Voice Activated Application Service Architecture and Delivery

• US 20100042413A1
• Filed: 08/12/2009
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ditech Networks, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Simpson, Todd, Chandler, Nathan, Hawrylyshen, Alan, Lambert, Mike, Madison, Chad, Brown, Karl
• Granted Patent: US 8,301,452 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/270
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42204 Arrangements at the exchange for service or number selection by voice at the terminal H04M1/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML

Abstract

A system and method for retrieving distributed content responsive to voice data are disclosed. Voice data is transmitted from a source client device to media server which applies a mixing table to route the voice data to one or more destinations described by the mixing table. The media server also analyzes the received voice data for one or more events. Responsive to detecting an event, the media server communicates with an application server, which modifies the mixing table so that subsequent data is also routed to a media generator which analyzes voice data received after detection of the event for a command. The media generator communicates with the application server to retrieve data from a user data source, such as a website, associated with a detected command. The media generator produces an audio representation of the retrieved data which is communicated to the source client device via the media server.

Claims

1. A system for accessing data from a remote source responsive to voice data comprising:

a client device transmitting voice data including an event;

a media server coupled to the client device, the media server receiving voice data from the client device and applying a mixing table identifying one or more destinations to the voice data transmitted by the client device and identifying the event included in the voice data;

an application server coupled to the media server, the application server receiving an application request from the media server responsive to the media server detecting the event, initializing an application and modifying the mixing table to identify an additional destination responsive to the media server detecting the event;

a media generator coupled to the application server and to the media server, the media generator receiving voice data from the media server after detection of the event by the media server, analyzing the voice data for a command associated with the application and responsive to detecting the command, communicating a description of the command to the application server; and

a user data store coupled to the application server, the user data store receiving a request for data from the application server responsive to the application server receiving the description of the command from the media generator and transmitting data to the application data store responsive to the request.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the media server includes a mixer applying the mixing table to route the voice data transmitted by the client device to one or more destinations.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more destinations comprise a second client device, the media server and the media generator.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the media server includes a media store storing predefined audio data.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the predefined audio data comprises one or more audio tones or audio signals.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the application server further comprises an interactive voice response (IVR) controller associating commands associated with the event with audio data.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the application server includes an application data store, the application data store associating one or more actions with the description of the command.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the application server includes a subscriber data store, the subscriber data store associating a device identified associated with the client device with a user.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the subscriber data store further associates the user with one or more applications or with the user data store.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the subscriber data store includes login information for the user data store associated with the user.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the application server includes a session controller, the session controller generating session configuration information describing the client device, a destination device and the mixing table identifying the destination device as a destination for voice data transmitted by the client device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the session controller generates a modified mixing table responsive to the media server detecting the event, the modified mixing table identifying the media generator and the destination device as destinations for voice data transmitted by the client device.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the media generator extracts data from the voice data received from the media server responsive to detecting a second command and transmits the extracted data to the user data store.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the media generator includes a speech recognition engine identifying the command in the voice data.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the media generator includes a text to speech converter generating an audio representation of the data transmitted to the application server from the user data store responsive to the request for data.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the media generator transmits the audio representation of the data transmitted to the application server from the user data store to the media server for communication to the client device.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the media server includes an event detector analyzing voice data transmitted by the client device for a characteristic associated with the event.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the characteristic associated with the event comprises a keyword, a voice stress pattern, a time-domain sample or a frequency domain pattern.

19. A method for accessing an application responsive to voice data comprising:

receiving voice data including an event from a client device;

detecting the event included in the voice data;

responsive to detecting the event included in the voice data, initiating an application associated with the event;

monitoring voice data received after detection of the event for a command associated with the application; and

responsive to detecting the command, modifying data associated with the application.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein modifying data associated with the application comprises:

generating text data from the voice data;

identifying a user data store associated with the application from the text data;

retrieving data from the identified user data store;

generating an audio representation of the retrieved data; and

transmitting the audio representation of the retrieved data to the client device storing the text data in the user data store associated with the application.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein modifying data associated with the application comprises:

generating text data from the voice data;

identifying a user data store associated with the application from the text data; and

storing the text data in the user data store associated with the application.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein monitoring the audio data for the command associated with the application comprises:

transmitting a predefined audio signal to a second client device, the predefined audio signal transmitted in place of the voice data; and

monitoring the voice data received from the client device for the command associated with the application.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein monitoring the voice data for a command associated with the application comprises:

retrieving one or more commands associated with the application;

determining whether a command from the one or more commands is included in the voice data.

24. A method for accessing data from a social networking website using voice data comprising:

receiving voice data including an event from a client device;

identifying a user associated with the client device;

detecting the event included in the voice data;

responsive to detecting the event included in the voice data, initiating an application associated with the event;

monitoring voice data received after detection of the event for a command associated with the application;

responsive to detecting the command, retrieving login information for the social networking website associated with the user; and

accessing the social networking website.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein accessing the social networking website comprises:

retrieving a status message associated with a social networking website member, the social networking website member identified by the detected command;

generating an audio representation of the status message associated with the social networking website member; and

transmitting the audio representation of the status message associated with the social networking website member to the client device.

26. A method for inserting data from a user data store into exchanged voice data comprising:

receiving event data from the user data store, the event data including a user identifier and an event;

identifying a session including the user identifier, the session including a client device identifier associated with the user identifier;

generating an audio representation of the event; and

transmitting the audio representation of the event to a client device associated with the client device identifier.