SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RESPONDING TO NATURAL LANGUAGE SPEECH UTTERANCE
First Claim
1. A method for responding to natural language speech utterances, comprising:
- receiving a natural language speech utterance at a speech unit connected to a computer device, wherein the speech unit converts the received natural language speech utterance into an electronic signal;
recognizing one or more words in the electronic signal with a speech recognition engine that operates on the computer device;
identifying a request contained in the natural language speech utterance with a parser that further operates on the computer device, wherein the parser identifies the request contained in the natural language speech utterance from the one or more recognized words;
selecting a domain agent that processes requests in a context for the identified request;
processing the request contained in the natural language speech utterance in a multi-threaded environment with the selected domain agent, wherein processing the request with the selected domain agent includes;
submitting a plurality of asynchronous queries created with the selected domain agent to a plurality of information sources, wherein the plurality of information sources include one or more local information sources and one or more network information sources;
asynchronously evaluating a plurality of results returned from the plurality of information sources to the selected domain agent in response to the plurality of asynchronous queries;
scoring the plurality of asynchronously evaluated results with the selected domain agent to determine one or more of the plurality of results that represents a best response to the request; and
presenting the best response to the request on the computer device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for receiving natural language queries and/or commands and execute the queries and/or commands. The systems and methods overcome the deficiencies of prior art speech query and response systems through the application of a complete speech-based information query, retrieval, presentation and command environment. This environment makes significant use of context, prior information, domain knowledge, and user specific profile data to achieve a natural environment for one or more users making queries or commands in multiple domains. Through this integrated approach, a complete speech-based natural language query and response environment can be created. The systems and methods creates, stores and uses extensive personal profile information for each user, thereby improving the reliability of determining the context and presenting the expected results for a particular question or command.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for responding to natural language speech utterances, comprising:
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receiving a natural language speech utterance at a speech unit connected to a computer device, wherein the speech unit converts the received natural language speech utterance into an electronic signal; recognizing one or more words in the electronic signal with a speech recognition engine that operates on the computer device; identifying a request contained in the natural language speech utterance with a parser that further operates on the computer device, wherein the parser identifies the request contained in the natural language speech utterance from the one or more recognized words; selecting a domain agent that processes requests in a context for the identified request; processing the request contained in the natural language speech utterance in a multi-threaded environment with the selected domain agent, wherein processing the request with the selected domain agent includes; submitting a plurality of asynchronous queries created with the selected domain agent to a plurality of information sources, wherein the plurality of information sources include one or more local information sources and one or more network information sources; asynchronously evaluating a plurality of results returned from the plurality of information sources to the selected domain agent in response to the plurality of asynchronous queries; scoring the plurality of asynchronously evaluated results with the selected domain agent to determine one or more of the plurality of results that represents a best response to the request; and presenting the best response to the request on the computer device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for responding to natural language speech utterances, comprising:
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a speech unit connected to a computer device, wherein the speech unit receives a natural language speech utterance and converts the received natural language speech into an electronic signal; a speech recognition engine that operates on the computer device, wherein the speech recognition engine recognizes one or more words in the electronic signal converted from the natural language speech utterance; a parser that further operates on the computer device, wherein the parser identifies a request contained in the natural language speech utterance from the one or more recognized words and determines a context for the identified request; a domain agent configured to process requests in the context for the request identified in the natural language speech utterance, wherein the domain agent further operates on the computer device and causes the computer device to; submit a plurality of asynchronous queries created with the domain agent to a plurality of information sources, wherein the plurality of information sources include one or more local information sources and one or more network information sources; asynchronously evaluate a plurality of results returned from the plurality of information sources to the domain agent in response to the plurality of asynchronous queries; score the plurality of asynchronously evaluated results with the domain agent to determine one or more of the plurality of results that represents a best response to the request; and present the best response to the request on the computer device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification