METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARACTER RECOGNITION BASED UPON THE FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF SAID CHARACTERS

A method and apparatus of processing data is disclosed for recognizing unknown characters of a known character set based in part upon the frequency of occurrence of the characters. The method includes the steps of storing the image data of the unkown characters and then sequentially applying discrete sets of tests capable of first recognizing data and identifying characters having a higher frequency of occurrence. A second stage of discriminatory tests is sequentially applied to the unrecognized data for recognizing data and identifying characters having a lower frequency of occurrence than the first group of characters.