Learning aid or game having miniature electronic speech synthesis chip

Claim 2

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means having a plurality of addresses and storing digital speech data and digital control data from which a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses and appropriate operator responses corresponding to said plurality of requests may be respectively derived at said addresses; integrated circuit speech synthesizer means operably associated with said memory means for converting said digital speech data into analog signals representative of synthesized human speech; audio presentation means coupled to said speech synthesizer means for converting said analog signals representative of synthesized human speech into audible synthesized human speech; operator input means for receiving inputs from an operator of said apparatus as an operator response; and controller means coupled to said operator input means and to said memory means for controlling the operation of said apparatus, said controller means including: address generation means for randomly generating the addresses of selected portions of said digital speech data stored in said memory means for accessing a random portion of said digital speech data defining a request and for generating the addresses of selected portions of said digital control data stored in said memory means in response to said operator inputs received at said operator input means, means for generating a plurality of data display signals in accordance with said selected portions of said digital control data, means for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data from said memory means to said speech synthesizer means to produce a randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech via said audio presentation means, and means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said randomly selected audible request for responding in a manner producing an output indicative of the appropriateness of said operator response with respect to the appropriate operator response corresponding to said randomly selected audible request; and visual display means responsive to said data display signals from said generating means of said controller means for producing a visual display of the operator response as received by said operator input means.

Claim 3

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plurality of requests includes at least one request for an operator to spell a word in a human language and wherein said appropriate operator response comprises the correct spelling of said word.

Claim 4

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further including battery receiving means for holding a battery power source to provide electrical power to said apparatus.

Claim 5

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 3, further including a housing in which said memory means, said speech synthesizer means, said audio presentation means, and said controller means are disposed, said visual display means including a display panel on said housing visible to the operator and on which said visual display is produced, and said housing being of sufficiently small size so as to define said apparatus as a self-contained hand-held unit.

Claim 6

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: first memory means storing digital speech data and digital control data from which a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses and appropriate operator responses corresponding to said plurality of requests may be respectively derived, speech synthesizer means operably associated with said first memory means for converting said digital speech data into audible synthesized human speech, operator input means for receiving an operator response to an audible request in synthesized human speech from said speech synthesizer means, and microprocessor means operably associated with said first memory means, said speech synthesizer means and said operator input means for controlling the operation of said apparatus, said microprocessor means comprising: second memory means storing digital data including a fixed set of instructions; means for randomly accessing a portion of said digital speech data stored in said first memory means from which a random request for an operator response may be derived; means responsive to said fixed set of instructions for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data from said first memory means to said speech synthesizer means in a selected sequence to produce a randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech; and means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said randomly selected audible request for responding in a manner producing an output indicative of the appropriateness of said operator response with respect to the appropriate operator response corresponding to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 7

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: first memory means storing digital speech data and digital control data from which a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses and appropriate operator responses corresponding to said plurality of requests may be respectively derived, speech synthesizer means operably associated with said first memory means for converting said digital speech data into audible synthesized human speech, operator input means for receiving an operator response to an audible request in synthesized human speech from said speech synthesizer means, and microprocessor means operably associated with said first memory means, said speech synthesizer means and said operator input means for controlling the operation of said apparatus, said microprocessor means comprising: second memory means storing digital data including a fixed set of instructions; means for randomly accessing a portion of said digital speech data stored in said first memory means from which a random request for an operator response may be derived; means responsive to said fixed set of instructions for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data from said first memory means to said speech synthesizer means in a selected sequence to produce a randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech; and means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said randomly selected audible request for responding in a manner producing an output indicative of the appropriateness of said operator response with respect to the appropriate operator response corresponding to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 8

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response is effective to initiate a second randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech via said speech synthesizer means if said operator response to the first randomly selected audible request conforms to the appropriate operator response corresponding thereto.

Claim 9

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said plurality of requests includes at least one request for an operator to spell a word in a human language and wherein said appropriate operator response comprises the correct spelling of said word.

Claim 10

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said operator input means comprises a keyboard.

Claim 11

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein said means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said selected audible request is effective to cause said speech synthesizer means to repeat said randomly selected audible request if said operator response is inappropriate.

Claim 12

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said second memory means comprises non-volatile semiconductor read-only-memory means.

