WO2008025613A2

WO2008025613A2 - Method and device for inputting letters in shorthand

Info

Publication number: WO2008025613A2
Application number: PCT/EP2007/057251
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gerd Draeger; Stefan Lueer; Xiaofeng Feng
Original assignee: Robert Bosch Gmbh
Priority date: 2006-09-01
Filing date: 2007-07-13
Publication date: 2008-03-06
Also published as: DE102006041066A1; WO2008025613A3

Abstract

The invention relates to method for inputting commands into an automated system, especially for inputting navigation targets into a navigation system. The method according to the invention comprises the following steps: storing the commands (3) that are possible for operating the system in a database in such a manner that they are formed by a single command element (2) or composed of a plurality of command elements (2), every command element (2) consisting of at least two characters constituted by letters and/or numbers; detecting, when the system is operated, characters (1) input by the user as letters and/or numbers into input mean; retrieving from the database those commands (3) where the initial character of a command (3) consisting of a single command element (2) corresponds to a single input character (1) or where the initial characters of the subsequent command elements (2) correspond to a sequence of input characters (1); outputting the determined commands (3) in an output unit of the system for selection and/or confirmation by the user; executing and processing a confirmed command (3) by means of the system. The invention also relates to a navigation system or to a driver assistance system with which the method can be carried out.

Description

description

title

Method and device for shortened input of characters

State of the art

The present invention relates to a method for inputting operation commands in an automated system or in an automated device, in particular a

Method for entering navigation destinations in a navigation system.

So that navigation systems known per se, which are preferably used in vehicles, can output the operator the optimum route to a specific destination, the operator must enter the desired destination as operating command before starting the navigation. It is known to carry out the input of a sequence of letters and / or digits on keyboards, touch-screen monitors or via pressure rotary switch. Also, the input of desired destinations is known as an operation command for a navigation system via speech recognition systems.

In order to simplify the manual entry of destinations, it is known in navigation systems that depending on the already entered initial letters only the further possible subsequent letters are displayed and / or that in the already entered initial letters still eligible destinations from a database of the navigation system determined and offered to the operator for selection. However, since there are often relatively similar names of places or streets, these input methods require many or even all of the letters of the desired destination to be entered, which may take a longer time and is often perceived as cumbersome by operators. Furthermore, it is also common to use when entering the destination digits to enter desired house numbers or the postcode of a desired destination in the navigation systems. However, the destination input via postal codes requires not only an exact knowledge of the respective postal code of a desired destination, but also the complete input of all digits of the postal code.

To reduce the amount of data to be stored in the database of place and street names, a method is known from DE 39 14 589 A1, in which the information is stored as a string, the contained in the information and more frequently occurring strings, preferably syllables of a

Word, each associated with a shortened character code, which is then stored as a substitute for the more frequently occurring strings in the database.

Furthermore, WO 2006/003087 A2 discloses a method for inputting characters into a mobile communication device, in which the input is made syllable-wise, the first letter and additionally the last letter of a syllable being input by means of a keyboard. While syllables with only two letters result in no change in the input effort, syllables can consist of three or more

Letters exist, in this way a certain reduction of the input time can be achieved.

Although the invention is further described herein using the example of a navigation system, the method according to the invention can also be used in other information systems provided in particular in vehicles or in other automated systems of systems, machines or the like.

Disclosure of the invention

Object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of the type mentioned, which allows easier and faster input of operating commands of an automated system. This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1. The idea underlying the present invention is that the method for entering operator commands into an automated system comprises the following steps:

- First, in a step to be executed only once, preferably all for the simplified operation of the system eligible operating commands stored in a preferably stored on a data carrier such as a CD-ROM database such that each formed from a single command component or from several command components each command component consists of at least two characters formed by letters and / or numbers, - when an operator in the operation of the system signs in the form of

Entering letters and / or numbers, these characters entered via the input means of the system are detected,

from the database, those operation commands are determined in which the initial character of an operation command consisting of a single command component coincides with a single input character or in which the initial characters of the successive command components coincide with a sequence of input characters;

the operator commands determined are output in an output unit of the system for selecting and / or confirming by the operator such that an operator selects a desired operation command among several possible

Select operator commands and confirm

- Finally, an operator-confirmed operation command is executed or further processed by the system.

The inventive method according to claim 1 has over the previously known

Methods and systems above all the advantage that a much simpler and faster input of the operating commands is possible because neither all nor the first and last characters of a control command must be entered, but the sole input of the initial characters of the command components sufficient. In addition to the considerably shortened input time is another significant advantage of the method according to the invention is that input errors are minimized because only a lot fewer characters, namely only the first letters or digits of each command component must be entered, what the number of potential Sources of error significantly reduced. - A -

Advantageous developments and improvements of the method according to the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims.

So it is particularly advantageous if from the database only those

Operator commands are determined and output to the operator for selection and / or confirmation, the number of command components corresponding to the number of characters entered. In this way, the scope of a list to be issued to the operator is significantly reduced, which further simplifies the entry. Nevertheless, it is equally possible in the selection list regardless of the

Number of characters entered to output all the operation commands whose command parts begin with the already entered characters, it does not matter whether or how many other command components are still present in the issued operating commands.

