Method and system for controlling a user receiving device using voice commands

• US 10,708,645 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2018
• Issued: 07/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pardue, Scott, Oddo, Eddie M., Marinari, Aaron P., Panchal, Chinmay, Kovilmadam, Subramanian
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhu, Richard Z
• Application Number:
  US15/876,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20180213276A1
• Time in Patent Office: 897 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3833 Hand-held transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4222 Remote control device emulator integrated into a non-television apparatus, e.g. a PDA, media center or smart toy remote control device for a television receiver integrated into a mobile phone H04M1/72415
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42221 Transmission circuitry, e.g. infrared [IR] or radio frequency [RF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42222 Additional components integrated in the remote control device, e.g. timer, speaker, sensors for detecting position, direction or movement of the remote control, microphone or battery charging device

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a system that performs operations including receiving one or more media processor commands generated by a voice processing system that synthesizes the one or more media processor commands according to voice data provided by a portable device by way of an adapter, and executing the one or more media processor commands to generate an updated presentation of media content. The adapter converts a first radio frequency (RF) signal to a second RF signal comprising the voice data, the first RF signal generated by the portable device according to a first RF protocol, the second RF signal conforming to a second RF protocol that differs from the first RF protocol, and the second RF signal comprising routing information to route the voice data to the voice processing system. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, by a processing system including a processor of a first portable device, first voice data of a first user;

transmitting, by the processing system of the first portable device and via a first radio frequency (RF) signal according to a remote control standard wireless protocol, the first voice data to an adapter configured to extract the first voice data from the first RF signal and to provide the first voice data to a voice processing system via a first wireless transfer according to a local area network wireless protocol between a first wireless interface of the adapter and a local area network of a gateway,

wherein the voice processing system generates one or more media processor commands for a first media processor whose operations are being controlled by the first portable device, and

wherein the first portable device, the first media processor, the voice processing system, and the gateway are separate, non-integrated devices, the voice processing system receiving via the adapter, second voice data from a second portable device of a second user in wireless communication with the adapter via a second RF signal comprising the second voice data and determining whether the second portable device obtains control via the second voice data of the first media processor, the voice processing system making the determination based upon a priority given to the first user, the second user or a combination thereof; and

responsive to a determination by the processing system that the first portable device obtained control of the first media processor;

receiving, by the processing system of the first portable device and via a second wireless transfer between a second wireless interface of the adapter and the first portable device according to the remote control standard wireless protocol, the one or more media processor commands from the voice processing system; and

transmitting, by the processing system of the first portable device and according to the remote control standard wireless protocol, the one or more media processor commands to the first media processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portable device comprises a remote controller, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first voice data is obtained from a voice signal detected by a microphone of the first portable device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the adapter comprises a universal serial bus interface for supplying energy to a multimode transceiver and controller of the adapter, and wherein the remote control standard wireless protocol comprises a remote control standard for consumer electronics (RF4CE) protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the gateway comprises a modem, and wherein the priority is given to the first user or the second user based upon a first priority field in a first profile of the first user, based upon a second priority field in a second profile of the second user;

or any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first media processor comprises as set top box, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer, and wherein the priority is given to the first user or the second user based upon which of the first user and the second user has a lower frequency of requests.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processing system of the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands generated by the voice processing system;

presenting, by the processing system of the first portable device, at a user interface of the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands; and

receiving, by the processing system of the first portable device, user-generated input indicating an acceptance or rejection of the one or more media processor commands.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting, by the processing system of the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands to the first media processor responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the acceptance.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting, by the processing system of the first portable device, a rejection message to the voice processing system responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the rejection.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the rejection message comprises updated one or more media processor commands based on user-generated corrections applied to the one or more media processor commands, and wherein the method further comprises transmitting, by the processing system of the first portable device, the updated one or more media processor commands to the first media processor.

