Processing packets of encoded speech using a plurality of processing levels based on values transmitted over a network

• US 8,401,850 B1
• Filed: 01/10/2011
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pearson Education Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Original Assignee: GlobalEnglish Corporation (Pearson plc)
• Inventors: Jochumson, Christopher S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lerner, Martin
• Application Number:
  US12/987,885
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• Field of Search: 704/200, 704/201, 704/231, 704/270, 704/270.1, 704/236, 379/265.01, 379/265.13, 379/266.02
• US Class Current: 704/236
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/08 Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/00 Speech or audio signals analysis-synthesis techniques for redundancy reduction, e.g. in vocoders; Coding or decoding of speech or audio signals, using source filter models or psychoacoustic analysis in musical instruments G10H
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/0018 Speech coding using phonetic or linguistical decoding of the source; Reconstruction using text-to-speech synthesis

Abstract

Methods and systems for handling speech recognition processing in effectively real-time, via the Internet, in order that users do not experience noticeable delays from the start of an exercise until they receive responsive feedback. A user uses a client to access the Internet and a server supporting speech recognition processing, e.g., for language learning activities. The user inputs speech to the client, which transmits the user speech to the server in approximate real-time. The server evaluates the user speech in context of the current speech recognition exercise being executed. The server receives a first value and a first packet of encoded speech from a first client, a second value and a second packet of encoded speech from a second client, and services the first and second packets using first and second levels of processing based on the first and second values.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving from a first client over a network a first value and a first packet of encoded audio speech;

receiving from a second client over the network a second value and a second packet of encoded audio speech, wherein the second value is different from the first value;

servicing the first packet of encoded audio speech using a first level of processing based on the first value;

servicing the second packet of encoded audio speech using a second level of processing based on the second value, wherein the first and second levels of processing are different;

based on the servicing of encoded audio speech using a first level of processing based on the first value, performing an evaluation of first received audio speech; and

transmitting a first response to the first client based on the evaluation on the first received audio speech.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising:

based on the servicing of encoded audio speech using a second level of processing based on the second value, performing an evaluation of second received audio speech; and

transmitting a second response to the second client based on the evaluation on the second received audio speech.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first value is received by way of a first URL, and the first value is received by way of a second URL.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first value is received by way of a URL.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the servicing the first packet of encoded audio speech using a first level of processing based on the first value comprises:

decoding each of the packets of audio speech and storing the resultant speech into one or more buffers for the first client.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first packet of encoded audio speech is received before all the audio speech at the first client is encoded.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first client comprises the capability to receive audio speech from a user, store the audio speech in one or more buffers in an uncompressed audio format, each buffer comprising a portion of the received audio speech, encode the stored audio speech in the one or more buffers before all of the audio speech is received, package the encoded audio speech into one or more packets to be transmitted over the Internet before all of the audio speech is received, and transmit a packet of encoded audio speech over the Internet before all of the audio speech is received.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first level of processing is used in processing time used to evaluate a resultant speech from the first client.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the second level of processing is used in processing time used to evaluate a resultant speech from the second client.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the first response is in a text format.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first response is in an audio format.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more packets are TCP packets.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the encoded audio speech is in a compressed format.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the first response is a textual response.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitting a first response to the first client based on the evaluation on the first received audio speech is over the Internet.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the first response is in text format, and at the first client, converting the text format response to audio data.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the first client comprises the one or more buffers comprises a linked list of buffers for storing encoded audio speech.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the one or more buffers comprises at least two sets of a linked list of buffers.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the first value comprise at least one numerical value.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the first value is transmitted by way of an Internet browser interface at the first client.