further
comprising "yes" and "no" keys positioned below the screen.
27. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 1, and further
comprising one or more "direction" keys positioned below the
display screen.
28-31. (canceled)
32. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 1, wherein the
telephone is pre-configured so that at least a plurality of the
keys have dedicated, single function operation.
33. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 32, wherein at
least a plurality of the keys have pre-configured dedicated single
function operation, at least one of the functions instructing the
communication circuitry to connect to a predetermined telephone
number.
34. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 32, the telephone
being configurable so that at least a plurality of the keys may be
allocated a dedicated single function and locked so that they can
be operated to provide that single function.
35. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 34, wherein the
single function effects an instruction to the communications
circuitry to dial a predetermined telephone number.
36. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 1, further
comprising a speaker positioned on the face of the display
screen.
37. A mobile telephone in accordance with claim 1, wherein the
display screen is arranged to be touch sensitive and the control
means is arranged to control the telephone so that the data may be
input by touching the screen.
38-51. (canceled)
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a Small computing device
with an improved interface, and, particularly, but not exclusively,
to a mobile communications device, such as a mobile telephone.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] It is desirable for small computing devices, by which we
mean usually portable devices, such as lap-top-type commuters and
smaller, including mobile telephones, personal digital assistants,
cameras and other devices, to be a small as possible for
convenience.
[0003] The problem with making such devices small enough to carry
is that it allows only a limited size for the interface. For
example, in mobile telephones, a small screen and traditional
numeric keypad are provided for the interface with the user. The
numeric keypad input has been used for standard telephones for
years, and was merely transferred for use in mobile phones with no
significant adaptation. As mobile telephones become smaller and
smaller, the traditional numeric keypad input becomes more and more
difficult to operate. This is particularly the case where, as is
usual for most mobile telephones today, it is required to input
alphabetic characters in order to, for example, store contacts in
the memory of the mobile telephone.
[0004] Further, the display screens provided for mobile telephones
are, by necessity, also small where the phone is small. They are
not able to provide, therefore, a view of a great deal of
information at any one time.
[0005] There is a need for an improved interface for small
computing devices, such as mobile telephones and PDAs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In accordance with a first aspect, the present invention
provides a small computing device, including a housing and a
display screen extending along the face of the housing lengthwise,
a first plurality of keys positioned adjacent one side of the
screen and a second plurality of keys positioned adjacent the
opposite side of the screen.
[0007] Preferably, the display screen extends for the majority of
the length of the face.
[0008] Preferably, by "small computing device" is meant
lap-top-type computer size or smaller, and is preferably PDA-type
size or smaller, including mobile telephone size.
[0009] Preferably, the first and second plurality of keys are
positioned in rows running parallel to the length of the display
screen. Each row is preferably only one key in width.
[0010] Preferably, the small computing device further comprises a
control means arranged to control operation of the small computing
device, the control means being arranged to control the small
computing device to operate in a plurality of operating modes,
wherein the keys operate as multi-function keys.
[0011] Preferably, the control means is arranged to control the
device such that the particular function of a key in a particular
operating mode is designated by indicia appearing on the display
screen. Preferably the indicia appear adjacent the associated
key.
[0012] Preferably, the first plurality of keys comprises two or
more keys and the second plurality of keys comprises two or more
keys.
[0013] Preferably, the first plurality of keys comprises between
four and ten keys and the second plurality of keys comprises
between four and ten keys.
[0014] Preferably, the first plurality of keys comprises six to
eight keys and the second plurality of keys comprises six to eight
keys.
[0015] Preferably, in one the plurality of operating modes, the
keys are associated with numerics and operation of the keys is
arranged to input numerals to the small computing device.
[0016] Preferably, there are at least five keys either side and
each of the keys are associated in one operating mode with each of
the ten digits of the decimal numeral system appearing as indicia
on the display screen.
[0017] Preferably, in one operating mode, a scrolling function is
provided which enables information on the display screen to be
scrolled. Preferably, the scrolling function has a plurality of
modes of scrolling. Preferably, each of the keys is associated with
one or more of the modes of scrolling.
[0018] Preferably, the device does not include any standard numeric
or alpha-numeric keypad. It may include a limited number of
additional keys, such as "yes" or "no " and/or "direction" keys,
but the majority of the functions of the device are preferably
carried out by the first and second plurality of keys.
[0019] Preferably, in one operating mode, a plurality of the first
and second plurality of keys are associated with a plurality of
menu options. Selection of a menu option by actuating an associated
key in this mode, then switches the device to a further operating
mode where a plurality of the first and second plurality of keys
are associated with a menu item within the selected menu option.
