On demand TTS vocabulary for a telematics system

A method for use in a driving directions system capable of accessing a database comprising a storage memory storing a plurality of geographic names, wherein each of the plurality of geographic names is associated with at least one stored prerecorded spoken utterance of the associated geographic name, and wherein at least some of the plurality of geographic names are associated with a plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances of the associated geographic name each pronounced according to a respective speech style of a particular region and/or pronounced in a particular language associated with the particular region, the method comprising acts of:

• determining a location of the driving directions system;
• identifying geographic names and the associated prerecorded spoken utterances associated with a route from a starting location to a destination location, the geographic names and associated prerecorded spoken utterances forming a first set;
• successively storing subsets of the geographic names and the associated spoken utterances in a run-time memory by retrieving from the database only a subset of the geographic names and the associated spoken utterances from the first set that are within a predetermined distance from a current location of the driving directions system and storing the subset in the run-time memory;
• periodically retrieving successive subsets from the remote database as the location of the driving directions system changes along the route and storing the successive subsets in the run-time memory;
• overwriting the geographic names and the associated spoken utterances that become out of range as the location changes with portions of the next successive subset;
• identifying in each successive subset each of the geographic names having a plurality of prerecorded utterances and selecting as the corresponding prerecorded utterance a single one of the plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances for each of the geographic names in the subset having a plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances for retrieval and storing based, at least in part, on a similarity between the location determined by the location determination module and the particular region associated with the selected one of the plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances;
• and
• storing the plurality of geographic names and the corresponding prerecorded utterances in a run-time memory.

At least one computer readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, performs method for use in a driving directions system capable of accessing a database comprising a storage memory storing a plurality of geographic names, wherein each of the plurality of geographic names is associated with at least one stored prerecorded spoken utterance of the associated geographic name, and wherein at least some of the plurality of geographic names are associated with a plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances of the associated geographic name each pronounced according to a respective speech style of a particular region and/or pronounced in a particular language associated with the particular region, the method comprising acts of:

• determining a location of the driving directions system;
• identifying geographic names and the associated prerecorded spoken utterances associated with a route from a starting location to a destination location, the geographic names and associated prerecorded spoken utterances forming a first set;
• successively storing subsets of the geographic names and the associated spoken utterances in a run-time memory by retrieving from the database only a subset of the geographic names and the associated spoken utterances from the first set that are within a predetermined distance from a current location of the driving directions system and storing the subset in the run-time memory;
• periodically retrieving successive subsets from the remote database as the location of the driving directions system changes along the route and storing the successive subsets in the run-time memory;
• overwriting the geographic names and the associated spoken utterances that become out of range as the location changes with portions of the next successive subset;
• identifying in each successive subset each of the geographic names having a plurality of prerecorded utterances and selecting as the corresponding prerecorded utterance a single one of the plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances for each of the geographic names in the subset having a plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances for retrieval and storing based, at least in part, on a similarity between the location determined by the location determination module and the particular region associated with the selected one of the plurality of stored prerecorded spoken utterances;
• and
• storing the plurality of geographic names and the corresponding prerecorded utterances in a run-time memory.