System and apparatus for dynamically generating audible notices from an information network

Abstract

An apparatus and method for converting information from a text format to an audio format using distributed processing. A first set of computer readable program instructions receive information from a data source, convert the information from the text format to an intermediate format, and transmit the information in the intermediate format to a second data processor. A second set of program instructions, executable on the second data processor, are also included to convert the information from the intermediate format to the audio format. The first set of program instructions are executed on a remote, or server side, data processor, while the second set of program instructions are executed on a client side data processor. The first set of program instructions expand the information in the text format into phonemes using a grapheme to phoneme dictionary. The second set of program instructions convert the phonemes to audio output signals.

Description

[0001]This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09 / 409,000, filed Sep. 29, 1999, entitled “System and Apparatus For Dynamically Generating Audible Notices From An Information Network.”BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates generally to devices for browsing information on an information network. More specifically, this invention relates to an apparatus and system for receiving personalized information from an information network in audio format using distributed text-to-speech processing.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]A number of different information networks are available that allow access to information contained on their computers, with the Internet being one that is generally known to the public. The capabilities, usefulness, and amount of information available from information networks are ever-increasing. Further, users often subscribe to one or more information services that are accessible via an infor...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021]Each embodiment of the present invention distributes the text to speech processing so that multiple users can take advantage of resources requiring a large amount of storage space from a remote, centralized processor, such as a network server. Intermediate processing of the information is performed at the remote processor to take advantage of the centralized resources, thus reducing the amount of data transfer from the remote processor to the client processor. The information, in intermediate format, is then transferred to the client processor, where it is converted to audio output signals. This feature also advantageously reduces data transfer requirements, since audio output format typically requires a large amount of data storage compared to the intermediate format.

Problems solved by technology

Still further, a user often has to sift through a lot of information that is of no interest to them, thereby consuming more time than necessary.

Another drawback to current capabilities is that the user typically is not informed immediately when information of interest becomes available, but rather, must enter commands to browse the information sources, and therefore may not receive information of interest as soon as it is available.

In the prior art, systems are available to provide information requested from an information network in aural format, however, these systems require interaction with the user and do not provide the information that the user has indicated an interest in automatically as the information becomes available.

Further, converting the phonemes to an audio signal generates a large amount of data, and transferring the data in audio format requires a large amount of bandwidth.

TTS processing functions are computationally intensive and some tasks require a large amount of storage space and bandwidth for data transfer.

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