Speech Recognition Method for Selecting a Combination of List Elements via a Speech Input

A computer program product having computer code on a tangible computer-readable storage medium for selecting a combination of list elements via a speech input, wherein a first list element of the combination is part of a first set of list elements and a second list element of the combination is part of a second set of list elements, the computer code comprising:

• computer code for receiving at a processor the speech input;
• computer code for comparing within the processor each list element of the first set of list elements with the speech input to obtain a first candidate list of best matching list elements;
• computer code for processing the second set of list elements using the first candidate list to obtain a subset of the second set of list elements;
• computer code for comparing each list element of the subset of the second set of list elements with the speech input to obtain a second candidate list of best matching list elements;
• and
• computer code for selecting a combination of list elements using the first and the second candidate lists;
• wherein the computer code for selecting a combination of list elements comprises:
• computer code for determining combinations of a list element of the first candidate list with a related list element of the second candidate list;
• computer code for scoring each determined combination by combining the score of the list element of the first candidate list and the score of the related list element of the second candidate list;
• and
• computer code for determining a result list wherein the result list comprises best matching combinations of a list element of the first set of list elements and a list element of the second set of list elements.

An apparatus for speech recognition for automatically selecting a combination of list elements via a speech input, wherein a first list element of the combination is part of a first set of list elements and a second list element of the combination is part of a second set of list elements, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiving module for receiving the speech input;
• a first comparison module for comparing list elements of the first set of list elements with the speech input to form a first candidate list;
• a processing module for processing the second set of list elements using the first candidate list to produce a subset of the second set of list elements;
• a second comparison module for comparing list elements of the subset of the second set with the speech input to form a second candidate list;
• and
• a selection module for selecting a combination of list elements wherein selecting a combination of list elements requires:
• determining combinations of a list element of the first candidate list with a related list element of the second candidate list;
• scoring each determined combination by combining the score of the list element of the first candidate list and the score of the related list element of the second candidate list;
• and
• determining a result list wherein the result list comprises best matching combinations of a list element of the first set of list elements and a list element of the second set of list elements.