Claim 13

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said speech synthesizer means comprises an integrated circuit speech synthesis device for generating analog signals representative of human speech from digital speech data stored in said first memory means, and audio means coupled to said speech synthesis device for converting said analog signals into audible synthesized human speech.

Claim 14

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said apparatus includes presentation means operably coupled to said operator input means for presenting said operator response to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 15

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said presentation means comprises a visual display means.

Claim 16

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means storing digital speech data and digital control data from which a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses and appropriate responses corresponding to said plurality of requests may be respectively derived, means for randomly accessing a portion of said digital speech data stored in said memory means from which a request for an operator response may be derived, speech synthesizer means operably associated with said memory means for converting said digital speech data into audible synthesized human speech, said speech synthesizer means comprising: receiving means for receiving said digital speech data, controllable digital filter means coupled to said receiving means for converting said digital speech data into analog signals representative of human speech, filter control means coupled to said receiving means and said digital filter means for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data from said memory means to said receiving means in a sequence to produce a randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech and for controlling the operation of said digital filter means in response to the receipt of said digital speech data at said receiving means, and audio means coupled to said digital filter means for converting said analog signals into audible synthesized human speech for audibly requesting the operator to provide a response; operator input means for receiving an operator response to the request as audibly presented in synthesized human speech by said audio means, and control means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said randomly selected audible request for responding in a manner producing an output indicative of the appropriateness of said operator response with respect to the appropriate operator response corresponding to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 17

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means storing digital speech data and digital control data from which a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses and appropriate responses corresponding to said plurality of requests may be respectively derived, means for randomly accessing a portion of said digital speech data stored in said memory means from which a request for an operator response may be derived, speech synthesizer means operably associated with said memory means for converting said digital speech data into audible synthesized human speech, said speech synthesizer means comprising: receiving means for receiving said digital speech data, controllable digital filter means coupled to said receiving means for converting said digital speech data into analog signals representative of human speech, filter control means coupled to said receiving means and said digital filter means for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data from said memory means to said receiving means in a sequence to produce a randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech and for controlling the operation of said digital filter means in response to the receipt of said digital speech data at said receiving means, and audio means coupled to said digital filter means for converting said analog signals into audible synthesized human speech for audibly requesting the operator to provide a response; operator input means for receiving an operator response to the request as audibly presented in synthesized human speech by said audio means, and control means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said randomly selected audible request for responding in a manner producing an output indicative of the appropriateness of said operator response with respect to the appropriate operator response corresponding to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 18

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said plurality of requests includes at least one request for an operator to spell a word in a human language and wherein said appropriate response comprises the correct spelling of a word.

Claim 19

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said apparatus includes visual presentation means operably coupled to said operator input means and said control means for presenting said operator response to said randomly selected audible request, and said control means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response responding in a manner causing said visual presentation means to visually inform said operator if said operator response is appropriate.

Claim 20

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said control means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response responds in a manner causing said speech synthesizer means to audibly inform said operator if said operator response is appropriate.

Claim 21

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said operator input means comprises a keyboard.

Claim 22

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said digital filter means of said speech synthesizer means is included in an integrated circuit speech synthesis device and said audio means of said speech synthesizer means comprises a voice coil means.

Claim 23

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said apparatus includes presentation means operably coupled to said operator input means for presenting said operator response to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 24

The talking electronic apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said presentation means comprises a visual display means.

Claim 25

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: first memory means storing digital speech data which is formatable into a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses, second memory means storing digital control data indicative of appropriate operator responses corresponding to said plurality of requests, third memory means storing a fixed set of instructions for controlling the operation of said apparatus including instructions for formatting said digital speech data into said plurality of requests, speech synthesizer means operably associated with said first, second and third memory means for converting said formatted digital speech data into audible requests in synthesized human speech, operator input means for receiving operator inputs including operator responses to said audible requests in synthesized human speech; controller means responsive to said instructions stored in said third memory means for controlling the formatting and transfer of said digital speech data from said first memory means to said speech synthesizer means to generate said requests as randomly selected audible requests via said speech synthesizer means, said controller means including: means responsive to a first operator input for randomly accessing said first memory means to format said digital speech data into a first randomly selected request for operator response and for respectively accessing said second memory means to determine an appropriate response to said first randomly selected request; digital comparison means responsive to a second operator input and said appropriate response as accessed from said second memory means for determining if said second operator input is an acceptable response to said first randomly selected request, and means responsive to said digital comparison means for initiating an appropriate action of said apparatus if said second operator input is an acceptable response and for initiating the accessing of said first memory means to format said digital speech data into a second request for operator response if said second operator input is inappropriate.

