System and method for language translation via remote devices

• US 20040102201A1
• Filed: 11/14/2003
• Published: 05/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Transclick, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Transclick, Inc.
• Inventors: Levin, Robert E.
• Application Number:
  US10/713,448
• Publication Number:
  US 20040102201A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/242 Dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/49 using very large corpora, e.g. the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/55 Rule-based translation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1822 Parsing for meaning understanding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/228 of application context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A system and method for translation of electronic communications automatically selects and deploys specialized dictionaries based upon context recognition and other factors. Software tools can be employed for continual dictionary enhancement. The invention can accept speech and text inputs and can be used to translate electronic mail, instant messages, chat, SMS messages, electronic text and word processing files, Internet web pages, Internet search results, and other textual communications for a variety of device types, including wireless devices. In one embodiment, language pairs are automatically determined in real-time.

Claims

1. A method for translating short message service (SMS) messages, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first SMS message from a first device, including sending and receiving party identification information;

searching an SMS message translation database using at least one of the sending and receiving party identification information to determine a language pair;

in response to determining said language pair, translating said SMS message from a first language of said language pair to a second language of said language pair; and

communicating at least a portion of said translated message to a user of a second device audibly via a second device speaker or visibly on a display of said second device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said sending party information includes a short code.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of receiving a first SMS message includes receiving a first SMS message having a mobile subscriber integrated services digital network (MSISDN) number and wherein searching in said message translation database includes searching based on the MSISDN number.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a first SMS message includes receiving an SMS message having an international mobile station identifier (IMSI) number and wherein searching in said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the IMSI number.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a first SMS message includes receiving an SMS signaling message having an electronic mail (email) address and wherein searching in said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the email address.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a first SMS message includes receiving an SMS signaling message having an Internet protocol (IP) address and wherein searching said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the IP address.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a first SMS message includes receiving an SMS signaling message having an international dialing prefix and wherein searching said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the international dialing prefix.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said language pair can be stored in connection with said sending and receiving party information.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said translating step includes the step of searching at least one dictionary based on input text of said SMS message.

10. A method for processing short message service (SMS) messages, comprising the steps of:

receiving user-specific SMS message translation data and storing said data in an SMS message translation table;

receiving an SMS message from a network;

extracting parameters from said SMS message;

searching in said SMS message translation table using the extracted parameters; and

identifying a language pair based on said user-specific SMS message data.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of receiving user-specific SMS message translation data includes receiving recipient-based data in the SMS message translation table.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said step of receiving recipient-based data includes receiving and storing mobile subscriber identification information in the SMS message translation table.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said mobile subscriber identification information is a country code.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said mobile subscriber identification information is a short code.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein said step of receiving recipient-based data includes receiving and storing network identification information in the SMS message translation table.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of receiving user-specific SMS message translation data includes receiving and storing sender-based translation data in the SMS message translation table.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said step of receiving sender-based data includes receiving and storing sender mobile subscriber identification information in the SMS message translation table.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said step of receiving sender-based SMS message translation data in the SMS message translation table includes allowing the user to input sending network identification information in the SMS message translation table.

19. A system for facilitating translation of a remote communication, comprising:

a wireless communication device capable of;

receiving a translated message; and

displaying the translated message on a visual display of the wireless communication device; and

a translation apparatus capable of;

receiving a message for translation from a first user, said message including sending and receiving party information;

searching a message translation database using at least one of the sending and receiving party identification information to determine a language pair;

in response to determining said language pair, translating said message from a first language of said language pair to a second language of said language pair; and

communicating at least a portion of said translated message to said wireless communication device.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the translation apparatus searches at least one translation dictionary based on said received message.

21. The system of claim 19 wherein said sending party information includes a short code.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the translation apparatus receives an SMS message having a mobile subscriber integrated services digital network (MSISDN) number and wherein searching in said message translation database includes searching based on the MSISDN number.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the translation apparatus receives an SMS message having an international mobile station identifier (IMSI) number and wherein searching in said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the IMSI number.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the translation apparatus receives an SMS signaling message having an electronic mail (email) address and wherein searching in said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the email address.

25. The method of claim 19 wherein the translation apparatus receives an SMS signaling message having an Internet protocol (IP) address and wherein searching said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the IP address.

26. The method of claim 19 wherein the translation apparatus receives an SMS signaling message having an international dialing prefix and wherein searching said SMS message translation database includes searching based on the international dialing prefix.

27. A network element for translating short message service (SMS) signaling messages to a receiving party, the network element comprising:

a communications module for sending and receiving SMS messages;

an SMS message translation module for analyzing SMS messages received by the communications module and translating the SMS messages; and

an SMS message translation database containing data used by the SMS translation module to determine a language pair for translation.

28. A method for translating electronic messages, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first electronic message from a first device, including sending and receiving party identification information;

receiving a signal associated with said first message, said signal corresponding to either a display selection from an interface display on said device or a spoken input, said signal indicative of a translation request;

searching an SMS message translation database using at least one of the sending and receiving party identification information to determine a language pair; and

in response to determining said language pair, translating said SMS message from a first language of said language pair to a second language of said language pair using a translation application, said translation application including at least one core dictionary for said language pair.

29. The method of claim 28 including the further step of communicating at least a portion of said translated message to a user of a second device audibly via a second device speaker or visibly on a display of said second device.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein said translation application further includes at least one sub-language dictionary for said language pair.