Multiple Language/Media Translation Optimization

• US 20110077933A1
• Filed: 09/25/2009
• Published: 03/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Sobhi, Ali, Miyamoto, Kohtaroh
• Granted Patent: US 8,364,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/2
• 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 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

A mechanism is provided for optimizing a language/media translation map. A user input is received comprising an input language/media selection, one or more output languages/medias selections, and a threshold for at least one of accuracy or throughput of one or more requested language/media translations. For each of the one or more requested language media translations, a determination is made as to whether an accuracy or throughput of a selected one of an automated translation system or a human resource translator is above the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput. Responsive to the accuracy or throughput being above the threshold, either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator is added to a multiple language/media translation map. An optimized multiple language/media translation map is then generated for use by a translation orchestration module in the data processing system.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system, for optimizing a language/media translation map, the method comprising:

receiving, by a language/media translation map optimization module of the data processing system, user input comprising an input language/media selection, one or more output languages/medias selections, and a threshold for at least one of accuracy or throughput of one or more requested language/media translations;

for each of the one or more requested language media translations, determining, by the language/media translation map optimization module, whether an accuracy or throughput of a selected one of an automated translation system or a human resource translator is above the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput;

responsive to the accuracy or throughput of the selected one of the automated translation system or the human resource translator being above the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput, adding, by the language/media translation map optimization module, either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to a multiple language/media translation map; and

generating, by the language/media translation map optimization module, an optimized multiple language/media translation map for use by a translation orchestration module in the data processing system.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each of the one or more requested language media translations, determining, by the language/media translation map optimization module, whether each requested language/media translation may be performed directly;

responsive to a failure to perform the requested language/media translation directly, determining, by the language/media translation map optimization module, whether one or more intermediate translations may be performed in order to achieve the requested language/media translation;

responsive to identifying one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, selecting, by the language/media translation map optimization module, the one or more intermediate translations for the requested language/media translation;

replacing, by the language/media translation map optimization module, the initial input language/media with the resulting language/media of the one or more intermediate translations; and

adding, by the language/media translation map optimization module, either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

responsive to a failure to identify one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, sending, by the language/media translation map optimization module, an error to a user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the accuracy or throughput of the selected one of the automated translation system or the human resource translator being below the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput, determining, by the language/media translation map optimization module, whether one or more intermediate translations may be performed in order to achieve each of the one or more requested language/media translations;

responsive to identifying one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, selecting, by the language/media translation map optimization module, the one or more intermediate translations for the requested language/media translation;

replacing, by the language/media translation map optimization module, the initial input language/media with the resulting language/media of the one or more intermediate translations; and

adding, by the language/media translation map optimization module, either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to a failure to identify one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, noting, by the language/media translation map optimization module, an exception to a user; and

adding, by the language/media translation map optimization module, either the automated translation system or the human resource translator to the multiple language/media translation map.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the language/media translation map optimization module, whether a selected human resource translator has been assigned to more than one of the one or more requested language/media translations;

responsive to the selected human resource translator being assigned more than one translation, determining, by the language/media translation map optimization module, whether there is another human resource translator or another automatic translation system to perform one of the more than one assigned translations with an accuracy and/or throughput above the predefined threshold; and

responsive to the existence of the another human resource translator or automatic translation system to perform one of the more than one assigned translations with an accuracy and/or throughput above the predefined threshold, selecting, by the language/media translation map optimization module, either the other human resource translator or the other automatic translation system to perform the translation; and

adding, by the language/media translation map optimization module, either the other automated translation system or the other human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

responsive to a failure to identify another human resource translator or automatic translation system to perform one of the more than one assigned translations with an accuracy and/or throughput above the predefined threshold, adding, by the language/media translation map optimization module, either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

incrementing for each of the one or more requested language/media translations, by the language/media translation map optimization module, a cost counter by a predefined cost associated with each of the selected one of the automatic translation system, the selected one of the human resource translator, the other automated translation system, or the other human resource translator;

responsive to all costs for each of the one or more requested language/media translations being added to the cost counter, determining, by the language/media translation map optimization module, whether a value of the cost counter exceeds a predefined budget for the one or more requested language/media translations; and

responsive to the value of the cost counter exceeding the predefined budget, sending, by the language/media translation map optimization module, a notification of a surpass to a requestor of the one or more requested language/media translations.

9. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program recorded thereon, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

receive user input comprising an input language/media selection, one or more output languages/medias selections, and a threshold for at least one of accuracy or throughput of one or more requested language/media translations;

for each of the one or more requested language media translations, determine whether an accuracy or throughput of a selected one of an automated translation system or a human resource translator is above the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput;

responsive to the accuracy or throughput of the selected one of the automated translation system or the human resource translator being above the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput, add either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to a multiple language/media translation map; and

generate an optimized multiple language/media translation map for use by a translation orchestration module in the data processing system.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

for each of the one or more requested language media translations, determine whether each requested language/media translation may be performed directly;

responsive to a failure to perform the requested language/media translation directly, determine whether one or more intermediate translations may be performed in order to achieve the requested language/media translation;

responsive to identifying one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, select the one or more intermediate translations for the requested language/media translation;

replace the initial input language/media with the resulting language/media of the one or more intermediate translations; and

add either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

responsive to a failure to identify one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, send an error to a user.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

responsive to the accuracy or throughput of the selected one of the automated translation system or the human resource translator being below the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput, determine whether one or more intermediate translations may be performed in order to achieve each of the one or more requested language/media translations;

responsive to identifying one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, select the one or more intermediate translations for the requested language/media translation;

replace the initial input language/media with the resulting language/media of the one or more intermediate translations; and

add either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

responsive to a failure to identify one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, note an exception to a user; and

add either the automated translation system or the human resource translator to the multiple language/media translation map.

14. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

determine whether a selected human resource translator has been assigned to more than one of the one or more requested language/media translations;

responsive to the selected human resource translator being assigned more than one translation, determine whether there is another human resource translator or another automatic translation system to perform one of the more than one assigned translations with an accuracy and/or throughput above the predefined threshold; and

responsive to the existence of the another human resource translator or automatic translation system to perform one of the more than one assigned translations with an accuracy and/or throughput above the predefined threshold, select either the other human resource translator or the other automatic translation system to perform the translation; and

add either the other automated translation system or the other human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive user input comprising an input language/media selection, one or more output languages/medias selections, and a threshold for at least one of accuracy or throughput of one or more requested language/media translations;

for each of the one or more requested language media translations, determine whether an accuracy or throughput of a selected one of an automated translation system or a human resource translator is above the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput;

responsive to the accuracy or throughput of the selected one of the automated translation system or the human resource translator being above the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput, add either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to a multiple language/media translation map; and

generate an optimized multiple language/media translation map for use by a translation orchestration module in the data processing system.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

for each of the one or more requested language media translations, determine whether each requested language/media translation may be performed directly;

responsive to a failure to perform the requested language/media translation directly, determine whether one or more intermediate translations may be performed in order to achieve the requested language/media translation;

responsive to identifying one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, select the one or more intermediate translations for the requested language/media translation;

replace the initial input language/media with the resulting language/media of the one or more intermediate translations; and

add either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

responsive to a failure to identify one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, send an error to a user.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

responsive to the accuracy or throughput of the selected one of the automated translation system or the human resource translator being below the threshold for the at least one of accuracy or throughput, determine whether one or more intermediate translations may be performed in order to achieve each of the one or more requested language/media translations;

responsive to identifying one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, select the one or more intermediate translations for the requested language/media translation;

replace the initial input language/media with the resulting language/media of the one or more intermediate translations; and

add either the selected one of the automated translation system or the selected one of the human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

responsive to a failure to identify one or more intermediate translations that may be performed, note an exception to a user; and

add either the automated translation system or the human resource translator to the multiple language/media translation map.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

determine whether a selected human resource translator has been assigned to more than one of the one or more requested language/media translations;

responsive to the selected human resource translator being assigned more than one translation, determine whether there is another human resource translator or another automatic translation system to perform one of the more than one assigned translations with an accuracy and/or throughput above the predefined threshold; and

responsive to the existence of the another human resource translator or automatic translation system to perform one of the more than one assigned translations with an accuracy and/or throughput above the predefined threshold, select either the other human resource translator or the other automatic translation system to perform the translation; and

add either the other automated translation system or the other human resource translator to perform the one or more intermediate translations to the multiple language/media translation map.