COMPUTER NETWORK, COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, CLIENT, AND SERVER FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE-BASED CONTROL OF A DIGITAL NETWORK

• US 20120232886A1
• Filed: 03/06/2012
• Published: 09/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: CAPUOZZO, Giuseppe, MAMMOLITI, Fabio, D'ERRICO, Daniele, BORGHINI, Marco
• Granted Patent: US 9,590,818 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/31 Voice input
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/226 using non-speech characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/63 for estimating an emotional state
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2814 Exchanging control software or macros for controlling appliance services in a home automation network arrangements for maintenance or administration involving configuration of the network and network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators

Abstract

The present application relates to a computer network, a computer-implemented method, a computer program product, a client, and a server for natural language-based control of a digital network. In one aspect, the computer network for natural language-based control of a digital network may comprise: a digital network operable to provide sharing of access to a network between a plurality of devices connected in the digital network; a client installed in the digital network and operable to provide a unified natural language interface to a user to control the digital network using natural language; a server connected to the client over the network and operable to process a user request of the user performed through the unified natural language interface; and one or more software agents operable to execute at least one action on at least one of the plurality of devices based on the processed user request.

Claims

1. A computer network for natural language-based control of a digital network, the network comprising:

a digital network operable to provide sharing of access to a network between a plurality of devices connected in the digital network;

a client installed in the digital network and operable to provide a unified natural language interface to a user to control the digital network using natural language;

a server connected to the client over the network and operable to process a user request of the user performed through the unified natural language interface; and

one or more software agents operable to execute at least one action on at least one of the plurality of devices based on the processed user request.

2. The computer network of claim 1, wherein the client comprises a module management component operable to provide an interface to the one or more software agents for publishing one or more actions offered by the one or more software agents to the client.

3. The computer network of claim 2, wherein the client comprises a graphical user interface, GUI, exposed to the user for specifying user-defined settings of actions to be executed by the plurality of software agents on at least one of the plurality of devices.

4. The computer network of claim 3, wherein the module management component is further operable to export a set of functions to the one or more software agents to allow the one or more software agents to access the GUI.

5. The computer network of claim 1, wherein the client comprises a home knowledge component comprising a semantic lexicon, wherein the semantic lexicon specifies information about the plurality devices in the digital network relevant to control the plurality of devices.

6. The computer network of claim 5, wherein the semantic lexicon comprises device classes for the plurality of devices, relationships between the device classes and/or between the plurality of devices, and properties of the device classes and/or of the plurality of devices.

7. The computer network of claim 1, wherein the server is operable to process the user request resulting in a list of tags which is usable by the client to trigger the plurality of software agents to execute the at least one action on the least one of the plurality of devices.

8. The computer network of claim 1, wherein the server is operable to process the user request by interpreting verbal information and/or non-verbal information extracted from the user request.

9. A computer-implemented method for natural language-based control of a digital network, the method comprising:

providing, at a client and by one or more processors, a unified natural language interface to a user to control a digital network using natural language, wherein the digital network is operable to provide sharing of access to a network between a plurality of devices connected in the digital network;

sending a user request of a user performed through the unified natural language interface to a server, wherein the server is connected to the client over the network and operable to process the user request; and

triggering one or more software agents to execute at least one action on at least one of the plurality of devices based on the processed user request.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing, at a module management component of the client, an interface to the one or more software agents for publishing one or more actions offered by the one or more software agents to the client.

11. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising:

exposing, at the client, a graphical user interface, GUI, to the user for specifying user-defined settings of actions to be executed by the plurality of software agents on at least one of the plurality of devices.

12. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising:

exporting, through the module management component, a set of functions to the one or more software agents to allow the one or more software agents to access the GUI.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the following operations:

providing, at a client, a unified natural language interface to a user to control a digital network using natural language, wherein the digital network is operable to provide sharing of access to a network between a plurality of devices connected in the digital network;

sending a user request of a user performed through the unified natural language interface to a server, wherein the server is connected to the client over the network and operable to process the user request; and

triggering one or more software agents to execute at least one action on at least one of the plurality of devices based on the processed user request.

14. The medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of:

providing, at a module management component of the client, an interface to the one or more software agents for publishing one or more actions offered by the one or more software agents to the client.

15. The medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of:

exposing, at the client, a graphical user interface, GUI, to the user for specifying user-defined settings of actions to be executed by the plurality of software agents on at least one of the plurality of devices.

16. The medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations of:

exporting, through the module management component, a set of functions to the one or more software agents to allow the one or more software agents to access the GUI.

17. A client for natural language-based control of a digital network, the client comprising:

a processor; and

memory, wherein the memory device stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform the operations of;

displaying a unified natural language interface operable to receive a user request for controlling a digital network using natural language, wherein the digital network is operable to provide sharing of access to a network between a plurality of devices connected in the digital network, and

providing an interface to one or more software agents for publishing one or more actions offered by the one or more software agents to the client, wherein the one or more software agents are operable to execute at least one action on at least one of the plurality of devices based on the user request,

wherein the client is installed in the digital network.

18. A server for natural language-based control of a digital network, the server comprising:

a processor; and

memory, wherein the memory device stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform the operations of;

displaying an interface operable to process a user request received from a client,

wherein the user request is performed through a unified natural language interface for controlling a digital network using natural language at the client, wherein the digital network is operable to provide sharing of access to a network between a plurality of devices connected in the digital network, and

wherein the user request is processed resulting in a list of tags which is usable by the client to trigger a plurality of software agents to execute at least one action on at least one of the plurality of devices based on the processed user request.