Patent ID: 7177813

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for facilitating communication between a speech-related application and a speech-related engine, comprising: providing a middleware layer having a speech component that includes at least one processing component, an application-independent interface, and an engine-independent interface, wherein the application-independent interface and the engine-independent interface are different interfaces; coupling the application-independent interface to the application so as to facilitate data flow across the application-independent interface between the application and the processing component; coupling the engine-independent interface to the engine so as to facilitate data flow across the engine-independent interface between the engine and the processing component; utilizing the processing component to perform speech related services for the application and the engine; and wherein providing a middleware layer further comprises: providing a middleware layer having a speech component that includes a format negotiation component and an interface configured to be coupled to an audio device; and configuring the format negotiation component to negotiate a data format of data used by the audio device and data used by the engine.