CN1198198C - Character input method and unit - Google Patents

Abstract

In an electronic device with a limited space for arranging an operation keyboard or the like, character input such as Chinese characters can be well performed with simple operations. The character is classified with the first classification method, i.e. the order of strokes that constitute the character, and then the character is classified with the second classification method based on the character pronunciation elements, at least one classification item based on the first classification method is designated, and the candidate characters are displayed, Designate the predetermined pronunciation element classified by the second classification method, narrow down the range of displayed candidate characters, select a specific character from among them with a predetermined operation, and determine it as an input character, which can be performed quickly and easily with a small number of key operations. Character input.

Description

Character input method and character input device

technical field

The invention relates to a character input method and a character input device, especially suitable for relatively small electronic devices such as mobile phone terminals.

Background technique

Small electronic devices such as mobile phone terminals and pager devices include a display unit composed of a liquid crystal display or the like for displaying various information such as numbers, characters, and graphics. For example, in the case of a mobile phone terminal, there is a model that has a function called an electronic phone book, capable of storing about hundreds of phone numbers, and at the same time, for each phone number stored, a name or name (company name, etc.) to indicate that the phone number is the phone number sent to, and the stored phone number and name can be displayed. Furthermore, in the case of a mobile phone terminal having a character message transmission function, it is possible to transmit character information input to the mobile phone terminal to other telephone sets, or to receive character information transmitted from other telephone sets with the mobile phone terminal, and displayed on the display unit.

Here, in the case of displaying Chinese characters on the display unit of such an electronic device, since there are 6 to 7 thousand characters even for commonly used Chinese characters, it is necessary to solve the input method of the characters. That is, in the case of a relatively large electronic device with a keyboard capable of inputting letters, the keyboard can be used to input the pronunciation of the Chinese character you want to input with letters, and the candidate characters with the pronunciation are sequentially displayed on the display unit, from which to find desired characters.

However, in relatively small electronic devices such as mobile phone terminals, the number of keys that can be configured on the terminal is limited, and usually only dial keys corresponding to numbers such as 1, 2, 3...9, 0, and several keys are configured. function keys. Therefore, the process of arranging the same number of keys as the number of letters and inputting Chinese characters using the letter keys cannot be applied to small electronic devices such as mobile phone terminals. When using a mobile phone terminal to input letters, generally three or four letters are assigned to each dial key of the terminal, and the letters are input according to the number of times the keys are pressed.

In the past, in the Chinese character input processing that has been practically used in mobile phone terminals, there is a kind of processing, for example, assigning each stroke constituting the radical of a Chinese character to each dial key, specifying each stroke sequentially according to the stroke order, thereby specifying the radical , find out the required character by this radical to input. For example, when specifying the radical of "王", since the radical is composed of strokes "一" and "丨", input "一", "一", "丨", "一" in sequence according to the order of strokes The operation (example of stroke order in China) to designate the radical of "Wang", and the Chinese characters combined with the radical "Wang" are displayed as "Wang, Wang, Mei, ..." in sequence as candidate characters, A desired character is found from the displayed characters, and the found character is determined as an input character. This input method is called a stroke input method.

However, the input process of specifying the strokes of the radicals according to the stroke order needs to remember the stroke order of each radical correctly, even if only one stroke order is misremembered, the corresponding radical cannot be found. In addition, in this input method, in the case of radicals with a large number of strokes, the number of key operations is too many, and it is impossible to quickly find and input a desired character.

Here, the problem in the case of inputting Chinese characters in a mobile phone terminal is described, but in the case of inputting Chinese characters such as Chinese in a relatively small electronic device similar to a mobile phone terminal that cannot be provided with an alphabet keyboard Below, the same problem exists.

Contents of the invention

An object of the present invention is to enable character input such as Chinese characters to be performed well with simple operations in an electronic device in which operation keys and the like are arranged and the space is limited.

In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a character input method for a telephone device with a limited number of input keys, by classifying the pronunciation of each Chinese character with a letter, characters can be easily input with a limited number of keys, including :

Classify the search object character with the first classification method, that is, classify with the order of strokes of the strokes that constitute the character;

Then above-mentioned retrieval object character is classified with the 2nd classification method based on character pronunciation element;

Designate at least one classification item based on the above-mentioned first classification method, and display candidate characters among the above-mentioned search target characters;

From the displayed candidate characters, designate a predetermined pronunciation element classified by the above-mentioned second classification method, and narrow down the range of the displayed candidate characters;

A specific character is selected by a predetermined operation from the narrowed-down candidate characters, and the selected character is determined as an input character.

