Display apparatus, voice acquiring apparatus and voice recognition method thereof

• US 10,043,537 B2
• Filed: 11/11/2013
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Jang, Jong-hyuk, Choi, Chan-hee, Ryu, Hee-seob, Park, Kyung-mi, Park, Seung-kwon, Bae, Jae-hyun
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Paras D
• Application Number:
  US14/076,361
• Publication Number:
  US 20140136205A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,730 Days
• Field of Search: 704249, 704251-252, 704275, 704270, 7042701, 704271-274
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/221 Announcement of recognition results
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/06 Transformation of speech into a non-audible representation, e.g. speech visualisation or speech processing for tactile aids G10L15/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41265 having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4131 home appliance, e.g. lighting, air conditioning system, metering devices home automation data switching networks exchanging configuration information on appliance services H04L12/2807
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42203 sound input device, e.g. microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration

Abstract

Disclosed are a display apparatus, a voice acquiring apparatus and a voice recognition method thereof, the display apparatus including: a display unit which displays an image; a communication unit which communicates with a plurality of external apparatuses; and a controller which includes a voice recognition engine to recognize a user'"'"'s voice, receives a voice signal from a voice acquiring unit, and controls the communication unit to receive candidate instruction words from at least one of the plurality of external apparatuses to recognize the received voice signal.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising:

a display unit configured to display an image;

a communication unit configured to receive candidate instruction words from a plurality of external apparatuses;

an internal voice acquiring unit; and

a controller configured to;

receive, from a voice acquiring unit among a plurality of external voice acquiring units and the internal voice acquiring unit, a wakeup keyword or a trigger signal that is input by a manipulation of a predetermined button provided in the voice acquiring unit;

enable the voice acquiring unit from which the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal is received, and disable other voice acquiring units among the plurality of external voice acquiring units and the internal voice acquiring unit, in response to the receiving of the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal;

receive a voice signal from the enabled voice acquiring unit;

recognize a voice corresponding to the received voice signal;

determine an external apparatus corresponding to the recognized voice, among the plurality of external apparatuses;

generate a control command, based on a candidate instruction word corresponding to the recognized voice, among a plurality of candidate instruction words of the determined external apparatus; and

control the communication unit to transmit the generated control command from the display apparatus to the determined external apparatus.

2. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is further configured to display a user interface (UI) showing that the enabled voice acquiring unit is connected to the display apparatus.

3. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the enabled voice acquiring unit comprises a first external microphone provided in one of the plurality of external apparatuses, or a second external microphone provided in an apparatus different from the display apparatus and the plurality of external apparatuses.

4. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the external apparatus comprises at least one application that manages the candidate instruction words.

5. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display apparatus comprises at least one native application that manages the candidate instruction words.

6. The display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store the received candidate instruction words,

wherein the controller is further configured to recognize the voice corresponding to the received voice signal, based on the stored candidate instruction words.

7. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to control the display unit to display voice recognition results for the received voice signal and candidate instruction words corresponding to the voice recognition results.

8. The display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the display unit is further configured to display information of an application managing the candidate instruction words.

9. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to recognize the voice by deciding an instruction word that is identical to or similar to the received voice signal, among the received candidate instruction words.

10. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the voice acquiring unit is at least one of a mobile phone, a remote controller, a mobile handset, and a microphone transmitter.

11. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the enabled voice acquiring unit is a remote controller comprising:

a user input unit configured to receive a manipulation of a user;

a microphone configured to receive a voice of the user;

a voice converter configured to convert the received voice into the voice signal;

a communication unit configured to communicate with the display apparatus; and

a controller configured to control the remote controller.

12. A voice recognition method of a display apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving, from a voice acquiring unit among a plurality of external voice acquiring units and an internal voice acquiring unit of the display apparatus, a wakeup keyword or a trigger signal that is input by a manipulation of a predetermined button provided in the voice acquiring unit;

enabling the voice acquiring unit from which the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal is received, and disabling other voice acquiring units among the plurality of external voice acquiring units and the internal voice acquiring unit, in response to the receiving of the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal;

receiving a voice signal from the enabled voice acquiring unit;

receiving candidate instruction words from a plurality of external apparatuses;

recognizing a voice corresponding to the received voice signal;

determining an external apparatus corresponding to the recognized voice, among the plurality of external apparatuses;

generating a control command, based on a candidate instruction word corresponding to the recognized voice, among a plurality of candidate instruction words of the determined external apparatus; and

transmitting the generated control command from the display apparatus to the determined external apparatus.

13. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, wherein the voice acquiring unit comprises a built-in microphone provided in the display apparatus, a first external microphone provided in one of the plurality of external apparatuses, or a second external microphone provided in an apparatus different from the display apparatus and the plurality of external apparatuses.

14. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, wherein the external apparatus comprises at least one application that manages the candidate instruction words.

15. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, wherein the display apparatus comprises at least one native application which that manages the candidate instruction words.

16. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, further comprising storing the received candidate instruction words,

wherein the recognizing the voice comprises recognizing the voice corresponding to the received voice signal, based on the stored candidate instruction words.

17. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, further comprising displaying a user interface (UI) showing that the voice acquiring unit is connected to the display apparatus.

18. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, further comprising displaying voice recognition results for the received voice signal and candidate instruction words corresponding to the voice recognition results.

19. The voice recognition method according to claim 18, further comprising displaying information of an application that manages the candidate instruction words.

20. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, wherein the recognizing the voice comprises recognizing the voice by deciding an instruction word that is identical to or similar to the received voice signal, among the received candidate instruction words.

21. The voice recognition method according to claim 12, wherein the voice acquiring unit is at least one of a mobile phone, a remote controller, a mobile handset, and a microphone transmitter.

22. The voice recognition method of a display apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the enabled voice acquiring unit is a remote controller comprising:

a user input unit configured to receive a manipulation of a user;

a microphone configured to receive a voice of the user;

a voice converter configured to convert the received voice into the voice signal;

a communication unit configured to communicate with the display apparatus; and

a controller configured to control the remote controller.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon at least one program comprising a command for performing a voice recognition method of a display apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving, from a voice acquiring unit among a plurality of external voice acquiring units and an internal voice acquiring unit of the display apparatus, a wakeup keyword or a trigger signal that is input by a manipulation of a predetermined button provided in the voice acquiring unit;

enabling the voice acquiring unit from which the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal is received, and disabling other voice acquiring units among the plurality of external voice acquiring units and the internal voice acquiring unit, in response to the receiving of the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal;

receiving a voice signal from the enabled voice acquiring unit;

receiving candidate instruction words from a plurality of external apparatuses;

recognizing a voice corresponding to the received voice signal;

determining an external apparatus corresponding to the recognized voice, among the plurality of external apparatuses;

generating a control command, based on a candidate instruction word corresponding to the recognized voice, among a plurality of candidate instruction words of the determined external apparatus; and

transmitting the generated control command from the display apparatus to the determined external apparatus.

24. A display apparatus comprising:

an image receiver configured to receive an image signal;

an image processor configured to process the received image signal;

a display unit configured to display an image, based on the processed image signal;

a communication unit configured to communicate with an external voice acquiring unit, the display apparatus being without an internal voice acquiring unit;

a storage unit configured to store a plurality of instruction words for controlling the display apparatus and at least one external apparatus, the plurality of instruction words corresponding to at least one application of the display apparatus and at least one application of the at least one external apparatus; and

a controller configured to;

receive, from a voice acquiring unit among a plurality of external voice acquiring units, a wakeup keyword or a trigger signal that is input by a manipulation of a predetermined button provided in the voice acquiring unit;

enable the voice acquiring unit from which the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal is received, and disable other voice acquiring units among the plurality of external voice acquiring units, in response to the receiving of the wakeup keyword or the trigger signal;

in response to receiving a voice signal of a user from the enabled voice acquiring unit, determine an instruction word corresponding to the received voice signal, among the plurality of instruction words stored in the storage unit;

generate a control command corresponding to the determined instruction word to control the at least one external apparatus; and

control the communication unit to transmit the generated control command from the display apparatus to the at least one external apparatus.

25. The display apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive the plurality of instruction words from the at least one external apparatus; and

control the storage unit to store the received instruction words.

26. The display apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the controller is further configured to control the display apparatus, based on the generated control command corresponding to the determined instruction word.

27. The display apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the enabled voice acquiring unit is a remote controller comprising:

a user input unit configured to receive a manipulation of the user;

a microphone configured to receive a voice of the user;

a voice converter configured to convert the received voice into the voice signal;

a communication unit configured to communicate with the display apparatus; and

a controller configured to control the remote controller.