Method, apparatus and system for location assisted translation

• US 20100161311A1
• Filed: 12/19/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Massuh, Lucas A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,323,854 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/00 Handling natural language data speech analysis or synthesis, speech recognition G10L
• 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

Abstract

A method, apparatus and system may enhance translation results from translation applications running on mobile devices. Specifically, according to one embodiment, location data may be automatically identified by a location awareness or location detection scheme (e.g., Global Positioning System or GPS, WiFi and/or 3G) on the device or coupled to the device. The location data may be utilized by the enhanced translation scheme according to an embodiment of the invention to pin point the specific physical geographical location of the device. Thereafter, if an enhanced local language dictionary exists that includes any local dialect details, the enhanced local language dictionary may be downloaded to the device. When the user desires to translate a word and/or phrase, the device may look up the meaning in the downloaded enhanced local language dictionary, thus ensuring that the translation is specific to that geographic location. When the user moves locations, the device may download additional “local” language dictionaries, such that the user may accurately translate words even when moving amongst regions with significantly varying meaning for the same words.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

enabling a scheme to identify location data for a device;

enabling comparison of the location data to a list of reverse geographical codes;

enabling retrieval of a physical geographical location from the list of reverse geographical codes, the physical geographical location corresponding to the location data identified for the device; and

enabling access to an enhanced local language dictionary for the physical geographical location.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the location data comprises latitude and longitude data.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the list of reverse geographical codes includes a plurality of latitude and longitude data, each of the plurality of latitude and longitude data corresponding to a specific physical geographic location.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein enabling a scheme to identify the location data further comprises enabling a location detection system capable of determining the location data for the device.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the list of reverse geographical codes is stored in a data repository.

6. The method according to claim 5 wherein enabling access to the enhanced local language dictionary further comprises enabling a translation utility to access the enhanced local language dictionary.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein the translation utility may be at least one of located on the device and be coupled to the device.

8. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

enabling receipt of a request to translate a word;

enabling retrieval of a local translated word from the enhanced local language dictionary corresponding to the word received for translation.

9. A method comprising:

identifying location data for a device;

checking the location data for the device against a data repository of reverse geographical codes to identify a specific physical location of the device; and

accessing an enhanced local language dictionary for the specific physical location of the device.

10. The method according to claim 9 wherein a location detection system may provide the location data for the device.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the location detection system is at least one of a global positioning system, a WiFi system and a 3G system.

12. A system, comprising:

a location identification module capable of identifying location data for a device; and

a translation module coupled to the location identification module, the translation module capable of comparing the location data to a list of reverse geographical codes, the translation module further capable of retrieving a physical geographical location from the list of reverse geographical codes, the physical geographical location corresponding to the location data identified for the device, the translation module further capable of accessing an enhanced local language dictionary for the physical geographical location.

13. The system according to claim 12 wherein the location identification module is a location detection system and the data comprises latitude and longitude data.

14. The system according to claim 13 wherein the translation module is capable of comparing the location data to a plurality of latitude and longitude data in the list of reverse geographical codes, each of the plurality of latitude and longitude data corresponding to a specific physical geographic location.

15. The system according to claim 12 further comprising a data repository coupled to at least one of the location identification module and the translation module, the data repository including the list of reverse geographical codes.

16. The system according to claim 15 wherein the translation module is at least one of locally coupled to the device and remotely coupled to the device.

17. The system according to claim 12 wherein the translation module is further capable of:

enabling receipt of a request to translate a word;

enabling retrieval of a local translated word from the enhanced local language dictionary corresponding to the word received for translation.

18. A machine accessible medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

enable a scheme to identify location data for a device;

enable comparison of the location data to a list of reverse geographical codes;

enable retrieval of a physical geographical location from the list of reverse geographical codes, the physical geographical location corresponding to the location data identified for the device; and

enable access to an enhanced local language dictionary for the physical geographical location.

19. The article according to claim 18 wherein the instructions, when executed by the machine, further cause the machine to identify the location data comprising latitude and longitude data.

20. The article according to claim 19 wherein the list of reverse geographical codes includes a plurality of latitude and longitude data, each of the plurality of latitude and longitude data corresponding to a specific physical geographic location.

21. The article according to claim 18 wherein the instructions, when executed by the machine, further cause the machine to enable the scheme to identify the location data by enabling a location detection system capable of determining the location data for the device.

22. The article according to claim 18 wherein the list of reverse geographical codes is stored in a data repository.

23. The article according to claim 22 wherein the instructions, when executed by the machine, further cause the machine to enable access to the enhanced local language dictionary by enabling a translation utility to access the enhanced local language dictionary.

24. The article according to claim 23 wherein the translation utility may be at least one of located on the device and be coupled to the device.

25. The article according to claim 18 wherein the instructions, when executed by the machine, further cause the machine to:

enable receipt of a request to translate a word; and

enable retrieval of a local translated word from the enhanced local language dictionary corresponding to the word received for translation.