11. The method of claim 1, the second voice data controlling a media processor based on pairing information provided by the second portable device, the pairing information indicating whether the second portable device is paired to the first media processor, wherein the pairing information further indicates that the second portable device is paired to a second media processor.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice processing system initiates a mitigation strategy responsive to determining that the second portable device is paired to the first media processor.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the processing system of the first portable device, metadata from the voice processing system, the metadata associated with content related to media content identified in the first voice data.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, by a voice processing system comprising a processor, first voice data from a first portable device of a first user, wherein the first voice data is received from an adapter that obtains the first voice data wirelessly from the first portable device via a first wireless interface according to a remote control standard wireless protocol, wherein the voice processing system receives the first voice data via a first wireless transfer according to a local area network wireless protocol between a second wireless interface of the adapter and a local area network of a gateway, wherein the voice processing system generates one or more media processor commands for a first media processor whose operations are being controlled by the first portable device, and wherein the first portable device is a separate, non-integrated device from the first media processor,

receiving, by the voice processing system, second voice data from a second portable device of a second user, wherein the second voice data is received from the adapter that obtains the second voice data wirelessly from the second portable device via the first wireless interface according to the remote control standard wireless protocol, wherein the voice processing system makes a determination as to whether the second portable device obtains control via the second voice data of the first media processor, and wherein the voice processing system makes the determination based upon a priority given to one of the first user or the second user; and

responsive to a determination by the voice processing system that the first portable device obtained control of the first media processor, transmitting, by the voice processing system, one or more media processor commands to the first portable device via a second wireless interface of the adapter, the adapter providing the one or more media processor commands to the first portable device according to the remote control standard wireless protocol, and the first portable device sending the one or more media processor commands to the first media processor via the remote control standard wireless protocol.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first voice data is obtained from a voice signal detected by a microphone of the first portable device, and wherein the first portable device comprises a remote controller, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the voice processing system initiates a mitigation strategy responsive to determining that the second portable device is paired to the first media processor.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the voice processing system, the one or more media processor commands generated by the voice processing system;

presenting, by the voice processing system, at a user interface of the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands;

receiving, by the voice processing system, user-generated input indicating an acceptance or rejection of the one or more media processor commands;

responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the acceptance, transmitting, by the voice processing system, the one or more media processor commands to the first media processor; and

responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the rejection transmitting, by the voice processing system, a rejection message to the voice processing system.

18. An adapter, comprising:

a multimode transceiver that communicates using a plurality of radio frequency protocols;

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising;

receiving a first wireless transmission from a first portable device, via the multimode transceiver according to a remote control standard wireless protocol, the first wireless transmission comprising first voice data of a first user;

receiving a second wireless transmission from a second portable device, via the multimode transceiver, the second wireless transmission comprising second voice data of a second user;

transmitting, via the multimode transceiver, the first voice data to a voice processing system that synthesizes the first voice data into one or more media processor commands directed to a media processor whose operations are being controlled by the first portable device, wherein the first voice data is transmitted according to a local area network wireless protocol between a first wireless interface and a local area network;

transmitting, via the multimode transceiver, the second voice data from the second portable device, wherein the voice processing system makes a determination as to whether the second portable device obtains control via the second voice data of the media processor, and wherein the voice processing system makes the determination based upon a priority given to one of the first user or the second user; and

responsive to a determination by the voice processing system that the first portable device obtained control of the media processor;

receiving the one or more media processor commands from the voice processing system according to the local area network wireless protocol between the first wireless interface and the local area network; and

transmitting the one or more media processor commands to the first portable device via a third wireless transmission between a second wireless interface and the first portable device according to the remote control standard wireless protocol, the first portable device sending the one or more media processor commands to the media processor via the remote control standard wireless protocol.

19. The adapter of claim 18, wherein the first portable device comprises a remote controller, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer, wherein the media processor comprises a set top box, and wherein the voice processing system is located remote from the adapter, the first portable device and the media processor.

20. The adapter of claim 18, further comprising a power outlet interface or a universal serial bus interface for supplying energy to the multimode transceiver, the memory and the processor of the adapter.