METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A USER RECEIVING DEVICE USING VOICE COMMANDS

• US 20180213276A1
• Filed: 01/22/2018
• Published: 07/26/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pardue, Scott, Oddo, Eddie M., Marinari, Aaron P., Panchal, Chinmay, Kovilmadam, Subramanian
• Granted Patent: US 10,708,645 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3833 Hand-held transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4222 Remote control device emulator integrated into a non-television apparatus, e.g. a PDA, media center or smart toy remote control device for a television receiver integrated into a mobile phone H04M1/72415
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42221 Transmission circuitry, e.g. infrared [IR] or radio frequency [RF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42222 Additional components integrated in the remote control device, e.g. timer, speaker, sensors for detecting position, direction or movement of the remote control, microphone or battery charging device

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a system that performs operations including receiving one or more media processor commands generated by a voice processing system that synthesizes the one or more media processor commands according to voice data provided by a portable device by way of an adapter, and executing the one or more media processor commands to generate an updated presentation of media content. The adapter converts a first radio frequency (RF) signal to a second RF signal comprising the voice data, the first RF signal generated by the portable device according to a first RF protocol, the second RF signal conforming to a second RF protocol that differs from the first RF protocol, and the second RF signal comprising routing information to route the voice data to the voice processing system. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, by a first portable device comprising a processor, first voice data of a first user; and

transmitting, by the first portable device to a voice processing system via a gateway and an adapter, the first voice data, wherein the voice processing system generates one or more media processor commands for a first media processor whose operations are being controlled by the first portable device, and

wherein the voice processing system receives second voice data from a second portable device of a second user, and wherein the voice processing system determines whether the second voice data controls a media processor based on pairing information provided by the second portable device, the pairing information indicating whether the second portable device is paired to the first media processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portable device comprises a remote controller, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first voice data is obtained from a voice signal detected by a microphone of the first portable device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the adapter comprises a power outlet interface or a universal serial bus interface for supplying energy to a multimode transceiver and controller of the adapter.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the gateway comprises a modem.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first media processor comprises as set top box, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands generated by the voice processing system;

presenting, at a user interface of the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands; and

receiving, by the first portable device, user-generated input indicating an acceptance or rejection of the one or more media processor commands.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting the one or more media processor commands to the first media processor responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the acceptance.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting a rejection message to the voice processing system responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the rejection.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the rejection message comprises updated one or more media processor commands based on user-generated corrections applied to the one or more media processor commands, and wherein the method further comprises transmitting, by the first portable device, the updated one or more media processor commands to the first media processor.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the pairing information indicates that the second portable device is paired to a second media processor.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice processing system initiates a mitigation strategy responsive to determining that the second portable device is paired to the first media processor.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the first portable device, metadata from the voice processing system, the metadata associated with content related to media content identified in the first voice data.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, by a voice processing system comprising a processor, first voice data from a first portable device of a first user, wherein the voice processing system generates one or more media processor commands for a first media processor whose operations are being controlled by the first portable device, and

receiving, by the voice processing system, second voice data from a second portable device of a second user, and wherein the voice processing system determines whether the second voice data controls the first media processor or a second media processor based on pairing information provided by the second portable device, the pairing information indicating whether the second portable device is paired to the first media processor or the second media processor.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first voice data is obtained from a voice signal detected by a microphone of the first portable device;

and wherein the first portable device comprises a remote controller, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the voice processing system initiates a mitigation strategy responsive to determining that the second portable device is paired to the first media processor.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands generated by the voice processing system;

presenting, at a user interface of the first portable device, the one or more media processor commands;

receiving, by the first portable device, user-generated input indicating an acceptance or rejection of the one or more media processor commands;

responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the acceptance, transmitting the one or more media processor commands to the first media processor; and

responsive to receiving the user-generated input comprising the rejection transmitting a rejection message to the voice processing system.

18. An adapter, comprising:

a multimode transceiver;

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving from a first portable device, via the multimode transceiver, first voice data of a first user; and

transmitting, via the multimode transceiver, the first voice data to a voice processing system that synthesizes the first voice data into one or more media processor commands directed to a media processor whose operations are being controlled by the first portable device, wherein the voice processing system receives second voice data from a second portable device of a second user, and wherein the voice processing system determines whether the second voice data controls the media processor based on pairing information provided by the second portable device, the pairing information indicating whether the second portable device is paired to the media processor.

19. The adapter of claim 18, wherein the first portable device comprises a remote controller, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer, wherein the media processor comprises a set top box, and wherein the voice processing system is located remote from the adapter, the first portable device and the media processor.

20. The adapter of claim 18, further comprising a power outlet interface or a universal serial bus interface for supplying energy to the multimode transceiver, the memory and the processor of the adapter.