# US 9,437,192 B2 · Method and device of matching speech input to text > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,437,192 B2 - Document ID: US9437192B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/164,075 - Filed: 2014-01-24 - Published: 2014-12-25 - Granted: 2016-09-06 - Earliest claimed: 2013-06-21 - Assignees: Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited - Applicants: Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited - Inventors: Guiping Han; Hao Xu; Pan Zhu; Fei Wang; Ling Liao - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9437192B2 ## CPC - G10L 15/26: Speech to text systems (G10L15/08 takes precedence) - G06F 40/129: Handling non-Latin characters, e.g. kana-to-kanji conversion - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A method and device for matching speech to text are disclosed, the method including: receiving a speech input, the mentioned speech input carrying input speech information; obtaining initial text corresponding to the input speech information, and respective pinyin of the initial text; generating at least one approximate pinyin for the initial text based on predetermined pronunciation similarity information; and from a preset mapping relationship table, obtaining additional text corresponding to the respective pinyin of the initial text or to the at least one approximate pinyin of the initial text, wherein the preset mapping relationship table includes a respective record for each word in a word database, including respective pinyin and at least one respective approximate pinyin for said each word, and a respective mapping relation between said respective pinyin, said at least one respective approximate pinyin, and said each word. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of matching speech to a contact name in a user's list of contacts, comprising: at a device having one or more processors and memory: storing the list of the user's contacts in the memory, wherein the list of the user's contacts includes a first contact; receiving input speech information; obtaining initial text corresponding to the input speech information and standard pinyin of the initial text; generating at least one approximate pinyin for the initial text based on predetermined pronunciation similarity information, wherein the pronunciation similarity information identifies non-standard pronunciations based on regional dialects; from a preset mapping relationship table stored in the memory, obtaining alternative text corresponding to the approximate pinyin of the initial text, wherein: the preset mapping relationship table includes a record for each word in a word database, the record including standard pinyin and approximate pinyin for the word, and a mapping relation between the standard pinyin, approximate pinyin, and the word; and the alternative text includes one or more words whose standard pinyin or approximate pinyin map, in the preset mapping relationship table, to the approximate pinyin of the initial text; matching the alternative text to the first contact; and performing an operation using the first contact. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: establishing the preset mapping relationship table, comprising, for each word in the word database: converting the word to corresponding standard pinyin; using the standard pinyin, generating at least one approximate pinyin according to the predetermined pronunciation similarity; establishing the mapping relationship between the standard pinyin, the approximate pinyin, and the word; and storing the respective mapping relationship for the word in the preset mapping relationship table. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein establishing the preset mapping relationship table further includes establishing a dictionary Trie for the standard pinyin and the at least one approximate pinyin corresponding to each word in the word database. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the words in the word database are divided into a plurality of categories and a respective dictionary Trie is established for each of the plurality of categories. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the preset mapping relationship table includes respective approximate pinyin of different approximation grades corresponding to each word in the word database. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein obtaining the alternative text corresponding to the approximate pinyin of the initial text further comprises: according to a descending order of the different approximation grades, successively determining whether the standard pinyin of the initial text matches pinyin in the preset mapping relationship table; and in accordance with a determination that the standard pinyin of the initial text matches pinyin in the preset main relationship table, obtaining, as the alternative text, text corresponding to the one or more matching pinyin identified according to the preset mapping relationship table. ### Claim 7 A system, comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising: storing a list of a user's contacts in the memory, wherein the list of the user's contacts includes a first contact; receiving input speech information; obtaining initial text corresponding to the input speech information and standard pinyin of the initial text; generating at least one approximate pinyin for the initial text based on predetermined pronunciation similarity information, wherein the pronunciation similarity information identifies non-standard pronunciations based on regional dialects; from a preset mapping relationship table stored in the memory, obtaining alternative text corresponding to the approximate pinyin of the initial text, wherein: the preset mapping relationship table includes a record for each word in a word database, the record including standard pinyin and approximate pinyin for the word, and a mapping relation between the standard pinyin, approximate pinyin, and the word; and the alternative text includes one or more words whose standard pinyin or approximate pinyin map, in the preset mapping relationship table, to the approximate pinyin of the initial text; matching the alternative text to the first contact; and performing an operation using the first contact. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise: establishing the preset mapping relationship table, comprising, for each word in the word database: converting the word to corresponding standard pinyin; using the standard pinyin, generating at least one approximate pinyin according to the predetermined pronunciation similarity; establishing the mapping relationship between the standard pinyin, the approximate pinyin, and the word; and storing the respective mapping relationship for the word in the preset mapping relationship table. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein establishing the preset mapping relationship table further includes establishing a dictionary Trie for the standard pinyin and the at least one approximate pinyin corresponding to each word in the word database. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the words in the word database are divided into a plurality of categories and a respective dictionary Trie is established for each of the plurality of categories. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the preset mapping relationship table includes respective approximate pinyin of different approximation grades corresponding to each word in the word database. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein obtaining the alternative text corresponding to the approximate pinyin of the initial text further comprises: according to a descending order of the different approximation grades, successively determining whether the standard pinyin of the initial text matches pinyin in the preset mapping relationship table; and in accordance with a determination that the standard pinyin of the initial text matches pinyin in the preset main relationship table, obtaining, as the alternative text, text corresponding to the one or more matching pinyin identified according to the preset mapping relationship table. ### Claim 13 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processors to perform operations comprising: storing a list of a user's contacts in the memory, wherein the list of the user's contacts includes a first contact; receiving input speech information; obtaining initial text corresponding to the input speech information and standard pinyin of the initial text; generating at least one approximate pinyin for the initial text based on predetermined pronunciation similarity information, wherein the pronunciation similarity information identifies non-standard pronunciations based on regional dialects; from a preset mapping relationship table stored in the memory, obtaining alternative text corresponding to the approximate pinyin of the initial text, wherein: the preset mapping relationship table includes a record for each word in a word database, the record including standard pinyin and approximate pinyin for the word, and a mapping relation between the standard pinyin, approximate pinyin, and the word; and the alternative text includes one or more words whose standard pinyin or approximate pinyin map, in the preset mapping relationship table, to the approximate pinyin of the initial text; matching the alternative text to the first contact; and performing an operation using the first contact. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: establishing the preset mapping relationship table, comprising, for each word in the word database: converting the word to corresponding standard pinyin; using the standard pinyin, generating at least one approximate pinyin according to the predetermined pronunciation similarity; establishing the mapping relationship between the standard pinyin, the approximate pinyin, and the word; and storing the respective mapping relationship for the word in the preset mapping relationship table. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein establishing the preset mapping relationship table further includes establishing a dictionary Trie for the standard pinyin and the at least one approximate pinyin corresponding to each word in the word database. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the words in the word database are divided into a plurality of categories and a respective dictionary Trie is established for each of the plurality of categories. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the preset mapping relationship table includes respective approximate pinyin of different approximation grades corresponding to each word in the word database. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein obtaining the alternative text corresponding to the approximate pinyin of the initial text further comprises: according to a descending order of the different approximation grades, successively determining whether the standard pinyin of the initial text matches pinyin in the preset mapping relationship table; and in accordance with a determination that the standard pinyin of the initial text matches pinyin in the preset mapping relationship table, obtaining, as the alternative text, text corresponding to the one or more matching pinyin identified according to the preset mapping relationship table.