The present invention provides a character input device for a telephone device with a limited number of input keys, by classifying the pronunciation of each Chinese character with a letter, a limited number of keys can simply input characters, including:

The storage part stores the character as the retrieval object, and adds the information relevant to the first classification and the second classification, wherein the first classification is classified by the stroke order of the strokes that constitute the character, and the second classification is based on the character pronunciation elements;

Operating components capable of inputting at least the above-mentioned 1st and 2nd classification items;

a display part for displaying characters defined by the operation of the above-mentioned operation part;

The control part performs the following control: when at least one of the above-mentioned first classification items is designated by a predetermined operation of the above-mentioned operation part, the candidate characters among the characters stored in the above-mentioned storage part are displayed on the above-mentioned display part, and In the state of the candidate characters, when there is an operation to designate the pronunciation element classified by the second classification on the above-mentioned operation part, from the above-mentioned candidate characters, the range of the candidate characters displayed on the above-mentioned display part is narrowed down to the range corresponding to the second classification. The character corresponding to the classification item.

According to the present invention, characters to be retrieved are stored, and information related to the first classification and the second classification are added, wherein the first classification is classified by the stroke order of the strokes constituting the character, and the second classification is based on the pronunciation elements of the character, and the operation Part operation to designate at least one of the first classification items, display candidate characters according to the information stored in the storage part, in the state of displaying the candidate characters, use the operation of the operation parts to designate the second classification item, thereby being able to zoom out The displayed range of candidate characters is searched for input characters from the narrowed range of candidate characters and determined, so that a desired character can be input.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a structural diagram of a mobile phone terminal example of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an appearance example of a mobile phone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is the flow chart of the character input processing example of an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is the flow chart of the character input processing example (example of radical selection) of another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the first example of character strings and definite characters when characters are input in the example of Fig. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a second example of candidate character strings and definite characters at the time of character input in the example of FIG. 4 .

specific embodiment

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

This embodiment is applicable to the case of character input using a mobile phone terminal that performs wireless communication with a wireless phone base station or the like through a predetermined wireless phone line, and is capable of making a call by voice data transmission, and Various data communications.

First, the configuration of a mobile phone terminal will be described. FIG. 1 shows the internal structure of the mobile phone terminal of this example. This mobile phone terminal has a central control unit (CPU) 31 composed of a microprocessor. Under the control of the central control unit 31, communication as a wireless phone, and various functions that this terminal has.

As a configuration for performing wireless communication, the audio signal picked up by the microphone 11 is subjected to baseband processing by the amplifier 12 and the like. The baseband processed voice signal is converted by the A/D converter 13 into digital voice data of a prescribed format. The digital voice data converted by the A/D converter 13 is supplied to the data processing unit 14 and converted into a data structure for transmission. The data processing unit 14 is constituted by, for example, an integrated circuit called a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). When the data processing unit 14 performs data processing for transmission, control data and the like supplied from the central control unit 31 are also added to the transmission data. The transmission data processed in the data processing unit 14 is supplied to the modulation unit 15, and modulated for transmission. The data modulated by the modulation unit 15 is supplied to the transmission high-frequency circuit unit 16, and processed to be converted into a transmission frequency. The transmission signal converted into the transmission frequency by the high-frequency circuit unit 16 is supplied to the antenna 18 through the antenna changeover switch 17 , and wirelessly transmitted from the antenna 18 .

In addition, the signal received by the antenna 18 is provided to the receiving high-frequency circuit unit 19 through the antenna switch 17, and high-frequency processing is performed to convert the signal of a predetermined frequency into an intermediate frequency signal (or baseband signal). The intermediate frequency signal converted by the high frequency circuit unit 19 is provided to the demodulation unit 20 for demodulation for reception. The data demodulated in the demodulation unit 20 is supplied to the data processing unit 14 . Processing is carried out in the data processing unit 14 to extract voice data and control data from the received data. The extracted voice data is converted into an analog voice signal by a digital/analog converter 21 . The audio signal converted by the digital/analog converter 21 is subjected to baseband processing by the amplifier 22 and the like, and then is reproduced from the speaker 23 . Furthermore, the control data extracted by the data processing unit 14 is supplied to the central control unit 31 .