A particularly effective simplification of the input of operating commands is achievable if the operating commands and thus also the command components consist of letters and the command components are formed by syllables and / or words. When using the method in navigation systems, for example, the names of states, cities, roads and so-called points of interest (POI) can be entered.

According to a particularly preferred Ausführangsform of the invention it is provided that the command components consist of letters and are formed by PinYin syllables. This official Chinese standard input method for Chinese

Character in letters based on the Latin alphabet is sound-based. Since the Chinese characters always describe exactly one syllable, the PinYin phonetic transcription is also syllable-based. The Chinese syllables always consist of an initial and a final, the initial sound can be advantageously used as an initial letter for input by the method according to the invention. It is also advantageous that personal pronunciation errors are suppressed, since it only depends on the first letter of a PinYin syllable. Advantageously, however, it is no longer necessary to distinguish between further variants with regard to the following letters or end letters of a PinYin syllable, so that, for example, the syllables "Zheng" or "Zeng" or "Zhen" or "Zen" are indistinguishable, but all must be entered only with the letter "Z", especially against the background of the continuously growing importance of the Chinese market Sales of automated devices and systems is the development of simplified input methods for Chinese

Characters of great importance. The same applies to other languages where phonetic spelling based on the Latin alphabet exists for non-Latin characters.

It is furthermore particularly advantageous if the command components of an operating command are stored separately in the database by separators, in particular by blanks. Also from this point of view, the application of the method according to the invention in PinYin syllables is particularly favorable, since in this case the syllables are already separated by spaces. Alternatively, the command components of an operating command may also be stored separated by capital letters in the database.

According to a further advantageous variant of the method, it is proposed that two or more operator commands entered and confirmed by the operator be combined with one another in order to make the operation of the respective system particularly simple. Thus, for example, both the place name and the street name can be entered in the manner according to the invention in a navigation system.

According to a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that at least two characters and / or character sequences are input and preferably confirmed successively, wherein the determination of the operating commands issued to the operator for selection and / or confirmation depends on the combination of the two input characters and / or strings. For example, the first letters of the names or syllables of intersecting roads, or alternatively the combination of the first postal code digit with the first letter or the first letters of the syllables of the name of a street, may be entered to enter a desired destination in a navigation system. In this way, by combining the inventive method with an additional logic a particularly good filtering can be achieved.

It is also particularly advantageous if the determined operating commands are displayed optically in a display unit of the system for selection and / or confirmation by the operator. For this purpose, advantageously, a display directly in the automated system or one in particular in an instrument cluster of a

Motor vehicle arranged display unit may be provided. Basically, that is

Issue however alternatively or additionally also by other means, in particular in acoustic form possible.

The present invention further relates to a system corresponding to the method described above. A system suitable for carrying out this method can be, for example, a navigation system or a driver assistance system.

An inventive navigation system provided in particular for a motor vehicle advantageously comprises the following components:

a data base stored on a data medium, in particular on a CD-ROM, in which the target data which can be entered during the operation of the navigation system are stored in such a way that they each consist of one or more

Target data components are formed, each target data component consists of at least two characters formed by letters and / or numbers,

- Input means by which an operator of the navigation system can be entered as characters and / or digits enterable characters, - an evaluation unit, by means of which from the database those target data can be determined, in which the initial character of a single target data component with a single input character or in which the initial characters of the successive target data components coincide with a sequence of input characters, a preferably optical output unit, by which the determined target data for

Selection and / or confirmation by the operator can be output, and

- Confirmation means, can be confirmed by an operator desired destination. It is also particularly advantageous in this case if the target data components consist of letters and are formed by words and / or syllables, in particular by PinYin syllables, since in this case a particularly effective simplification of the input of the desired travel destination can be achieved.

Brief description of the drawings

In the drawings, embodiments of the invention are shown, which are explained in more detail in the following description. Show it:

Figure 1: a tabular representation of the destination input of a city with PinYin syllables; and

FIG. 2: a tabular representation of the destination input of an intersection with PinYin

Syllables.

Embodiment of the invention

The method according to the invention or the system according to the invention will be described below by way of example with reference to a navigation system in which the inputs are made in PinYin phonetic transcription.

The tables in Figures 1 and 2 each have three columns, wherein in the first column some to be entered by the operator letter combinations 1, in the second

Column the corresponding city names in the PinYin phonetic spelling 2 and in the third column these city names are represented in the corresponding Chinese characters 3.

The city names shown in the tables are merely listed as representative of a multiplicity of city names stored in the database of the navigation system. Like city names, POI names, street names or other destination data, in particular also numbers, can be entered as operator commands.

For example, if the operator listed the third-line city named "Bei Jing Shi" in the PinYin phonetic transcription 2 as the operation command in the If the navigation system wishes to enter, the following steps are executed in the method according to the invention:

1) Input of the character "B" as the first letter of the first word in the name "Bei Jing Shi".

