Speech recognition control of remotely controllable devices in a home network environment

US6535854B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Sony International (Europe) GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Peter Buchner · Kirchheim unter Teck, DE
• Silke Goronzy · Erlangen, DE
• Ralf Kompe · Schkölen, DE
• Stefan Rapp · Schramberg, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 19, 1998
• Grant date: Mar 18, 2003
• Expiry date: Oct 19, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L12/282
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Home networks low-cost digital interfaces are introduced that integrate entertainment, communication and computing electronics into consumer multimedia. Normally, these are low-cost, easy to use systems, since they allow the user to remove or add any kind of network devices with the bus being active. To improve the user interface a speech unit (2) is proposed that enables all devices (11) connected to the bus system (31) to be controlled by a single speech recognition device. The properties of this device, e.g. the vocabulary can be dynamically and actively extended by the consumer devices (11) connected to the bus system (31). The proposed technology is independent from a specific bus standard, e.g. the IEEE 1394 standard, and is well-suited for all kinds of wired wireless home networks. The speech unit (2) receives data and messages from the device. The speech unit (2) recognizes speaker-dependent commands. A Speech synthesizer synthesizes messages. A remotely controllable device (11) has access to a medium which may be a CD-ROM. The device may ask for a logical name or identifier.