The central control unit 31 is connected to a memory 32 in which an operating program required for the radiotelephone is stored in advance. In addition, data set by user operations, such as electronic telephone directory data and character message information described later, are stored in the memory 32 under the control of the central control unit 31 . Here, in the case of the mobile phone terminal of this example, as electronic telephone directory data and character message information, in addition to characters such as alphabets, Chinese characters such as Chinese can also be stored, and it has a function of storing Chinese characters with predetermined codes. In addition, information required for retrieval processing necessary for character input of the Chinese characters is also stored in the memory 32 . As information required for the retrieval process of Chinese character input, classification information related to the order of strokes constituting each Chinese character and classification information related to the pronunciation of each Chinese character are additionally stored on the character code of each Chinese character, and can be performed using each classification information. search. As the information related to the pronunciation of Chinese characters here, for example, the pronunciation of each Chinese character is focused on the fact that the pronunciation of each Chinese character is composed of a combination of pronunciation elements of the consonant portion called the initial initial consonant and a pronunciation element of the portion including the vowel called the final. , classified into the pronunciation elements of initials and finals for storage.

In addition, the mobile phone terminal has an operation keyboard 33, and the keyboard 33 is equipped with numbers such as 1, 2, 3 ... 9, 0, etc., as well as dial keys corresponding to signs such as #, *, etc., and multiple keys such as a send key and an end key. The function keys, meanwhile, have a rotary operation unit 34, and input operations can be performed by rotary operations and push operations.

In the case of this example, 26 letters are allocated to the number dial keys 2 to 9 in the dial keys constituting the operation keyboard 33, and in the state of specifying the letter input mode, it can be performed by operating the keys to which each letter is assigned. Input of letters. That is, the 3 letters "A, B, C" are assigned to the key "2", the 3 letters "D, E, F" are assigned to the key "3", and the 3 letters "G, H, I" are assigned to the key "4". Assign the three letters "J, K, L" to the key "5", assign the three letters "M, N, O" to the key "6", and assign "P, Q, R, 4 letters "S", assign 3 letters "T, U, V" to key "8", and assign 4 letters "W, X, Y, Z" to key "9". The 3 or 4 letters assigned to 1 key are distinguished by the number of times the key is pressed. The assigned letter is printed on the face of the key.

Furthermore, in the case of this example, 5 strokes are allocated to the dial keys of numerals 2 to 6 in the dial keys constituting the operation keyboard 33, as representative strokes in the strokes forming Chinese characters, when the Chinese character input mode is specified, Stroke input can be performed by operating the keys to which each stroke is assigned in the state. That is, for example, the stroke "一" is assigned to the key "2", the stroke "丨" is assigned to the key 3, the stroke "丿" is assigned to the key "4", the stroke "丿" is assigned to the key "5", and the stroke "丿" is assigned to the key "6". Assign the stroke "". The assigned strokes are printed on the face of the key.

Here, the keys to which letters are assigned and the keys to which strokes of Chinese characters are assigned are common, but the keys to which letters are assigned and the keys to which strokes of Chinese characters are assigned may be different keys. For example, the keys assigned the strokes of Chinese characters may be various function keys other than numeric keys. In addition, five strokes are set here as strokes for inputting Chinese characters, but strokes of other shapes may also be allocated.

The rotary operation unit 34 is a device called "jogdial" or the like, which can be rotated and pressed. By operating the rotary operation unit 34, input of letters or strokes of Chinese characters can also be performed. When operating the operation keyboard 33 and the rotation operation unit 34 , the operation command is given to the central control unit 31 .

In addition, the mobile phone terminal of this example has a display unit 40 composed of a liquid crystal display, and under the control of the central control unit 31, it is possible to display a plurality of rows (for example, about 4 rows) on the display unit 40 with numbers and characters of predetermined digits. or graphics. This display unit 40 has, for example, a backlight, and the display can be confirmed even in a dark place.

The example of the external appearance of the mobile phone terminal of this example is shown in Figure 2, and constitutes the front of the casing of mobile phone terminal 10, and microphone 11 is arranged on the lower side, and loudspeaker 23 is arranged on the upper side, and on the position between them, An operation keyboard 33 and a display unit 40 are provided. Numbers such as 1, 2, 3...9, 0 and signs such as # and * are printed on the dial keys corresponding to the numbers and the like in the operation keyboard 33 . In addition, on the number keys 2-9, the 3 or 4 letters assigned as above are printed, and on the number keys 2-6, the strokes of Chinese characters assigned as above are printed.

Further, on the left side of the surface on which the operation keyboard 33 and the display unit 40 are arranged, a rotation operation unit 34 is arranged. The rotary operation unit 34 is a rotary switch called a jog dial, etc., and only a part of the disk-shaped part protrudes slightly from the body of the terminal. The operation of rotating in the downward direction indicated by b and the operation of pressing to the main body side indicated by arrow c, when each operation is performed, corresponding operation information is provided to the central control unit 31 . By using the rotation operation unit 34, for example, when the mobile phone terminal 10 is held with the left hand, the vertical rotation operation and the pressing operation can be performed only with the thumb of the left hand.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2 , a plurality of display lines 41 and 42 are prepared as display lines for displaying numerals and characters on the display unit 40 disposed in the mobile phone terminal of this example. In addition, a display line 43 for displaying the reception level, the remaining battery level, and the like in graphics or the like is prepared.

