Electronic device and control method thereof

• US 8,892,440 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2011
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Pytel, Mariusz
• Primary Examiner(s): ALBERTALLI, BRIAN LOUIS
• Application Number:
  US13/108,434
• Publication Number:
  US 20120136665A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,282 Days
• US Class Current: 704/258
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/047 Architecture of speech synthesisers
• 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 15/222 Barge in, i.e. overridable guidance for interrupting prompts

Abstract

Disclosed are an electronic device and a control method thereof, The electronic device includes a text-to-speech unit which converts a text into an audio signal, an audio output unit which outputs an audio corresponding to the converted audio signal; and a controller which controls the audio output unit to reoutput at least one of audios whose output is not completed if there is at least one audio which is not completely output among a plurality of audios output by the audio output unit.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a text-to-speech unit configured to convert a text into an audio signal;

an audio output unit that outputs an audio corresponding to the audio signal converted by the text-to-speech unit;

a controller that controls the audio output unit to reoutput the audio if output of the audio has not been completed,

wherein the audio is one of a plurality of audios for which output has started;

a user input unit, wherein the controller controls the audio output unit to reoutput the audio based on a selection received by the user input unit; and

a storage unit which stores the plurality of audios whose output is commenced.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of audios whose output has not been completed comprises a first audio whose output has not been completed due to a start of a subsequent output of a second audio following the start of the output of the first audio.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the user input unit comprises a key to reoutput the one of the plurality of audios.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1,

wherein the controller controls the text-to-speech unit to convert the text corresponding to a selection by the user input unit into the audio signal.

5. A control method of an electronic device comprising:

converting a text into an audio signal;

commencing output of an audio corresponding to the converted audio signal;

storing the audio after the output has commenced;

receiving a selection from a user input unit to reoutput the audio if the output of the audio has not been completed; and

reoutputting the audio based on the user selection if the output of the audio has not been completed,

wherein the audio is one of a plurality of audios for which output has started.

6. The control method according to claim 5, wherein the reoutputting comprises reoutputting the audio based on an input that selects the audio from among the plurality of audios whose output has started but has not been completed.

7. The control method according to claim 6, wherein the audio comprises a first audio whose output is started but not completed due to a start of an output of a second audio following the start but prior to completion of the output of the first audio.

8. The control method according to claim 5, wherein the converting comprises converting the text corresponding to a selection into the audio signal.

9. A device, comprising:

an output device that outputs an audio;

a storage unit that stores the audio after the output has commenced; and

a controller that controls the output unit to reoutput the audio if the output of the audio has not been completed and an output of another audio has started, based on a selection received from a user input unit to reoutput the audio.

10. A non-transitory computer readable information medium containing instructions for controlling a device, the instructions comprising:

commencing output of a first audio;

storing the first audio after the output has commenced; and

reoutputting the first audio if the output of the audio has not been completed and output of a second audio has started based on a selection received from a user input unit to reoutput the audio.