Remote control of television or other display

• US 9,081,770 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2012
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cedar Lane Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ulloa Research LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Fish, Robert D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Saint Cyr, Leonard
• Application Number:
  US13/480,995
• Publication Number:
  US 20120231843A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,145 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/58 including a multilanguage function
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

An item of information (212) is transmitted to a distal computer (220), translated to a different sense modality and/or language (222), and in substantially real time, and the translation (222) is transmitted back to the location (211) from which the item was sent. The device sending the item is preferably a wireless device, and more preferably a cellular or other telephone (210). The device receiving the translation is also preferably a wireless device, and more preferably a cellular or other telephone, and may advantageously be the same device as the sending device. The item of information (212) preferably comprises a sentence of human of speech having at least ten words, and the translation is a written expression of the sentence. All of the steps of transmitting the item of information, executing the program code, and transmitting the translated information preferably occurs in less than 60 seconds of elapsed time.

Claims

1. A mobile device comprising:

a microphone;

a speaker; and

processor and software that work to operate an apparatus that is local to the mobile device by;

using the microphone of the mobile device to receive a spoken natural language,

using the mobile device to obtain natural language speech recognition of the spoken natural language from a distal service, wherein the using comprises transmitting the spoken natural language and a request to translate the spoken natural language into a control language of the apparatus, over a communication network, to the distal service,

using the mobile device to output the control language derived from the natural language speech recognition to the apparatus that is local to the mobile device, and

controlling operation of the apparatus that is local to the mobile device based on the control language derived from the natural language speech recognition.

2. A method, at a mobile device, of controlling operation of an apparatus that is distinct from, but within local communication range of, the mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving spoken natural language at the mobile device;

converting, by a processor at the mobile device, the spoken natural language into transmissible voice data;

transmitting the transmissible voice data and a request to translate the transmissible voice data into a control language of an apparatus, over a communication network, to a natural language speech recognition server that is distal to the mobile device;

in response to the transmitting, receiving by the mobile device over the communication network, an output of the natural language speech recognition server, the output comprising information derived from a translation of the transmissible voice data by the natural language speech recognition server, wherein the output is formatted to the control language of the apparatus configured to control operation of the apparatus; and

transmitting the output from the mobile device to the apparatus to effect its control.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the spoken natural language comprises a command to be performed by the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the spoken natural language comprises human understandable speech.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device comprises a household appliance.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the mobile device is configured to communicate with the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device using only local communication.

7. The method of claim 2,

wherein the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device is intermittently within local communication range of the mobile device, and

wherein transmitting the transmissible voice data to the natural language speech recognition server comprises causing the natural language speech recognition server to transmit a machine understandable command to the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device through the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising, by the mobile device, rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server as visible text.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising, by the mobile device, rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server as an image.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising, by the mobile device, rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server as a sound.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising, by the mobile device, rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server as human understandable speech.

12. The method of claim 2, further comprising, by the mobile device, rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server in a modality other than speech or text.

13. The method of claim 2,

wherein receiving spoken natural language at the mobile device comprises receiving a command word;

and

wherein the method further comprises, by the mobile device rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server as human understandable speech.

14. The method of claim 2,

wherein receiving spoken natural language at the mobile device comprises receiving a command word;

and

wherein the method further comprises, by the mobile device, rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server as an image.

15. The method of claim 2,

wherein receiving spoken natural language at the mobile device comprises receiving a command word;

and

wherein the method further comprises, by the mobile device, rendering the output of the natural language speech recognition server as visible text.

16. A method at a server computer configured to provide natural language translation services, the method comprising:

receiving, from a mobile device over a communication network, a transmission for natural language translation, wherein the transmission includes voice data generated by the mobile device and a request to translate the voice data into a control language of an apparatus, in response to the mobile device receiving an input of spoken natural language;

in response to the received transmission, conducting a natural language translation, by a processor at the server computer, of the received voice data; and

transmitting an output of the natural language translation to the mobile device, wherein the transmitted output of the natural language translation is formatted to the control language of the apparatus configured to control operation of the apparatus.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the spoken natural language comprises a command to be performed by the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device comprises a household appliance.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein transmitting the output of the natural language translation to the mobile device comprises transmitting a machine understandable command formatted for configuration and transmission by the mobile device to the apparatus that is within local communication range of the mobile device.