Patent Document

BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of speech recognition technologies and, more particularly, to providing speech recognition data to a speech enabled device when providing a new entry that is selectable via a speech recognition interface of the device. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Speech recognition interfaces are included in many different types of computing devices, which advantageously provide an intuitive mechanism through which users are able to interact with the devices. Speech recognition interfaces can be especially advantageous when utilizing a computing device in a hands-free manner (e.g., such as using an in vehicle navigation system while driving) and/or when utilizing a portable computing device (e.g., a digital audio player, a smart phone, a personal data assistant, etc.) that lacks a robust set of easy to use input mechanisms. 
         [0005]    Many of these speech enabled computing devices permit a user to connect to a remotely located content source to obtain new content. For example, music enhanced mobile phones and/or MP3 players can include a networking option for downloading or acquiring new songs. It can be difficult for speech enabled computing devices to create speech recognition entries for the new content since creating such content is typically a resource intensive activity and the speech enabled computing devices can be resource limited ones. Even when the speech enabled device is capable of creating speech recognition data to permit new content to be speech recognized, these devices often must use minimalistic algorithms, which generate speech recognition data less perfectly than would be preferred. Further, regardless of the capabilities of a speech enabled device, a significant amount of computing power is needed to create speech recognition data, if it is even possible. 
         [0006]    All of these limitations result in user perceived shortcomings. For example, a “speech enabled” MP3 player can lack of speech recognition capabilities to select songs through voice input, can support only a limited number of speech recognizable songs, can have inaccuracies when attempts to choose a large number of songs via a voice command are made, and can perform poorly or freeze for noticeable periods when new songs are added. What is needed is a new technique for adding entries to a device&#39;s speech recognition grammar, which is not dependent upon the speech enabled device&#39;s ability to internally generate speech recognition data for new content. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention discloses a solution for providing a phonetic representation for a content item along with a downloaded/acquired content item delivered to a speech enabled computing device. The phonetic representation can be specified in a manner that enables it to be added to a speech recognition grammar of the speech enabled computing device. The device can recognize speech commands using the newly added phonetic representation that involve the content item. Current implementations of speech recognition systems of this type rely internal generation of speech recognition data that is added to the speech recognition grammar. Generation of speech recognition data can, however, be resource intensive, which can be particularly problematic when the speech enabled device is resource limited (e.g., a digital audio player, a smart phone, a navigation device, etc.). The disclosed solution offloads the task of providing the speech recognition data to an external device, such as a relatively resource rich server or a desktop machine. 
         [0008]    In one embodiment, once speech recognition data has been generated, it can be saved along an identifier for the content item so it can be provided in response to future requests. Further, a centralized repository of generated pronunciations can be established, which can be used/accessed by content providing servers. For example, in a music pronunciation context, the centralized repository can be a comprehensive database of song title, album, artists, and genre pronunciations, which is able to be accessed whenever a song is requested for a speech enabled device. This centralized repository can permit speech recognition data to be provided to clients, without a need for a content host to generate the pronunciation data for each request. The repository can automatically grow with use, since speech recognition data can be generated when needed and stored in the repository. Thus, use of a pronunciation repository or other such pronunciation store can minimize consumed computing resources relating to generating speech recognition data and can enhance solution scalability. 
         [0009]    The present invention can be implemented in accordance with numerous aspects consistent with the materials presented herein. One aspect of the present invention can include a method for offloading a task of generating speech recognition data for a recognition grammar used by a speech enabled device. The method can include a step of identifying at least one content item, which lacks an entry in a speech recognition grammar used by a speech enabled device. A computing device external to the speech enabled device can generate speech recognition data for content item. The generated speech recognition data can be conveyed in a digitally encoded form within a carrier wave to the speech enabled device. The generated speech recognition data can be added to the speech recognition grammar, which thereafter permits the speech enabled device to identify speech input as being associated with the at least one content item. 
         [0010]    Another aspect of the present invention can include a method for integrating new content into a speech enabled device. In the method, at least one content item can be requested from a source external to a speech enabled device. The requested content item can be received along with speech recognition data associated with the content item. The speech recognition data can be added to a speech recognition grammar of the speech enabled device. The content item can be added to a data store of the speech enabled device. Thereafter, speech input can be received by the speech enabled device, which can be speech recognized using the speech recognition grammar. Results from the speech recognizing step can be derived from the added speech recognition data and can indicate that an operation related to the content item is desired. A programmatic action involving the content item can then be executed by the device. 
         [0011]    Still another aspect of the present invention can include a method of providing content to a speech enabled device along with associated speech recognition data. The method can include a step of receiving a request for a content item from a remotely located speech enabled device. An identifier for the content item can be determined. Speech recognition data for the identifier can be retrieved/created. The speech recognition data can represent a recognition grammar entry for the identifier. The content item and the identified speech recognition data can be conveyed to the speech enabled device. 