In the display lines 41 and 42 of the display unit 40, for example, when the terminal is used to perform a sending operation, or when there is an incoming call to the terminal, according to the control of the central control unit 31, the number is displayed on the display line 42 with numbers. The phone number of the sending end, and the phone number of the sending end. In addition, when the registration process of the telephone number of the receiving end is performed according to the electronic telephone directory function, according to the control of the central control unit 31, two display lines 41, 42 are used to display the registered telephone number with numbers, and with characters, etc. Displays the name (or company name, etc.) to which the phone number relates. Here, in the case of this example, the name and title related to the telephone number can be displayed using characters such as Chinese characters, alphabets, and numerals.

In the mode in which the registered telephone number is displayed on the display unit 40, under the control of the central control unit 31 based on the upward or downward rotation operation of the above-mentioned rotary operation unit 34, the predetermined order or the reverse order are followed. , change the displayed phone number and name one by one. When the telephone number to be transmitted is displayed on the display unit 40 by such an operation, the operation unit 34 is pressed and rotated, and the central control unit 31 performs transmission processing to the telephone number at this time.

Similarly, when displaying the telephone number of the receiving end or the sending end, if the telephone number is a telephone number registered in advance with the above-mentioned electronic telephone directory function, the registered name and the like are displayed in addition to the telephone number.

In addition, the mobile phone terminal of this example can transmit and receive character messages under the control of the central control unit 31, and when receiving a character message, store the received character message in the memory 32 and store the stored character message. The character message of is displayed on the display unit 40. In addition, a character message input through user operation and displayed on the display unit 40 can be transmitted to a recipient of an arbitrary telephone number according to the control of the central control unit 31 . As in the case of the telephone directory function described above, this character message can also be displayed using characters such as Chinese characters such as Chinese and alphabets.

Next, the processing when character input is performed using the mobile phone terminal of this example will be described. Here, the case of inputting Chinese characters in Chinese will be described as an example in order to use the above-mentioned electronic telephone directory function to register a name, etc., or to perform character input in order to prepare a character message to be sent.

First, the Chinese character codes of Chinese are classified and stored in the memory 32 that the mobile phone terminal of this example has according to the order of strokes of each character, and are classified and stored in the memory 32 that the mobile phone terminal of this example has according to the pronunciation of each character middle.

As a classification based on the stroke order of characters, here, the first stroke written in the case of handwritten Chinese characters is classified according to which of the five, for example, "一", "丨", "丿", "丨", and "" . Furthermore, the information of the second stroke of writing, the third stroke of writing, . . . is also stored as needed. Then, when a stroke is designated by key operation or the like, a Chinese character (or radicals constituting a Chinese character) can be retrieved based on the stroke order of the stroke, that is, a so-called stroke input can be performed. Here, five strokes of "一", "丨", "丿", "严" and "" are used to classify, but other strokes can also be added to the classification.

Furthermore, in addition to stroke order information, pronunciation information of each Chinese character is also stored. Here, the fact that the pronunciation of Chinese characters is made up of the combination of the pronunciation elements of the consonant part called the initial consonant and the pronunciation element of the vowel-containing part called the final is used to represent the pronunciation of the initial and the final. The letter of the element is used to classify and store.

That is, the initial consonants constituting the pronunciation of Chinese characters can basically be classified into 21 pronunciations as shown in the pinyin in the initial consonant column of [Table 1] below. In addition, finals can be classified into 35 pronunciations as shown in pinyin in the finals column of [Table 1].

[Table 1]

Content of initials and finals initials basic b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s expand Basic initial consonant+a o e+w y vowels a o e ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia ie iao iou ian in iang ing iong u uauo uai uei uan uen uang ueng ü ü e ü an ü n

The phonetic elements of Chinese characters can be represented by combinations of pinyinized initials and finals shown in [Table 1].

Here, in the case of this example, the phonetic elements of each Chinese character stored in the memory 32 are stored in pinyin, and the initial consonant is input by letter, and the Chinese character including the initial consonant can be searched.

Here, in this example, stroke input for specifying the strokes constituting a Chinese character by stroke order is combined with initial consonant input to perform efficient character retrieval. This character retrieval is performed by, for example, the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 3 under the control of the central control unit 31 . In this character input process, the central control unit 31 uses, for example, the display line 42 of the display unit 40 as a display position for input processing, and a user who performs a character input operation while viewing the display on the display line 42 performs an input operation.

