Patents Examined by Shaun Roberts
  • Patent number: 10140991
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for performing speaker identification. In some implementations, data identifying a media item including speech of a speaker is received. Based on the received data, one or more other media items that include speech of the speaker are identified. One or more search results are generated that each reference a respective media item of the one or more other media items that include speech of the speaker. The one or more search results are provided for display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Matthew Sharifi, Ignacio Lopez Moreno, Ludwig Schmidt
  • Patent number: 10133725
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for a server learning new words generated by user client devices in a crowdsourced manner while maintaining local differential privacy of client devices. A client device can determine that a word typed on the client device is a new word that is not contained in a dictionary or asset catalog on the client device. New words can be grouped in classifications such as entertainment, health, finance, etc. A differential privacy system on the client device can comprise a privacy budget for each classification of new words. If there is privacy budget available for the classification, then one or more new terms in a classification can be sent to new term learning server, and the privacy budget for the classification reduced. The privacy budget can be periodically replenished.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Abhradeep Guha Thakurta, Andrew H. Vyrros, Umesh S. Vaishampayan, Gaurav Kapoor, Julien Freudiger, Vivek Rangarajan Sridhar, Doug Davidson
  • Patent number: 10134404
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating a decoded two-channel signal includes: an audio processor for decoding an encoded two-channel signal to obtain a first set of first spectral portions; a parametric decoder for providing parametric data for a second set of second spectral portions and a two-channel identification identifying either a first or a second different two-channel representation for the second spectral portions; and a frequency regenerator for regenerating a second spectral portion depending on a first spectral portion of the first set of first spectral portions, the parametric data for the second portion and the two-channel identification for the second portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Sascha Disch, Frederik Nagel, Ralf Geiger, Balaji Nagendran Thoshkahna, Konstantin Schmidt, Stefan Bayer, Christian Neukam, Bernd Edler, Christian Helmrich
  • Patent number: 10120862
    Abstract: A method, computer system, and computer program product for accessing documents is provided. The method includes providing a document having one or more original time references having corresponding meanings depending on one or more time bases, identifying the original time references in the document, generating corresponding time artifacts for the original time references, the time artifacts including corresponding time values being calculated from the corresponding original time references according to the time bases and/or corresponding calculation instructions for calculating the corresponding time values from the corresponding original time references according to the time bases, and associating the corresponding time artifacts with the original time references for outputting the corresponding time values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alessandro Baroni, Emanuela Fionchetti, Alessandro Ghezzi, Antonio M. Sgro, Marta Usai
  • Patent number: 10109296
    Abstract: The present document relates to audio source coding systems which make use of a harmonic transposition method for high frequency reconstruction (HFR), as well as to digital effect processors, e.g. exciters, where generation of harmonic distortion add brightness to the processed signal, and to time stretchers where a signal duration is prolonged with maintained spectral content. A system and method configured to generate a time stretched and/or frequency transposed signal from an input signal is described. The system comprises an analysis filterbank configured to provide an analysis subband signal from the input signal; wherein the analysis subband signal comprises a plurality of complex valued analysis samples, each having a phase and a magnitude. Furthermore, the system comprises a subband processing unit configured to determine a synthesis subband signal from the analysis subband signal using a subband transposition factor Q and a subband stretch factor S.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Dolby International AB
    Inventor: Lars Villemoes
  • Patent number: 10102862
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a decoding method and a decoding apparatus. The decoding method includes: in a case in which it is determined that a current frame is a lost frame, synthesizing a high frequency band signal; determining subframe gains of multiple subframes of the current frame; determining a global gain of the current frame; and adjusting, according to the global gain and the subframe gains of the multiple subframes, the synthesized high frequency band signal to obtain a high frequency band signal of the current frame. A subframe gain of the current frame is obtained according to a gradient between subframe gains of subframes previous to the current frame, so that transition before and after frame loss is more continuous, thereby reducing noise during signal reconstruction, and improving speech quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Bin Wang, Lei Miao, Zexin Liu
  • Patent number: 10102201
    Abstract: The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for a natural language module store. In general, the invention can be used to manage natural language modules offered through a natural language module store. Natural language module (NLM) developers can post NLMs at a NLM store to make the NLMs available for use by others. Developers can select NLMs for inclusion in natural language interpreters (NLIs) containing (and possibly integrating the functionality of) one or more NLMs. Prior to selecting a NLM, a developer can search or browse NLMs to identify an appropriate NLM. Optionally, a developer can test a NLM in the NLM store prior to inclusion in an NLI. For example, multiple NLMs purporting to provide the same specified natural language functionality can be tested relative to one another prior to selection of one of the NLMs for inclusion in an NLI.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: SoundHound, Inc.
