Method of accessing a dial-up service

• US 8,032,380 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2008
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bossemeyer, Jr., Robert Wesley
• Primary Examiner(s): Azad, Abul K
• Application Number:
  US12/029,952
• Publication Number:
  US 20080133236A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,330 Days
• Field of Search: 704/270, 704/273, 704/231, 704251-257
• US Class Current: 704/273
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/08 Speech classification or search
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/10 using distance or distortion measures between unknown speech and reference templates
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/00 Speaker identification or verification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/04 Training, enrolment or model building
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/24 the user being prompted to utter a password or a predefined phrase
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/0638 Interactive procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/12 the extracted parameters being prediction coefficients
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/24 the extracted parameters being the cepstrum
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/38 Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections queuing arrangements H04Q3/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/382 using authorisation codes or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/385 using speech signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals

Abstract

A method of accessing a dial-up service is disclosed. An example method of providing access to a service includes receiving a first speech signal from a user to form a first utterance; recognizing the first utterance using speaker independent speaker recognition; requesting the user to enter a personal identification number; and when the personal identification number is valid, receiving a second speech signal to form a second utterance and providing access to the service.

Claims

1. A method of providing access to a service, comprising:

receiving a first speech signal from a user to form a first utterance associated with a personal identification number;

when the personal identification number is valid, prompting, via a processor, the user to speak the personal identification number a second time;

receiving a second speech signal to form a second utterance associated with the personal identification number; and

providing access to the service if a comparison between the first utterance and the second utterance is greater than a threshold that is associated with a similarity between the first utterance and the second utterance.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising generating a reference utterance based on the first utterance and the second utterance when the first utterance and the second utterance are sufficiently similar.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the reference utterance is a generalization utterance of the first utterance and the second utterance.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising storing a first reference utterance based on the first utterance and storing a second reference utterance based on the second utterance.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising verifying the user based on the first utterance using a speaker verification system when the user has used the service previously.

6. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein verifying the user based on the first utterance comprises determining that the user is a male by detecting a preselected digit at a predetermined position of the first utterance.

7. A method as defined in claim 6, further comprising determining a similarity between a reference utterance and the first utterance using a male variance vector and calculating a weighted Euclidean distance between the reference utterance and the first utterance.

8. A method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

determining that the user is a female when the preselected digit is not detected at the predetermined position of the first utterance;

determining a similarity between a reference utterance and the first utterance using a female variance vector; and

calculating a weighted Euclidean distance between the reference utterance and the first utterance.

9. A system of providing access to a service, comprising:

a processor;

a first module configured to control the processor to receive a first speech signal from a user to form a first utterance associated with personal identification data;

a second module configured to control the processor to attempt to verify the user via a speaker verification system using the first utterance;

a third module configured to control the processor, when the user is verified using the speaker verification system, to receive a second speech signal to form a second utterance associated with the personal identification data; and

a fourth module configured to control the processor to provide access to the service based on whether a comparison between the first utterance and the second utterance is greater than a threshold that is associated with a similarity between the first utterance and the second utterance.

10. A system as defined in claim 9, further comprising a fifth module to control the processor to determine a similarity between the first utterance and the second utterance.

11. A system as defined in claim 10, further comprising a sixth module configured to control the processor to request the user to speak a third utterance associated with the personal identification data when the first and second utterances are insufficiently similar.

12. A system as defined in claim 11, further comprising a seventh module configured to control the processor to determine a similarity between the first utterance and the third utterance and generating a reference utterance based on the first and third utterances when the similarity meets a threshold.

13. A system as defined in claim 11, further comprising a seventh module configured to control the processor to generate a first reference utterance based on the first utterance, a second reference utterance based on the second utterance, and a third reference utterance based on the third utterance.

14. A system as defined in claim 9, wherein two possible decisions of attempting to verify the user are verified and not verified.

15. A method of providing access to a service, comprising:

receiving a first speech signal from a user to form a first utterance associated with personal identification data;

when the user has not previously accessed the service, receiving a second speech signal from the user to form a second utterance associated with the personal identification data;

storing the first and second utterances as reference utterances; and

providing access to the service based on the personal identification data and if a comparison between a first utterance and a second utterance is greater than a threshold that is associated with a similarity between the first utterance and the second utterance.

16. A method as defined in claim 15, further comprising verifying the user based on the first utterance using a speaker verification system when the user has previously accessed the service.

17. A method as defined in claim 15, further comprising allowing the user to access the service when the user is verified.

18. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the service is a dial-up service.

19. A method as defined in claim 15, further comprising connecting to the user in response to the user having initiated communication with the service.

20. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the first utterance is representative of a plurality of digits, the method further comprising recognizing the first utterance using speaker independent speaker recognition by recognizing a plurality of digits using speaker independent speaker recognition.