Character input processing combining stroke input and initial consonant input will be described in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. 3 . First, the central control unit 31 judges whether it is a mode for character input (step 101). Here, in the case of the character input mode, it is judged whether or not the first stroke of the character to be input is input according to a predetermined key operation or an operation of the rotary operation unit 34 (step 102). As the stroke input operation here, for example, the input mode of the dial key is set to the stroke input mode, and the stroke printed on the key is input by operating the dial key. Alternatively, a list of strokes may be displayed on the display unit 40 by operating the rotation operation unit 34, an input stroke may be determined by an operation of the rotation operation unit 34 from the displayed strokes, and a stroke input operation may be performed.

Then, when there is no input operation of a stroke in step 102, still wait, and when there is an input of a stroke, the central control unit 31 retrieves from the storage data of the memory 32 that the selected stroke is the first stroke of the stroke order with this operation. As a string of candidate characters, the retrieved characters are displayed in a predetermined order on the display line 41 of the display unit 40 (step 103). In this case, the contents displayed as candidate character strings may also display components constituting characters, that is, radicals. In addition, when displaying candidate character strings, they may be displayed, for example, in the order of pronunciation or the like, or may be displayed in an order that takes into account the frequency of use of characters in the past.

Under this state, then judge whether there is the input (step 104) of the 2nd stroke of the stroke order of the character that wants to input, when there is the input of stroke, central control unit 31 retrieves the input in step 102 from the stored data of memory 32. The stroke is the first stroke in the stroke order, and the input stroke is the second stroke in the candidate character string, and the retrieved characters are displayed on the display line 41 of the display unit 40 in a predetermined order (step 105).

In this way, the first stroke of the input stroke order, the second stroke of the input stroke order, ..., when each stroke is input, the range of candidate characters is all narrowed down successively, by inputting the strokes that constitute the character you want to input to the last stroke of the stroke order , can narrow down the candidate range to the character you want to input. It is the stroke input mode that arrives at the character that wants to input like this, but under the situation of this example, in any stage of displaying the candidate character string, all judge whether there is the input operation of initial consonant.

That is, when there is no input operation of a stroke in step 104, or when the candidate character string is displayed in step 105, it is judged whether there is an input operation of a letter corresponding to an initial (step 106). When there is no initial consonant input operation, it still waits. As the initial consonant input operation here, for example, the input mode of the dial key is switched from the stroke input mode to the letter input mode, and the letter corresponding to the initial consonant is input by the operation of the dial key. Alternatively, a list of initials may be displayed on the display line 41 of the display unit 40 by operating the rotation operation unit 34, and the initial consonant to be input may be determined by operating the rotation operation unit 34 from the displayed initials, and the initial consonant input operation may be performed.

Then, when there is an initial consonant input, among the currently displayed characters as a candidate character string, the range of candidate characters is narrowed down to a word whose pronunciation has an input initial consonant, and the narrowed candidate character string is displayed on the display unit 40 on the display line 41 (step 107). In this state, it is judged whether or not a specific character is selected as an input character from the displayed candidate character strings by a predetermined key operation or an operation of rotating the operation unit 34 (step 108). When there is no input operation, it waits, and when there is an input operation, the selected character is determined as an input character and displayed on, for example, the display line 42 of the display unit 40 (step 109). When one or more determined input characters are displayed on the display line 42, the input characters selected in step 108 are displayed at the end of the displayed characters.

After the processing of determining the input character in step 109, it is judged whether there is a next character input (step 110), and if there is a next character input, the input processing is performed again from step 102. When the character input processing is terminated, the processing of this flowchart is skipped.

Then, the character string whose input has been specified is processed as information corresponding to the operation mode at that time. For example, in the mode of sending to any receiver as a character message, the input characters are stored in the memory 32 as character message information, and when the sending operation of the character message is performed, the stored character message information is transferred from the memory 32 read out and send to the receiver over the radiotelephone line. In addition, in the mode of inputting a name or title registered together with a telephone number as an electronic telephone directory in characters, the input characters are stored in the memory 32 as the name or title.

By performing character input processing in this way, it is not necessary to fully memorize the stroke order of the character to be input. As long as the first stroke of the stroke order of the character to be input and the pronunciation of the character are at least memorized, the corresponding character can be reached with few key operations. character. In addition, after inputting the first stroke in the stroke order, input strokes after the second stroke in sequence, and at the stage where the range of candidate characters is narrowed down to a certain extent, input the pronunciation of initial consonants, so that the corresponding characters can be reached more efficiently.

