Patent Publication Number: US-2013246066-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for providing services using voice recognition in pos system

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0025980, filed Mar. 14, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to providing services in a Point Of Sales (POS) system using voice recognition. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, in distribution and sales environments in which order service is performed, when an order is generated from a buyer, it is necessary to provide a variety of services, such as providing information through barcode recognition for a corresponding product depending on the type of order of the buyer, searching for products to be purchased by the buyer, providing settlement service for purchased products, accumulating mileage, and authenticating service beneficiary. 
     A Point Of Sales (POS) system, that is, a kind of order system that may be used in environments in which a large amount of distribution and sales service is performed has been very well received by people because rapid order processing can be computed. 
     In services using the existing POS system, however, even a user not having a service right to a corresponding POS system can easily access information on products and information on members when barcode recognition for the products has only to be performed. Accordingly, there are problems in that security for information is not guaranteed and accurate and rapid service environments are not provided because barcode recognition must be performed for each product in a sales environment in which distribution is performed in large quantities. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide technology for detecting the properties of a sound wave specific to a user from a voice signal received from the user in order to recognize an event that is generated in a POS system, analyzing the detected properties of the sound wave and comparing the detected properties of the sound wave with previously registered sound wave analysis data for each authenticated user, utilizing a result of the analysis and comparison as authentication data for assigning a service use right to the POS system, searching for an execution command having a maximum likelihood corresponding to the voice signal by performing voice recognition conversion on the voice signal, and performing service corresponding to the retrieved execution command. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing services using voice recognition in a Point Of Sales (POS) system, including the steps of loading an execution command, set for each service subject that is provided by the POS system, for each group; registering information on a voice pattern corresponding to the execution command for each item for each of the loaded groups with a voice recognition engine registration unit; detecting operation mode of the POS system and activating a microphone by driving voice recognition mode in response to the detected operation mode; converting a signal, received through the activated microphone, into digital data, detecting properties of a sound wave from the converted digital data, and extracting sound wave analysis data for authenticating the received signal from the detecting properties; checking whether the extracted sound wave analysis data has been previously registered or not and assigning a service use right to the received signal according to a result of the check; and performing voice recognition conversion on the received signal, searching for an execution command having a maximum likelihood for the resulting data, and performing one or more services corresponding to the retrieved execution command. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing services using voice recognition in a Point Of Sales (POS) system, including a microphone; an Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter unit configured to convert a signal, received from the microphone, into digital data; a voice recognition engine registration unit specialized to the POS system; a sound wave conversion unit configured to detect properties of a sound wave from the converted digital data and extract sound wave analysis data from the detected properties of the sound wave; and a control unit configured to detect operation mode of the POS system, activate the microphone by driving voice recognition mode in response to the detected operation mode, and perform control so that the A/D converter unit converts the signal, received through the activated microphone, into the digital data, the sound wave conversion unit detects the properties of the sound wave from the converted digital data and extracts the sound wave analysis data for authenticating the received signal from the detected properties of the sound wave, whether the extracted sound wave analysis data has been previously registered or not is checked, a service use right according to a result of the check is assigned to the received signal, and voice recognition conversion is performed on the received analog voice signal. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing services using voice recognition in a POS system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed block diagram of an apparatus for providing services using voice recognition in a POS system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, some exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, specific items, such as elements, are illustrated, but they are provided to help overall understanding of the present invention. It is however evident to a person having ordinary skill in the art that the specific items may be modified or changed within the scope of the present invention. 
     The present invention relates to providing services using a Point Of Sales (POS) system and, more particularly, to technology for generating a member name, a product name, and a service name set for each service subject in the form of an execution command in order to recognize an event that is generated in the POS system, registering information on a voice pattern for the corresponding execution command with a voice recognition engine registration unit, detecting the properties of a sound wave specific to a user from a voice signal received from the user, analyzing the detected properties of the sound wave and comparing the detected properties of the sound wave with previously registered sound wave analysis data for each authenticated user, utilizing a result of the analysis and comparison as authentication data for assigning a service use right to the POS system, searching for an execution command having a maximum likelihood corresponding to the voice signal by performing voice recognition conversion on the voice signal, and performing service corresponding to the retrieved execution command. 
