Domain-specific concatenative audio

• US 20040138887A1
• Filed: 05/29/2003
• Published: 07/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Rusnak, Christopher, Bass, Joshua, Breitenbach, Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 7,334,183 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/260
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/454 Multi-language systems; Localisation; Internationalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/08 Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/193 Formal grammars, e.g. finite state automata, context free grammars or word networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2061 Language aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for generating speech output from a text string. During operation, the system first receives the text string and then examines the text string to locate one or more substrings within the text string that are found in a speech library. Next, the system looks up speech files associated with the one or more substrings in the speech library. The system then concatenates these speech files to produce a speech output for a user.

Claims

1. A method for generating speech output of a text string, comprising:

receiving the text string;

examining the text string to locate one or more substrings within the text string, wherein the one or more substrings are found in a speech library;

looking up associated speech files for the one or more substrings in the speech library; and

concatenating the speech files together to produce a speech output for a user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech library includes phrases related to a specific domain.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a substring can include a complete sentence.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a substring can include a phrase.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a substring can include a single word.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the concatenative audio files provide proper inflection for the speech output.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising expanding numbers, dates, and times while producing the speech output.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech library can include locale-specific speech files for multiple languages and locales.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a locale-specific speech file is spoken in a locale-specific version of a language.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein locating the one or more substrings involves attempting to locate a longest possible substring in the text string.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for generating speech output of a text string, the method comprising:

receiving the text string;

examining the text string to locate one or more substrings within the text string, wherein the one or more substrings are found in a speech library;

looking up associated speech files for the one or more substrings in the speech library; and

concatenating the speech files together to produce a speech output for a user.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the speech library includes phrases related to a specific domain.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein a substring can include a complete sentence.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein a substring can include a phrase.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein a substring can include a single word.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the concatenative audio files provide proper inflection for the speech output.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, the method further comprising expanding numbers, dates, and times while producing the speech output.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the speech library can include locale-specific speech files for multiple languages and locales

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein a locale-specific speech file is spoken in a locale-specific version of a language.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein locating the one or more substrings involves attempting to locate a longest possible substring in the text string.

21. An apparatus for generating speech output of a text string, comprising:

a receiving mechanism configured to receive the text string;

an examining mechanism configured to examine the text string to locate one or more substrings within the text string, wherein the one or more substrings are found in a speech library;

a lookup mechanism configured to look up associated speech files for the one or more substrings in the speech library; and

a concatenating mechanism configured to concatenate the speech files together to produce a speech output for a user.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the speech library includes phrases related to a specific domain.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a substring can include a complete sentence.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a substring can include a phrase.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a substring can include a single word.

26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the concatenative audio files provide proper inflection for the speech output.

27. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising an expanding mechanism configured to expand numbers, dates, and times while producing the speech output.

28. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the speech library can include locale-specific speech files for multiple languages and locales.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein a locale-specific speech file is spoken in a locale-specific version of a language.

30. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein locating the one or more substrings involves attempting to locate a longest possible substring in the text string.