Title of Invention

A METHOD OF NAVIGATION AND PRINTING USING VOICE IN MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PERIPHERAL (MFP)

Abstract

This invention, in general relates to multi function peripheral devices. Further, this invention relates to menu navigation on the MFP devices. More particularly, this invention relates to method to navigate menu on the MFP devices using voice and input text in the editable fields on a MFP. Also, this invention relates to direct printing of speech. The said method of navigation and printing using voice in MFP comprising: for navigating the MFP menu: activating the voice command mode at the MFP by the user; navigating the menu tree using voice commands; wherein for setting configuration values using voice the system uses speech to text to enter data into editable fields; for voice printing: activating the voice data mode at the MFP; converting the input text format to printable format; and printing the file.

Full Text

This invention, in general relates to multi function peripheral devices. Further, this invention relates to menu navigation on the MFP devices. More particularly, this invention relates to method to navigate menu on the MFP devices using voice and input text in the editable fields on a MFP. Also, this invention relates to direct printing of speech. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART The MFP comes with a keyboard of its own which allows user to set the different parameters in the editable fields on the MFP. The keyboard is a small one with each key having more than one function in case depending to the use scenario. Each key is assigned to a character in the language set. Some times a single key when used in conjunction with another key produces a different character. Using this limited key entry method the user today can enter data on the MFP. The user makes use of the keyboard to browse through the menu on the MFP to view and set the parameters or input text in the edit fields on the MFP. The keyboard available for input in the cases of MFP is small and so sometimes the user has to press more than a single key to produce the desired input text. The problem with the available technology is that the keyboard on the MFP has limited number of keys. Sometimes the user has to use complicated key combinations to create desired character. For e.g to type in the character 'C the user has to press the 2 key a number of times in succession to get the character. Some times the user is presented with a large list from which he has to select the desired character. The user ends up typing more character than that he would have to using a normal keyboard. The problem becomes more prominent when there are more characters than what the mobile keyboard can hold e.g. Chinese character set. With the available technology, it is difficult to input data from the available keyboard on the MFP and get this data directly printed. Limitations of the keyboard are already mentioned in above paragraphs. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The related art solutions available, as seen above, allow use of keyboard on the MFP to enter data on the MFP. The primary object of this invention is therefore to devise a method for allowing using voice to navigate menu on the MFP, to enter text into editable fields on MFP by using speech to text conversion and to device a method to allow navigation to a frequently used menu option by assigning a voice commands to do the same. This invention will also facilitate voice printing by which user can dictate the text which shall be printed directly. This invention proposes the use of speech to text technology to input information on the MFP. The invention also proposes the facility wherein the user can input part data using the keyboard and part data using the speech to text technology. The user could assign short cut voice commands for a certain menu combination to directly navigate the particular frequently used menu node. This invention also proposes the facility wherein the user can directly dictate and get the data printed. Accordingly, this invention explains a method of navigation and printing using voice in MFP comprising: for navigating the MFP menu: (a) activating the voice command mode at the MFP by the user; (b) navigating the menu tree using voice commands; wherein for setting configuration values using voice the system uses speech to text to enter data into editable fields; for voice printing: (a) activating the voice data mode at the MFP; (b) converting the input text format to printable format; and (c) printing the file. The captured voice command/data is send to a server for processing. The voice to text conversion is done at the server side. Speech to text conversion involves capturing and digitizing the sound waves, converting to basic language units or phonemes, constructing words from phonemes, and contextually analyzing the words to ensure correct spelling for words that sound alike. For speech to text conversion comprising the steps of: (a) the user speaking into the microphone; (b) capturing sound waves and generates electrical impulses by the microphone; (c) converting acoustical signal to digital signal by the sound card; and (d) converting digital signal to phonemes and then words by the speech recognition module. On pronouncing the menu options in sequence the word that is generated is compared with the available menu options on the server side while navigating the menu using voice commands. If any menu option name matches with the input word, corresponding command is sent to the MFP to set/display accordingly on the LCD panel of MFP. Once menu is selected, and if menu option requires the user to input data, the user reads out the data which the user wants to set in the particular edit field and the server convert the said data into text and send it back to MFP. By using a predefined session termination keyword indicates the end of session and the user comes out of the speech entry mode and switches to the default mode. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows inputting data on MFP using keyboard. Figure 2 shows the system flow for using speech recognition on MFP to browse menu, enter data and speech printing. Figure 3 is a flow chart for using speech to text to browse the MFP menu, set configuration values using voice and voice printing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. According to the method proposed by the present invention, the user would initially activate the speech entry - command mode. Now, on pronouncing the menu options in sequence, the MFP user will navigate to the desired menu node. The user could also assign shortcuts for the most often used menu option to directly navigate to the menu node. If the menu option requires the user to input data the user could use the conventional keyboard to do the same or just read out the data that the user wants to set in the particular edit field. For Voice Printing, the user will have to activate the speech entry - data mode. In this mode user would simply dictate the text followed by a predefined termination word. This speech will be converted into a printable format and would be eventually printed. Figure 1 shows inputting data on MFP using keyboard in prior art. LUser navigates menu using the keyboard. 2.User sets parameters on the MFP using keyboard. 3.Clicks the save option. 4.Parameters gets Saved. Figure 2 shows the system flow for using speech recognition on MFP to browse menu, enter data and speech printing. A speech to text server is used for the core conversion of speech to text. For browsing the menu options a module in the speech to text server does Voice data to menu option mapping and sends the command to display menu option. For entering a text in a selected menu option a module in the speech to text server does voice data to text conversion and inputs the text to text fields. For speech printing, a module in the speech to text server does Voice data to text data conversion in printable format and the print job is send for printing. Fig. 3 shows flow chart for using speech to text to browse the MFP menu, set configuration values using voice and voice printing. The flow chart is divided into two streams. For browsing the MFP menu and for setting configuration values using voice. 