It is also possible to display radicals as character constituents instead of candidate characters by stroke input, and the candidate characters are displayed after radicals are first selected. The flowchart of FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a processing example in the case of this radical selection, and will be described with reference to FIG. 4. First, the central control unit 31 determines whether it is a character input mode (step 201). Here, in the case of the character input mode, it is judged whether there is input of the first stroke of the radical of the character to be input according to a predetermined key operation or an operation of the rotary operation unit 34 (step 202).

When there is no input operation of a stroke in step 202, still wait, and when there is an input of a stroke, the central control unit 31 retrieves the candidate portion that the selected stroke is the first stroke in the order of strokes from the storage data of the memory 32 The searched characters are displayed on the display line 41 of the display unit 40 in a predetermined order (step 203).

In this state, further judge whether there is an input of the second stroke of the stroke order of the radicals that the characters that want to input have (step 204), when there is an input of strokes, the central control unit 31 retrieves the step 2 from the storage data of the memory 32. The stroke of input in 202 is as the first stroke of the stroke order, and the stroke of the input at this time is the string of candidate radicals of the second stroke of the stroke order, and the radicals retrieved are displayed on the display line 41 of the display unit 40 in a prescribed order ( Step 205).

In this way, the first stroke of the input stroke order, the second stroke of the input stroke order, ..., during each input stroke, the range of candidate radicals is all narrowed down successively, by forming the constituent strokes of the radicals that the characters that want to input have Input to the last stroke of the stroke order, the candidate range can be narrowed down to the radicals that the character you want to input has. Here, at the stage of displaying any candidate radical string, it is judged whether there is an operation of selecting radical (step 206). When there is no choice of radicals, still wait. And when there is an operation to select a radical, a string of candidate characters that can be combined with the selected radical is displayed (step 207).

Next, in the state where the candidate character string is displayed, it is judged whether there is an input operation of a letter corresponding to the initial (step 208). When there is no initial consonant input operation, it still waits. And when there is an initial consonant input, in the currently displayed word as a candidate character string, the scope of the candidate character is narrowed down to the pronunciation having the input initial consonant, and the candidate character string that has been narrowed down is displayed on the display unit 40. on the display line 41 of (step 209). In this state, it is judged whether or not a specific character has been selected as an input character from the displayed candidate character strings by a predetermined key operation or an operation of rotating the operation unit 34 (step 210). When there is no input operation, it waits, and when there is an input operation, the selected character is determined as an input character and displayed on, for example, the display line 42 of the display unit 40 (step 211). When one or more determined input characters are displayed on the display line 42, the input characters selected in step 210 are displayed at the end of the displayed characters.

After the processing of determining the input character in step 211, it is judged whether there is a next character input (step 212), and if there is a next character input, the input processing is performed again from step 202. When the character input processing is terminated, the processing of this flowchart is skipped.

Then, the character string whose input has been specified is processed as information corresponding to the operation mode at that time. For example, in the mode of sending to any receiver as a character message, the input characters are stored in the memory 32 as character message information, and when the sending operation of the character message is performed, the stored character message information is transferred from the memory 32 read out and send to the receiver over the radiotelephone line. In addition, in the mode of inputting a name or title registered together with a telephone number as an electronic telephone directory in characters, the input characters are stored in the memory 32 as the name or title.

In this way, the candidate radicals are displayed in the stroke input mode, and from the displayed radicals, select the radicals that the character you want to input has, display the candidate characters that can be combined with the selected radicals, and then input the initial consonant, zoom out The range of candidate characters, so that efficient retrieval of input characters can be performed according to the input of radicals and initials. In the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 , when radicals are mixed among the candidate characters displayed in step 103, a process of selecting a specific radical being displayed is performed at the stage of displaying a candidate character string including the radical. , the process proceeds to step 207 in FIG. 4 to display the candidate character strings of the selected radicals.

Here, examples of input and display will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

FIG. 5 is an example of a case where it is desired to search for "frost" as an input character. In this case, first, a process of searching for "rain" which is the radical of the character "frost" is first performed. Therefore, in order to search for this "rain", as the input of the strokes, "one" is designated as the first stroke in the stroke order, and "□" is designated as the second stroke in the stroke order. By inputting in this way, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, as a candidate character string whose stroke order is "一" in the first stroke and "刘" in the second stroke order, "come, rain, flat, need, snow...  ". The display of "rain" here is the display of radicals.

In this state, by performing the process of selecting the radical "雨", the candidate character strings having the radical "雨" are displayed "Need, Snow, Dew, Earthquake, Thunder...". FIG. 5 shows an example of candidate characters and pronunciations having the radical "雨". The data of the utterance is stored in the memory 32 .