Preferably, the number of menu items is equal to or less than the
number of the first and second plurality of keys, enabling
selection of a menu item by a simple two step operation of the
interface, the first step selecting the menu option, the second
step selecting the menu item within the menu. Note that operation
is not limited to two step operation, and there may be modes where
more than two steps of operation are implemented.
[0020] The small computing device preferably includes text sense
means implementing a text sense function to facilitate input of
text to the device. In a first text input operating mode, a user
can select characters (eg. alpha-numerics) utilising the first and
second plurality of keys. When one or more characters have been
selected, the text sense means may propose a word or further
characters to go with the characters already selected, and the user
may select or deny the word or further characters.
[0021] The text sense means may also be arranged to provide a
suggestion without a user having first selected characters of the
word ie. text sense may be arranged to provide a suggestion for the
start of the word.
[0022] Note that the text sense means may not always provide a
suggestion which completes a word, and may provide a selection of
one (preferably more than one) characters that may continue a
word.
[0023] Preferably the small computing device is communications
device and is preferably a mobile telephone. Preferably, a speaker
area is positioned on the face of the housing above the screen, for
transmission of sound to the user.
[0024] The small computing device of the present invention
preferably has the advantage that it uses multi-function keys
positioned adjacent the display screen, rather than a conventional
numeric keypad (such as used on conventional mobile telephones),
which enables more room on a face of the device for the screen so
that more information can be displayed. Further, because the
interface preferably uses "soft" buttons (ie. the buttons are
multi-function) the function of the device can be altered easily by
altering the software/hardware that drives the device. The
interface is totally flexible and not limited by any dedicated
operation (as normally is the case with conventional alpha-numeric
keypads).
[0025] The small computing device may be controlled by the control
means in a hard key operating mode. In the hard key operating mode,
the keys are arranged to input data associated with hard labels
appearing on the small computing device and not on the display
screen (ie. not "soft" labels). For example, a plurality of the
keys may be labelled with numerics and in a hard key operating mode
may be operable to input numerics.
[0026] Preferably, a small computing device is arranged in one
operating mode to act as a dedicated function device. Preferably,
functions associated with the multi-function keys are
pre-configurable and are arranged to operate in a dedicated mode
ie. the multi-function keys become dedicated function keys. This
feature can be used to implement small devices including telephones
having dedicated operation. One example is a telephone which may be
dedicated for operation by a particular person, such as a child,
and be limited to, for example, being able to call only selected
telephone numbers.
[0027] Functionality of the small device of the present invention
may be implemented by appropriate software and/or hardware.
[0028] In accordance with a second aspect, the present invention
provides a communications device including a housing and a display
screen extending along a face of the housing lengthwise, a first
plurality of keys positioned sequentially adjacent one side of the
screen and a second plurality of keys positioned sequentially
adjacent the opposite side of the screen, the device including
means enabling the device to be worn by a user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] Features and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof, by
way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which;
[0030] FIG. 1 is a front view of a small computing device in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, in this
example being a mobile telephone;
[0031] FIG. 2 is a front view of a further embodiment of a small
computing device in accordance with the present invention;
[0032] FIGS. 3 to 13 are schematic representations of an interface
of a small device in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention, for the purpose of illustrating various functions of the
interface;
[0033] FIG. 14 is a front view of a further embodiment of a small
computing device in accordance with the present invention, in the
form of a mobile telephone;
[0034] FIG. 15 shows further schematic representations of an
interface for a small computing device in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention, illustrating further
functionality of the interface;
[0035] FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of componentry of an
embodiment of the present invention in the form of a mobile
telephone;
[0036] FIG. 17 is a further diagram of an interface of a small
device in accordance with an embodiment of the invention,
illustrating a further functional operation;
[0037] FIG. 18 is a front view of the further embodiment of a
mobile telephone in accordance with the present invention,
illustrating hard key labels for operation in a hard key mode;
[0038] FIG. 19 is a front view of a further embodiment of a small
computing device in accordance with the present invention,
illustrating an icon interface operating mode;
[0039] FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrates views of two further embodiments
of a small computing device in accordance with the present
invention;
[0040] FIG. 22 is a front view of a device in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention showing a further operating
mode;
[0041] FIG. 23 shows an extract from a memory tree structure for
implementing text sense.
[0042] FIGS. 24 to 26 are front views of a device in accordance
with embodiments of the present invention showing further operating
modes.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0043] The following description of an embodiment of the present
invention relates to a mobile communications device, in particular
a mobile telephone. The invention is not, however, limited to a
communications device, and may be implemented as any small
computing device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA).
