METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING, UPDATING AND DISTRIBUTING SPEECH RECOGNITION MODELS

• US 20130013298A1
• Filed: 09/13/2012
• Published: 01/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Reding, Craig, Levas, Suzi
• Granted Patent: US 8,494,848 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/201
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/063 Training
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications

Abstract

Techniques for generating, distributing, and using speech recognition models are described. A shared speech processing facility is used to support speech recognition for a wide variety of devices with limited capabilities including business computer systems, personal data assistants, etc., which are coupled to the speech processing facility via a communications channel, e.g., the Internet. Devices with audio capture capability record and transmit to the speech processing facility, via the Internet, digitized speech and receive speech processing services, e.g., speech recognition model generation and/or speech recognition services, in response. The Internet is used to return speech recognition models and/or information identifying recognized words or phrases. Thus, the speech processing facility can be used to provide speech recognition capabilities to devices without such capabilities and/or to augment a device'"'"'s speech processing capability. Voice dialing, telephone control and/or other services are provided by the speech processing facility in response to speech recognition results.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a request to generate a new speech recognition model associated with a mobile device or to generate an update of an existing speech recognition model associated with the mobile device, wherein the request references a textual representation of a term;

generating the new speech recognition model or an update to the existing speech recognition model; and

transmitting the generated speech recognition model or update to the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the request further includes an identifier of a user associated with the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the request further includes speech data associated with the term.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the request further includes feature data extracted, by the mobile device, from speech data associated with the term.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the request further includes data identifying a type of the new speech recognition model or of the existing speech recognition model.

7. The method of claim 2, comprising:

augmenting a training corpus with the term, wherein the new speech recognition model or the update to the existing speech recognition model is generated using the augmented training corpus.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the new speech recognition model or the existing speech recognition model is a speaker-dependent recognition model.

9. The method of claim 2, comprising determining that the request does not specify model type information, then determining a type associated with existing speech recognition model.

10. The method of claim 2, comprising generating one or more speaker-independent speech recognition models using the term.

11. A system comprising:

one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

receiving a request to generate a new speech recognition model associated with a mobile device or to generate an update of an existing speech recognition model associated with the mobile device, wherein the request references a textual representation of a term;

generating the new speech recognition model or an update to the existing speech recognition model; and

transmitting the generated speech recognition model or update to the mobile device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the request further includes an identifier of a user associated with the mobile device.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the request further includes speech data associated with the term.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the request further includes feature data extracted, by the mobile device, from speech data associated with the term.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the request further includes data identifying a type of the new speech recognition model or of the existing speech recognition model.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations comprise:

augmenting a training corpus with the term, wherein the new speech recognition model or the update to the existing speech recognition model is generated using the augmented training corpus.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the new speech recognition model or the existing speech recognition model is a speaker-dependent recognition model.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations comprise determining that the request does not specify model type information, then determining a type associated with existing speech recognition model.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations comprise generating one or more speaker-independent speech recognition models using the term.

20. A computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

receiving a request to generate a new speech recognition model associated with a mobile device or to generate an update of an existing speech recognition model associated with the mobile device, wherein the request references a textual representation of a term;

generating the new speech recognition model or an update to the existing speech recognition model; and

transmitting the generated speech recognition model or update to the mobile device.

21. The medium of claim 20, wherein the operations comprise generating one or more speaker-independent speech recognition models using the term.