IP Library Granted Patent US 8,457,968
Granted Patent B2
US 8,457,968 · App. 12/633,315 · Granted Jun 4, 2013

System and method for efficient tracking of multiple dialog states with incremental recombination

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,457,968
App. No.
12/633,315
Granted
Jun 4, 2013
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for tracking multiple dialog states. A system practicing the method receives an N-best list of speech recognition candidates, a list of current partitions, and a belief for each of the current partitions. A partition is a group of dialog states. In an outer loop, the system iterates over the N-best list of speech recognition candidates. In an inner loop, the system performs a split, update, and recombination process to generate a fixed number of partitions after each speech recognition candidate in the N-best list. The system recognizes speech based on the N-best list and the fixed number of partitions. The split process can perform all possible splits on all partitions. The update process can compute an estimated new belief. The estimated new belief can be a product of ASR reliability, user likelihood to produce this action, and an original belief.

Claims (37)

1. A method comprising:

receiving an N-best list of speech recognition candidates;

receiving a list of current partitions and a belief for each of the current partitions, wherein a partition is a group of dialog states;

in an outer loop, iterating over each of the speech recognition candidates in the N-best list;

in an inner loop, performing a split, update, and recombination process via a processor to generate a fixed number of partitions after each speech recognition candidate in the N-best list; and

recognizing speech based on the N-best list and the fixed number of partitions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the split process performs all possible splits on all partitions.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the update process computes an estimated new belief.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the estimated new belief is a product of one of a reliability of automatic speech recognition, a likelihood that a user would produce this action, and an original belief.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the estimated new belief further comprises a term which accounts for all actions not yet observed.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recombination process ignores distinctions between two partitions when recombining the two partitions.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recombination process starts with a least likely partition.

8. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored which, when executed by the processor, result in the processor performing operations comprising:

receiving an N-best list of speech recognition candidates;

receiving a list of current partitions and a belief for each of the current partitions, wherein a partition is a group of dialog states;

iterating, in an outer loop, over each of the speech recognition candidates in the N-best list;

performing, in an inner loop, a split, update, and recombination process to generate a fixed number of partitions after each speech recognition candidate in the N-best list; and

recognizing speech based on the N-best list and the fixed number of partitions.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the split process performs all possible splits on all partitions.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the update process computes an estimated new belief.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the estimated new belief is a product of one of a reliability of automatic speech recognition, a likelihood that a user would produce this action, and an original belief.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the estimated new belief further comprises a term which accounts for all actions not yet observed.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the recombination process ignores distinctions between two partitions when recombining the two partitions.

14. A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving an N-best list of speech recognition candidates;

receiving a list of current partitions and a belief for each of the current partitions, wherein a partition is a group of dialog states;

in an outer loop, iterating over each of the speech recognition candidates in the N-best list;

in an inner loop, performing a split, update, and recombination process to generate a fixed number of partitions after each speech recognition candidate in the N-best list; and

recognizing speech based on the N-best list and the fixed number of partitions.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , wherein the split process performs all possible splits on all partitions.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the update process computes an estimated new belief.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15 , wherein the estimated new belief is a product of one of a reliability of automatic speech recognition, a likelihood that a user would produce this action, and an original belief.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , wherein the estimated new belief further comprises a term which accounts for all actions not yet observed.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , wherein the recombination process ignores distinctions between two partitions when recombining the two partitions.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14 , wherein the recombination process starts with a least likely partition.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 9, 2023
From: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 065532/0152 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 26, 2017
From: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.
To: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 041504/0952 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 8, 2009
From: WILLIAMS, JASON
To: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, LP
Reel/Frame 023621/0846 →