Data processing: speech signal processing – linguistics – language – Speech signal processing – Application
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-05
2004-04-13
McFadden, Susan (Department: 2655)
Data processing: speech signal processing, linguistics, language
Speech signal processing
Application
C704S270000, C707S793000, C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06721705
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a robust and highly reliable system that allows users to browse web sites and retrieve information by using conversational voice commands. Additionally, the present invention allows users to control and monitor other systems and devices that are connected the Internet or any other network by using voice commands.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Currently, three options exist for a user who wishes to gather information from a web site accessible over the Internet. The first option is to use a desktop or a laptop computer connected to a telephone line via a modem or connected to a network with Internet access. The second option is to use a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that has the capability of connecting to the Internet either through a modem or a wireless connection. The third option is to use one of the newly designed web-phones or web-pagers that are now being offered on the market. Although each of these options provide a user with access to the Internet to browse web sites, each of them have their own drawbacks.
Desktop computers are very large and bulky and are difficult to transport. Laptop computers solve this inconvenience, but many are still quite heavy and are inconvenient to carry. Further, laptop computers cannot be carried and used everywhere a user travels. For instance, if a user wishes to obtain information from a remote location where no electricity or communication lines are installed, it would be nearly impossible to use a laptop computer Oftentimes, information is needed on an immediate basis where a computer is not accessible. Furthermore, the use of laptop or desktop computers to access the Internet requires either a direct or a dial-up connection tan an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Oftentimes, such connections are not available when a user desires to connect to the Internet to acquire information.
The second option for remotely accessing web sites is the use of PDAs These devices also have their own set of drawbacks. First, PDAs with the ability to connect to the Internet and access web sites are not readily available. As a result, these PDAs tend to be very expensive. Furthermore, users are usually required to pay a special service fee to enable the web browsing feature of the PDA. A further disadvantage of these PDAs is that web sites must be specifically designed to allow these devices to access information on the web site. Therefore, a limited number of web sites are available that are accessible by these web-enabled PDAs. Finally, it is very common today for users to carry cell phones, however, users must also carry a separate PDA if they require the ability to gather information from various web sites Users are therefore subjected to added expenses since they must pay for both cellular telephone service and also for the web-enabling service for the PDA. This results in a very expensive alternative for the consumer.
The third alternative mentioned above is the use of web-phones or web-pagers. These devices suffer many of the same drawbacks as PDAs. First, these devices are expensive to purchase. Further, the number of web sites accessible to these devices is limited since web sites must be specifically designed to allow access by these devices. Furthermore, users are often required to pay an additional fee in order to gain wireless web access Again, this service is expensive. Another drawback of these web-phones or web-pagers is that as technology develops, the methods used by the various web sites to allow access by these devices may change. These changes may require users to purchase new web-phones or web-pagers or have the current device serviced in order to upgrade the firmware or operating system stored within the device. At the least, this would be inconvenient to users and may actually be quite expensive.
Therefore, a need exists for a system that allows users to easily access and browse the Internet from any location. Such a system would only require users to have access to any type of telephone and would not require users to subscribe to multiple services.
In the rapidly changing area of Internet applications, web sites change frequently. The design of the web site may change, the information required by the web site in order to perform searches may change, and the method of reporting search results may change. Web browsing applications that submit search requests and interpret responses from these web sites based upon expected formats will produce errors and useless responses when such changes occur. Therefore, a need exists for a system that can detect modifications to web sites and adapt to such changes in order to quickly and accurately provide the information requested by a user through a voice enabled device, such as a telephone.
When users access web sites using devices such as personal computers, delays in receiving responses are tolerated and are even expected, however, such delays are not expected when a user communicates with a telephone. Users expect communications over a telephone to occur immediately with a minimal amount of delay time A user attempting to find information using a telephone expects immediate responses to his search requests. A system that introduces too much delay between the time a user makes a request and the time of response will not be tolerated by users and will lose its usefulness. Therefore, it is important that a voice browsing system that uses telephonic communications selects web sites that provide rapid responses since speed is an important factor for maintaining the system's desirability and usability. Therefore, a need exists for a system that accesses web sites based upon their speed of operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of an embodiment of the present invention to allow users to gather information from web sites by using voice enabled devices, such as wireline or wireless telephones.
An additional object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a system and method that allows the searching and retrieving of publicly available information by controlling a web browsing server using naturally spoken voice commands.
It is an object of another embodiment of the present invention to provide a robust voice browsing system that can obtain the same information from several web sites based upon a ranking order. The ranking order is automatically adjusted if the system detects that a given web site is not functioning, is too slow, or has been modified in such a way that the requested information cannot be retrieved any longer.
A still further object of an embodiment of the present invention is to allow users to gather information from web sites from any location where a telephonic connection can be made.
Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to allows users to browse web sites on the Internet using conversational voice commands spoken into wireless or wireline telephones or other voice enabled devices.
An additional object an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a system and method for using voice commands to control and monitor devices connected to a network.
It is an object of an embodiment of the present invention to provide a system and method which allows devices connected to a network to be controlled by conversational voice commands spoken into any voice enabled device interconnected with the same network.
The present invention relates to a system for acquiring information from sources on a network, such as the Internet. A voice browsing system maintains a database containing a list of information sources, such as web sites, connected to a network. Each of the information sources is assigned a rank number which is listed in the database along with the record for the information source. In response to a speech command received from a user, a network interface system accesses the information source with the highest rank number in order to retrieve information requested by the user.
The a preferred embodiment of the present invention allows users to access and browse web
Kurganov Alexander
Zhukoff Valery
Jenkens & Gilchrist
McFadden Susan
Webley Systems, Inc.
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