Patents by Inventor Douglas A. Sharp

Douglas A. Sharp has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20140257807
    Abstract: A method of providing a task assistant comprising starting to receive speech input from a user, and identifying a format associated with a destination for speech input based on a flag associated with the destination field. When the format comprises dictation, converting the speech to text, and inserting it into the destination location, and when the format comprises an intent, determining a meaning of the input, and sending a formatted query to an application. The method further comprising receiving data from the application in response to the intent and providing a response to the user through multimodal output.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2013
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: David Andrew Mauro, Robert Douglas Sharp, Richard Lajoie, Elizabeth Ann Dykstra-Erickson
  • Publication number: 20140258324
    Abstract: A method of providing a task assistant is described. The task assistant is designed to receive input from a user through multimodal input including a plurality of speech input, typing input, and touch input, determine the meaning of the input, and determining whether there is a context based on prior interactions with the user. The method further to generate an interpreted input based on a combination of the input and the context, and providing a formatted query to an application. The method further to receive data from the application in response to the formatted query, and provide a response to the user through multimodal output including a plurality of: speech output, text output, non-speech audio output, haptic output, and visual non-text output. The method further to update the context based on the interpreted input.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2013
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: David Andrew Mauro, Henri Bouvier, Elizabeth Ann Dykstra-Erickson, Simona Gandrabur, Susan Dawnstarr Daniel, Aimee Piercy, Robert Douglas Sharp
  • Publication number: 20140228530
    Abstract: An extended anionic surfactant having the general formula: RO—(PO)n—YZ wherein R is a linear alkyl chain ranging from C6 to C36, a branched alkyl chain ranging from C6 to C36, or a mixture thereof; PO is a propyleneoxy group; Y is —SO3, —CH2CH2CH2—SO3, —CH2CH(CH3)—SO3, or —CH2COO; Z is a cation; and n is 1 to 50.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2012
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Inventors: Melanie Anne Sharp, Oliver Herzog, Sebastiano Giovanni Giordano, Teresa Linville Marino, Kip Douglas Sharp
  • Patent number: 8799884
    Abstract: Generating parallelized executable code from input code includes statically analyzing the input code to determine aspects of data flow and control flow of the input code; dynamically analyzing the input code to determine additional aspects of data flow and control flow of the input code; generating an intermediate representation of the input code based at least in part on the aspects of data flow and control flow of the input code identified by the static analysis and the additional aspects of data and control flow of the input code identified by the dynamic analysis; and processing the intermediate representation to determine portions of the intermediate representation that are eligible for parallel execution; and generating parallelized executable code from the processed intermediate representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Robert Scott Dreyer, Joel Kevin Jones, Michael Douglas Sharp, Ivan Dimitrov Baev
  • Publication number: 20140007943
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure may include a partition for a fuel tank. The partition may include a sheet of material extending laterally within an interior mid-region of the fuel tank. The sheet may have a length and a width that are at least substantially equal to a length and a width of the mid-region of the fuel tank, and the sheet may be shaped to conform to an interior perimeter of the mid-region of the fuel tank. The partition may also be configured to substantially divide the fuel tank into an upper interior region located above the partition and a lower interior region located below the partition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2013
    Publication date: January 9, 2014
    Applicant: GP Strategies Corporation
    Inventors: Michael MACKEY, Douglas Sharp
  • Patent number: 8391464
    Abstract: The present invention uses natural language understanding to increase the ability of a customer service system to respond to a user's query in an automated manner. A customer service system receives a query from a user and offers the user the option of having the system contact the user at a later time with an answer. If the user accepts the offer, the customer service system processes the query offline, including providing the query to a natural language understanding interpreter. The system uses the natural language understanding interpretation to determine if the user's query is in a database of frequently-asked queries. For each query in the database of frequently-asked queries, there is a predetermined response protocol. If the user's query substantially matches a query in the database, the IVR system contacts the user with an automated response in accordance with the predetermined response protocol for the query.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert Douglas Sharp
  • Publication number: 20120259623
    Abstract: A system and method of operating an automatic speech recognition application over an Internet Protocol network is disclosed. The ASR application communicates over a packet network such as an Internet Protocol network or a wireless network. A grammar for recognizing received speech from a user over the IP network is selected from a plurality of grammars according to a user-selected application. A server receives information representing speech over the IP network, performs speech recognition using the selected grammar, and returns information based upon the recognized speech. Sub-grammars may be included within the grammar to recognize speech from sub-portions of a dialog with the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2012
    Publication date: October 11, 2012
    Applicant: AT&T Intellectual Properties II, L.P.