    Inventors: Keyvan Mohajer, Kamyar Mohajer, Bernard Mont-Reynaud, Pranav Singh
  • Patent number: 10074373
    Abstract: A method of wireless communication includes receiving, at a first device, a reference channel and a target channel. The reference channel includes a set of reference samples, and target channel includes a set of target samples. The method also includes determining a variation between a first mismatch value and a second mismatch value. The method also includes adjusting the set of target samples based on the variation to generate an adjusted set of target samples. The method further includes generating at least one encoded channel based on the set of reference samples and the adjusted set of target samples. The method also includes transmitting the at least one encoded channel to a second device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Venkatraman Atti, Venkata Subrahmanyam Chandra Sekhar Chebiyyam, Daniel Jared Sinder
  • Patent number: 10074371
    Abstract: A system configured to enable remote control to allow a first user to provide assistance to a second user. The system may receive a command from the second user granting remote control to the first user, enabling the first user to initiate a voice command on behalf of the second user. In some examples, the system may enable the remote control by treating a voice command originating from the first user as though it originated from the second user instead. For example, the system may receive the voice command from a first device associated with the first user but may route the voice command as though it was received by a second device associated with the second user. To enable this functionality, during a remote control session the first device may disable wakeword detection so that the voice command is correctly routed to the second device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Peng Wang, Pathivada Rajsekhar Naidu
  • Patent number: 10068578
    Abstract: A method for recovering lost frame in a media bitstream is provided. When a frame loss event occurs, a decoder obtains a synthesized high frequency band signal of a current lost frame, and recovery information related to the current lost frame. The decoder determines a global gain gradient of the current lost frame, and further determines a global gain of the current lost frame according to the global gain gradient and a global gain of each frame in previous M frames of the current lost frame. A high frequency band signal of the current lost frame is obtained by adjusting the synthesized high frequency band signal of the current lost frame according to the global gain and a subframe gain of the current lost frame. The process enables natural and smooth transitions of the high frequency band signal between the frames, and attenuates noises in the high frequency band signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Bin Wang, Lei Miao, Zexin Liu
  • Patent number: 10062222
    Abstract: A system and method of analyzing content of multilingual vehicle diagnostic records includes: determining a word window within a vehicle diagnostic record; identifying a pair or a tuple comprising parts, symptoms, or actions; generating a plurality of pairs or tuples comprising parts, symptoms, or actions; determining a frequency value for each pair or tuple; and comparing the determined frequency value with a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Dnyanesh G. Rajpathak, Soumen De
  • Patent number: 10032460
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present application proposes a frequency envelope vector quantization method and apparatus, where the method includes: dividing N frequency envelopes in one frame into N1 vectors; quantizing a first vector in the N1 vectors by using a first codebook, to obtain a code word corresponding to the quantized first vector, where the first codebook is divided into 2B1 portions; determining, according to the code word corresponding to the quantized first vector; determining a second codebook according to the codebook of the ith portion; and quantizing a second vector in the N1 vectors based on the second codebook. In the embodiments of the present application, vector quantization can be performed on frequency envelope vectors by using a codebook with a smaller quantity of bits. Therefore, complexity of vector quantization can be reduced, and an effect of vector quantization can also be ensured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chen Hu, Lei Miao, Zexin Liu
  • Patent number: 10002612
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, computer-implemented methods, and tangible computer-readable storage media for captioning a media presentation. The method includes receiving automatic speech recognition (ASR) output from a media presentation and a transcription of the media presentation. The method includes selecting via a processor a pair of anchor words in the media presentation based on the ASR output and transcription and generating captions by aligning the transcription with the ASR output between the selected pair of anchor words. The transcription can be human-generated. Selecting pairs of anchor words can be based on a similarity threshold between the ASR output and the transcription. In one variation, commonly used words on a stop list are ineligible as anchor words. The method includes outputting the media presentation with the generated captions. The presentation can be a recording of a live event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
    Inventors: Yeon-Jun Kim, David C. Gibbon, Horst J. Schroeter
  • Patent number: 10002621