[0044] A conventional mobile telephone comprises a controller for
controlling operation of the telephone, usually in the form of a
processor, a radio transceiver for communicating voice and/or text
messages to and from the telephone, and an interface for input and
output by the user.
[0045] A typical mobile telephone includes a housing which mounts
the processor, radio transceiver communications and other required
circuitry, the housing having one face which mounts the interface,
comprising (usually) a twelve button numeric keypad, "yes" and "no"
keys and "direction" keys, a display screen and a space above the
display screen for a speaker area.
[0046] This traditional interface results in a number of
disadvantages, particularly where there is a requirement for small
telephone size. Firstly, the keypad area is very small, and
operation is awkward.
[0047] Secondly, the display area is also very small so it is not
possible to display a great deal of information at any one of
time.
[0048] The limitations of this interface are an even greater
problem now that far more functionality is required of mobile
telephones. Common activities on mobile telephones include: [0049]
Menu selections for controlling settings [0050] Managing and
selecting from an address book [0051] Sending, receiving and
viewing text messages [0052] Browsing Internet data in either WAP
or HTML format [0053] Specialised applications such as calculators,
games, world time clocks etc.
[0054] The traditional numeric keypad interface hampers these
activities greatly as it is a far from ideal method of controlling
text input. For example, in order to input text, it is necessary to
actuate a key four times in some cases to enter a letter.
[0055] FIG. 1 of the drawings is a front view of a mobile telephone
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The
telephone includes a housing 1, which in this embodiment mounts
internally mobile telephone circuitry (see later), and has a front
face 2. The front face 2 mounts an interface which includes a
display screen 3. The display screen 3 may be any convenient type
of display eg. LCD. The display screen 3, as can be seen, takes up
the majority of length of the face 2 of the housing 1. This is a
much larger display space than typically available for a mobile
telephone.
[0056] Additionally, the interface includes a first row of keys 4
and a second row of keys 5, the rows 4 and 5 in this embodiment
extending in a line along the face of the housing on either side of
the display screen 3. Each of the keys 6 in the rows 4 and 5 are
controlled as "multi function" keys in this embodiment. The
interface is arranged such that a function of a particular key 5 at
any time will be indicated by dynamic labels appearing next to the
key 6 on the display screen 3, controlled by the device processor
(see later). The functions change depending on the activity the
user is performing.
[0057] The interface does not include any standard alpha-numeric
key pad. In this embodiment a "yes" 7 and "no" 8 key is included
positioned below the screen, and can be associated with the usual
"yes" and "no" functions eg. to initiate a telephone call ("yes"
button) or finish a telephone call ("no" button).
[0058] Space is provided for a speaker area 9 on the front face 2
above the screen 3.
[0059] With this format it is possible to perform all current cell
phone activities using the multi-function keys and new functions
such as electronic mail are made feasible. The format is
sufficiently versatile to be more capable of implementing future
functions, depending on software/hardware provided in the device.
It is also possible that various "personal digital assistant"
(PDA)-type functionality could also be implemented using this
interface eg. calenders, diaries.
[0060] A further embodiment of a small device in accordance with
the present invention is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG.
2 illustrates a small device 10 which may resemble such items as a
watch, pager or pendant. The device 10 includes a housing 11 which
mounts on one face 12 an interface including a display screen 13
and first 14 and second 15 rows of keys 16. In this embodiment the
key 16 may be on the side of the device rather than on the face 12,
and in the FIG. 2, the areas 17, 18, 19 and 20 are folded down ie.
they are the sides, top and bottom, of the housing 11. "Yes" 21 and
"no" 22 buttons are provided at the bottom 17 of the device 10.
[0061] This small device may be a communications device, a PDA, or
any other small computing device. One advantage of this type of
device is that it could be worn rather than carried which means the
user may have the device with them at all times. Such a device
could become ubiquitous.
[0062] In the embodiments of both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, because the
keys are placed in a row, they can be conveniently separated so
that a finger does not overlap more than one key when a key is
pressed. This results in easy control of a small device compared
to, for example, the standard alpha-numeric keypads on small
telephones, which are very clumsy to deal with.
[0063] Another advantage of the arrangement of both FIG. 1 and FIG.
2 is the larger screen, which provides the ability to be able to
see more text at a time, see more of the context of what is being
read. It is also possible that images and more complicated
documents may be viewed.
[0064] It is believed that the interface also enables faster,
easier text entry (see later on how text may be entered) so that it
is easier to use text based services such as SMS and e-mail.
