Multiple Voice Services

• US 20180040324A1
• Filed: 08/05/2016
• Published: 02/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Wilberding, Dayn
• Granted Patent: US 10,115,400 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/02 Preprocessing operations, e.g. segment selection; Pattern representation or modelling, e.g. based on linear discriminant analysis [LDA] or principal components; Feature selection or extraction
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/088 Word spotting
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/165 following a pre-assigned programmed sequence; Logic control [LC]

Abstract

Disclosed herein are example techniques to identify a voice service to process a voice input. An example implementation may involve an NMD receiving, via a microphone, voice data indicating a voice input. The NMD may identify, from among multiple voice services registered to a media playback system, a voice service to process the voice input and cause, via a network interface, the identified voice service to process the voice input.

Claims

1. A networked microphone device comprising:

a microphone;

a network interface;

one or more processors;

tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media having stored therein instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the networked microphone device to perform a method comprising;

receiving, via the microphone, voice data indicating a voice input;

identifying, from among multiple voice services registered to a media playback system, a voice service to process the voice input; and

causing, via the network interface, the identified voice service to process the voice input.

2. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that a portion of the received voice data represents a particular wake-word corresponding to a specific voice service; and

identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, the specific voice service that corresponds to the particular wake-word, wherein each voice service of the multiple voice services registered to the media playback system corresponds to a respective wake-word.

3. The networked microphone device of claim 2, wherein determining that the portion of the received voice data represents the particular wake-word corresponding to the specific voice service comprises:

querying wake-word detection algorithms corresponding to each voice service of the multiple voice services with the received voice data; and

determining that a wake-word detection algorithm of the specific voice service detected that the portion of the received voice data represents the particular wake-word corresponding to the specific voice service.

4. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that the received voice data excludes any wake-word corresponding to a given voice service of the multiple voice services registered to the media playback system; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a default voice service of the multiple voice services.

5. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that (i) a previous voice input was processed by a particular voice service and (ii) the voice input was received within a threshold period of time after the previous voice input was received; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, the particular voice service that processed the previous voice input.

6. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that (i) a previous voice input was processed by a particular voice service and (ii) the voice input is directed to the same type of operation as the previous voice input; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, the particular voice service that processed the previous voice input.

7. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that the voice input includes a media playback command; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a particular voice service that is configured to process media playback commands.

8. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that the voice input is directed to wireless illumination devices; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a particular voice service that is configured to process voice inputs directed to wireless illumination devices.

9. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that a portion of the received voice data represents a generic wake-word that does not correspond to any particular voice service; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a default voice service of the multiple voice services.

10. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein the media playback system comprises multiple zones, and wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that the voice input was directed to a particular zone of the multiples zones; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a particular voice service that is configured to process voice inputs directed to the particular zone of the media playback system.

11. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that a portion of the received voice data represents a particular wake-word corresponding to a first voice service;

determining that the first voice service is currently unavailable to process the voice input; and

identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a second voice service that is different from the first voice service.

12. The networked microphone device of claim 1, wherein the voice input comprises a first portion representing a wake-word and a second portion representing a voice command, and wherein causing the identified voice service to process the voice input comprises:

transmitting, via the network interface to one or more servers of the identified voice service, (i) data representing at least the second portion of the voice input and (ii) a command to process the data representing the voice command.

13. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a networked microphone device to perform a method comprising:

receiving, via a microphone, voice data indicating a voice input;

identifying, from among multiple voice services registered to a media playback system, a voice service to process the voice input; and

causing, via a network interface, the identified voice service to process the voice input.

14. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that a portion of the received voice data represents a particular wake-word corresponding to a specific voice service; and

identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, the specific voice service that corresponds to the particular wake-word, wherein each voice service of the multiple voice services registered to the media playback system corresponds to a respective wake-word.

15. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein determining that the portion of the received voice data represents the particular wake-word corresponding to the specific voice service comprises:

querying wake-word detection algorithms corresponding to each voice service of the multiple voice services with the received voice data; and

determining that a wake-word detection algorithm of the specific voice service detected that the portion of the received voice data represents the particular wake-word corresponding to the specific voice service.

16. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that the received voice data excludes any wake-word corresponding to a given voice service of the multiple voice services registered to the media playback system; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a default voice service of the multiple voice services.

17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that (i) a previous voice input was processed by a particular voice service and (ii) the voice input was received within a threshold period of time after the previous voice input was received; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, the particular voice service that processed the previous voice input.

18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that (i) a previous voice input was processed by a particular voice service and (ii) the voice input is directed to the same type of operation as the previous voice input; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, the particular voice service that processed the previous voice input.

19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that the voice input includes a media playback command; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a particular voice service that is configured to process media playback commands.

20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that a portion of the received voice data represents a generic wake-word that does not correspond to any particular voice service; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a default voice service of the multiple voice services.

21. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the media playback system comprises multiple zones, and wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that the voice input was directed to a particular zone of the multiples zones; and

based on the determination, identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a particular voice service that is configured to process voice inputs directed to the particular zone of the media playback system.

22. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein identifying the voice service to process the voice input comprises:

determining that a portion of the received voice data represents a particular wake-word corresponding to a first voice service;

determining that the first voice service is currently unavailable to process the voice input; and

identifying, as the voice service to process the voice input, a second voice service that is different from the first voice service.

23. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the voice input comprises a first portion representing a wake-word and a second portion representing a voice command, and wherein causing the identified voice service to process the voice input comprises:

transmitting, via the network interface to one or more servers of the identified voice service, (i) data representing at least the second portion of the voice input and (ii) a command to process the data representing the voice command.

24. A method comprising:

receiving, via a microphone of a networked microphone device, voice data indicating a voice input;

determining that a portion of the received voice data represents a particular wake-word corresponding to a specific voice service of multiple voice services registered to a media playback system, wherein each voice service of the multiple voice services registered to the media playback system corresponds to a respective wake-word; and

causing, via a network interface of the networked microphone device, the specific voice service to process the voice input, wherein causing the specific voice service to process the voice input comprises transmitting, via the network interface to one or more servers of the specific voice service, data representing the voice input.