Patent ID: 7069221
Filing Date: 2006-06-27
Classification: G10L

Abstract:
1. A speech recognition system comprising: an output device configured to play a speech prompt to a user of the system, the speech prompt conveying information to the user or prompting the user for speech input; a detector configured to receive a sound signal indicative of a possible target sound and to output a signal representative of the sound signal and a signal indicating receipt of the sound signal, so as to permit interruption of further output of the prompt if the detector receives the sound signal while the output device is playing the prompt; a recognizer coupled to the detector, the recognizer being configured to receive the signal representative of the sound signal and to output a recognizer signal indicative of whether the sound signal is a target sound; and a control unit coupled to the output device, the detector, and the recognizer, the control unit being configured to receive the recognizer signal and, if the detector received the sound signal while the output device was playing a prompt and the recognizer signal indicates that the sound signal is other than a target sound, to cause the output device to play at least a portion of the prompt being played by the output device when the sound signal was received by the detector.