Claim 26

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: first memory means storing digital speech data which is formatable into a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses, second memory means storing digital control data indicative of appropriate operator responses corresponding to said plurality of requests, third memory means storing a fixed set of instructions for controlling the operation of said apparatus including instructions for formatting said digital speech data into said plurality of requests, speech synthesizer means operably associated with said first, second and third memory means for converting said formatted digital speech data into audible requests in synthesized human speech, operator input means for receiving operator inputs including operator responses to said audible requests in synthesized human speech; controller means responsive to said instructions stored in said third memory means for controlling the formatting and transfer of said digital speech data from said first memory means to said speech synthesizer means to generate said requests as randomly selected audible requests via said speech synthesizer means, said controller means including: means responsive to a first operator input for randomly accessing said first memory means to format said digital speech data into a first randomly selected request for operator response and for respectively accessing said second memory means to determine an appropriate response to said first randomly selected request; digital comparison means responsive to a second operator input and said appropriate response as accessed from said second memory means for determining if said second operator input is an acceptable response to said first randomly selected request, and means responsive to said digital comparison means for initiating an appropriate action of said apparatus if said second operator input is an acceptable response and for initiating the accessing of said first memory means to format said digital speech data into a second request for operator response if said second operator input is inappropriate.

Claim 27

The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said second request is a repeat of said first request in the same format.

Claim 28

The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said second request is a repeat of said first request in a different format.

Claim 29

The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the action initiated by said means responsive to said digital comparison means when said second operator input is an acceptable response includes the accessing of said first memory means to format said digital speech data into a third request for operator response which is different from said first request.

Claim 30

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means storing fixed instructions and digital data including digital speech data from which a plurality of words in synthesized human speech in a preselected human language may be derived; integrated circuit speech synthesizer means operably coupled to said memory means, said speech synthesizer means including means for converting said digital speech data to analog signals representative of human speech; audio presentation means coupled to said speech synthesizer means for converting said analog signals into audible synthesized human speech; operator input means for receiving inputs from an operator of said apparatus; and controller means coupled to said operator input means and to said memory means for controlling the operation of said apparatus, said controller means including: address generator means for generating addresses for addressing said memory means, receiving means for receiving instructions from said memory means in response to addresses generated by said address generator means, means responsive to an instruction sequence received from said memory means via said receiving means for selecting a first sequence at least representative of words posing a request to be presented to said operator to which an operator response is desired, the request being one or more words of synthesized human speech produced by said speech synthesizer means and said audio presentation means in response to digital speech data stored in said memory means, and comparator means responsive to the operator input and to a predetermined correct response to the posed request for providing an appropriate apparatus response based upon the comparison between the operator input and the predetermined correct response so that the apparatus operation is continued.

Claim 31

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means storing fixed instructions and digital data including digital speech data from which a plurality of words in synthesized human speech in a preselected human language may be derived; integrated circuit speech synthesizer means operably coupled to said memory means, said speech synthesizer means including means for converting said digital speech data to analog signals representative of human speech; audio presentation means coupled to said speech synthesizer means for converting said analog signals into audible synthesized human speech; operator input means for receiving inputs from an operator of said apparatus; and controller means coupled to said operator input means and to said memory means for controlling the operation of said apparatus, said controller means including: address generator means for generating addresses for addressing said memory means, receiving means for receiving instructions from said memory means in response to addresses generated by said address generator means, means responsive to an instruction sequence received from said memory means via said receiving means for selecting a first sequence at least representative of words posing a request to be presented to said operator to which an operator response is desired, the request being one or more words of synthesized human speech produced by said speech synthesizer means and said audio presentation means in response to digital speech data stored in said memory means, and comparator means responsive to the operator input and to a predetermined correct response to the posed request for providing an appropriate apparatus response based upon the comparison between the operator input and the predetermined correct response so that the apparatus operation is continued.

