Far-field extension for digital assistant services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018336905-A1
Application number	US-201715679108-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 16, 2017
Priority date	May 16, 2017
Publication date	Nov 22, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and processes for operating an intelligent automated assistant to provide extension of digital assistant services are provided. An example method includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors, receiving, from a first user, a first speech input representing a user request. The method further includes obtaining an identity of the first user; and in accordance with the user identity, providing a representation of the user request to at least one of a second electronic device or a third electronic device. The method further includes receiving, based on a determination of whether the second electronic device or the third electronic device, or both, is to provide the response to the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the second electronic device or the third electronic device. The method further includes providing a representation of the response to the first user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A first electronic device, comprising:
one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs stored in memory, the one or more programs including instructions for:
receiving, from a first user, a first speech input representing a user request;
obtaining an identity of the first user;
in accordance with the user identity, providing a representation of the user request to at least one of a second electronic device or a third electronic device;
receiving, based on a determination of whether the second electronic device or the third electronic device, or both, is to provide a response to the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the second electronic device or the third electronic device; and
providing a representation of the response to the first user.

2 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second electronic device is a server remotely disposed from the first electronic device; and the third electronic device is a client device disposed in the vicinity of the first electronic device.

3 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the user request comprises one or more of:
a request for information specific to the first user; a request for non-user-specific information; and a request for performing a task.

4 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein providing the representation of the user request to at least one of the second electronic device or the third electronic device comprises:
determining whether the third electronic device is communicatively coupled to the first electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is communicatively coupled to the first electronic device, providing the representation of the user request to the third electronic device and not to the second electronic device; and in accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is not communicatively coupled to the first electronic device, providing the representation of the user request to the second electronic device.

5 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein providing the representation of the user request to at least one of the second electronic device or the third electronic device comprises:
providing the representation of the user request to the second electronic device and not to the third electronic device.

6 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein providing the representation of the user request to at least one of the second electronic device or the third electronic device comprises:
providing the representation of the user request to both the second electronic device and the third electronic device.

7 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the user request is provided to the third electronic device and not to the second electronic device; and wherein receiving the response to the user request comprises:
causing the third electronic device to determine whether the third electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request; and in accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request, receiving, at the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the third electronic device.

8 . The first electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:
in accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is incapable of providing the response to the user request, forwarding, by the third electronic device, the representation of the user request to the second electronic device; and receiving, at the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the second electronic device.

9 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the user request is provided to the second electronic device and not to the third electronic device, and wherein receiving the response to the user request comprises:
causing the second electronic device to determine whether the second electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request; and in accordance with a determination that the second electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request, receiving, at the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the second electronic device.

10 . The first electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:
in accordance with a determination that the second electronic device is incapable of providing the response to the user request, forwarding, by the second electronic device, the representation of the user request to the third electronic device; and receiving, at the first electronic device, the response to the user request.

11 . The first electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the first electronic device receives the response to the user request from the third electronic device.

12 . The first electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the first electronic device receives the response to the user request from the second electronic device based on a response provided by the third electronic device to the second electronic device.

13 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the user request is provided from the first electronic device to both the second electronic device and the third electronic device, and wherein receiving the response to the user request comprises at least one of:
causing the second electronic device to determine whether the second electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request; and causing the third electronic device to determine whether the third electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request.

14 . The first electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:
in accordance with a determination that the second electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request, and that the third electronic device is incapable of providing the response to the user request, receiving, at the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the second electronic device.

15 . The first electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:
in accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is capable of providing the response to the user request, and that the second electronic device is incapable of providing the response to the user request, receiving, at the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the third electronic device.

16 . The first electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:
in accordance with a determination that both the second electronic device and the third electronic device are capable of providing the response to the user request, receiving, at the first electronic device, the response to the user request from the second electronic device or the third electronic device based on a predetermined condition.

17 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein providing the representation of the response to the first user comprises:
providing, at the first electronic device, a speech output including information in response to the user request.

18 . The first electronic device of claim 1 , wherein providing t

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Kim Yoon
• Srisuwananukorn Charles
• Carson David A
• Gruber Thomas R
• Binder Justin G

Classifications

• G06F3/167 Primary

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G10L15/20 Primary

  Speech recognition techniques specially adapted for robustness in adverse environments, e.g. in noise, of stress induced speech (G10L21/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G10L15/26

  Speech to text systems (G10L15/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G10L15/187

  Phonemic context, e.g. pronunciation rules, phonotactical constraints or phoneme n-grams · CPC title

• G10L15/16

  using artificial neural networks · CPC title