    Abstract: Apparatus for decoding an encoded audio signal including an encoded core signal, including: a core decoder for decoding the encoded core signal to obtain a decoded core signal; a tile generator for generating one or more spectral tiles having frequencies not included in the decoded core signal using a spectral portion of the decoded core signal; and a cross-over filter for spectrally cross-over filtering the decoded core signal and a first frequency tile having frequencies extending from a gap filling frequency to an upper border frequency or for spectrally cross-over filtering a first frequency tile and a second frequency tile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Sascha Disch, Ralf Geiger, Christian Helmrich, Frederik Nagel, Christian Neukam, Konstantin Schmidt, Michael Fischer
  • Patent number: 9947330
    Abstract: An improved concept for coding sample values of a spectral envelope is obtained by combining spectrotemporal prediction on the one hand and context-based entropy coding the residuals, on the other hand, while particularly determining the context for a current sample value dependent on a measure of a deviation between a pair of already coded/decoded sample values of the spectral envelope in a spectrotemporal neighborhood of the current sample value. The combination of the spectrotemporal prediction on the one hand and the context-based entropy coding of the prediction residuals with selecting the context depending on the deviation measure on the other hand harmonizes with the nature of spectral envelopes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Florin Ghido, Andreas Niedermeier
  • Patent number: 9940930
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for securing audio data. In one aspect, a method includes restricting access by the device to audio information detected by a microphone, receiving data indicating that the device is authorized to access audio information detected by the microphone during a limited period of time, and in response to receiving data indicating that the device is authorized to access audio information detected by the microphone during the limited period of time, providing audio information to the device. The method also includes monitoring audio information detected by the microphone during the limited period of time for the presence of a hotword and after the end of the limited period of time, restricting access by the device to audio information detected by the microphone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Inventors: Lee Campbell, Samuel Kramer Beder
  • Patent number: 9928231
    Abstract: Topics are determined for short text messages using an unsupervised topic model. In a training corpus created from a number of short text messages, a vocabulary of words is identified, and for each word a distributed vector representation is obtained by processing windows of the corpus having a fixed length. The corpus is modeled as a Gaussian mixture model in which Gaussian components represent topics. To determine a topic of a sample short text message, a posterior distribution over the corpus topics is obtained using the Gaussian mixture model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.
    Inventor: Vivek Kumar Rangarajan Sridhar
  • Patent number: 9922027
    Abstract: Approaches presented herein enable assignment of translated work to an agent in a customer support environment based on a confidence factor that measures accuracy of translation and an agent's language skill. Specifically, agent proficiencies in a set of natural languages are measured and scored. An incoming customer communication is translated into one or more natural languages and each language translation is assigned a translation score based on a confidence of translation. The skill score and translation score are utilized to calculate a confidence factor for each language. In one approach, the customer communication is assigned to an agent that has a confidence factor greater than a predetermined threshold confidence factor. In another approach, the communication is only assigned if a rule optimizing agent availability and risk of constrained resources is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gary R. Brophy, Dennis D. Koski, Todd A. Mueller, Jeffrey A. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9916829
    Abstract: A user seeking information relevant to the purchase of a home improvement product or other product submits a query to an automated system. The system transforms the user's voice query into a text statement and searches a knowledge base for candidate responses. Quality scores for the candidate responses are determined. If no candidate response having at least a minimum quality score is identified, the query is sent to a second device associated with an agent. The agent response is provided to the user and stored in the knowledge base for future use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: Home Depot Product Authority, LLC
    Inventors: Ian O'Neal Beckford, Michael L. Guhl, Anees Haidri, Kevin James Scholz, Paul Sterk
  • Patent number: 9905219
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a speech synthesis apparatus is provided with generation, normalization, interpolation and synthesis units. The generation unit generates a first parameter using a prosodic control dictionary of a target speaker and one or more second parameters using a prosodic control dictionary of one or more standard speakers based on language information for an input text. The normalization unit normalizes the one or more second parameters based a normalization parameter. The interpolation unit interpolates the first parameter and the one or more normalized second parameters based on weight information to generate a third parameter and the synthesis unit generates synthesized speech using the third parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kentaro Tachibana, Takehiko Kagoshima, Masahiro Morita