Closed-loop command and response system for automatic communications between interacting computer systems over an audio communications channel
View Patent ↗A system and method for enabling two computer systems to communicate over an audio communications channel, such as a voice telephony connection. Such a system includes a software application that enables a user's computer to call, interrogate, download, and manage a voicemail account stored on a telephone company's computer, without human intervention. A voicemail retrieved from the telephone company's computer can be stored in a digital format on the user's computer. In such a format, the voicemail can be readily archived, or even distributed throughout a network, such as the Internet, in a digital form, such as an email attachment. Preferably a computationally efficient audio recognition algorithm is employed by the user's computer to respond to and navigate the automated audio menu of the telephone company's computer.
1. A method for enabling two computing devices to communicate using audio signals, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing each computing device with:
(i) a plurality of known audio segments, each audio segment corresponding to a specific data token; and
(ii) a plurality of known discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), each known DFT being produced from a different one of the plurality of known audio segments;
(b) providing a first one of the computing devices with an input corresponding to a known data token;
(c) accessing the known audio segment that corresponds to the known data token that was input at the first one of the computing devices, such that the first one of the computing devices is prepared to transmit the corresponding known audio segment to the other of the computing devices via an audio communications link;
(d) transmitting the audio segment that corresponds to the known data token that was input at the first one of the computing devices to the other of the computing devices, over the audio communications link;
(e) receiving the audio segment with the other of the computing devices;
(f) with the other of the computing devices, generating a DFT for the audio segment received from the first one of the computing devices;
(g) with the other of the computing devices, comparing the DFT generated from the audio segment received with each known DFT, thereby identifying the specific audio segment sent to the other of the computing devices by the first one of the computing devices; and
(h) at the other of the computing devices, reproducing the data token that was input to the first one of the computing devices, as a function of the specific audio segment that was identified by the other of the computing devices.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of enabling the other of the computing devices to transmit a response to the computing device that transmitted the audio segment.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of known audio segments each correspond to a different letter of the alphabet, such that the letters of the alphabet are data tokens.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing a first one of the computing devices with an input further comprises the step of receiving the input from either a human or a machine.
5. A method for enabling two computing devices to communicate using audio signals, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing each computing device with a plurality of known discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), each known DFT being produced from a different specific audio signal;
(b) providing one of the computing devices with a text input;
(c) processing the text input, such that the computing device receiving the text input produces a phonetic spelling of the text input, letters comprising the phonetic spelling each having corresponding DFTs;
(d) transmitting the phonetic spelling to the other computing device as a series of audio signals, each audio signal representing the phonetic spelling of a different letter of the text input;
(e) receiving the series of audio signals with the other computing device;
(f) generating DFTs for the series of audio signals received from said one of the computing devices;
(g) with said other of the computing devices, determining specific audio signals corresponding to the DFTs that were generated, by comparing the DFTs that were generated with the known DFTs; and
(h) reproducing the text input provided to said one of the computing devices on said other of the computing devices, as a function of the specific audio signals that were determined by said other of the computing devices.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of processing the text input further comprises the step of accessing a library of predefined phonetic spellings for letters of an alphabet.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of determining specific audio signals further comprises the step of accessing a library of known DFTs.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the text input is received from either a human or a machine.
9. A system for enabling two computing devices to communicate using audio signals, comprising a plurality of computing devices, each of said plurality of computing devices including a memory in which machine instructions are stored and a processor coupled to the memory, said processors executing the machine instructions in order to carry out a plurality of functions including:
(a) encoding a textual input inquiry into a first audio communication sequence such that a phonetic spelling of the textual input inquiry is produced;
(b) establishing an audio communication connection between said plurality of computing devices;
(c) exchanging the first audio communication sequence between said plurality of the computing devices over the audio communication connection, said first audio communication sequence comprising a series of audio signals, each audio signal in the series representing the phonetic spelling of a different letter of the textual input inquiry; and
(d) recognizing the first audio communication sequence exchanged between the first and second computing devices.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to encode a textual input response into a second audio communication sequence.
11. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a library of audible recordings representing the audible equivalent of letters in an alphabet.
12. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a library of discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), wherein each discrete Fourier transform corresponds to the audible equivalent of a letter in the alphabet.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the machine instructions further comprise a recognition program, the machine instructions causing the processor to recognize the words comprising the textual input inquiry, and the words comprising the textual input response.
14. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of modems configured to enable the audio communication connection over a telephone line.
15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the machine instructions further comprise a capture text program, the machine instructions causing the processor to receive and capture either the textual input inquiry or the textual input response.
16. A memory medium on which machine readable instructions are stored, which when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to carry out a plurality of functions such that two computing devices are enabled to communicate using audio signals, said plurality of functions including:
(a) providing each computing device with:
(i) a plurality of known audio segments, each audio segment corresponding to a specific data token; and
(ii) a plurality of known discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), each known DFT being produced from a different one of the plurality of known audio segments;
(b) providing a first one of the computing devices with an input corresponding to a known data token;
(c) accessing the known audio segment that corresponds to the known data token that was input at the first one of the computing devices, such that the first one of the computing devices is prepared to transmit the corresponding known audio segment to the other of the computing devices via an audio communications link;
(d) transmitting the audio segment that corresponds to the known data token that was input at the first one of the computing devices to the other of the computing devices, over the audio communications link;
(e) receiving the audio segment with the other of the computing devices;
(f) with the other of the computing devices, generating a DFT for the audio segment received from the first one of the computing devices;
(g) with the other of the computing devices, comparing the DFT generated from the audio segment received with each known DFT, thereby identifying the specific audio segment sent to the other of the computing devices by the first one of the computing devices; and
(h) at the other of the computing devices, reproducing the data token that was input to the first one of the computing devices, as a function of the specific audio segment that was identified by the other of the computing devices.
17. A memory medium on which machine readable instructions are stored, which when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to carry out a plurality of functions such that two computing devices are enabled to communicate using audio signals, said plurality of functions including:
(a) providing each computing device with a plurality of known discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), each known DFT being produced from a different specific audio signal;
(b) providing one of the computing devices with a text input;
(c) processing the text input, such that the computing device receiving the text input produces a phonetic spelling of the text input, letters comprising the phonetic spelling each having corresponding DFTs;
(d) transmitting the phonetic spelling to the other computing device as a series of audio signals, each audio signal representing the phonetic spelling of a different letter of the text input;
(e) receiving the series of audio signals with the other computing device;
(f) generating DFTs for the series of audio signals received from said one of the computing devices;
(g) with said other of the computing devices, determining specific audio signals corresponding to the DFTs that were generated, by comparing the DFTs that were generated with the known DFTs; and
(h) reproducing the text input provided to said one of the computing devices on said other of the computing devices, as a function of the specific audio signals that were determined by said other of the computing devices.