    Inventors: Pamela Leigh Dragosh, David Bjorn Roe, Robert Douglas Sharp
  • Patent number: 8209184
    Abstract: A system and method of operating an automatic speech recognition application over an Internet Protocol network is disclosed. The ASR application communicates over a packet network such as an Internet Protocol network or a wireless network. A grammar for recognizing received speech from a user over the IP network is selected from a plurality of grammars according to a user-selected application. A server receives information representing speech over the IP network, performs speech recognition using the selected grammar, and returns information based upon the recognized speech. Sub-grammars may be included within the grammar to recognize speech from sub-portions of a dialog with the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
    Inventors: Pamela Leigh Dragosh, David Bjorn Roe, Robert Douglas Sharp
  • Patent number: 8135379
    Abstract: A portable telecommunications system (PTS) allows mobility and rapid deployment with minimal on-site configuration. PTS systems exchange multicast packets including location and identification information. A protocol manager sets up these communications channels, manages exchanges between PTS systems, and passes the data to or from internal system nodes. The PTS system detects when another PTS system is operating in close physical proximity and automatically perform actions, such as adjustment of transmission power level, to maintain service to the user base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Telefoanktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ)
    Inventors: Sethuraman Ramachandran, Amy Derbyshire, Janardan Sethi, Douglas A. Sharp, Joseph Meagher, Mark Bailey, Mark Leifer, Mark Gibbard, Ramesh Ramiah, Raghavan Srinivasan, Mitch Cooper
  • Patent number: 8027272
    Abstract: A portable telecommunications system (PTS), and discovery and update protocol provides an ad-hoc system in which PTS systems can detect one another over a wide area network (WAN). The system may be compact in a way that allows mobility and rapid deployment with minimal on-site configuration. PTS systems exchange multicast packets and peer-to-peer data exchanges. A protocol manager sets up these communications channels, manages exchanges between PTS systems, and passes the data to or from internal system nodes. The protocol manager also performs key oversight functions such as signaling to other systems that a PTS is joining or leaving the community, keeping track of which other PTS systems are in the community and active, and determining when data needs to be updated and exchanged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ)
    Inventors: Sethuraman Ramachandran, Amy Derbyshire, Janardan Sethi, Douglas A. Sharp, Joseph Meagher, Mark Bailey, Mark Leifer, Mark Gibbard, Ramesh Ramiah, Raghavan Srinivasan, Mitch Cooper
  • Patent number: 7930182
    Abstract: A machine-implemented method of building a speech application includes generating a graphical user interface to enable a user to create and edit a speech application, and receiving user inputs directed to the graphical user interface, where the user inputs specify a set of dialog flows representing the speech application. The method further includes, based on the user inputs, automatically generating executable code representing the speech application and a functional specification document describing the speech application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Julian Sinai, James E. White, Richard B. Unger, R. Douglas Sharp, James M. Riseman, Eylon Stroh
  • Patent number: 7752036
    Abstract: Recognizing a stream of speech received as speech vectors over a lossy communications link includes constructing for a speech recognizer a series of speech vectors from packets received over a lossy packetized transmission link, wherein some of the packets associated with each speech vector are lost or corrupted during transmission. Each constructed speech vector is multi-dimensional and includes associated features. After waiting for a predetermined time, speech vectors are generated and potentially corrupted features within the speech vector are indicated to the speech recognizer when present. Speech recognition is attempted at the speech recognizer on the speech vectors when corrupted features are present. This recognition may be based only on certain or valid features within each speech vector. Retransmission of a missing or corrupted packet is requested when corrupted values are indicated by the indicating step and when the attempted recognition step fails.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
    Inventors: Richard Vandervoort Cox, Stephen Michael Marcus, Mazin G. Rahim, Nambirajan Seshadri, Robert Douglas Sharp
  • Publication number: 20100042981
    Abstract: Generating parallelized executable code from input code includes statically analyzing the input code to determine aspects of data flow and control flow of the input code; dynamically analyzing the input code to determine additional aspects of data flow and control flow of the input code; generating an intermediate representation of the input code based at least in part on the aspects of data flow and control flow of the input code identified by the static analysis and the additional aspects of data and control flow of the input code identified by the dynamic analysis; and processing the intermediate representation to determine portions of the intermediate representation that are eligible for parallel execution; and generating parallelized executable code from the processed intermediate representation
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2009
    Publication date: February 18, 2010
    Inventors: Robert Scott Dreyer, Joel Kevin Jones, Michael Douglas Sharp, Ivan Dimitrov Baev
  • Publication number: 20090262662
    Abstract: A portable telecommunications system (PTS), and discovery and update protocol provides an ad-hoc system in which PTS systems can detect one another over a wide area network (WAN). The system may be compact in a way that allows mobility and rapid deployment with minimal on-site configuration. PTS systems exchange multicast packets and peer-to-peer data exchanges. A protocol manager sets up these communications channels, manages exchanges between PTS systems, and passes the data to or from internal system nodes. The protocol manager also performs key oversight functions such as signaling to other systems that a PTS is joining or leaving the community, keeping track of which other PTS systems are in the community and active, and determining when data needs to be updated and exchanged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2008
    Publication date: October 22, 2009
