Voice synthesis system and method that performs voice synthesis of text data provided by a portable terminal

• US 7,313,522 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2002
• Issued: 12/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Fukuzato, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): OPSASNICK, MICHAEL N
• Application Number:
  US10/270,310
• Publication Number:
  US 20030088419A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,897 Days
• Field of Search: 704/258, 379 8801- 8804
• US Class Current: 704/258
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/047 Architecture of speech synthesisers

Abstract

A system for providing a particular voice to a received e-mail includes a portable terminal and a server. The portable terminal attaches a voice sampling name to the text data and transmits it to a server. The server receives the text data and the voice sampling name from the portable terminal, converts the received text data into voice synthesis data by using voice sampling data corresponding to the voice sampling name, and transmits the voice synthesis data to the portable terminal.

Claims

1. A voice synthesis system comprising a plurality of portable terminals and a server which are connectable to each other via communication lines, wherein:

each of the portable terminals comprises a text data receiving unit for receiving text data from another portable terminal, a text data transmitting unit for attaching a voice sampling name to the received text data and transmitting the text data to the server, a voice synthesis data receiving unit for receiving voice synthesis data from the server, and a voice reproducing unit for reproducing the received voice synthesis data in a voice; and

the server comprises a text data receiving unit for receiving the text data and the voice sampling name from the portable terminal, a voice synthesizing unit for converting the received text data into the voice synthesis data by using voice sampling data corresponding to the received voice sampling name, and a voice synthesis data transmitting unit for transmitting the converted voice synthesis data to the portable terminal,

wherein the server converts the received text data into the voice synthesis data using voice data stored at the server corresponding to the received voice sampling name and not based on any voice information that may or may not have been sent along with the text data output from the another portable terminal to the portable terminal,

wherein each of the portable terminals has a provisional database access permission ID assigned thereto by the server for use in storing voice data of a user of said each of the portable terminals, and wherein, when one of the portable terminals outputs the text data to another of the portable terminals, the one of the portable terminals includes the provisional database access right ID with the text data, which thereby enables the server to use voice data of the user of the another of the portable terminals in performing voice synthesis of the text data to be sent to the one of the portable terminals.

2. A voice synthesis system according to claim 1, wherein:

each of the portable terminals further comprises a voice sampling data collecting unit for collecting voice sampling data of each of a plurality of users, and a voice sampling data transmitting unit for transmitting the collected voice sampling data to the server; and

the server further comprises a voice sampling data receiving unit for receiving the voice sampling data from each of the portable terminals, and a database constructing unit for attaching the voice sampling name to the received voice sampling data to construct a database that stores voice data of the plurality of users.

3. A voice synthesis method employed in a voice synthesis system comprising a plurality of portable terminals and a server which are connectable to each other via communicationlines, wherein:

each of the portable terminals performs a text data receiving step for receiving text data, a text data transmitting step for attaching a voice sampling name to the received text data and transmitting the text data to the server, a voice synthesis data receiving step for receiving voice synthesis data from the server, and a voice reproducing step for reproducing the received voice synthesis data in a voice; and

the server performs a text data receiving step for receiving the text data and the voice sampling name from the portable terminal, a voice synthesizing step for converting the received text data into the voice synthesis data by using voice sampling data corresponding to the received voice sampling name, and a voice synthesis data transmitting step for transmitting the converted voice synthesis data to the portable terminal; and

the server performs a converting step of converting the received text data into the voice synthesis data using voice data stored at the server corresponding to the received voice sampling name and not based on any voice information that may or may not have been sent along with the text data output from another portable terminal to the portable terminal,

assigning, to each of the portable terminals, a provisional database access permission ID by the server for use in storing voice data of a user of said each of the portable terminals;

and wherein, when another of the portable terminals outputs the text data to one of the portable terminals, the method further comprising;

including, by the another of the terminals, the provisional database access right ID with the text data;

providing the provisional database access right from the one of the portable terminals to the server, along with the voice sampling name and the text data,

wherein the server uses voice data of the user of the another of the portable terminals in performing voice synthesis of the text data to be sent to the one of the portable terminals,

wherein, in the voice reproducing step for reproducing the received voice synthesis data in a voice, the text data is audibly played at the one of the portable terminals, to simulate the user of the another of the portable terminals speaking in accordance with the text data.

4. A voice synthesis method according to claim 3, wherein:

each of the portable terminals further performs a voice sampling data collecting step for collecting voice sampling data of each of a plurality of users, and a voice sampling data transmitting step for transmitting the collected voice sampling data to the server; and

the server further performs a voice sampling data receiving step for receiving the voice sampling data from each of the portable terminals, and a database constructing step for attaching the voice sampling name to the received voice sampling data to construct a database.

5. A server used for voice synthesis system including a plurality of portable terminal terminals connected to the server, the server comprising:

a text data receiving unit for receiving text data and a voice sampling name from one of the portable terminals, a voice synthesizing unit for converting the received text data into voice synthesis data by using voice sampling data corresponding to the received voice sampling name, and a voice synthesis data transmitting unit for transmitting the converted voice synthesis data to the one of the portable terminals,

wherein the voice synthesis data is created by the server based on the voice sampling name and the received text data received by the server,

the server further comprises a voice sampling data receiving unit for receiving the voice sampling data from each of the portable terminals including the one of the portable terminals, and a database constructing unit for attaching the voice sampling name to the received voice sampling data to construct a database,

wherein each of the portable terminals has a provisional database access right ID assigned thereto by the server for use in storing voice data of a user of said each of the portable terminals, and

wherein, when the one of the portable terminals outputs the text data to another of the portable terminals, the one of the portable terminals includes the provisional database access right ID with the text data, which thereby enables the server to use voice data of the user of the another of the portable terminals in performing voice synthesis of the text data to be sent to the one of the portable terminals.