Further, because of the large screen and the multi-function keys it
is possible to implement a simpler, more intuitive menu operation
(see later). The interface enables many options to be presented at
once rather than one at a time as is conventional with typical
mobile telephones.
[0065] Further, this device does not require any particularly new
manufacturing techniques over those already used for a conventional
mobile telephone and PDAs. The internal hardware of a mobile
telephone, for example, may be similar (although, of course it may
vary). It is merely the arrangement of the display and the keys
that is altered.
[0066] A major advantage, as discussed above, is that as functions
and labels for the keys may be software driven, the functionality
of the device can be altered merely by altering software. It is
therefore possible to produce devices that have different
functionality, but the same hardware ie. the same interface and
internal components. For mobile telephone type devices, this is
presently very difficult because of the dedicated alpha-numeric
interface. One particular advantage of this is that this is by
altering software the language of operation of the device can be
altered. Operation could include operation in Chinese characters,
for example, utilising the same interface and the multi-function
keys.
[0067] The following description describes different functions that
may be implemented in the mobile telephone or other mobile
communications device utilising this interface. It will be
appreciated that the device of the present invention is not limited
to the functionality described in the following, however, and many
different functions may be implemented with this device with this
interface.
[0068] FIGS. 3 through 13 of the drawings are schematic
representations of the interface of a device in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention, for the purposes of
illustrating some of the functions which may be implemented
utilising this interface.
[0069] In the diagrams of FIGS. 3 to 13, similar reference numerals
have been used to the embodiment of FIG. 1, to indicate the rows 4
and 5 of keys 6, "yes" 7 and "no" 8 keys and the display screen
3.
[0070] When illustrating operation of the device in the diagrams of
FIGS. 2 through to 13, with an unshaded key 6a pressing of that key
switches operation of the device onto the next step. The shaded
boxes 25 on the display screen are active labels which designate
the function of the adjacent key. If a box 26 adjacent to a key is
unshaded it means that the associated keys are not active in that
operating mode. The area 26 may be blank or used for displaying
data 27. Note that the reference numerals 6a, 25, 26 and 27 have
been used only in FIG. 3. For the purposes of clarity, these
reference numerals have been omitted from the other FIGS. 4 through
13, instead the operation of the interface being indicated by
appropriate shading as discussed with reference to FIG. 3.
[0071] FIG. 22 illustrates an embodiment where the soft labels on
the screen do not take up the whole screen width and entry may be
made on the screen between the labels. In this case numeric entry
100 is indicated.
Numerical Entry
[0072] FIG. 4 illustrates an operating mode enabling simple numeric
entry into the device. Each of the keys 6 is associated with a
numeral or a * or a #. This is equivalent to a standard numeric
keypad on, for example, a standard mobile telephone. The difference
here is that the keys 6 are dynamic and this "numeric keypad" is
one operating mode only. Pressing "yes" 7 enables the telephone
connection and pressing "no" 8 would be used to hang up, disconnect
or abort the function. Note that an area for display of the number
that is input in may be provided on display screen 3 (area not
shown).
Text Entry
[0073] Many options may be implemented for the entry of text.
Current methods used on typical mobile phones such as the
multi-press system (wherein one key may be pressed to choose
between several letters) or more advanced methods such as the T9
(wwww.tegic.com) could be implemented utilising the device of the
present invention, by simply making in one operating mode the 12
keys 6 of this embodiment correspond to the standard alpha-numeric
keypad keys for a mobile telephone. With the extra flexibility of
the dynamic labelling of the keys, however, it is possible to
implement more powerful and user friendly text input.
[0074] The applicant's co-pending patent application
(PCT/AU01/01467) describes a method and system for text entry which
can be utilised by the device of the present invention. The
disclosure of the referenced patent application is hereby
incorporated in this application.
[0075] It is also possible to have text input on a more advanced
level where knowledge of language allows the device to
significantly streamline the process of word entry. Text entry will
be described in more detail later.