     The present invention provides technology for providing reliability of information security by allowing only an authenticated user to use POS system services using the specialized properties of personal voice, reducing an error rate and additional manpower occurring when performing product recognition using barcode one by one in an order system environment for the reduction of manpower and the improvement of work efficiency due to a reduced line of flow and for the prevention of an error in order particulars, and creating supplementary service for further activating distribution service through rapid processing of distribution and sales through voice recognition. 
     Furthermore, a POS system using voice recognition according to the present invention provides reliability to data obtained from the sound wave of a user and voice recognition not barcode when recognizing information on the subject to be checked, that is, a product, by using personally specialized voice in distribution and sales environments. Here, it is to be noted that the subject to be checked is not limited to only a product. Furthermore, the present invention relates to technology for extending a range of voice recognition by using the voice recognition engine registration unit in order to extend a recognition ratio of a product. 
     A method of providing services using voice recognition in a POS system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing services using voice recognition in a POS system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , first, at step  110 , an execution command set for each service subject that is provided by the POS system is loaded for each group. 
     Here, the execution command set for each service subject is a default menu that has been previously set in a service range provided when the POS system is initially driven. The execution command can be set again in response to the signal of a user received through a microphone. The execution command means a product name, a service name, and a member name that can be identifier in the POS system. The execution command means voice that is pronounced as an item, for example, “Sawookang” or “Gamjachip”, of a group that has been classified as a predetermined keyword, for example, a snack species group when a user registers services while operating the POS system. 
     At step  112 , information on a voice pattern for the execution command of each item for each of the loaded groups is registered with the voice recognition engine registration unit. 
     The voice recognition engine registration unit detects the characteristic vector of the received voice, recognizes the pattern, analyzes a morpheme, generates the corresponding voice into a sentence through processes, such as preliminary matching and sentence structure recognition, and stores the generated sentence. 
     At step  114 , the operation mode of the POS system is detected. At step  116 , whether the detected operation mode is voice recognition mode or not is determined. If, as a result of the determination, it is determined that the detected operation mode is voice recognition mode, whether a voice signal has been received or not through the microphone is determined at step  120 . 
     In contrast, if, as a result of the determination at step  116 , it is determined that the detected operation mode is not voice recognition mode, the POS system is driven in voice recognition mode at step  118 . 
     If, as a result of the determination at step  120 , it is determined that the voice signal has been received through the microphone, the analog voice signal received through the microphone is converted into digital data at step  122 . 
     At this time, interference noise is eliminated from the converted digital data, and the data from which noise has been removed is amplified and outputted. If external noise included in the analog voice signal received through the microphone is severe, a subsequent voice waveform for the voice signal specialized to a person cannot be formed. Accordingly, the noise elimination process is necessary to precisely recognize corresponding sound wave analysis data by detecting the properties of a sound wave from the received analog voice signal. 
     At step  124 , the properties of a sound wave are detected from the converted digital data. 
     Here, the sound wave analysis data has been previously obtained and registered in the form of a voice waveform consecutively interrupted and modulated from a waveform of voice in a cycle similar to the pitch cycle of the voice except the resonant component of the voice in order to modulate the specialized properties of voice for each authenticated user in the POS system. The sound wave analysis data is used to check whether the voice of a specific user received through the microphone has a service use right to the POS system. It is necessary to register voice for each authenticated user when the POS system is initially driven. 
     Next, at step  126 , sound wave analysis data for authenticating the received analog voice signal is extracted. At step  128 , whether the extracted sound wave analysis data has been previously registered or not is determined. If, as a result of the determination at step  128 , it is determined that the extracted sound wave analysis data has been previously registered, a corresponding service use right is assigned to the received analog voice signal at step  132 . 
     In contrast, if, as a result of the determination at step  128 , it is determined that the extracted sound wave analysis data has not been previously registered, a message is displayed in order to preclude a service use right to the POS system. 
     At step  134 , voice recognition conversion is performed on the received analog voice signal. 
     More particularly, symbols and letters formed by the voice recognition are matched, a result of the voice recognition is converted into a character string on the basis of a predetermined table, a predetermined key value is extracted from the converted character string, and a previously stored execution command is loaded based on the extracted key value. 