Furthermore, in the state where the candidate character string is displayed, by inputting the letter "s" as the initial consonant, the range of the displayed candidate character string is narrowed down to characters with "s" as the initial consonant. In the example of FIG. 5 , two characters "Shuang" and "Frost" are displayed as candidate characters. By performing an operation to select a character from these two characters, for example, "Frost" can be specified as an input character.

Fig. 6 is an example of a case where another character is desired to be retrieved. In this case, first, a process of searching for the radical "er" of the character to be input is performed first. Therefore, in order to search for the "ear", as stroke input, "一" is designated as the first stroke in the stroke order, "丨" is designated as the second stroke in the stroke order, and "丨" is designated as the third stroke in the stroke order. By inputting in this way, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 , a candidate character string whose stroke order is "一" at the first stroke order, "丨" at the second stroke order, and "丨" at the third stroke order is displayed.

In this state, by performing a process of selecting the radical "er", a character string candidate having the radical "er" is displayed. Furthermore, in the state where the candidate character string is displayed, by inputting the letter "n" as the initial consonant, the range of the displayed candidate character string is narrowed down to characters with "n" as the initial consonant. By performing an operation to select a certain character from the narrowed-down display, the selected character can be specified as an input character.

In the processing described above, a so-called stroke input method is used as an input for initially displaying candidate character strings or candidate radical strings, but other input methods such as an input method based on sounds such as initial consonants may be used.

In addition, pronunciation elements other than the above-mentioned initials may be indicated for the pronunciation specified in the state where candidate characters or radical candidates are displayed. In addition, as described above, when inputting an alphabet corresponding to an initial, for an initial that can be represented by a plurality of alphabets, only the first alphabet of the plurality of alphabets may be input. For example, as shown in the above-mentioned [Table 1], as the initial consonant, there are initial consonants represented by two characters such as zh, ch, sh, etc. For these initial consonants, only one character such as z, c, s, etc. can be input respectively. , use the classification common to initial consonants such as z, c, s, etc. to search.

In addition, the structure of the above-mentioned mobile phone terminal is just an example, and the mobile phone terminal of another structure can also be used.

In addition, the above-mentioned embodiment is applied to the case of inputting Chinese characters in a mobile phone terminal, but it can also be applied to the case of inputting Chinese characters in other electronic devices. For example, it can be applied to a case where a title of a song is input in Chinese characters in a playback device that plays back an audio signal such as music from a predetermined recording medium.

Moreover, the above-mentioned embodiment is applied to the case of inputting Chinese characters, but in the case of inputting characters of other languages, the same input process can be performed according to the stroke order and pronunciation elements of the characters.

According to the character input method of the first aspect of the present invention, candidate characters can be designated by a combination of the stroke order of the strokes constituting the character and the pronunciation elements of the character, and the range can be narrowed down to candidate characters with a small number of characters with few operations, It is possible to efficiently search for a character to be input, and determine the searched character as an input character. Therefore, character input such as Chinese characters can be performed quickly and easily.

According to the character input method of the second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the candidate characters displayed by specifying the first classification item are candidate radicals of characters, and in the state of displaying the candidate radicals, by displaying Select a specific radical with a predetermined operation to display candidate characters including the selected radical, and specify a predetermined pronunciation element classified by the second classification method from the displayed candidate characters, thereby being able to pass the radical. The selection and the designation of the pronunciation elements in the characters constituted with the selected radical narrow down the range to candidate characters with a small number of characters, and it is possible to more easily select the input character from the candidate characters.

According to the character input method of the 3rd aspect of the present invention, in the 1st or 2 aspects of the present invention, the pronunciation element classified with the 2nd classification method is an initial consonant, thereby by specifying the initial consonant with the input of letter etc., can input desired simply character.

According to the character input method of the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second or third aspects of the present invention, the character string formed by the input characters is sent to the receiving party as the information of the character message via the prescribed communication line, so that it can be easily Performs an input operation of characters sent as a character message.

According to the character input method of the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second, or third aspects of the present invention, a character string composed of input characters is registered as name or name information corresponding to a telephone number, that is, telephone directory information. , so that the input operation of telephone directory information can be easily performed.

According to the character input device of the sixth aspect of the present invention, candidate characters can be designated by a combination of the stroke order of the strokes constituting the character and the pronunciation elements of the character, and the candidate characters can be narrowed down to a small number of characters with few operations, It is possible to efficiently search for a character to be input, and determine the searched character as an input character. Therefore, even a small electronic device such as a mobile phone terminal can quickly and easily input characters such as Chinese characters.