Menuing
[0076] Typical mobile telephones allow selection from an array of
menu options by requiring the user to navigate through a "tree",
generally one option at time, using "direction" keys. This limits
the user to a "tunnel vision" view of the interface and results in
many key presses required to perform any one function. In the
device of this embodiment of the present invention, however,
utilising the multi-functions keys, many menu options can be
presented to the user at any one time arid if it is desired any of
those options may go on to a further menu of more options
(depending upon the number of multi-function keys available). For
example, with the twelve key embodiment illustrated in the
drawings, a menu structure with 144 options could be implemented
and the maximum number of key presses required for a user to get to
any single option would be two (although other operating modes may
require more). FIGS. 5 though 7 illustrates some typical menus that
may be utilised in the small device of this embodiment. FIGS. 5 and
6 show twelve menu options, each one associated with a key 6, eg in
FIG. 5 options include "call number", "send msg", "send email",
"programs", "addresses", "info", "call name", "view msg", view
email", "games", "internet", "settings". In FIG. 6 the options
include "text", "ring", "clock", "alert", "key sound", "key lock",
"list", answer mode", voice ans", "store", "ph num", "more . . .
".
[0077] Note that FIG. 6 represents "settings" menu selectable via
the interface of FIG. 5. The FIG. 6 display also enable a selection
of "more"0 settings.
[0078] In FIG. 7 (the "programs" menu) there are only eight options
and the other 4 key 6 are not required. These options include
"calculator", "calendar", "remote ctrl", "music", "world time",
"timer", "ebooks", "vend".
[0079] It will be appreciated that any menu option may be included
depending upon the functionality of the device.
Option Selection
[0080] Within any menu it is possible in the present device make an
operating function correspond to an option selection (ie. selection
of a particular menu item within a menu). In the present
embodiment, on-line screen labels for the option are highlighted to
indicate the current selection state. In FIGS. 8 through 11 this is
illustrated by underlining in the diagrams.
[0081] Binary Option
[0082] A binary option is either on or off and may be toggled in
place by pressing its associated key.
[0083] FIG. 8 illustrates a text setting menu with the "key beep"
off.
[0084] FIG. 9 illustrates a text setting menu with the "key beep"
on. This is a binary option.
[0085] Multiple selection Option
[0086] A multiple selection option enables a user to choose one or
more items from a list of several items.
[0087] FIG. 10 illustrates the ring melody menu for a telephone
with the original setting "Rivers of Babylon". FIG. 11 illustrates
the ring melody menu with the setting changed (multiple selection
option).
Scrolling
[0088] FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate how scrolling of the display
screen 3 may be implemented utilising this interface. In the case
where a long document is received in the device, such as a text
message, e-mail or Internet page, scrolling such as illustrated in
FIG. 12 may be implemented. Using universally recognised symbols
associated with keys 6 on the right hand side of the display screen
3, this operating mode implements scrolling. Indicia 30 indicates
that pressing the associated key 6 would move the display to the
top of the document. Indicia 31 indicates that pressing the
associated key 6 would move the document up a page. Indicia 32
indicates that pressing the associated key 6 moves the document up
a line, Indicia 33, 34 and 35 have the equivalent functions in the
opposite direction to 32, 31 and 30 respectively.
[0089] FIG. 12 illustrates scrolling as applied to a document. FIG.
13 illustrates scrolling as applied to a menu. This option may be
used when there are more menu options to display then will fit on
the display screen. In this case, the row of buttons 4 is
associated with menu selection and the row of buttons 5 on the
right hand side is associated with the scrolling function. FIG. 13
illustrates a phone book function where six addresses (of David
Bowie, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Jack Nicholson, John west and Mick
Jagger) are visible at any one time. To select one that is visible
the user would press the relevant associated button in the row 4
and to see more they use the scroll control associated with keys in
row 5.
Text Sense
[0090] A text sense function utilising a device in accordance with
the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG.
15. FIG. 15 shows 8 diagrams of the interface of the small device
of the present invention, each diagram illustrating a different
stage in input of text into the device. The same reference numerals
are used for components equivalent to the components already
described above. Note that in the operating mode of FIG. 15, the
two top keys on each of the rows 4 and 5 of the keys 6 are
associated with "direction" indicia 40, 41, 42, 43. A space 44 On
the display screen is available to indicate the results of
characters entered using this operating mode. The other keys are
associated with dynamic Functions illustrating text entry, as will
become clear from the following description.
[0091] The applicant's previous patent application (PCT/AU01/01467)
discloses a system which may be used to enter any symbol (text,
numerics, punctuation etc) in a very flexible and efficient manner.
The system is essentially "two-step". Referring to diagram 1 of
FIG. 15, the four lower keys 6 in each row 4 and 5 are associated
in this operating mode with functionality which corresponds to the
text input functionality described in applicant's earlier patent
application. The "soft key" indicators; include four soft keys 45,
46, 47, 48 which together offer "groups" of characters which make
up the standard Arabic alphabet. Soft key 48 also includes other
characters such as "?" "." etc as illustrated. Selection, of one of
these soft keys by actuation of the associated key 6, results in a
selection of that "group" of characters.
