SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A NATURAL LANGUAGE INTERFACE TO A DATABASE

• US 20110179006A1
• Filed: 03/29/2011
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bampton Technologies, LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nadji, Behzad, Eslambolchi, Hossein, Rahim, Mazin G., Cox, Richard Vandervoort
• Granted Patent: US 8,412,693 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3331 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3334 Selection or weighting of terms from queries, including natural language queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3344 using natural language analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/06 Transformation of speech into a non-audible representation, e.g. speech visualisation or speech processing for tactile aids G10L15/26 takes precedence

Abstract

A system and method for providing a natural language interface to a database or the Internet. The method provides a response from a database to a natural language query. The method comprises receiving a user query, extracting key data from the user query, submitting the extracted key data to a data base search engine to retrieve a top n pages from the data base, processing of the top n pages through a natural language dialog engine and providing a response based on processing the top n pages.

Claims

1. A method for providing a response to a user query, the method comprising:

receiving the user query;

extracting, via a processor, key data from the user query;

submitting the key data to a database search engine to retrieve a top n pages from a database;

prior to responding to the user query, processing the top n pages through a natural language dialog engine;

providing a response comprising a text-based response and an audible response, based at least in part on the processing;

after providing the response, without further user input, continuing to find related information associated with the user query using a machine learning process, wherein an option can be presented to the user to view the related information separate from the response.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user query is one of a natural language speech query and a text based query.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the key data is at least one of key words and key phrases.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein submitting the key data to the database search engine further comprises submitting the key data to a plurality of search engines.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user can select at least one of a text input mode, a speech input mode, and a dialog mode.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein user input is received via a large vocabulary speech recognizer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the response is a natural language response provided via synthetic speech.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the response is a multimedia response.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the database comprises the World Wide Web, a multimedia database, a corporate database, and a personal database.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the user query and response are provided in a dialog mode.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interacts with a virtual agent in a dialog mode.

12. A computing device for providing a response to a query, the computing device comprising:

a processor;

a first module configured to control the processor to receive the query;

a second module configured to control the processor to extract key data from the query;

a third module configured to control the processor to submit the key data to a database search engine to execute a search to retrieve a top n pages form a database;

a fourth module configured to control the processor, prior to responding to the query, to process the top n pages through a natural language dialog engine;

a fifth module configured to control the processor to provide a response comprising an audible response and a text-based response based on processing the top n pages, wherein the response displays an option to view additional material related to the query separate from the response;

a sixth module configured to control the processor, after providing the response and without further user input, to continue to find related information using a machine learning process.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the database is at least one of the World Wide Web, a multimedia database, a corporate database, and a personal database.

14. The computing device of claims 12, wherein the response is a natural language response provided via synthetic speech.

15. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the user query is one of a natural language speech query and a text based query.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for controlling a computing device to perform the steps comprising:

receiving a query;

extracting key data from the query;

submitting the key data to a database search engine to execute a search to retrieve a top n pages from a database;

prior to responding to the query, processing of the top n pages through a natural language dialog engine;

providing a response comprising an audible response and a text-based response based on the processing of the top n pages, wherein the response displays to the user an option to view related information separate from the provided response;

after providing the response and without further user input, continuing to find related information using a machine learning process.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the query is received via a large vocabulary speech recognizer.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein a user can select a database search engine from a plurality of search engines.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein a user can input the query using at least one of a text input mode, a speech input mode, and a dialog mode.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein a user can select multiple databases to be searched.