US5796916A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method and apparatus for prosody for synthetic speech prosody determination
Assignee: Apple Inc
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Filing: 1995-05-26
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Granted: 1998-08-18
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Expires: 2015-05-26
Abstract
Abstract In a synthetic speech system intonation of a natural utterance is automatically applied to a synthesized utterance. The present invention applies the desired intonation of the natural utterance to the synthesized utterance by aligning voicing sections of the natural utterance to the synthesized utterance. The voicing sections are initially delineated by voiced versus unvoiced, based on default voicing specifications for the synthetic utterance and on pitch tracker analysis of the natural utterance, and an attempt is made to align individual sections thereby. If no initial alignment occurs then a further attempt is made by varying the default voicing specifications of the synthesized utterance. If alignment is still not achieved, then each of the utterances, natural and synthetic, is considered a single large voicing section, which thus forces alignment therebetween. Once alignment occurs, the intonation of the natural utterance is applied to the synthetic utterance thereby providing the synthetic utterance with the desired, more natural, intonation. Further, the synthetic utterance having intonation specification can be graphically displayed so that the user may view and interactively and graphically modify the intonation specification for the synthetic utterance.
Inventors
- 👤 Scott E. Meredith
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 01:34
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10L; G10L13/00; G10L13/08; G10L13/10; G10L13/02; G10L13/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
79 words
A method for specifying synthetic speech intonation, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining natural pitch and duration values for a natural voicing section of a natural utterance; (b) obtaining synthetic pitch and duration values for a synthetic voicing section of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; (c) aligning the natural voicing section to the synthetic voicing section; and (d) replacing the synthetic pitch and duration values of the synthetic voicing section with the natural pitch and duration values.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
79 words
A method for specifying synthetic speech intonation, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining natural pitch and duration values for a natural voicing section of a natural utterance; (b) obtaining synthetic pitch and duration values for a synthetic voicing section of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; (c) aligning the natural voicing section to the synthetic voicing section; and (d) replacing the synthetic pitch and duration values of the synthetic voicing section with the natural pitch and duration values.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 wherein step (a) comprises using a pitch tracker to take pitch measurements of the natural utterance over n pitch periods.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 2 wherein step (a) further comprises interpolating pitch measurements between voiced portions of the natural voicing section.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 1 wherein step (b) comprises retrieving predetermined phonetic duration and pitch values from a look-up table.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1 wherein step (c) comprises sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the natural voicing section to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the synthetic voicing section.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
81 words
The method of claim 1 wherein step (c) comprises: i) varying voicing possibilities for the synthetic voicing section until one or more alignments are reached between alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the synthetic voicing section and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the natural voicing section; and ii) sequentially aligning the alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the natural voicing section to the alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the synthetic voicing section until a best reached alignment is achieved.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the best reached alignment is the alignment with a: i) lowest accumulated error between the natural voicing section and the synthetic voicing section; ii) fewest variable voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest natural voicing sections which fall outside a predetermined duration range.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
82 words
An apparatus for intonation specification comprising: (a) means for obtaining natural pitch and duration values for a natural voicing section of a natural utterance; (b) means for obtaining synthetic pitch and duration values for a synthetic voicing section of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; (c) means for aligning the natural voicing section to the synthetic voicing section; and (d) means for substituting the natural pitch and duration values of the natural voicing section for the synthetic pitch and duration values.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
82 words
An apparatus for intonation specification comprising: (a) means for obtaining natural pitch and duration values for a natural voicing section of a natural utterance; (b) means for obtaining synthetic pitch and duration values for a synthetic voicing section of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; (c) means for aligning the natural voicing section to the synthetic voicing section; and (d) means for substituting the natural pitch and duration values of the natural voicing section for the synthetic pitch and duration values.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus of claim 8 wherein element (a) comprises a pitch tracker capable of taking pitch measurements of the natural utterance over n pitch periods.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 9 wherein element (a) further comprises means for interpolating pitch measurements between voiced portions of the natural voicing section.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 8 wherein element (b) comprises a look-up table of predetermined phonetic duration and pitch values.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 8 wherein element (c) comprises means for sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the natural voicing section to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the synthetic voicing section.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
83 words
The method of claim 8 wherein step (c) comprises: i) means for varying voicing possibilities for the synthetic voicing section until one or more alignments are reached between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the synthetic voicing section and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the natural voicing section; and ii) means for sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the natural voicing section to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the synthetic voicing section until a best reached alignment is achieved.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the best reached alignment is the alignment with a: i) lowest accumulated error between the natural voicing section and the synthetic voicing section; ii) fewest variable voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest natural voicing sections which fall outside a predetermined duration range.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
104 words
A method for intonation specification comprising the following steps: a) obtaining natural voiced pitch and duration values for a natural voiced portion of a natural utterance; b) obtaining natural unvoiced pitch and duration values for a natural unvoiced portion of the natural utterance; c) obtaining synthetic voiced and unvoiced pitch and duration values for synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; d) aligning the natural voiced and unvoiced portion to the synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions; and e) substituting the natural voiced and unvoiced pitch and duration values for the synthetic voiced and unvoiced pitch and duration values.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
104 words
A method for intonation specification comprising the following steps: a) obtaining natural voiced pitch and duration values for a natural voiced portion of a natural utterance; b) obtaining natural unvoiced pitch and duration values for a natural unvoiced portion of the natural utterance; c) obtaining synthetic voiced and unvoiced pitch and duration values for synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; d) aligning the natural voiced and unvoiced portion to the synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions; and e) substituting the natural voiced and unvoiced pitch and duration values for the synthetic voiced and unvoiced pitch and duration values.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 15 wherein step (a) comprises using a pitch tracker to take pitch measurements of the natural utterance over n pitch periods.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the natural utterance includes multiple natural voiced portions, and step (b) comprises interpolating pitch measurements between the natural voiced portions.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 15 wherein step (c) uses a look-up to a table of a set of predetermined phonetic duration and pitch values.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 15 wherein step (d) comprises sequentially aligning alternating natural voiced and unvoiced portions to alternating synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