According to the character input device of the seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect of the present invention, the candidate characters displayed by specifying the first classification item are candidate radicals of characters, and in the state where the candidate radicals are displayed, by Select a specific radical with a predetermined operation to display candidate characters including the selected radical, and specify a predetermined pronunciation element classified by the second classification method from the displayed candidate characters, thereby being able to pass the radical. The selection and the designation of the pronunciation elements in the characters constituted with the selected radical narrow down the range to candidate characters with a small number of characters, and it is possible to more easily select the input character from the candidate characters.

According to the character input device of the 8th aspect of the present invention, in the 6th or 7th aspect of the present invention, the pronunciation element classified with the 2nd classification method is an initial consonant, thereby by specifying the initial consonant with the input of letter etc., can input desired simply. character.

According to the character input device of the ninth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth, seventh, or eighth aspect of the present invention, the character string composed of the input characters is sent to the receiving party as information of the character message via a predetermined communication line, so that it can be easily Performs an input operation of characters sent as a character message.

According to the character input device of the tenth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth, seventh, or eighth aspect of the present invention, a character string composed of input characters is registered as name or name information corresponding to a telephone number, that is, telephone directory information. , so that the input operation of telephone directory information can be easily performed.

Claims (10)

1. A character input method for a telephone device with a limited number of input keys, by classifying the pronunciation of each Chinese character with a letter, the characters can be simply input with a limited number of keys, including: Classify the search object character with the first classification method, that is, classify with the order of strokes of the strokes that constitute the character; Then above-mentioned retrieval object character is classified with the 2nd classification method based on character pronunciation element; Designate at least one classification item based on the above-mentioned first classification method, and display candidate characters among the above-mentioned search target characters; From the displayed candidate characters, designate a predetermined pronunciation element classified by the above-mentioned second classification method, and narrow down the range of the displayed candidate characters; A specific character is selected by a predetermined operation from the narrowed-down candidate characters, and the selected character is determined as an input character. 2. The character input method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The candidate characters displayed by designating the above-mentioned first classification item are candidate radicals of characters, and in the state where the candidate radicals are displayed, by selecting a specific radical from the display with a predetermined operation, the selected radicals are displayed. the first candidate character; From the displayed candidate characters, a predetermined pronunciation element classified by the above-mentioned second classification method is designated. 3. The character input method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: The pronunciation elements classified by the above-mentioned second classification method are initial consonants. 4. The character input method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, A character string composed of characters input through the above operations is transmitted as character message information to a recipient via a predetermined communication line. 5. The character input method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, A character string composed of characters input through the above operations is registered as a name or name information corresponding to a telephone number, that is, telephone directory information. 6. A character input device for a telephone device with a limited number of input keys, which can simply input characters with a limited number of keys by classifying the pronunciation of each Chinese character with a letter, including: The storage part stores the character as the retrieval object, and adds the information relevant to the first classification and the second classification, wherein the first classification is classified by the stroke order of the strokes that constitute the character, and the second classification is based on the character pronunciation elements; Operating components capable of inputting at least the above-mentioned 1st and 2nd classification items; a display part for displaying characters defined by the operation of the above-mentioned operation part; The control part performs the following control: when at least one of the above-mentioned first classification items is designated by a predetermined operation of the above-mentioned operation part, the candidate characters among the characters stored in the above-mentioned storage part are displayed on the above-mentioned display part, and In the state of the candidate characters, when there is an operation to designate the pronunciation element classified by the second classification on the above-mentioned operation part, from the above-mentioned candidate characters, the range of the candidate characters displayed on the above-mentioned display part is narrowed down to the range corresponding to the second classification. The character corresponding to the classification item. 7. The character input device as claimed in claim 6, wherein: The candidate characters displayed by designating the first classification item under the control of the above-mentioned control part are candidate radicals of characters, and in the state where the candidate radicals are displayed, a specific radical is selected by a prescribed operation of the above-mentioned operation part , to display the candidate characters containing the selected radical; From the displayed candidate characters, a predetermined pronunciation element classified by the second classification method is designated by a predetermined operation of the operation member, and the control member narrows down the range of candidate characters. 8. The character input device according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein: The above-mentioned second classification is a classification of pronunciation of characters by initial consonants. 9. The character input device according to claim 6 or 7, A communication unit is included for sending, as information of a character message, a character string composed of characters for which a determination operation has been performed from the candidate characters displayed on the display unit to a recipient via a predetermined communication line. 10. The character input device according to claim 6 or 7, The telephone directory information holding means is included, and a character string composed of characters for which a determination operation has been performed is registered as name or name information corresponding to a telephone number, that is, telephone directory information, from among candidate characters displayed on the display means.

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