Claim 32

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, wherein said digital speech data stored in said memory means is representative of a plurality of words.

Claim 33

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, wherein said digital speech data stored in said memory means is effective to enable said speech synthesizer means and said audio presentation means to present words to be spelled by the operator in audible synthesized human speech and the correct spelling of those words.

Claim 34

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, further including a display coupled to said controller means for displaying one or more indicia at least representative of words in response to inputs from the operator received by said operator input means.

Claim 35

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, wherein said operator input means comprises a keyboard having a plurality of individual keys at least representative of the letters of the alphabet and adapted to be selectively actuated by the operator to generate a keyboard input as an operator response to the posed request; and means for strobing said keyboard to detect which of said plurality of individual keys have been actuated by the operator in generating said keyboard input.

Claim 36

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, wherein said controller means includes a controller circuit operably associated with said memory means for randomly selecting a request to be posed from a plurality of requests derivable from said digital speech data stored in said memory means.

Claim 37

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, wherein said digital speech data stored in said memory means includes digital speech data representative of predetermined correct responses respectively corresponding to any posed request presented in one or more words of audible synthesized human speech by the apparatus to said operator.

Claim 38

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 32, wherein the apparatus response provided by said comparator means comprises one or more words of audible synthesized human speech produced by said speech synthesizer means and said audio presentation means in response to selected digital speech data stored in said memory means as determined by the comparison between the operator input and the predetermined correct response.

Claim 39

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 33, wherein said controller means comprises a microprocessor means.

Claim 40

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, wherein said means responsive to an instruction sequence received from said memory means via said receiving means is effective for selecting a first sequence of words to be audibly pronounced to said operator.

Claim 41

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 35, further including means responsive to another instruction sequence received from said memory means via said receiving means for selecting another sequence of words to be audibly pronounced to said operator upon execution of said another instruction sequence.

Claim 42

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 26, wherein said digital speech data stored in said memory means is representative of a plurality of linear predictive filter coefficients and a voice excitation parameter, and said speech synthesizer means includes a linear predictive filter responsive to said coefficients and said parameter.

Claim 43

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 37, wherein said linear predictive filter of said speech synthesizer means includes an array multiplier through which said digital speech data selectively accessed from said memory means is processed in converting said digital speech data to analog signals representative of synthesized human speech.

Claim 44

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means storing fixed instructions and digital data including digital control data and digital speech data from which a plurality of words in a preselected human language may be derived as synthesized human speech, said digital speech data being representative of linear predictive coding filter coefficients and a voice excitation parameter; speech synthesizer means comprising a single integrated circuit semiconductor device operably coupled to said memory means, said single integrated circuit semiconductor device including digital filter means for converting said digital speech data to analog signals representative of synthesized human speech, and timing control means for generating a plurality of timing signals for controlling said digital filter means; audio presentation means coupled to said speech synthesizer means for converting said analog signals representative of synthesized human speech into audible synthesized human speech; operator input means for receiving inputs from an operator of said apparatus; and controller means coupled to said operator input means and to said memory means for controlling the operation of said apparatus by selecting said digital speech data stored in said memory means for transfer to said speech synthesizer means, said control means including: means for randomly accessing a portion of said digital speech data stored in said memory means from which a request for an operator response may be derived, means for generating a plurality of control signals and data display signals in accordance with the portion of said digital control data corresponding to the randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data, means responsive to said control signals for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data to said speech synthesizer means in a sequence at least representative of words posing a request to be presented to said operator to which an operator response is desired, the request being one or more words of synthesized human speech produced by said speech synthesizer means and said audio presentation means as a randomly selected audible request in response to said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data stored in said memory means, and comparator means responsive to the operator input and to a predetermined correct response to the posed audible request for providing an appropriate apparatus response based upon the comparison between the operator input and the predetermined correct response; and visual presentation means coupled to said controller means for visually presenting information in response to said data display signals.