         [0012]    It should be noted that various aspects of the invention can be implemented as a program for controlling computing equipment to implement the functions described herein, or as a program for enabling computing equipment to perform processes corresponding to the steps disclosed herein. This program may be provided by storing the program in a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory or any other recording medium. The program can also be provided as a digitally encoded signal conveyed via a carrier wave. The described program can be a single program or can be implemented as multiple subprograms, each of which interact within a single computing device or interact in a distributed fashion across a network space. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0013]    There are shown in the drawings, embodiments which are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a flow diagram showing interactions between a device, a content source, a speech recognition data source, and/or a speech recognition data base, where when content is provided to the device corresponding speech recognition data for the content is also provided. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a system diagram showing a speech enabled device able to acquire content along with speech recognition data in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a method for acquiring content along with speech recognition data to a speech enabled device in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  is a flow diagram  100  showing interactions between a device  110 , a content source  112 , a speech recognition data source  114 , and a speech recognition data store  116 . When content is provided to the device  110  corresponding speech recognition data for the content is also provided, which alleviates a need for device  100  to internally generate the speech recognition data. In one embodiment, the speech recognition data associated with the content can be automatically provided without an explicit user selection. In another embodiment, an entire recognition grammar used by the device  110 , which includes the speech recognition grammar, can be generated/acquired by the content source  112  and conveyed to the speech enabled device  110 . Providing a complete recognition grammar can offload a task of grammar compilation, which can be resource intensive, to the content source  112 . Compiling a recognition grammar can require a list of items for the grammar be maintained by the content source  112  and/or be conveyed to the content source  112  from the device  110 . It should be appreciated that many speech enabled devices  110  can be resource limited devices, such as mobile phones and MP3 players, ill suited for a burden of generating speech recognition data and/or of compiling a recognition grammar. 
         [0018]    As shown by diagram  100 , the device  110  can convey a content request  120  to content source  112 . An optional set of speech recognition preferences  122  can also be conveyed. The content source  112  can then locate the requested content  124 . If the content is not located, an error message can be conveyed to the device  110  and the process can terminate. Additionally, although not shown in diagram  100 , device  110  may have to provide authentication information before receiving content from source  112 . For example, source  112  can be a source for music downloads, where device  110  must either include a payment artifact for the requested music downloads or show proof that the requested music was previously purchased through the content source  112 . 
         [0019]    Once the content source  112  locates a set of items that satisfy the request  120 , identifiers for the content item(s) can be conveyed  126  to a speech recognition data source  114 . Each item can include multiple identifiers in one embodiment, each representing a means for identifying that content item via speech input. For example, if an item is a song, identifiers can be conveyed for the song title, for the artist name, and/or for the album name associated with the item. 
         [0020]    The speech recognition data source  114  can determine if speech recognition data for the requested content item(s) already exists in a speech recognition data store  116 . This determination can be made by first querying  132  the data store, which results in a query response  134 . When a pre-existing entry for an item exists, a request for the associated speech recognition data  136  can be conveyed to the data store  116 , which provides the data  138  in response. When no pre-existing speech recognition data exists for a content item, the speech recognition data source  114  can create speech recognition data  140 . Created speech recognition data  140  can be conveyed  142  to data store  116  where it can be used to satisfy similar future requests thereby saving source  114  a need to create the speech recognition data each time requests are received. 
         [0021]    Separate queries and process can be made for each content item, as shown by branching decision block  144 . Once speech recognition data has been generated for each content item, this data can be conveyed  146  to the content source  112 . The content source  112  can then convey the content item(s) and the speech recognition data for the item(s)  148  to the device  110 . Upon receipt, the device  110  can add  150  the content items to a list of available items. For example, a new music item can be added to a music player&#39;s content list or the added item can simply be added to a local memory space of the device  110 . After adding the content item(s), the device  110  can add speech recognition data to an internal speech recognition grammar  152  and associated those grammar items with a suitable context for the content items. For instance, the device  110  can include multiple context sensitive grammars, and the speech recognition data can be added to appropriate ones of the grammars. After the speech recognition grammar has been updated, the device  110  can speech recognize input associated with the newly added content items and can perform appropriate programmatic actions upon recognizing the speech input. 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a system  200  diagram showing a speech enabled device  210  able to acquire content along with speech recognition data in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Specific components  110 - 116  shown in diagram  100  can be implemented in accordance with specifics detailed for corresponding components described in system  200 . For example, the device  110  can be an instance of speech enabled device  210 . 