69 words
The method of claim 15 wherein step (d) comprises: i) varying voicing possibilities of the synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions until one or more alignments are reached between the alternating synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions and the alternating natural voiced and unvoiced portions; and ii) sequentially aligning the alternating natural voiced and unvoiced portions to the alternating synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions until a best reached alignment is achieved.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 20 wherein the best reached alignment is the alignment with a: i) lowest accumulated error between the natural voiced and unvoiced portions and the synthetic voiced and unvoiced portions; ii) fewest variable voicing possibilities actually varied; iii) fewest natural voiced portions which fall outside a predetermined duration range.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
341 words
A method for intonation specification in a synthetic speech system comprising the following steps: a) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a natural utterance; b) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; c) aligning the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance, including the steps of i) varying voicing possibilities of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance until one or more alignments are reached between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance; and ii) sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance for the best reached alignment between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance, the best reached alignment being the alignment with the i) lowest accumulated error between the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance and the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; ii) fewest voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance which fell outside a predetermined duration range; and d) substituting the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance for the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
341 words
A method for intonation specification in a synthetic speech system comprising the following steps: a) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a natural utterance; b) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; c) aligning the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance, including the steps of i) varying voicing possibilities of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance until one or more alignments are reached between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance; and ii) sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance for the best reached alignment between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance, the best reached alignment being the alignment with the i) lowest accumulated error between the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance and the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; ii) fewest voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance which fell outside a predetermined duration range; and d) substituting the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance for the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
352 words
An apparatus for intonation specification in a synthetic speech system comprising: a) means for obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a natural utterance; b) means for obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; c) means for aligning the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance, the means for aligning including i) means for varying voicing possibilities of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance until one or more alignments are reached between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance; and ii) means for sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance for the best reached alignment between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance, wherein the best reached alignment is the alignment with the i) lowest accumulated error between the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance and the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; ii) fewest voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance which fell outside a predetermined duration range; and d) means for substituting the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance for the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
352 words
An apparatus for intonation specification in a synthetic speech system comprising: a) means for obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a natural utterance; b) means for obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voicing sections of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; c) means for aligning the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance, the means for aligning including i) means for varying voicing possibilities of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance until one or more alignments are reached between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance; and ii) means for sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance for the best reached alignment between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance, wherein the best reached alignment is the alignment with the i) lowest accumulated error between the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance and the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; ii) fewest voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance which fell outside a predetermined duration range; and d) means for substituting the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance for the pitch and duration values of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
370 words
A method for intonation specification in a synthetic speech system comprising the following steps: a) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voiced portions of a natural utterance; b) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more unvoiced portions of a natural utterance; c) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voiced and one or more unvoiced portions of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; d) aligning the one or more voiced portions of the natural utterance to the one or more voiced and unvoiced portions of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance, the step of aligning including i) varying voicing possibilities of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance until one or more alignments are reached between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance; and ii) sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance for the best reached alignment between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance, the best reached alignment being the alignment with the i) lowest accumulated error between the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance and the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; ii) fewest voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance which fell outside a predetermined duration range; and e) substituting the pitch and duration values of the one or more voiced portions of the natural utterance for the pitch and duration values of the one or more voiced and unvoiced portions of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
370 words
A method for intonation specification in a synthetic speech system comprising the following steps: a) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voiced portions of a natural utterance; b) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more unvoiced portions of a natural utterance; c) obtaining a set of pitch and duration values of one or more voiced and one or more unvoiced portions of a synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; d) aligning the one or more voiced portions of the natural utterance to the one or more voiced and unvoiced portions of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance, the step of aligning including i) varying voicing possibilities of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance until one or more alignments are reached between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance; and ii) sequentially aligning alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance to alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance for the best reached alignment between sequentially voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance and alternating voiced and unvoiced types of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance, the best reached alignment being the alignment with the i) lowest accumulated error between the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance and the one or more voicing sections of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance; ii) fewest voicing possibilities actually varied; and iii) fewest of the one or more voicing sections of the natural utterance which fell outside a predetermined duration range; and e) substituting the pitch and duration values of the one or more voiced portions of the natural utterance for the pitch and duration values of the one or more voiced and unvoiced portions of the synthetic equivalent to the natural utterance.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-08-17 | 2002-02-16 | 2002-08-18 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-08-17 | 2006-02-16 | 2006-08-18 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-08-17 | 2010-02-16 | 2010-08-18 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |