Response endpoint selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023141659-A1
Application number	US-202318149127-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 2, 2023
Priority date	Dec 14, 2012
Publication date	May 11, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A computing system has multiple endpoint computing devices in local environments to receive verbal requests from various users and a central or remote system to process the requests. The remote system generates responses and uses a variety of techniques to determine where and when to return responses audibly to the users. For each request, the remote system understands who is making the request, determines when to provide the response to the user, ascertains where the user is when it is time to deliver the response, discovers which of the endpoint devices are available to deliver the response, and evaluates which of the available devices is best to deliver the response. The system then delivers the response to the best endpoint device for audible emission or other form of presentation to the user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
determining that a message is to be provided to a first user, wherein the first user is associated with at least a first device and a second device; receiving first data corresponding to at least one audio characteristic of a first environment of the first device; and based at least in part on the first data, causing output data corresponding to the message to be sent to the second device.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the output data comprises output audio data configured to cause the second device to output audio corresponding to the message.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving input audio data; wherein determining that the message is to be sent to the first user is based at least in part on the input audio data.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based at least in part on the first data, refraining from causing the output data to be sent to the first device.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises a signal-to-noise ratio for the first environment.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises a background audio volume of the first environment.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises echo characteristics of the first environment.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises Doppler characteristics of the first environment.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving third data corresponding to a location of the first user; wherein causing the output data to be sent to the first device is based further at least in part on the third data.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving second data corresponding to the at least one audio characteristic of a second environment of the second device; wherein causing the output data to be sent to the second device is further based at least in part on the second data.

11 . A system comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one computer-readable medium encoded with instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
determine that a message is to be provided to a first user, wherein the first user is associated with at least a first device and a second device;
receive first data corresponding to at least one audio characteristic of a first environment of the first device; and
cause output data corresponding to the message to be sent to the second device based at least in part on the first data.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one computer-readable medium is further encoded with additional instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to:
configure the output data to cause the second device to output audio corresponding to the message.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one computer-readable medium is further encoded with additional instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to:
receive input audio data; and determine that the message is to be sent to the first user based at least in part on the input audio data.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one computer-readable medium is further encoded with additional instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to:
based at least in part on the first data, refrain from causing the output data to be sent to the first device.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises a signal-to-noise ratio for the first environment.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises a background audio volume of the first environment.

17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises echo characteristics of the first environment.

18 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one audio characteristic of the first environment comprises Doppler characteristics of the first environment.

19 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one computer-readable medium is further encoded with additional instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to:
receive third data corresponding to a location of the first user; and cause the output data to be sent to the first device based further at least in part on the third data.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one computer-readable medium is further encoded with additional instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to:
receive second data corresponding to the at least one audio characteristic of a second environment of the second device; and cause the output data to be sent to the second device further based at least in part on the second data.

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Blanksteen Scott Ian

Classifications

• H04L51/10

  Multimedia information · CPC title

• H04L67/535

  Tracking the activity of the user (network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34) · CPC title

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• H04W4/33

  for indoor environments, e.g. buildings · CPC title

• H04L67/14

  Session management (for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066) · CPC title