     At step  136 , an execution command having a maximum likelihood for the resulting data is searched for. One or more services corresponding to the retrieved execution command are performed at step  138 . 
     The one or more services are provided in such a manner that the sound wave analysis data extracted from the received analog voice signal is analyzed and compared with the previously registered sound wave analysis data, a service use right is assigned to the received analog voice signal if, as a result of the comparison, the extracted sound wave analysis data is identical with the previously registered sound wave analysis data, and the one or more services are provided in association with an object provided for each service server in response to an execution command corresponding to the voice recognition of the received analog voice signal. The object includes information on a specific product, product search service, an order, a member search, mileage accumulation, and settlement service corresponding to the execution command. 
     An apparatus for providing services using voice recognition in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 2  is a detailed block diagram of the apparatus for providing services using voice recognition in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus  200  for providing services using voice recognition to which the present invention is applied includes microphones  20 , an Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter unit  210 , a voice recognition engine registration unit  216 , a sound wave conversion unit  212 , and a control unit  214 . 
     The A/D converter unit  210  converts a signal received from the microphone  20  into digital data. 
     The voice recognition engine registration unit  216  detects the properties of a sound wave from the digital data of the A/D converter unit  210  and extracts sound wave analysis data from the detected properties of the sound wave. 
     The sound wave conversion unit  212  detects the properties of the sound wave from the digital data of the A/D converter unit  210  and extracts sound wave analysis data from the detected properties of the sound wave. 
     Here, the sound wave analysis data has been previously obtained and registered in the form of a voice waveform consecutively interrupted and modulated from a waveform of voice in a cycle similar to the pitch cycle of the voice except the resonant component of the voice in order to modulate the specialized properties of voice for each authenticated user in the POS system. The sound wave analysis data is used to check whether the voice of a specific user received through the microphone has a service use right to the POS system. It is necessary to register voice for each authenticated user when the POS system is initially driven. 
     The control unit  214  detects the operation mode of a corresponding POS system, activates the microphone  20  by driving voice recognition mode in response to the detected operation mode, and performs control so that the A/D converter unit  210  converts the signal, received through the activated microphone  20 , into the digital data, the sound wave conversion unit  212  detects the properties of the sound wave from the converted digital data and extracts the sound wave analysis data for authenticating the received signal from the detected properties of the sound wave, whether the extracted sound wave analysis data has been previously registered or not is checked, a service use right according to a result of the check is assigned to the received signal, and voice recognition conversion is performed on the received analog voice signal. 
     Furthermore, the control unit  214  performs control so that the voice recognition engine registration unit  216  searches for an execution command having a maximum likelihood for the resulting data on which the voice recognition conversion has been performed and one or more services are provided in response to the retrieved execution command. 
     Here, the one or more services are provided in such a manner that the sound wave analysis data extracted from the received signal is analyzed and compared with the previously registered sound wave analysis data, a service use right is assigned to the received signal if, as a result of the comparison, the extracted sound wave analysis data is identical with the previously registered sound wave analysis data, and the one or more services are provided in association with an object provided for each service server in response to the execution command corresponding to the voice recognition of the received signal. The object includes information on a specific product, product search service, an order, a member search, mileage accumulation, and settlement service corresponding to the execution command. The services, as shown in  FIG. 2 , are provided by respective service servers  218 ,  220 , and  222  which are associated with the apparatus for providing services using voice recognition to which the present invention has been applied. 
     Furthermore, the control unit  214  performs control so that symbols and letters formed by the voice recognition when performing the voice recognition conversion on the received signal are matched, a result of the voice recognition is converted into a character string on the basis of a predetermined table, a predetermined key value is extracted from the converted character string, and a previously stored execution command is outputted through the voice recognition engine registration unit  216  based on the extracted key value. 
     The present invention is advantageous in that it can provide reliability of information security by allowing only an authenticated user to use POS system services using the specialized properties of personal voice, reduce an error rate and additional manpower occurring when performing product recognition using barcode one by one in an order system environment for the reduction of manpower and the improvement of work efficiency due to a reduced line of flow and for the prevention of an error in order particulars, and create supplementary service for further activating distribution service through rapid processing of distribution and sales through voice recognition. 
     Although the embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.