2) A list of the cities whose first word begins with the letter "B" according to the PinYin phonetics 2 is determined.

3) Input of the character "J" as the first letter of the second word in the name "Bei Jing Shi".

4) The city list from step 2) is shortened by the elements that are in the second

Do not start the word "J".

5) Enter the character "S" as the first letter of the third word in the name "Bei Jing Shi".

6) The city list from 4) is truncated by the elements that do not begin with "S" in the third word.

7) The only remaining city name "Bei Jing Shi" in the PinYin phonetic transcription 2 is preferably displayed to the operator in the corresponding Chinese characters 3 for confirmation.

If, after the execution of step 6), several more suitable cities remain, they are displayed so that the operator can select the desired city as his destination and confirm the entry of the operation command in the navigation system. For example, in the table shown in Figure 1, entering the letters "HBS" would result in both "Hu Bei Sheng" (line 1) and He Bei Sheng (line 4).

Nevertheless, the method according to the invention is particularly advantageous, especially when entering Chinese names in the PinYin phonetic transcription 2, since in this case a very high hit rate is achieved for the Chinese names. FIG. 2 shows the input of names that are related to one another in a specific relationship. Here, the street names are entered from two roads crossing at an intersection.

For example, if the operator sees an intersection named "Chen Du Bei Lu /

Huai Hai Lan Lu "in PinYin phonetic transcription 2 as the target, the following steps are executed:

1) Input of the character "C" as first letter of the first word of the first street "Chen Du Bei Lu" of the searched intersection.

2) Input of the character "H" as first letter of the first word of the second street "Huai Hai Lan Lu" of the searched intersection.

3) The only intersection identified hereafter is "Chen Du Bei Lu / Huai Hai Lan Lu".

So there is no need to enter two complete street names, but it is sufficient to enter only the first letters of the two intersecting street names, which means a considerable simplification and above all acceleration of input.

For example, for a European or German variant of the navigation system, the operator might want to enter the city with the name "Braunschweig." To do this, he simply enters the two letters "B" and "S" as the first letters of the two syllables "Brown" and "Silence" After the entry, the cities "Braunschweig" and "Braunstadt" would be found on the basis of the same number of syllables as well as the same initial letters of the syllables, which would then be offered to the operator in a list for selection and confirmation in a known manner become.

Claims

claims

A method for inputting operating commands into an automated system, in particular for inputting navigation targets into a navigation system, the method comprising the following steps: - possible in a database for operating the system

Operation commands (3) are stored in advance so as to be constituted of a single command component (2) or composed of a plurality of command components (2), each command component (2) consisting of at least two characters formed by letters and / or numerals An operation of the system is performed by an operator in input means of the

System records characters entered as letters and / or numbers (1),

from the database those operating commands (3) are determined in which the initial character of an operating command (3) consisting of a single command component (2) coincides with a single input character (1) or in which the initial characters of the successive command components (2) matches a sequence of entered characters (1),

the determined operating commands (3) are output in an output unit of the system for selection and / or confirmation by the operator,

a confirmed operating command (3) is executed or further processed by the system.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that from the database only those operating commands (3) are determined and output, the number of command components (2) corresponds to the number of input characters (1).

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, characterized g ekennzeichnet that command components (2) consist of letters and are formed by words and / or syllables.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized g ekennzeichnet that command components (2) are formed by PinYin syllables.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized g ekennzeichnet that the command components (2) of an operating command

(3) are stored in the database by capital letters or by delimiters, in particular by spaces, separated from one another.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized g ekennzeichnet that two or more entered and confirmed

Operating commands (3) are combined.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized g ekennzeichnet that successively at least two characters (1) and / or character sequences (1) are entered, the determination of the selection and / or

Confirmation issued by the operator issued operating commands (3) in response to the combination of the input characters (1) and / or strings (1).

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized g ekennzeichnet that the determined operating commands (3) in a

Display unit of the system for selection and / or confirmation by the operator.

9. Navigation system or driver assistance system, characterized g ekennzeichnet that it is designed to carry out the method according to one of the preceding claims.

10. Navigation system, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising

a data base in which the target data (3) which can be input during the operation of the navigation system are stored in such a way that they each consist of one or more target data components (2), each target data component (2) being composed of at least two letters and / or or numerals formed characters,

- input means by which an operator of the navigation system by an operator as letters and / or numbers enterable characters (1) can be detected,

- An evaluation unit, by means of which from the database those target data (3) can be determined, in which the initial character of a single target data component (2) with a single input character (1) matches or in which the starting characters of the successive target data components (2) with a Sequence of entered characters (1) matches,

- An output unit, by which the determined target data (3) for selection and / or confirmation by the operator can be output, and

- Confirmation means, can be confirmed by an operator desired destination.

11. Navigation system according to claim 10, characterized in that the target data components (2) consist of letters and are formed by words and / or by syllables, in particular by PinYin syllables.