[0092] For example, if the user wishes to input the character "1"
they select soft key 46 by actuating the associated key 6. This
results in selection of the group of characters illustrated on the
soft key 46 and switches the device to a further operating mode as
illustrated in diagram 2 of FIG. 15. In this operating mode, each
of the lower four keys 6 of the rows 4 and 5 are associated with a
soft key representing one of the characters of the group of the
soft key 46 in diagram 1. Soft keys 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57
are associated with respectively the characters "i", "j", "k", "l",
"m", "n", "o" and "p". The user actuates the key associated with
the soft key 53 and this results in input in the character "1" to
the device.
[0093] In the system described in the applicant's earlier patent
application, at the same time as the character "1" is input by
actuation of soft key 53, or after, the device switches back to the
operating mode illustrated in diagram 1 and the user can select a
further group of characters designating the next character that
they wish to enter into the device 44. This simple "two-step"
character entry operation has significant advantages over
conventional character entry, such as that utilising conventional
alpha-numeric key pads.
[0094] In an embodiment of the present invention, however, a
further improvement may be achieved by utilising a "text sense"
operating mode.
[0095] As well as the numeric and alphabet soft keys 45, 46, 47,
48, there are also numeral 49 soft keys, a key 60 for "space", a
key 61 for "delete" and a key 62 for "more" options.
[0096] As the user enters text they are presented with "best
guesses" of the next one or more characters they are entering. The
user has the choice of selecting one of the "best guesses" and
having that section of the word filled in for them or explicitly
entering the next character. Which ever option, as soon as the
action is complete, the system takes another "guess" and the cycle
repeats until the end of the word.
[0097] As a user gets further into a word, the number of
possibilities for the word decreases dramatically. At the start of
a word, the "best guess" may not include an option for progressing
the intended word. If this is the case, the user must select the
next character explicitly and allow the text sense functionality to
guess based on this more explicit start string.
[0098] Also, at the start of the word the permutations for the
conclusion for the word may be so great that text sense does not
proffer the entire end of the word, just the next one, two or more
character blocks.
[0099] Whatever the case, the end result is that the user can enter
medium to large words with significantly less key strokes or button
presses than if they had typed all the characters of the word.
[0100] Referring again to FIG. 15, the following is an example
entry sequence which utilises text sense (in this example, to enter
the word "letter"). [0101] 1. This is the opening screen of the
standard text entry system of applicant's earlier application. The
user wants to enter "1" so they select the character group
containing "1": "ijklmnop". [0102] 2. Each of the characters from
the group is now presented to the user and they select "1". [0103]
3. The user has now entered "1" as the start of their word and Text
Sense is now guessing the next two characters of the word based on
its knowledge of the language. Thus we would look for "et". There
is "ea" and "eg" because these are a more likely 2 character
sequence than "et" at this stage so we have to reject the option
presented by pressing "no". [0104] 4. We are back to the explicit
character entry mode. We want to enter the letter "e" so we select
"abcdefgh". [0105] 5. And then we select "e". [0106] 6. We have now
entered the string "1e" and Text Sense is having another guess at
the rest of the word. It has determined that it can only offer the
next single letter but as some of those options only have one word
under them it has offered the entire rest of that word. For
instance the dictionary only has one word starting with "len" and
that is "length". So rather than offering "n" then "g", etc it
offers the entire rest of the word. The "|" character at the end of
the string indicates that that option will terminate the word.
Note: the system has several "lea . . . " and "leg . . . " words
but it has not proffered "a" or "e" at this stage as it has already
been determined at stage 3 that the word being entered is none of
these. We now select "t" to continue our word. [0107] 7. Now that
"let" has been entered, the system has only matches for the words
"let", "letter" or letters". As these will all fit on the screen it
presents all three. Selecting "|" would terminate the word as it
currently stands and give us "let". We select "ter|" which will add
"ter" to our entry and terminate the word. [0108] 8. Thus we have
entered the word "letter".
[0109] In the above description, the numbers in the left hand
column are equivalent to the numbering of the diagrams in FIG. 15.
Reference numerals have not be designated for each of the soft keys
of diagrams 3 through 8, for the purposes of clarity. The reader
will appreciate that the characters indicated in the diagrams
designate the functionality of the associated soft key ie.
selection of that soft key selects and enters the characters that
illustrated on that soft key, A "|" on a soft key indicates the end
of a word.
[0110] The following description is of one method of implementing
text sense note that text sense will be implemented by appropriate
software running on the control means, to provide a text sense
means. The following description of text sense implementation
refers to FIG. 23.
