System and method for speech translation using remote devices

• US 20040102957A1
• 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:
  US10/714,036
• Publication Number:
  US 20040102957A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/3
• 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 of translating speech and delivering it to a communications device, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request from a first communications device for speech translation services at a server device running a speech translation application;

retrieving a voice input signal associated with the request from a first communication path;

translating the voice input signal from a source language to a target language message using said speech translation application; and

sending the target language message to a second communications device using a second communication path, at least a portion of said target language message being revealed audibly via a second device speaker or visibly on a display of said second device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first communication path is established on a wireless communication network.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a source language or a target language is automatically determined based on said received request.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said speech translation application includes a plurality of first-type translation dictionaries including at least one core language dictionary and a plurality of sub-language dictionaries.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said speech translation application includes a dictionary search component capable of searching a resource for at least one second-type translation dictionary.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the request received includes user specific identification information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the user specific identification information is used to retrieve user specific files to process the request for speech translation services.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request received from the wireless communication device includes device specific identification information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the device specific identification information is used to retrieve user specific files to process the request for speech translation services.

10. A wireless communication system providing speech translation services, comprising:

a wireless communication device providing voice input for speech translation processing on a first communication path, said device also providing sending and receiving party information; and

a server device running a speech translation application receiving voice input from said wireless communication device on said first communication path, converting the received voice input into a text file, translating the text file based on determining a language pair from at least one of said sending and receiving party information, and sending the translated information to a remote device using a second communication path.

11. A system for facilitating translation of a communication from or to a remote communication device, 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 and a speech element;

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 speech element 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.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the translation apparatus searches at least one translation dictionary based on said received message.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein said first and second languages of said language pair automatically determined based on said received message.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein said translation apparatus includes a plurality of first-type translation dictionaries including at least one core language dictionary and a plurality of sub-language dictionaries.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein said translation apparatus includes a dictionary search component capable of searching a resource for at least one second-type translation dictionary.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein said user is a mobile subscriber.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein said user is a network operator.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein said translation apparatus accesses a specialized dictionary of said language pair based on said sending and receiving party information.

19. The system of claim 11 wherein said translation apparatus accesses a specialized dictionary based on a determined context of said message.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein said received message includes device specific identification information.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein said device specific identification information is used to retrieve sender or receiver specific files to translate said message speech element.

22. A system for facilitating translation of a communication from or to a remote communication device, comprising:

a wireless communication device capable of;

receiving a translated message; and

revealing the translated message via a speaker 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 and a speech element;

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 speech element 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.

23. A method of translating speech and delivering it to a wireless communications device, comprising the steps of:

receiving spoken input from a first wireless communications device at a server device running a translation application;

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

translating the spoken input from a source language to a target language using said speech translation application so as to construct a translated message, said source language and said target language being determined by input received by said first wireless communications device; and

communicating the translated message to a second wireless communications device, at least a portion of said translated message being revealed audibly via a second device speaker or visibly on a display of said second device.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said input for determining said source and target language includes a selection by a user of said first device of source and target languages from a display on said first device display.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein said input for determining said source language is sending party information and said input for determining said target language is receiving party information.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said receiving party information is a short code.

27. A method of translating speech and delivering it to a wireless communications device, comprising the steps of:

receiving spoken input from a first wireless communications device at a server device running a translation application;

receiving a signal associated with said spoken input at said server device, said signal corresponding to either a display selection from an interface display on said first wireless communications device or a spoken input received by said first wireless communications device, said signal indicative of a translation request;

translating the spoken input from a source language to a target language using said speech translation application so as to construct a translated message, said speech translation application using at least a core dictionary associated with said source language and said target language; and

communicating the translated message to a second wireless communications device.