1. User goes to the MFP 2.Activates the voice command mode 3. Navigates the menu tree using voice commands 4.The system uses speech to text to enter data into editable fields 5. User selects END to end the session For voice printing LUser goes to the MFP 2.Activates the voice Data mode 3.Convert the input text format to Printable format 4. Prints the file 5. User selects END to end the session To operate/configure the MFP (command mode), the user needs to trigger the commands in the following manner. 1. Select voice entry - command mode The voice/speech entry - command mode can be selected as similar way of selecting the fax or copy mode by pressing a key on the control panel. 2. Sending the data to the server The captured voice data will be sent to the server for further processing. 3. Speech to Text conversion Speech recognition, or speech-to-text, involves capturing and digitizing the sound waves, converting them to basic language units or phonemes, constructing words from phonemes, and contextually analyzing the words to ensure correct spelling for words that sound alike (such as write and right). The high-level descriptions of the process are as below: ? The user speaks into the microphone. ? Microphone captures sound waves and generates electrical impulses. ? Sound card converts acoustical signal to digital signal. ? Speech recognition software driver converts digital signal to phonemes, then words. This Speech to Text conversion would be done at the server side to save cost on memory- 4. Navigate the menu using voice commands On pronouncing the menu options in sequence the word that is generated will be compared with the available menu options on the server side. If any menu option name matches with the input word, corresponding command would be sent to the MFP to set/display accordingly on the LCD panel. 5. Set the options by reading them out Once menu is selected, if menu option requires the user to input data, the user just reads out the data the user wants to set in the particular edit field. In this case, the server will simply convert it into text and send it back to MFP. 6. Indicate the end of session. The use of a predefined session termination keyword like "END" indicates the end of session. The user will come out of the speech entry mode and switches to the default mode. ror Voice Printing, the user needs to trigger the commands in the following nanner. 1. Select voice entry - data mode The voice/speech entry - data mode can be selected as similar way of selecting the fax or copy mode by pressing a key on the control panel. 2. Sending the data to the server The captured voice data will be sent to the server for further processing. 3. Speech to Text conversion Speech recognition, or speech-to-text, involves capturing and digitizing the sound waves, converting them to basic language units or phonemes, constructing words from phonemes, and contextually analyzing the words to ensure correct spelling for words that sound alike (such as write and right). The high-level descriptions of the process are as below: ? The user speaks into the microphone. ? Microphone captures sound waves and generates electrical impulses. ? Sound card converts acoustical signal to digital signal. ? Speech recognition software driver converts digital signal to phonemes, then words. This Speech to Text conversion would be done at the server side to save cost on memory. 4. Conversion from text to printable format On encountering the pre-defined data termination word, the converted text will be presented to the selected driver to get the printable version of the data. 5. Print The MFP would receive the printable data as an independent job from the server. MFP would process this job as any other printing job. The invented method enables a user to use voice commands for navigating the menu on the MFP device. The method allows assigning of shortcut voice commands to navigate to a particular menu option. It allows entering of data in the editable fields using voice to text conversion. It also facilitates voice printing by which user can dictate the text which shall be printed directly. It reduces the efforts of the user while using the keyboard and also reduces the cost of speech to text engine for each MFP since engine resides at the server. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted above. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a microchip, microprocessor, handheld communication device, computer, rendering device or a multi function device. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom. ^ WE CLAIM 1. A method of navigation and printing using voice in MFP comprising: for navigating the MFP menu: (a) activating the voice command mode at the MFP by the user; (b) navigating the menu tree using voice commands; wherein for setting configuration values using voice the system uses speech to text to enter data into editable fields; for voice printing: (a) activating the voice data mode at the MFP; (b) converting the input text format to printable format; and (c) printing the file. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the captured voice command/data is send to a server for processing. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the voice to text conversion is done at the server side. 4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein speech to text conversion involves capturing and digitizing the sound waves, converting to basic language units or phonemes, constructing words from phonemes, and contextually analyzing the words to ensure correct spelling for words that sound alike. 5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein for speech to text conversion comprises the steps of: (i) the user speaking into the microphone; (ii) capturing sound waves and generates electrical impulses by the microphone; (iii) converting acoustical signal to digital signal by the sound card; and (iv) converting digital signal to phonemes and then words by the speech recognition module. 6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein on pronouncing the menu options in sequence the word that is generated is compared with the available menu options on the server side while navigating the menu using voice commands. 7. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein if any menu option name matches with the input word, corresponding command is sent to the MFP to set/display accordingly on the LCD panel of MFP. 8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein once menu is selected, and if menu option requires the user to input data, the user reads out the data which the user wants to set in the particular edit field and the server convert the said data into text and send it back to MFP. 9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein by using a predefined session termination keyword indicates the end of session and the user comes out of the speech entry mode and switches to the default mode. 10. A method of navigation and printing using voice in MFP substantially described particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1889-CHE-2005 AMENDED CLAIMS 21-08-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 21-08-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 FORM-13 21-08-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 FORM-13 19-06-2006.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 21-08-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 AMENDED CLAIMS 27-06-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 AMENDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION 27-06-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 EXAMINATION REPORT REPLY RECEIVED 27-06-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 FORM-1 27-06-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 FORM-5 27-06-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT 27-06-2012.pdf

1889-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 27-06-2012.pdf

1889-che-2005-abstract.pdf

1889-che-2005-claims.pdf

1889-che-2005-correspondnece-others.pdf

1889-che-2005-correspondnece-po.pdf

1889-che-2005-description(complete).pdf

1889-che-2005-drawings.pdf

1889-che-2005-form 1.pdf

1889-che-2005-form 26.pdf

1889-che-2005-others.pdf