Data Structure
[0111] The internal data of the system is built up from a list
presented to the system which contains all the words upon which to
base guesses as well as an integer indicating a frequency of usage
of the word. The frequency number does not have an absolute
significance, it is only a representation of the frequency of usage
of the word in relation to other words in the file.
[0112] As words are fed into the system a letter by letter tree
structure is built. For example all words starting with "I" have a
pointer from the top "I" node. Under "I" is a node for every letter
that any word has following the letter "I". This goes on down the
line until the end of the word is reached. For each node down the
line a count of the frequency of all the words below it in the tree
is maintained. This represents the frequency value for all words
that start with the string down to that node.
[0113] Note: in a standard implementation you would also include
in-word punctuation characters as well such as "" and "-"
[0114] FIG. 23 is a representation of the raw data (on the right)
and the corresponding tree structure (on the left) built up
internally for words starting with "Ie".
Section of String to Present
[0115] Given the first character(s) of a word, the system travels
down the tree to the node that represents that start string. For
instance, given the string "let" it would first go to the top "1"
node then the "e" node under that then "t" node under that. This
would bring us to the node that is shaded in the table above.
[0116] Note: if in travelling down the tree, the letters indicated
a node that didn't exist this would meant that the user had entered
the start of a word that isn't in the dictionary and thus we would
leave them to complete the word with explicit character entry.
[0117] Having got to the node for "let" we see that there are three
possible words underneath ("let", "letter" and "letters") so we
present all three as they will fit on the screen.
[0118] A more involved example is if the user has only entered "le"
this brings us to the large "e" node on the left of the above
table. As we can see, there are many words under this. We would
first look down one character and find that there are 10
possibilities ("a", "d", "e", "f", "g", "n", "s", "t", "v", "w").
As we have 8 positions on the screen (not much less than 10) we go
down another level to the next two characters on from "le". This
then gives us 19 possibilities (ad, ag, ar, as, av, dl, el, ed, ft,
gl, ga, gi, gs, ng, ss, tl, tt, ve, wi). This now significantly
exceeds our 8 positions so out of the 19 possibilities we pick the
8 two character strings which have the highest frequency total for
the tree below the, we then present the.
Strings not Re-Presented
[0119] As the word is entered it is often possible for a
combination to be considered which has already been ruled out by a
previous set. In our example entry sequence (above), in step 3 we
were presented with "ea" and "eg" but we wanted "et" so we
explicitly entered "e". Thus it would be possible at step 6 of the
example to present "a" and "g" but this is unnecessary as we know
that these are not part of the desired word. In order to avoid
representing a word we flag all nodes that have been presented so
that when we are selecting candidates we treat flagged nodes as if
they were not there.
[0120] When the end of the word is reached the flags are reset
ready for the next word.
Dynamic Learning
[0121] As well as the initial word list that they system is loaded
with, the system also optionally learn new words as the user uses
them.
[0122] As words are entered that the system knows it boost the
frequency value of word giving it greater priority in subsequent
usages. When the user enters words that the system does not know
then the system could add these to the word list so that they are
available for guessing with in the next instance.
[0123] For this to work, the data set must be stored in persistent
storage between activations of the system.
[0124] FIG. 24 illustrates a front view of a device in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention illustrating one form
of interface for text entry. FIG. 25 illustrates another form of
interface which is modelled on the T9 style text entry with
predictive guesses shown by indicators 200, 201, 202.
Dedicated Keypad Operation
[0125] In accordance with a further embodiment of the present
invention, the small device may be configured to operate in a
dedicated operating mode which is pre-configurable, either by the
manufacturer or by a user of the device so that the device cannot
be easily switched from this one operating mode (for example it may
have to be returned to the manufacturer or alternatively a user may
have to enter a security code to switch the operating mode).
[0126] Utilising the present invention, because the keys can be
associated with soft keys implementing any function which is
enabled by the hardware/software of the device, the device can be
configured in any dedicated operating mode.
[0127] One example of an operating mode is described in the
following, with reference to FIG. 17 of the drawings. FIG. 17 is a
further diagram illustrating use of the interface of the small
device of the present invention, in the case as applied to a mobile
telephone. The same reference numerals have been used to designate
the same components as in the previous drawings.
[0128] The small device of this embodiment of the present invention
has been pre-configured, either during manufacture or by
application of a configuration step by a user (eg. a parent) to
configure the telephone in a "kids" mode, as illustrated.
