US7418382B1
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Structure skeletons for efficient voice navigation through generic hierarchical objects
Assignee: Nuance Communications Inc
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Filing: 1999-10-01
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Granted: 2008-08-26
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Expires: 2019-10-01
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for providing fast and efficient conversation navigation via a hierarchical structure (structure skeleton) which fully describes functions and services supported by a dialog (conversational) system. In one aspect, a conversational system and method is provided to pre-load dialog menus and target addresses to their associated dialog managing procedures in order to handle multiple or complex modes, contexts or applications. For instance, a content server (web site) ( 106 ) can download a skeleton or tree structure ( 109 ) describing the content (page) ( 107 ) or service provided by the server ( 106 ) when the client ( 100 ) connects to the server ( 106 ). The skeleton is hidden (not spoken) to the user but the user can advance to a page of interest, or to a particular dialog service, by uttering a voice command which is recognized by the conversational system reacting appropriately (as per the user's command) using the information contained within the skeleton. The skeleton ( 109 ) provides the necessary information to allow a user to quickly browse through multiple pages, dialog components, or NLU dialog forms to find information of interest without having to follow and listen to every possible page or form leading to a desired service or conversational transaction.
Inventors
- 👤 Stephane H. Maes
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 05:12
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; G; G06; G06Q; G06Q10/00; G06Q10/40; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/90; G06F16/95; G06F16/957; G06F3/00; G06F3/16; G06F3/167; G10; G10L; G10L15/00; G10L15/22; G10L15/28; G10L15/285; H04L; H04L67/00; H04L67/01; H04L67/02; H04M1/00; H04M1/72; H04M1/724; H04M1/72403; H04M1/72445; H04M3/487; H04M3/493; H04M3/4936; H04M3/4938; G10L2015/226; G10L2015/228; H04M2201/00; H04M2201/40; H04M2201/60; H04M2203/00; H04M2203/35; H04M2203/355; H04M2250/00; H04M2250/74; H04M3/42204; H04M3/44; H04M3/4931; H04M7/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
130 words
A system for providing conversational navigations comprising: a server computing device comprising means for generating at least one hierarchical structured document, wherein the hierarchical structured document comprises a mapping of content pages that can be accessed from the server computing device or a mapping of logic of dialog services that can be accessed from the server computing device; and a client computing device comprising means for enabling user access of the content pages or dialog services of the server computing device, wherein the client computing device processes the at least one hierarchical document to activate the content pages or the logic of the dialog services within the at least one hierarchical document so as to allow the user to directly access any one of the content pages or dialog services.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
130 words
A system for providing conversational navigations comprising: a server computing device comprising means for generating at least one hierarchical structured document, wherein the hierarchical structured document comprises a mapping of content pages that can be accessed from the server computing device or a mapping of logic of dialog services that can be accessed from the server computing device; and a client computing device comprising means for enabling user access of the content pages or dialog services of the server computing device, wherein the client computing device processes the at least one hierarchical document to activate the content pages or the logic of the dialog services within the at least one hierarchical document so as to allow the user to directly access any one of the content pages or dialog services.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structured document is a skeleton comprising a tree having a plurality of nodes with each node having a target address comprising one of a URI, (uniform resource locator) and socket address to information denoted by the corresponding node.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the mapping of the logic of dialog services comprises a mapping of the logic of an underlying application and dialog of each of the dialog services.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one hierarchical structured document allows the exchange of procedural and dialog objects for providing the dialog services to the client computing device for execution of the dialog services on the client computing device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the means for generating the at least one hierarchical structured document is a spidering application.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structured document is pre-built.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structured document is hidden to the user of the client computing device.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structured document can be interrogated by the user at any time that the hierarchical structured document is active.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structured document can be interrogated by the user at the beginning of the dialog.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structured document is a dialog component.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein each node comprises a target address to at least one object.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical structured document is implemented one of procedurally and declaratively.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the hierarchical document is stored in the server computing device, the client computing device, a gateway, or a router.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
121 words
A computer readable medium encoded with computer executable program instructions, said computer executable instructions causing a computer to perform methods step comprising: generating at least one hierarchical structured document, wherein the hierarchical structured document comprises a mapping of content pages that can be accessed from a server or a mapping of logic of dialog services that can be accessed from the server; and enabling user access of the content pages or dialog services of the server by processing the at least one hierarchical document to activate the content pages or the logic of the dialog services within the at least one hierarchical document so as to allow the user to directly access any one of the content pages or dialog services.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
121 words
A computer readable medium encoded with computer executable program instructions, said computer executable instructions causing a computer to perform methods step comprising: generating at least one hierarchical structured document, wherein the hierarchical structured document comprises a mapping of content pages that can be accessed from a server or a mapping of logic of dialog services that can be accessed from the server; and enabling user access of the content pages or dialog services of the server by processing the at least one hierarchical document to activate the content pages or the logic of the dialog services within the at least one hierarchical document so as to allow the user to directly access any one of the content pages or dialog services.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein each node comprises a target address to a URL, (uniform resource locator) of a CML (conversational markup language) page associated with the node.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one hierarchical structured document is presented as a frame in a CML page.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
42 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein the client computing device is a transcoder and the hierarchical structured document is used for performing logical transcoding by the transcoder to generate one of an HTML (hypertext markup language) page and a CML page.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 17 , wherein the hierarchical structured document represents the structure of an HTML site.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
The system of claim 17 , wherein the hierarchical structured document is one of multi-modal, speech only and GUI (graphical user interface) only.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 1 , wherein each node comprises a target address to a dialog manager responsible for providing a dialog service associated with the node.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the dialog manager provides form filling based NLU (natural language understanding).
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the dialog manager provides dedicated procedures.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the dialog manager provides FSG (finite state grammars).
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the dialog manager employs mixed initiative.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the dialog manager employs machine directed dialog.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 20 , wherein the dialog manager employs user directed dialog.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2011-08-26 | 2012-02-25 | 2012-08-26 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2015-08-26 | 2016-02-25 | 2016-08-26 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2019-08-26 | 2020-02-25 | 2020-08-26 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |