Language model for use in speech recognition

• US 20040098263A1
• Filed: 11/15/2002
• Published: 05/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Hwang, Kwangil, Fieleke, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 7,584,102 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/266
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/18 using natural language modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/183 using context dependencies, e.g. language models

Abstract

Building a language model for use in speech recognition includes identifying without user interaction a source of text related to a user. Text is retrieved from the identified source of text and a language model related to the user is built from the retrieved text.

Claims

1. A method for building a language model for use in speech recognition, the method comprising:

identifying without user interaction a source of text related to a user;

retrieving text from the identified source of text; and

building a language model related to the user from the retrieved text.

2. The method as in claim 1 wherein identifying the source of text includes identifying without user interaction emails sent by the user.

3. The method as in claim 2 further comprising:

scanning the emails to identify words from the emails; and

determining which of the scanned words to use to build the language model.

4. The method as in claim 1 wherein identifying the source of text includes identifying without user interaction documents authored by the user.

5. The method as in claim 1 wherein identifying the source of text includes identifying without user interaction documents stored in a particular location on a computer.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein identifying the source of text includes identifying without user interaction contacts information of the user.

7. The method as in claim 6 wherein retrieving the text includes retrieving names from the user'"'"'s contacts information and further comprising:

scanning the names to identify names that are not included in a vocabulary of words; and

adding without user interaction the identified names to the vocabulary.

8. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

scanning the retrieved text to identify words from the text that are not included in a vocabulary of words; and

adding without user interaction the identified words to the vocabulary.

9. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

scanning the retrieved text to identify words from the text that are not included in a vocabulary of words;

displaying the identified words to the user;

prompting the user to select words to be included in the vocabulary; and

adding words selected by the user to the vocabulary.

10. The method as in claim 1 wherein building the language model includes calculating at least one of unigrams, bigrams, and trigrams using the retrieved text.

11. The method as in claim 1 further comprising performing the identifying, retrieving and building as a part of a user'"'"'s enrollment process.

12. A computer program for building a language model for use in speech recognition and stored on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising:

an identifying code segment that causes a computer to identify without user interaction a source of text related to a user;

a retrieving code segment that causes the computer to retrieve text from the identified source of text; and

a building code segment that causes the computer to build a language model related to the user from the retrieved text.

13. The computer program of claim 12 wherein the identifying code segment causes the computer to identify without user interaction emails sent by the user.

14. The computer program of claim 13 further comprising:

a scanning code segment that causes the computer to scan the emails to identify words from the emails; and

a determining code segment that causes the computer to determine which of the scanned words to use to build the language model.

15. The computer program of claim 12 wherein the identifying code segment causes the computer to identify without user interaction documents authored by the user.

16. The computer program of claim 12 wherein the identifying code segment causes the computer to identify without user interaction documents stored in a particular location on a computer.

17. The computer program of claim 12 wherein the identifying code segment causes the computer to identify without user interaction contacts information of the user.

18. The computer program of claim 17 wherein the retrieving code segment causes the computer to retrieve names from the user'"'"'s contacts information and further comprising:

a scanning code segment that causes the computer to scan the names to identify names that are not included in a vocabulary of words; and

an adding code segment that causes the computer to add without user interaction the identified names to the vocabulary.

19. The computer program of claim 12 further comprising:

a scanning code segment that causes the computer to scan the retrieved text to identify words from the text that are not included in a vocabulary of words; and

an adding code segment that causes the computer to add without user interaction the identified words to the vocabulary.

20. The computer program of claim 12 further comprising:

a scanning code segment that causes the computer to scan the retrieved text to identify words from the text that are not included in a vocabulary of words;

a displaying code segment that causes the computer to display the identified words to the user;

a prompting code segment that causes the computer to prompt the user to select words to be included in the vocabulary; and

an adding code segment that causes the computer to add words selected by the user to the vocabulary.

21. The computer program of claim 12 wherein the building code segment causes the computer to calculate at least one of unigrams, bigrams, and trigrams using the retrieved text.

22. The computer program of claim 12 further comprising a performing code segment that causes the computer to perform the identifying code segment, the retrieving code segment and the building code segment as a part of a user'"'"'s enrollment process.

23. A system for building a language model for use in speech recognition, comprising:

means for identifying without user interaction a source of text related to a user;

means for retrieving text from the identified source of text; and

means for building a language model related to the user from the retrieved text.