Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Microsoft Corporation

Steven P Masters

Eric Neil Lockard

William Hong Vong

Sarah E Zuberec

Benjamin N Rabelos

Bob McKenzie

Hang Li

Robert Gallup

Craig Cyr

Lisa Matheson

William Vong

A discrete speech recognition system has a default grammar with keywords and non-keywords. Upon detecting a non-keyword, the speech recognition system performs the function associated with the detected word. Upon detecting a keyword in the default grammar, the speech recognition system temporarily expands its active grammar list from the default grammar to a ballooned grammar that includes both the words in the default grammar and the additional words triggered by detection of the keyword. In this manner, the operator still has the option to select a word from the original grammar, or choose a word from the additional second-tier list. The ballooned grammar remains active until the operator makes a new selection. The speech recognition system then returns to the default grammar.

Discrete speech recognition system with ballooning active grammar

A speech recognition system has an operator interface that helps a user navigate new or changing grammars. The speech recognition system includes an application, a vocabulary that holds a set of utterances applicable to the application, and an active grammar that holds a subset of the utterances in the vocabulary. The active grammar includes a help command as well as other options. The speech recognition system has a speech recognition engine to recognize the utterances in the active grammar, including the help command. When the help command is detected, the operator interface verbally enunciates the utterances in the grammar so that the user can hear the available options in a hands-free, eyes-off operating environment. In this way, any time the user does not know or forgets the available options, he/she simply speaks the help command, such as asking &ldquo;What can I say.&rdquo; The system responds verbally with a list of currently available words and/or phrases in the active grammar.

Speech recognition system with changing grammars and grammar help command

An automobile computer system having a computer that runs an open platform operating system configured to support multiple applications, including applications that can be installed by a user. The system includes an operator interface that is mountable for viewing by an operator of an automobile. A plurality of application icons are scrollable across the visual operator interface by a user. The application icons correspond to applications supported by the operating system. The operator interface has a fixed focus position, wherein any application icon that is scrolled to the fixed focus position becomes focused and can be activated to select the application corresponding to the focused application icon. In some cases, icons are activated by leaving them focused for a predetermined timeout period. The system also includes a visual control that is available to application programs. The control includes any specified combination of items of the following types: (a) an edit item having a variable that is editable in response to a user select command; (b) an adjustable item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands; (c) a selection item that opens a secondary control in response to a user select command; and (d) a combination item having a variable that is changeable through a series of predefined values in response to user adjustment commands, the combination item opening a secondary control in response to a user selection command.

Graphical interface components for in-dash automotive accessories

In an electronic messaging system which has multiple sites, and in which each site is defined by a unique address space and has connectivity to at least one other site, messages are sent by receiving at a first site message routing information from a second site. The message routing information defines routes from the second site to one or more of the plurality of sites. The received message routing information is assimilated into previously known routing information to generate an updated accumulation of routing information. The updated accumulation of routing information is used to route messages to one or more of the plurality of sites. The updated accumulation of routing information may be replicated to still other sites in the messaging system, which in turn assimilate the information into their respective collections of known routing information. This process of receiving, assimilating and replicating may be repeated until each of the sites has substantially the same updated accumulation of routing information.

Method of automatic updating and use of routing information by

Message traffic is balanced between a plurality of alternative message routes connecting a plurality sites in an electronic messaging system by assigning a cost to each potential message route between the plurality of sites. The cost defines a desired relative frequency of usage for the corresponding message route. A weight is calculated for each potential message route based on its assigned cost of connecting one site to another site. A message route between the one site and the other site is chosen based on the collective calculated weights and a message is transmitted over the chosen message route from one site to the other site.

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Kent, WA, United States of America

Steven P Masters