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Speech-conversion processing apparatus and method

  • US 8,521,532 B2
  • Filed: 01/10/2007
  • Issued: 08/27/2013
  • Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2006
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A speech-conversion processing apparatus, comprising:

  • a character-string structure analyzer operable to analyze a character-string structure within address data selected for speech conversion in accordance with speech-conversion rule data to identify specific elements of an address, where the specific elements of the address of the character-string structure comprises a street name;

    a general purpose dictionary in which text data of common words are stored in association with corresponding pronunciation symbols;

    an individually-created general dictionary in which data associated with pronunciation symbols not stored in the general purpose dictionary is stored;

    a pronunciation-symbol dictionary in which speech-conversion pronunciation symbols are specifically associated with character strings of a specific element of the address of the character-string structure, wherein the pronunciation-symbol dictionary comprises speech-conversion symbols specifically associated with character strings of street names;

    a data reader operable to search the pronunciation-symbol dictionary, the individually-created general dictionary, and the general purpose dictionary, according to a predetermined scheme, for a character string of the specific element of the address, the character string being obtained by dividing the address data into the specific elements of the address based on a result of the analysis performed by the character-string structure analyzer, and to read data associated with the speech-conversion pronunciation symbols;

    a speech data creator operable to create speech data for all the elements of address character strings in accordance with the data associated with the speech-conversion pronunciation symbols; and

    a speech generation section operable to generate speech from the speech data created by the speech data creator;

    wherein in the predetermined scheme the pronunciation-symbol dictionary is searched first.

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