Granted Patent B2

US 12,531,065 · App. 18/650,967 · Granted Jan 20, 2026

Inventors: Nirmalya K. De (Sunnyvale, CA); Alan R. Bugos (Westford, MA); Dale M. Smith (Marblehead, MA); Stuart R. Patterson (Hull, MA); Jonathan E. Gordon (Bearsville, NY)

Assignee: Voice Care Tech Holdings LLC

G10L15/22G10L15/30G06F3/0482G06F3/167G10L2015/223G16H40/63

Abstract

Claims (40)

1 . A voice assistance system for managing voice routine execution in a user environment, the system comprising:

at least one processor operatively connected to a memory;

at least one server system;

a plurality of voice devices, the plurality of voice devices comprising at least a speaker for communicating voice commands and a microphone for receiving voice input, wherein the plurality of voice devices are configured to enable assistance actions for respective users of the voice devices based on execution of voice routines;

wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

manage execution of a plurality of voice routines, the plurality of voice routines having associated execution times or triggers;

store primary versions of each voice routine of the plurality of routines;

store a user profile for the respective user of the voice device specifying one or more voice routines associated with a respective voice device, wherein the user profile defines the associated execution time or trigger of the one more voice routines in the user profile;

identify overlapping execution of a plurality of routines for one or more users;

generate an ordering of execution for the plurality of routines for the respective user; and

manage execution of the plurality of routines at the respective user's voice device according to the generated ordering.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute operations at respective voice devices, the server, and/or additional distributed computer resources.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

generate an execution queue for the plurality of routines having overlapping execution times or triggers.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the ordering of the execution based on a first in first out queue.

5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the ordering of the execution based on priority assignment or determination associated with the plurality of routines.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the ordering of the execution to include a secondary and subsequent ordering within respective priority assignment or determination.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the secondary and subsequent ordering based on a first in first out queue.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to communicate routines for a set time period or trigger to an in-memory database, and the in-memory database is configured to manage ordering operations on the routines and distribution of the routines to respective user devices.

9 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising routine application programming interfaces (APIs) configured to accept external generation of routines for execution at the plurality of user devices.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to assign an execution priority to the routines generated via external systems.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to automatically customize an execution time or trigger of at least one routine in a group of routines having an overlapping execution time or trigger.

12 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a routine generation interface, wherein the routine generation interface is configured to prevent selection of overlapping timing of execution.

13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

identify a currently executing routine conflicts with an upcoming routine; and

resolve the conflict based on ordering execution, delaying the upcoming routine, or rescheduling the upcoming routine.

14 . A computer implemented method for managing voice routine execution in a user environment, the method comprising:

registering, by at least one processor, a plurality of voice devices, the plurality of voice devices comprising at least a speaker for communicating voice commands and a microphone for receiving voice input, wherein the plurality of voice devices are configured to enable assistance actions for respective users of the voice devices based on execution of voice routines;

managing, by the at least one processor, execution of a plurality of voice routines, the plurality of voice routines having associated execution times or triggers;

storing, by the at least one processor, primary versions of each voice routine of the plurality of routines;

storing, by the at least one processor, a user profile for the respective user of the voice device specifying one or more voice routines associated with a respective voice device, wherein the user profile defines the associated execution time or trigger of the one more voice routines in the user profile;

identifying, by the at least one processor, overlapping execution of a plurality of routines for one or more users;

generating, by the at least one processor, an ordering of execution for the plurality of routines for the respective user; and

managing, by the at least one processor, execution of the plurality of routines at the respective user's voice device according to the generated ordering.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises executing operations at respective voice devices, the server, or additional distributed computer resources.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises generating an execution queue for the plurality of routines having overlapping execution times or triggers.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises generating the ordering of the execution based on a first in first out queue.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises generating the ordering of the execution based on priority assignment or determination associated with the plurality of routines.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises generating the ordering of the execution to include a secondary and subsequent ordering within respective priority assignment or determination.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises generating the secondary and subsequent ordering based on a first in first out queue.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (202)