    Inventors: Sethuraman Ramachandran, Amy Derbyshire, Janardan Sethi, Douglas A. Sharp, Joseph Meagher, Mark Bailey, Mark Leifer, Mark Gibbard, Ramesh Ramiah, Raghavan Srinivasan, Mitch Cooper
  • Publication number: 20090264162
    Abstract: A portable telecommunications system (PTS) allows mobility and rapid deployment with minimal on-site configuration. PTS systems exchange multicast packets including location and identification information. A protocol manager sets up these communications channels, manages exchanges between PTS systems, and passes the data to or from internal system nodes. The PTS system detects when another PTS system is operating in close physical proximity and automatically perform actions, such as adjustment of transmission power level, to maintain service to the user base.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2008
    Publication date: October 22, 2009
    Inventors: Sethuraman Ramachandran, Amy Derbyshire, Janardan Sethi, Douglas A. Sharp, Joseph Meagher, Mark Bailey, Mark Leifer, Mark Gibbard, Ramesh Ramiah, Raghavan Srinivasan, Mitch Cooper
  • Publication number: 20090112585
    Abstract: Recognizing a stream of speech received as speech vectors over a lossy communications link includes constructing for a speech recognizer a series of speech vectors from packets received over a lossy packetized transmission link, wherein some of the packets associated with each speech vector are lost or corrupted during transmission. Each constructed speech vector is multi-dimensional and includes associated features. After waiting for a predetermined time, speech vectors are generated and potentially corrupted features within the speech vector are indicated to the speech recognizer when present. Speech recognition is attempted at the speech recognizer on the speech vectors when corrupted features are present. This recognition may be based only on certain or valid features within each speech vector. Retransmission of a missing or corrupted packet is requested when corrupted values are indicated by the indicating step and when the attempted recognition step fails.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2008
    Publication date: April 30, 2009
    Applicant: AT&T Corp.
    Inventors: Richard Vandervoort Cox, Stephen Michael Marcus, Mazin G. Rahim, Nambirajan Seshadri, Robert Douglas Sharp
  • Patent number: 7496503
    Abstract: Recognizing a stream of speech received as speech vectors over a lossy communications link includes constructing for a speech recognizer a series of speech vectors from packets received over a lossy packetized transmission link, wherein some of the packets associated with each speech vector are lost or corrupted during transmission. Each constructed speech vector is multi-dimensional and includes associated features. After waiting for a predetermined time, speech vectors are generated and potentially corrupted features within the speech vector are indicated to the speech recognizer when present. Speech recognition is attempted at the speech recognizer on the speech vectors when corrupted features are present. This recognition may be based only on certain or valid features within each speech vector. Retransmission of a missing or corrupted packet is requested when corrupted values are indicated by the indicating step and when the attempted recognition step fails.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2009
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
    Inventors: Richard Vandervoort Cox, Stephen Michael Marcus, Mazin G. Rahim, Nambirajan Seshadri, Robert Douglas Sharp
  • Publication number: 20080171533
    Abstract: A gateway, system, and method for providing seamless communications to Public Safety and Security (PSS) users operating between a PSS communication network and a cellular communication network irrespective of access technology or switching method. The gateway includes a presence and identity mapping unit for mapping a PSS user identity utilized in the PSS network to a cellular user identity utilized in the cellular network. The gateway provides an interface and establishes a session between the PSS network and a PSS user operating in the cellular network utilizing the mapped cellular user identity. A transcoder converts between PSS and cellular voice coding protocols. A data gateway converts between PSS and cellular data protocols. The gateway dynamically switches between voice and data, and provides group calling, call forwarding, and message replay services across the network interface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2007
    Publication date: July 17, 2008
    Inventors: Douglas A. Sharp, Janardan Sethi
  • Publication number: 20080016792
    Abstract: An improved building structure is provided that is relatively inexpensive, easy to assemble and provides stable and sufficient shelter to inhabitants. The structure includes a plurality of support beams with each beam having an arch beam and a cross beam. The arch beam is in the form of a downward opening arch having first and second ends and defines radially inner and outer surfaces. The cross beam spans the arch and a loft may be supported on the cross beams. A skin is supported on the support beams forming the walls and ceiling for the structure. The skin engages the outer surface of the arch beam of each support beam and extends between the ends of the arch beam. End panels may be coupled to a support beam at either end of the structure to enclose the interior space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2007
    Publication date: January 24, 2008
    Inventors: Gerald Messman, Douglas Sharp
  • Patent number: 7171359
    Abstract: Recognizing a stream of speech received as speech vectors over a lossy communications link includes constructing for a speech recognizer a series of speech vectors from packets received over a lossy packetized transmission link, wherein some of the packets associated with each speech vector are lost or corrupted during transmission. Each constructed speech vector is multi-dimensional and includes associated features. Potentially corrupted features within the speech vector are indicated to the speech recognizer when present. Speech recognition is attempted at the speech recognizer on the speech vectors when corrupted features are present. This recognition may be based only on certain or valid features within each speech vector. Retransmission of a missing or corrupted packet is requested when corrupted values are indicated by the indicating step and when the attempted recognition step fails.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2007
    Assignee: AT&T Corp.
    Inventors: Richard Vandervoort Cox, Stephen Michael Marcus, Mazin G. Rahim, Nambirajan Seshadri, Robert Douglas Sharp