         [0023]    In system  210 , a speech enabled device  210  can request  260  content from a content source  240 . The request  260  may or may not explicitly specify that speech recognition data is to be provided to the speech enabled device  210  depending upon implementation specifics. The content source  240  can convey identifiers  264  for the requested content to a speech recognition data source  250 . The speech recognition data source  250  can either generate speech recognition data  266  for the identifier or retrieve the data  266  from a data store  252 . The content source  240  can receive the speech recognition data  266 , which it can convey along with requested content from data store  242  to device  210  within response  262 . The device  210  can add the received content as a new content item  232  of a content data store  230 . The speech recognition data can be added to a suitable recognition grammar  228  of a grammar data store  226 . 
         [0024]    In one implementation, the response  262  can include an entire compiled speech recognition grammar  228  to be placed in the data store  226 , which includes entries for the newly acquired content as well as pre-existing entries. This alleviates a need for the device  210  to compile the recognition grammar  228 , which can be a resource intensive operation. In one configuration, the content source  240  can maintain a list in data store  242  of items to be included in the compiled recognition grammar  228 . In another configuration, a list of content items can be conveyed within the request  260  to the content source  240 . 
         [0025]    In another implementation, data store  252  can represent a data store for aggregating speech recognition data from one or more speech recognition data sources  250  able to generate this data  266  from identifiers  264 . In this way data store  252  can represent a continuously updated database of speech recognition data for identifiers  264 , which saves the contributing/accessing speech recognition data source(s)  250  from having to generate new speech recognition data  266  for each request  260 . In a music context, for example, the pronunciation database can quickly be populated with song title, album, artists, and genre pronunciations for popular songs. 
         [0026]    As shown in system  200 , the content source  202  can be any computing device or set of computing devices able to provide digital content to the device  210  upon request  260 . The content source  240  can, for example, be a network server. In one embodiment content source  240  can be a Web server, which communicates with a browser of device  210  through standard Web protocols (e.g., HTTP messages). In another embodiment, the content source  240  can be a desktop computer to which device  210  is linked, such as through a USB connection. 
         [0027]    The speech recognition data source  250  can be any computing device or set of computing devices able to provide speech recognition data  266  that is associated with a set of items  264  upon request. The speech recognition data source  250  can be implemented as a stand-alone server, as part of a cluster of servers, within a virtual computing space formed from a set of one or more physical devices, and the like. In one embodiment, functionality attributed to the speech recognition data source  250  and the content source  240  can be incorporated within a single machine. For example, an ability to generate speech recognition data  266  can be a software enhancement able to be added to a content source  240 . In another embodiment, the speech recognition data source  250  can deliver speech recognition data  266  as part of a Web service. For example, the speech recognition data source  250  can be a turn-based speech recognition engine implemented as part of a middleware solution, such as WEBSPHERE, which provides speech recognition data as a Web service to a set of content providing Web servers (source  240 ). 
         [0028]    The speech recognition data  266  can include phonetic representations of content items, which can be added to a speech recognition grammar  228  of device  210 . The speech recognition data can conform to a variety of grammar specification standards, such as the Speech Recognition Grammar Specification (SRGS), Extensible MultiModal Annotation Markup (EMMA), Natural Language Semantics Markup Language (NLSML), Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition (SISR), the Media Resource Control Protocol Version 2 (MRCPv2), a NUANCE Grammar Specification Language (GSL), a JAVA Speech Grammar Format (JSGF) compliant language, and the like. Additionally, the speech recognition data can be in any format, such as an Augmented Backus-Naur Form (BNF) format, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format, and the like. Different devices  210  can be designed to handle different formats of speech recognition data  266 , which can be specified in preferences conveyed within the request  260 . Source  250  can tailor or customize a format of the speech recognition data  266  to interoperate with a format desired by/compatible with the request  260  issuing device  210 . Additionally, the speech recognition data source  250  can optionally customize the speech recognition data  266  to speech characteristics (e.g., accent, dialect, gender, etc.) of a user of device  210  to improve recognition accuracy of a speech recognition engine  220  used by device  210 . User specific characteristics upon which a user specific customization is based can be conveyed within request  260  or can be maintained within a data store  242  of a content source  240  in a user specific record. 
         [0029]    The speech enabled device  210  can be any computing device able to accept speech input and to perform programmatic actions in response to the received speech input. The device  210  can, for example, include a speech enabled mobile phone, a personal data assistant, an electronic gaming device, an embedded consumer device, a navigation device, a kiosk, a personal computer, and the like. The speech enabled device  210  can include a network transceiver  212 , an audio transducer  214 , a content handler  216 , a user interface  218 , and a speech recognition engine  220 . 
