Apparatus and method using speech understanding for automatic channel selection in interactive television

Claim 2

The system of Claim 1 wherein the natural language processor includes a local parser for analyzing the words within the text stream and identifying key words, the local parser utilizing a LR grammar database for resolving the meaning of the words.

Claim 3

The system of Claim 2 wherein the local parser generates a tagging data structure for each key word, the tagging data structure representing the meaning of the keyword.

Claim 4

The system of Claim 3 wherein the natural language processor includes a global parser for receiving the tagging data structure for each key word and for selecting the task frame associated with the meaning of the spoken request

Claim 5

The system of Claim 4 wherein the global parser interacts with a plurality of decision trees for determining which task frame is associated with the meaning of the spoken request.

Claim 6

The system of Claim 4 wherein the global parser receives the tagging data structure for each key word and places a meaning of the key word into a key word slot.

Claim 7

The system of Claim 1 wherein the dialogue manager interacts with a rule base for determining when the task frame contains enough information for searching the program database.

Claim 8

The system of Claim 1 wherein the dialogue manager prompts the user for additional information through a speech synthesizer.

Claim 9

The system of Claim 1 wherein the dialogue manager prompts the user for additional information through a display system.

Claim 10

The system of Claim 1 wherein a signal generator is connected to the dialogue manager for receiving a command and generating a signal for operating a remote receiver.

Claim 11

The system of Claim 1 wherein the program database includes a plurality of program records relating to each program and channel combination available for selection by the user.

Claim 12

A speech understanding system for receiving a spoken request from a user and processing the request against a knowledge base of programming information for automatically selecting a television program comprising: a knowledge extractor for receiving electronic programming guide (EPG) information and processing the EPG information for creating a program database; a speech recognizer for receiving the spoken request and translating the spoken request into a text stream having a plurality of words; a natural language processor for receiving the text stream and processing the words for resolving a semantic content of the spoken request the semantic content being represented by a task frame having a plurality of key word slots; the natural language processor including a local parser for analyzing the words using a database of grammar structures and generating a tagging data structure representing the meaning of the word; the natural language processor including a global parser for selecting a task frame and placing the meaning of the words contained in the tagging data structure into the key word slots within the task frame; and a dialogue manager for analyzing the task frame for determining if a sufficient number of key word slots have been filled and prompting the user for additional information until a predetermined combination of slots have been filled, the dialog manager searching the program database using the key words placed within the task frame for selecting a program, and producing a signal for selecting a television channel associated with the television program.

Claim 13

The system of Claim 12 wherein the global parser receives the tagging data structure for each key word and selects the task frame associated with the meaning of the spoken request.

Claim 14

The system of Claim 12 wherein the global parser interacts with a plurality of decision trees for determining which task frame is associated with the meaning of the spoken request.

Claim 15

The system of Claim 12 wherein the tagging data structure for each tagged word includes a frame tag indicating which task frame the word is associated with and a slot tag indicating which key word slot the meaning of the word is associated with.

Claim 16

The system of Claim 12 wherein the dialogue manager interacts with a rule base for determining when the task frame contains the predetermined combination of filled slots.

Claim 17

The system of Claim 12 wherein the EPG information is received from one of a television signal, a cable television signal, a satellite television signal and a telecommunication signal.

Claim 19

The method of Claim 18 further including the step of initiating a dialog phase using a dialog manager for prompting a user for additional information.

Claim 20

The method of Claim 19 further including the step of analyzing the user request using a database of grammar structures and generating one or more tagging data structure representing the meaning of the spoken request.