[0129] In this "dedicated" mode, the operation of the telephone
cannot be changed, unless it is reconfigured by the manufacturer or
by the parent (on entry of an appropriate security code, or other
security operation). In this "kids" mode the keys 6 in the left
hand row are associated with soft keys which include limited
operations only such as "answer" 17, "hang up" 71 and stored
numbers for dialling "mum" 72, "dad" 73, "school" 74 and
"emergency" 75.
[0130] Such a pre-configured telephone could be provided for a
child's use, in the sure knowledge that they could not use the
phone to dial any other numbers, and also would find the telephone
very simple to operate and use in an emergency or to call school,
mum or dad (or any other pre-configured number that may be
required).
[0131] FIG. 26 illustrates a front view of a device in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention in "kids" mode.
[0132] As discussed above, it will be appreciated that any
functionality could be implemented in the pre-configured mode, and
the invention is not limited a "kids" mode only.
[0133] The pre-configuration could take place at the factory ie.
devices with this interface could be produced with dedicated
functions, or a multi-function device may be produced in which at
least a plurality of the keys may be "locked" into one particular
function. Security means, such as a PIN, may be available to unlock
function if it is wished to return the device to multi-function
operation.
Hard Key Operating Mode
[0134] The control means may control the operation of the device to
provide a "hard key" operating mode. In the hard key operating
mode, operation of the keys is not associated with a soft label is
on the display screen, instead a hard label is associated with the
key, eg. on the key. FIG. 18 illustrates a front view of a device
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
illustrating hard labels 110 on the key 6. In this embodiment, the
hard labels are alpha-numerics. When switched to the hard key
operating mode, all the display screen is available for information
entry in accordance with the hard labels. The device may be
switched between hard and "soft" operating modes.
[0135] There may be a number of hard operating modes.
Icon Operating Mode
[0136] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a small device in
accordance with the present invention which utilises icons to
indicate functionality of the key 6 in an icon operating mode. The
icons 111 may indicate any operating function which is implemented
by the device eg. address book, diary, calendar, world time,
etc.
[0137] FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate a view of further embodiments of
small computing devices in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 20 shows a front view, FIG. 28, side view from one side (FIG.
20B) illustrating direction keys 112 on the side, side view from
the other side (FIG. 20C) rear view (FIG. 20D) indicating a battery
cover 113, top view (FIG. 20E) and bottom view (FIG. 20F). FIG. 21
illustrates similar views for a further embodiment, with the same
reference numerals indicating similar components,
[0138] It will be appreciated that functionality of the small
device may be implemented by appropriate software and hardware
which is well within the scope of the skilled person in order to
implement the "soft key" and other functionality required. For the
sake of completion, FIG. 16 is a block diagram which illustrates
one way only in which the hardware of a mobile telephone in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention may be
implemented. This hardware, generally designated by reference
numeral 80 is mounted in the housing 1 of the small device.
[0139] The components include a control means in the form
processing means 81, which may include an on-board or off-board
memory and a processor(s) arranged to control operation of the
device. The processing means 81 may in fact include multiple
processes eg. SIM card, DSP (Digital Signal Processor) and
conventional processor for controlling other operations of the
device such as the interface operation The control means may
incorporate any form of processor or arrangement of processors
which can implement the functionally of the device described
above.
[0140] The device also includes a microphone 83 and microphone
input 82 into the processor 81. Voice output via the processor 81
is via an amplifier 82 and loud speaker 83. A radio transceiver 84
is provided for telecommunications reception and transmission via
an antenna 85. A display driver 86 is arranged to drive the display
3 and a keypad sensor 87 is arranged to receive input from the rows
4 and 5 of keys 6. The functionality as described above will be
implemented by the appropriate software.
[0141] FIG. 14 illustrates further embodiment of a mobile telephone
in accordance with the present invention. In addition to having the
same components as the mobile telephone of FIG. 1 which are
indicated by the same reference numerals, the telephone of the
embodiment of FIG. 14 also includes "direction" key 100. The
direction key may be used for such things as scrolling or
controlling games.
[0142] The above described embodiment is a small device which has a
communication function and is preferably a mobile telephone. The
present invention is applicable to devices which do not necessarily
have communications functions. For example, the present invention
may be implemented as a PDA type device which does not include a
communications function but which includes computing functions such
as diary, calendar, etc.
[0143] Conveniently, the present invention may be implemented as a
hybrid device which includes communication function which may also
include functionally which is not normally seen in a conventional
mobile telephone, such as functionally associated with a PDA,
e-mail, calendar, calculator, address book, world time, alarm clock
and others.
[0144] Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a
skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present
invention.
* * * * *