Claim 45

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means storing fixed instructions and digital data including digital control data and digital speech data from which a plurality of words in a preselected human language may be derived as synthesized human speech, said digital speech data being representative of linear predictive coding filter coefficients and a voice excitation parameter; speech synthesizer means comprising a single integrated circuit semiconductor device operably coupled to said memory means, said single integrated circuit semiconductor device including digital filter means for converting said digital speech data to analog signals representative of synthesized human speech, and timing control means for generating a plurality of timing signals for controlling said digital filter means; audio presentation means coupled to said speech synthesizer means for converting said analog signals representative of synthesized human speech into audible synthesized human speech; operator input means for receiving inputs from an operator of said apparatus; and controller means coupled to said operator input means and to said memory means for controlling the operation of said apparatus by selecting said digital speech data stored in said memory means for transfer to said speech synthesizer means, said control means including: means for randomly accessing a portion of said digital speech data stored in said memory means from which a request for an operator response may be derived, means for generating a plurality of control signals and data display signals in accordance with the portion of said digital control data corresponding to the randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data, means responsive to said control signals for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data to said speech synthesizer means in a sequence at least representative of words posing a request to be presented to said operator to which an operator response is desired, the request being one or more words of synthesized human speech produced by said speech synthesizer means and said audio presentation means as a randomly selected audible request in response to said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data stored in said memory means, and comparator means responsive to the operator input and to a predetermined correct response to the posed audible request for providing an appropriate apparatus response based upon the comparison between the operator input and the predetermined correct response; and visual presentation means coupled to said controller means for visually presenting information in response to said data display signals.

Claim 46

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 39, wherein said speech synthesizer means and said audio presentation means are responsive to said comparator means for informing the operator in audible synthesized human speech of the results of said comparison.

Claim 47

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 40, wherein said visual presentation means is also responsive to said comparator means for visually informing the operator of the results of said comparison.

Claim 48

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means having a plurality of addresses and storing digital speech data and digital control data from which a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses and appropriate operator responses corresponding to said plurality of requests may be respectively derived at said addresses; speech synthesizer means operably associated with said memory means for converting said digital speech data into analog signals representative of synthesized human speech; audio presentation means coupled to said speech synthesizer means for converting said analog signals representative of synthesized human speech into audible synthesized human speech; operator input means for receiving inputs from an operator of said apparatus as an operator response; and controller means coupled to said operator input means and to said memory means for controlling the operation of said apparatus, said controller means including: address generation means for randomly generating the addresses of selected portions of said digital speech data stored in said memory means for accessing a random portion of said digital speech data defining a request and for generating the addresses of selected portions of said digital control data stored in said memory means in response to said operator inputs received at said operator input means, means for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data from said memory means to said speech synthesizer means to produce a randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech via said audio presentation means, and means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said randomly selected audible request for responding in a manner producing an output indicative of the appropriateness of said operator response with respect to the appropriate operator response corresponding to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 49

A talking electronic apparatus comprising: memory means having a plurality of addresses and storing digital speech data and digital control data from which a plurality of requests in synthesized human speech for respective operator responses and appropriate operator responses corresponding to said plurality of requests may be respectively derived at said addresses; speech synthesizer means operably associated with said memory means for converting said digital speech data into analog signals representative of synthesized human speech; audio presentation means coupled to said speech synthesizer means for converting said analog signals representative of synthesized human speech into audible synthesized human speech; operator input means for receiving inputs from an operator of said apparatus as an operator response; and controller means coupled to said operator input means and to said memory means for controlling the operation of said apparatus, said controller means including: address generation means for randomly generating the addresses of selected portions of said digital speech data stored in said memory means for accessing a random portion of said digital speech data defining a request and for generating the addresses of selected portions of said digital control data stored in said memory means in response to said operator inputs received at said operator input means, means for transferring said randomly accessed portion of said digital speech data from said memory means to said speech synthesizer means to produce a randomly selected audible request in synthesized human speech via said audio presentation means, and means responsive to said digital control data and said operator response to said randomly selected audible request for responding in a manner producing an output indicative of the appropriateness of said operator response with respect to the appropriate operator response corresponding to said randomly selected audible request.

Claim 50

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 42, wherein said plurality of requests includes at least one request for an operator to spell a word in a human language and wherein said appropriate operator response comprises the correct spelling of said word.

Claim 51

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 42, further including battery receiving means for holding a battery power source to provide electrical power to said apparatus.

Claim 52

A talking electronic apparatus as set forth in claim 44, further including a housing in which said memory means, said speech synthesizer means, said audio presentation means, and said controller means are disposed, said housing being of sufficiently small size so as to define said apparatus as a self-contained hand-held unit.