Patent ID: 7379874

Claim:
A computer-readable medium with a middleware layer of computer-readable instructions embedded thereon, the instructions being configured to, when executed, facilitate communication between a speech-related application and a speech-related engine, the middleware layer including a speech component that comprises: an application interface configured to be coupled to the application so as to facilitate data flow of inputs and outputs across the application interface; an engine interface configured to be coupled to the engine so as to facilitate data flow of inputs and outputs across the engine interface, wherein the application interface and the engine interface are different interfaces; at least one processing component configured to perform speech related services for the application and the engine and to receive data flow across the application interface and the engine interface; an interface configured to be coupled to an audio device; and a format negotiation component configured to negotiate a data format of data used by the audio device and data used by the engine, wherein the format negotiation component is configured to reconfigure the engine to change the data format of the data used by the engine.