Configuring A Speech Engine For A Multimodal Application Based On Location

• US 20080208592A1
• Filed: 02/27/2007
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Jablokov, Igor R., Cross, Charles W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,938,392 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/275
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/24 Speech recognition using non-acoustical features

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for configuring a speech engine for a multimodal application based on location. The multimodal application operates on a multimodal device supporting multiple modes of user interaction with the multimodal application. The multimodal application is operatively coupled to a speech engine. Configuring a speech engine for a multimodal application based on location includes: receiving a location change notification in a location change monitor from a device location manager, the location change notification specifying a current location of the multimodal device; identifying, by the location change monitor, location-based configuration parameters for the speech engine in dependence upon the current location of the multimodal device, the location-based configuration parameters specifying a configuration for the speech engine at the current location; and updating, by the location change monitor, a current configuration for the speech engine according to the identified location-based configuration parameters.

Claims

1. A method of configuring a speech engine for a multimodal application based on location, the multimodal application operating on a multimodal device supporting multiple modes of user interaction with the multimodal application, the modes of user interaction including a voice mode and one or more non-voice modes, the multimodal application operatively coupled to a speech engine, the method comprising:

receiving a location change notification in a location change monitor from a device location manager, the device location manager operatively coupled to a position detection component of the multimodal device, the location change notification specifying a current location of the multimodal device;

identifying, by the location change monitor in a configuration parameter repository, location-based configuration parameters for the speech engine in dependence upon the current location of the multimodal device, the location-based configuration parameters specifying a configuration for the speech engine at the current location; and

updating, by the location change monitor, a current configuration for the speech engine according to the identified location-based configuration parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a configuration for use by an automatic speech recognition (‘

ASR’

) engine of the speech engine at the current location.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a configuration for use by a text-to-speech (‘

TTS’

) engine of the speech engine at the current location.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify an acoustic model for use by the speech engine at the current location.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a lexicon for use by the speech engine at the current location.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the location change notification includes a timestamp, the timestamp specifying a time at which the multimodal device was at the current location; and

identifying, by the location change monitor in a configuration parameter repository, location-based configuration parameters for the speech engine in dependence upon the current location of the multimodal device further comprises identifying the location-based configuration parameters in the configuration parameter repository in dependence upon the current location and the timestamp specified in the location change notification and specified in a previous location change notification.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a position notification in the device location manager for the multimodal device from a position detection module, the position detection module operatively coupled to the position detection component of the multimodal device, the position notification specifying a geographic coordinate for the multimodal device; and

determining, by the device location manager, the current location of the multimodal device in dependence upon the geographic coordinate.

8. Apparatus of configuring a speech engine for a multimodal application based on location, the multimodal application operating on a multimodal device supporting multiple modes of user interaction with the multimodal application, the modes of user interaction including a voice mode and one or more non-voice modes, the multimodal application operatively coupled to a speech engine, the apparatus comprising a computer processor and a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions capable of:

receiving a location change notification in a location change monitor from a device location manager, the device location manager operatively coupled to a position detection component of the multimodal device, the location change notification specifying a current location of the multimodal device;

identifying, by the location change monitor in a configuration parameter repository, location-based configuration parameters for the speech engine in dependence upon the current location of the multimodal device, the location-based configuration parameters specifying a configuration for the speech engine at the current location; and

updating, by the location change monitor, a current configuration for the speech engine according to the identified location-based configuration parameters.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a configuration for use by an automatic speech recognition (‘

ASR’

) engine of the speech engine at the current location.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a configuration for use by a text-to-speech (‘

TTS’

) engine of the speech engine at the current location.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify an acoustic model for use by the speech engine at the current location.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a lexicon for use by the speech engine at the current location.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein:

the location change notification includes a timestamp, the timestamp specifying a time at which the multimodal device was at the current location; and

identifying, by the location change monitor in a configuration parameter repository, location-based configuration parameters for the speech engine in dependence upon the current location of the multimodal device further comprises identifying the location-based configuration parameters in the configuration parameter repository in dependence upon the current location and the timestamp specified in the location change notification and specified in a previous location change notification.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

receiving a position notification in the device location manager for the multimodal device from a position detection module, the position detection module operatively coupled to the position detection component of the multimodal device, the position notification specifying a geographic coordinate for the multimodal device; and

determining, by the device location manager, the current location of the multimodal device in dependence upon the geographic coordinate.

A computer program product for configuring a speech engine for a multimodal application based on location, the multimodal application operating on a multimodal device supporting multiple modes of user interaction with the multimodal application, the modes of user interaction including a voice mode and one or more non-voice modes, the multimodal application operatively coupled to a speech engine, the computer program product disposed upon a computer-readable, recordable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions capable of;

receiving a location change notification in a location change monitor from a device location manager, the device location manager operatively coupled to a position detection component of the multimodal device, the location change notification specifying a current location of the multimodal device;

identifying, by the location change monitor in a configuration parameter repository, location-based configuration parameters for the speech engine in dependence upon the current location of the multimodal device, the location-based configuration parameters specifying a configuration for the speech engine at the current location; and

updating, by the location change monitor, a current configuration for the speech engine according to the identified location-based configuration parameters.

15. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a configuration for use by an automatic speech recognition (‘

ASR’

) engine of the speech engine at the current location.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a configuration for use by a text-to-speech (‘

TTS’

) engine of the speech engine at the current location.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify an acoustic model for use by the speech engine at the current location.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the location-based configuration parameters specify a lexicon for use by the speech engine at the current location.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein:

the location change notification includes a timestamp, the timestamp specifying a time at which the multimodal device was at the current location; and

identifying, by the location change monitor in a configuration parameter repository, location-based configuration parameters for the speech engine in dependence upon the current location of the multimodal device further comprises identifying the location-based configuration parameters in the configuration parameter repository in dependence upon the current location and the timestamp specified in the location change notification and specified in a previous location change notification.