Speech recognition apparatus, navigation apparatus including a speech recognition apparatus, and a control screen aided speech recognition method

• US 8,428,951 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2006
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hyakumoto, Toshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Smits, Talivaldis Ivars
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kazeminezhad, Farzad
• Application Number:
  US11/482,099
• Publication Number:
  US 20070033043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,483 Days
• Field of Search: 704/270, 704/232, 704/248, 704/255, 704/235, 701/1
• US Class Current: 704/255
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1815 Semantic context, e.g. disambiguation of the recognition hypotheses based on word meaning

Abstract

A speech recognition apparatus includes a speech recognition dictionary and a speech recognition unit. The speech recognition dictionary includes comparison data used to recognize a voice input. The speech recognition unit is adapted to calculate the score for each comparison data by comparing voice input data generated based on the voice input with each comparison data, recognize the voice input based on the score, and produce the recognition result of the voice input. The speech recognition apparatus further includes data indicating score weights associated with particular comparison data, used to weight the scores calculated for the particular comparison data. After the score is calculated for each comparison data, the score weights are added to the scores of the particular comparison data, and the voice input is recognized based on total scores including the added score weights.

Claims

1. A speech recognition apparatus comprising:

a control unit having a controller operably connected to one or more electronic devices, the controller being configured to display an operation control screen on a display for controlling the one or more electronic devices, wherein, when the speech recognition apparatus is in a voice input configurational condition, the one or more electronic devices are controlled by the controller through a plurality of voice inputs;

a speech recognition dictionary including a plurality of comparison data for use in recognition of a voice input of the plurality of voice inputs;

a speech recognition unit adapted to calculate a matching degree for a plurality of speech recognition candidates by comparing voice input data generated based on the voice input with the plurality of comparison data;

and one or more addition data which are associated with one or more particular comparison data within the plurality of comparison data, wherein the one or more addition data is added to the matching degree of the particular comparison data thereby weighting the matching degree, and wherein the speech recognition unit produces the recognition result of the voice input based on the weighted matching degree for the particular comparison data,

wherein, when an operation control screen already configured to a particular electronic device is displayed prior to the voice input, comparison data other than the particular comparison data corresponding to the addition data associated with the operation control screen for the electronic device are removed from the comparison data selected by the speech recognition unit as recognition candidates.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the speech recognition unit selects one or more comparison data as candidates for the recognition result for the voice input based on the matching degree calculated for each comparison data;

adds the addition data associated with the one or more particular comparison data to the respective matching degrees calculated for the particular one or more comparison data; and

recognizes the voice input based on weighted matching degrees obtained as a result of the addition of the addition data.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the speech recognition dictionary includes the addition data.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of addition data are associated with each of the one or more particular comparison data.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit comprises a navigation apparatus.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the matching degree of first comparison data calculated for a voice input and the matching degree of second comparison data calculated for the same voice input both satisfy a predetermined matching condition, if the first comparison data is associated with the operational control screen in which the voice input is accepted, the addition data associated with the first comparison data is assigned a greater weight than the addition data associated with the second comparison data.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the weight of the addition data varies depending on the comparison data to which the addition data is associated.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the length of the voice input to be recognized is associated with the weight assigned to the addition data.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein only comparison data used to recognize a voice input of operation commands are assigned the addition data.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein comparison data other than the comparison data associated with the operation commands are removed from the comparison data selected by the speech recognition unit as recognition candidates.

11. A method for speech recognition comprising:

displaying an operation control screen on a display, the operational control screen being configured to control one or more operably connected electronic devices through a plurality of voice inputs;

calculating the matching degree for a plurality of speech recognition candidates by comparing a plurality of comparison data used to recognize voice inputs with voice input data generated based on a voice input of the plurality of voice inputs;

adding addition data to the calculated matching degree for one or more particular comparison data within the plurality of comparison data that are associated with addition data to weight the matching degree; and

recognizing the voice input based on the weighted matching degrees obtained as a result of the addition of the addition data,

wherein, when an operation control screen already configured to a particular electronic device is displayed prior to the voice input, comparison data other than the particular comparison data corresponding to the addition data associated with the operation control screen for the electronic device are removed from the comparison data selected by the speech recognition unit as recognition candidates.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein a plurality of addition data are associated with the one or more particular comparison data.

13. A speech recognition apparatus comprising:

a control unit having a controller operably connected to one or more electronic devices, the controller being configured to display an operation control screen on a display for controlling the respective electronic devices, wherein, when the speech recognition apparatus is in a voice input configurational condition, the respective electronic devices are controlled by the controller through voice input;

a speech recognition dictionary including comparison data for use in recognition of a voice input;

a speech recognition unit adapted to calculate a matching degree by comparing voice input data generated based on the voice input with the comparison data, recognize the voice input based on the matching degree, and produce the recognition result of the voice input;

and one or more addition data which are associated with one or more particular comparison data, wherein the one or more addition data is added to the matching degree of the particular comparison data thereby weighting the matching degree, and wherein the speech recognition unit produces the recognition result of the voice input based on the weighted matching degree for the particular comparison data,

wherein, when the matching degree of first comparison data calculated for a voice input and the matching degree of second comparison data calculated for the same voice input both satisfy a predetermined matching condition, if the first comparison data is associated with the operational control screen already configured to a particular electronic device before the voice input is accepted, the addition data associated with the first comparison data is assigned a greater weight than the addition data associated with the second comparison data.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the speech recognition unit selects one or more comparison data as candidates for the recognition result for the voice input based on the matching degree calculated for each comparison data;

adds the addition data associated with the one or more particular comparison data to the respective matching degrees calculated for the particular one or more comparison data; and

recognizes the voice input based on weighted matching degrees obtained as a result of the addition of the addition data.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a plurality of addition data are associated with each of the one or more particular comparison data.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the control unit comprises a navigation apparatus.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein, when an operation control screen associated with a particular electronic device is displayed, comparison data other than the particular comparison data corresponding to the addition data associated with the operation control screen for the electronic device are removed from the comparison data selected by the speech recognition unit as recognition candidates.

18. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the weight of the addition data varies depending on the comparison data to which the addition data is associated.

19. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the shorter the voice input to be recognized using the comparison data, the greater the weight assigned to the addition data.

20. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein only comparison data used to recognize a voice input of an operation command is assigned the addition data, and wherein comparison data other than the comparison data associated with operation commands are removed from the comparison data selected by the speech recognition unit as recognition candidates.