Methods and apparatus for post-processing speech recognition results of received radio voice messages onboard an aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10157616-B2
Application number	US-201615382939-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2016
Priority date	Dec 19, 2016
Publication date	Dec 18, 2018
Grant date	Dec 18, 2018

Abstract

A method for displaying received radio voice messages onboard an aircraft is provided. The method post-processes, by at least one processor onboard the aircraft, a set of speech recognition (SR) hypothetical data to increase accuracy of an associated SR system, by: obtaining, by the at least one processor, secondary source data from a plurality of secondary sources; comparing, by the at least one processor, the set of SR hypothetical data to the secondary source data; and identifying, by the at least one processor, an aircraft tail number using the set of SR hypothetical data and the secondary source data; identifies, by the at least one processor, a subset of the received radio voice messages including the tail number; and presents, via a display device onboard the aircraft, the subset using distinguishing visual characteristics.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for displaying received radio voice messages onboard an aircraft, the method comprising:
receiving, via a radio onboard the aircraft, a plurality of ground control messages comprising speech data; and
processing the speech data using a speech recognition (SR) device onboard the aircraft, to generate SR results, by at least one processor onboard the aircraft;
comparing a set of SR hypothetical data to stored identifying information associated with the aircraft, the set of SR hypothetical data comprising the SR results for the plurality of ground control messages received onboard the aircraft;
determining a confidence level associated with accuracy of the set of SR hypothetical data;
when the confidence level is not greater than a predetermined threshold,
determining that one of the plurality of ground control messages comprises a received radio communication including a partial identifier for the aircraft; and
post-processing the set of speech recognition (SR) hypothetical data to increase accuracy of the SR device, by the at least one processor, wherein the post-processing is performed by:
obtaining, by the at least one processor, secondary source data from a plurality of secondary sources, wherein the secondary source data comprises at least one of airline databases including an airline code mapped to a corresponding airline name, Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI) derived historic data, a regulatory registration database, a manufacturer database, ASDI real-time data feeds to the aircraft, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data received by the aircraft, Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) data, Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) data, Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) data, and Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) data;
comparing the set of SR hypothetical data including the partial identifier to a plurality of aircraft identifiers found in the secondary source data, by the at least one processor;
identifying, by the at least one processor, one of the plurality of aircraft identifiers using the set of SR hypothetical data and the secondary source data;
determining that the set of SR hypothetical data including the partial identifier indicates the aircraft, by the at least one processor; and
correcting the set of SR hypothetical data corrects the set of SR hypothetical data including the partial identifier, based on the secondary source data, to generate a corrected set of SR hypothetical data;

presenting transcriptions of the plurality of ground control messages received onboard the aircraft, wherein the plurality of ground control messages are directed to a set of aircraft including at least the aircraft;
identifying, by the at least one processor, a subset of the plurality of ground control messages including the one of the plurality of aircraft identifiers that indicates the aircraft; and
presenting, via a display device onboard the aircraft, the subset using distinguishing visual characteristics, such that the subset of the plurality of ground control messages applicable to the aircraft are visually distinguishable from a remainder of the plurality of ground control messages directed to other aircraft of the set of aircraft.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
establishing, via a wireless communication device, a communication connection to a server, wherein the plurality of secondary sources comprises the server; and
obtaining the secondary source data via the communication connection.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the server stores at least one database including the secondary source data; and
wherein the at least one database comprises at least one of an airline database, registration database, a manufacturer database, and an aircraft situation display to industry (ASDI) historical database.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of secondary sources comprises at least an aircraft onboard transponder;
wherein the method further comprises obtaining current aircraft traffic information via the aircraft transponder; and
wherein the secondary source data comprises the current aircraft traffic information.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the aircraft transponder comprises an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) device.

6. A system for displaying radio voice messages received onboard an aircraft, the system comprising:
system memory;
an aircraft onboard radio, configured to receive the radio voice messages onboard the aircraft;
a display device, configured to present transcriptions of the radio voice messages received onboard the aircraft; and
at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the system memory, the aircraft onboard radio, and the display device, the at least one processor configured to:
receive a plurality of ground control messages comprising speech data via the aircraft onboard radio, wherein the radio voice messages comprise the plurality of ground control messages;
process the speech data using a speech recognition (SR) device onboard the aircraft, to generate SR results;
compare a set of SR hypothetical data to stored identifying information associated with the aircraft, the set of SR hypothetical data comprising the SR results for the plurality of ground control messages received onboard the aircraft;
determine a confidence level associated with accuracy of the set of SR hypothetical data;
when the confidence level is not greater than a predetermined threshold,
determine that one of the plurality of ground control messages comprises a received radio communication including a partial identifier for the aircraft; and
perform post-processing for the set of speech recognition (SR) hypothetical data to increase accuracy of the SR device, by:
obtaining secondary source data from a plurality of secondary sources, wherein the secondary source data comprises at least one of airline databases including an airline code mapped to a corresponding airline name, Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI) derived historic data, a regulatory registration database, a manufacturer database, ASDI real-time data feeds to the aircraft, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data received by the aircraft, Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) data, Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) data, Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) data, and Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) data;
comparing the set of SR hypothetical data including the partial identifier to a plurality of aircraft identifiers found in the secondary source data;
identifying one of the plurality of aircraft identifiers using the set of SR hypothetical data and the secondary source data;
determining that the set of SR hypothetical data including the partial identifier indicates the aircraft; and
correcting the set of SR hypothetical data including the partial identifier, based on the secondary source data, to generate a corrected set of SR hypothetical data;

present transcriptions of the plurality of ground control messages received onboard the aircraft, wherein the plurality of ground control messages are directed to a set of aircraft including at least the aircraft;
identify a subset of the plurality of ground control messages including the one of the plurality of aircraft identifiers that indicates the aircraft; and
initiate presentation, via the display device, of the subset using distinguishing visual characteristics, such that the subset of the plurality of ground control messages applicable to the aircraft are visually distinguishable from a remainder of the plurality of ground control messages directed to other aircraft of the set of aircraft.

7. The system of claim

Assignees

• Honeywell Int Inc

Inventors

• Agarwal Jitender Kumar
• Paulraj Vasantha Selvi
• Krishna Kiran Gopala
• Garg Chaya
• Burgin Roger W
• De Mers Robert E

Classifications

• G10L15/01

  Assessment or evaluation of speech recognition systems · CPC title

• G10L25/69

  for evaluating synthetic or decoded voice signals · CPC title

• G08G5/0021

  Physics · mapped topic

• G10L15/22

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title

• G08G5/0013

  Physics · mapped topic