         [0030]    The network transceiver  212  can be a transceiver able to convey digitally encoded content with remotely located computing devices. The transceiver  212  can be a wide area network (WAN) transceiver or can be a personal area network (PAN) transceiver, either of which can be configured to communicate over a line based or a wireless connection. For example, the network transceiver  212  can be a network card, which permits device  210  to connect to content source  240  over the Internet. In another example, the network transceiver  212  can be a BLUETOOTH, wireless USB, or other point-to-point transceiver, which permits device  210  to directly exchange content with a proximately located content source  240  having a compatible transceiving capability. 
         [0031]    The audio transducer  214  can include a microphone for receiving speech input as well as one or more speakers for producing speech output. 
         [0032]    The content handler  216  can include a set of hardware/software/firmware for performing actions involving content  232  stored in data store  230 . For example, in an implementation where the device  210  is an MP3 player, the content handler can include codecs for reading the MP3 format, audio playback engines, and the like. 
         [0033]    The user interface  218  can include a set of controls, I/O peripherals, and programmatic instructions, which enable a user to interact with device  210 . Interface  218  can, for example, include a set of playback buttons for controlling music playback (as well as a speech interface) in a digital music playing embodiment of device  210 . In one embodiment, the interface  218  can be a multimodal interface permitting multiple different modalities for user interactions, which include a speech modality. 
         [0034]    The speech recognition engine  220  can include machine readable instructions for performing speech-to-text conversions. The speech recognition engine  220  can include an acoustic model processor  222  and/or a language model processor  2244 , both of which can vary in complexity from rudimentary to highly complex depending upon implementation specifics and device  210  capabilities. The speech recognition engine  220  can utilize a set of one or more grammars  228 . In one embodiment, the data store  226  can include a plurality of grammars  228 , which are selectively activated depending upon a device  210  state. Accordingly, grammar  228  to which the speech recognition data  266  is added can be a context dependent grammar, a context independent grammar, a speaker dependent grammar, and a speaker independent grammar depending upon implementation specifics for system  200 . 
         [0035]    Each of the data stores  226 ,  230 ,  242 ,  252  can be physically implemented within any type of hardware including, but not limited to, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, a digitally encoded plastic memory, a holographic memory, or any other recording medium. Each data store  226 ,  230 ,  242 ,  252  can be stand-alone storage units as well as a storage unit formed from a plurality of physical devices, which may be remotely located from one another. Additionally, information can be stored within the data stores  226 ,  230 ,  242 ,  252  in a variety of manners. For example, information can be stored within a database structure or can be stored within one or more files of a file storage system, where each file may or may not be indexed for information searching purposes. 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a method  300  for acquiring content along with speech recognition data to a speech enabled device in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. The method  300  can be performed in the context of a system  200  or similar speech recognition system. 
         [0037]    Method  300  can begin in step  305 , where a speech enabled device can connect to a remotely located content source over a network. In step  310  at least one item to acquire from the content source to the speech enabled device can be selected, such as through a Web browser. In step  315 , speech recognition preferences can be optionally conveyed form the device to the content source. Speech recognition preferences are only needed when the speech recognition data ultimately provided to the speech enabled device is customized and/or formatted for a specific user or device. Other embodiments exist, where the speech recognition data provided to the device is uniform across requesting devices, which makes caching speech recognition data more efficient. 
         [0038]    Even when customized speech recognition data is required, this data need not be provided by the device in step  315 . In a different configuration, for instance, the content source or other network element can store user/device specific preferences that include speech recognition preferences. Assuming a user logs into the content source or otherwise identifies themselves, it is a simplistic task to identity and match a user/device with stored preferences. In another implementation, speech preferences can be automatically extracted/determined from speech input provided by a user, which assumes that speech samples are either captured within the device and conveyed to the content source or that interactions with the content source are through a speech interface. 
         [0039]    Once the content source determines an availability of the requested item(s), it can determine textual identifiers for the item(s). A textual identifier can be any identifier used to reference the content items, such as a name of the item. These identifiers can be conveyed along with any available speech recognition preferences to a speech recognition data creator, as shown by step  320 . In step  325 , a phonetic representation of the textual identifiers can be generated/received. In step  325 , the phonetic representation can be written to a speech recognition data file in a device compatible format. This data file can be conveyed to the content requesting device along with the content items in step  335 . 
         [0040]    In step  340 , the speech recognition data can be added to a recognition grammar of the speech enabled device and the content items can be added to a device memory. In step  345  a speech command for an operation involving one of the new content items can be received. In step  350 , this speech command can be speech recognized by a speech recognition engine of the device. A programmatic action can execute based upon the speech recognized command that involves the content item. 
         [0041]    The present invention may be realized in hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for a carrying out methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein. 
         [0042]    The present invention also may be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

Technology Category: g