Voice analysis tool for creating database used in text to speech synthesis system

• US 20070203706A1
• Filed: 12/30/2006
• Published: 08/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Arthur, William, Ozkaragoz, Inci, Ao, Benjamin
• Application Number:
  US11/647,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20070203706A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/260
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/06 Elementary speech units used in speech synthesisers; Concatenation rules

Abstract

In embodiments the present invention includes a method for analyzing a verbal expression for use in a vehicle navigation system. Such a navigation system can include a database having a map with text describing street names and points of interest of the map. The method can include the steps of obtaining from the database text of multisyllable words describing at least one of road names and points of interest of the map, applying a greedy algorithm to the text of the multisyllable words to construct a set of phrases comprising each syllable of the multisyllable words, recording the verbal expression of each phrase of the set of phrases, analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases, forming a separate recording for each syllable as defined by the start and the end of each syllable, and storing in a phrase database each separate recoding of a syllable.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing a verbal expression for use in a vehicle navigation system having a database including a map and text describing street names and points of interest of the map, the method comprising:

obtaining from the database text of multisyllable words describing at least one of road names and points of interest of the map;

applying a greedy algorithm to the text of the multisyllable words to construct a set of phrases comprising each syllable of the multisyllable words;

recording the verbal expression of each phrase of the set of phrases;

analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases;

forming a separate recording for each syllable as defined by the start and the end of each syllable; and

storing in a phrase database each separate recoding of a syllable.

2. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises utilizing a second formant transition between consonants and vowels to define the start and the end of each syllable.

3. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises omitting unvoiced syllable-final regions in speech waveforms of sonorants.

4. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 3, wherein sonorants are at least one of vowels, liquids, glides and nasals.

5. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises omitting pauses between words of each recorded phrase.

6. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises omitting creakiness from each recorded phrase.

7. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises omitting the unvoiced closure of stops from each recorded phrase.

8. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises using reflection coefficients in determining transitional boundaries between voiced and unvoiced regions.

9. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises detecting in each recorded phrase at least one of frication, pitch, RMS energy, stop bursts, and silence.

10. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises detecting drops in voicing within a voiced region of each recorded phrase.

11. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises detecting vowels within a long sequencing of voicing including any minimal power regions separating the vowels of each recorded phrase.

12. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises defining a region of minimal power which is embedded within a larger power region for each recorded phrase.

13. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises nasal detection using at least one of a reflection coefficient and power statistics.

14. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein analyzing each recorded phrase of the set of phrases to define a start and an end of each syllable in each phrase for the set of phrases comprises blotting out low-energy transitional information between an end of a syllable and the start of the next preceding syllable in each recorded phrase.

15. The method of analyzing a verbal expression of claim 1, wherein storing in a phrase database each separate recoding of a syllable comprises indexing the recording of each syllable to a description of the recording and storing the indexed recording of each syllable in a syllable database.