WO1999023837A2

WO1999023837A2 - An intelligent network with translation capabilities

Info

Publication number: WO1999023837A2
Application number: PCT/SE1998/002000
Authority: WO
Inventors: Martin Larsson
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 1997-11-04
Filing date: 1998-11-04
Publication date: 1999-05-14
Also published as: SE9704037L; NO20002270D0; AU746289B2; SE518098C2; SE9704037D0; WO1999023837A3; NO20002270L; AU1059099A; EP1023811A2

Abstract

An intelligent network has connected telephone sets (1), line exchanges (3) and service switching points (7). The service switching points (7) are controlled by a service control point in order to provide automatic translation of conversation between two connected persons or telephone sets (1) using different languages so that a dialogue can be performed between the two telephone sets, a powerful computer (19) is connected to two pairs of ordinary input and output ports of a switching point (7). The computer (19) executes the translation and generates automatically synthetic, translated speech in both directions. A call wanting a translation service is in the switching point (7) routed through the computer (19), the service being called by making suitable dialling depressions on the telephone set (1).

Description

AN INTELLIGENT NETWORK WITH TRANSLAΗON CAPABILITIES

The present invention relates to an intelligent network providing an extended service.

BACKGROUND In intelligent networks many different services can be called. New services can also easily be added owing to the structure of in particular the service control points and the service control functions residing in such networks. In telephone communication there may under special circumstances exist a need for language services, i.e. to get assistance in understanding foreign languages. In Mahendra K. Verma et al. , "Novel applications of speech processing in AT&T

Network systems products" , AT&T Technical Journal, Vol. 69, No. 5, Sept./Oct. 1990, pp. 77 - 86, applications of speech processing in different networks are described. In particular it is described on pages 83 - 85 how solutions based on intelligent networks can be used for e.g. voice controlled service menus via a telephone set in which a device for automatic speech recognition of a small number of special, simple predetermined words is connected to a node in the intelligent network.

In Akira Kurematsu, "Future Perspective of Automatic Telephone Interpretation", IEICE Transactions on Communications, Vol. E75B, No. 1 , 1992, pp. 14 - 19, devices for continuous translation of speech from a first language to a second language are dis- closed. The translation is made in a "Spoken Language Interpreter" connected to the network through a "Spoken Language Network Server" . It is not described how the connection of the server is actually made. SUMMARY It is an object of the present invention to provide an intelligent network having capabilities of automated translation between different languages.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an automatic translation service in an intelligent network that can execute translation in real time.

The problem solved by the invention is thus how to provide automatic translation of conversation between two connected persons or telephone sets in an intelligent network so that a dialogue can be performed between two telephone sets where the speech in a first language entered in one set is automatically translated to a different, second language from which speech is generated which is sent to the other telephone set, the speech from this other set, if desired, being translated in the same way from the second language to the first language. A powerful computer, such as a workstation, is used for the translation. It is provided with the means necessary for making an automated translation, comprising analog- to-digital converters, speech analysis, translation and synthesis programs and voice message generating means, i.e. generally digital-to-analog converters. The computer is connected to ordinary logical input/output ports of a service switching point in the intelli- gent network and a call is routed through the computer when the service switching point receives a special command. This command is generated by a service control point connected to the service switching point. The service switching point is arranged to receive and decode dialling signals, such as DTMF-signals, also received when a call has already been connected. It is also arranged to generate, on a special command, voice messages. Using these means the service control point can enter in a dialogue with a calling telephone set for deciding the languages which are to be used in a telephone conversion, which either is already set up or which is the next one from the calling telephone set.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the descrip- tion which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the methods, processes, instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS While the novel features of the invention are set forth with particularly in the appended claims, a complete understanding of the invention, both as to organization and content, and of the above and other features thereof may be gained from and the invention will be better appreciated from a consideration of the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments presented hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating some components of an intelligent network having translation services incorporated therein,

Fig. 2a is a block diagram of a service switching point used in the network of Fig.

1, Fig. 2b is a block diagram of a service switching point similar to that of Fig. 2a having an alternative kind of communication with a workstation,

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a service control point used in the network of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a picture illustrating the main steps when setting up a translation service, DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The concept of intelligent network (IN) was introduced in order to simplify the access and modification of services in a telephone network. The intelligence in an intelligent network is concentrated to a few, central nodes of the network, the intelligence comprising necessary data and logic circuits or programs for the network services. An intelli- gent network is schematically illustrated in Fig. 1 and the components thereof are briefly described below.

The end users 1 of the network are illustrated as ordinary telephone sets but can also be e.g. modems of computers communicating over the network. Local exchanges (LE) 3 are directly connected to the end users 1. The local exchanges 3 can be connected to transit exchanges (TE) 5 or exchanges 7 having extra capabilities, the latter being called service switching points (SSPs). Switching of telephone and other calls are made in all these exchanges. Each service switching point 7 is associated with and controlled by a service control point 9 (SCP). A single service control point 9 can be associated with several service switching points 7. Furthermore, a service control point 9 can have access to a service data point 11 (SDP). An administrator of the network can have access to a service control point 9 and its associated service data point 11 through a computer, not shown.

The lines drawn in solid lines in Fig. 1 can carry speech or voice communication and the dashed lines can only carry non-speech communication, used for control and other signalling purposes.

In the physical "service points" 7, 9 as described above, one or more service functions can be performed. In a service switching point 7 the service functions comprise a service switching function 13 (SSF) and a call control function 15 (CCF). A call control function 15 handles calls and connections to be made or finished in the traditional sense. It performs the normal call handling and supervising function of an exchange and provides the intelligent network with information on calls and executes orders as forwarded from the service switching function 13 in the same service switching point 7.

A service control point 9 is associated with a service control function 17 (SCF). A service control function 17 contains the logic steps of a service, i.e. it is essentially the base program being executed for actually executing the service. It has a complete responsibility for making decisions related to a call. The service switching function SSF 13 in a service switching point 7 is an interface between a service switching function SCF 17 in a service control point 9 connected to this service switching point and the call control function 15 in the same service switching point 7 and thus forwards call event information such as on-hook or subscriber busy to the service control function 17 and commands to be executed to the call control function 15 from the service control function 17. Various intelligent network services are comprised in a service control function 17. A service is defined by a service script (SS) listing. In the intelligent network illustrated in Fig. 1 one of the service switching points 7 has been provided with at least one workstation 19 (WS) which can be a standard industrial computer working at high speed and generally having a large capability. The workstation 19 can as illustrated be connected to the service switching point 7 through two bidirectional lines but any other communication link providing the same capability such as an "Ethernet" link or a TCP/IP link can be used.

The workstation 19 executes automatic translation between at least two languages and accepts a voice message on one of its input lines and translates it into a voice message in another language on its respective output line. The processing made by the workstation 19 includes the following steps: - analog-to-digital conversion of incoming speech,

- processing of the converted signal,

- recognition of continuous speech,

- language analysis and parsing, both syntactic and semantic, into a language inde- pendent interlingua,

- text generation in a desired language from the interlingua,

- synthesis of digitalized speech from the generated text.

All these steps require hardware or software which are well-known within the art of speech recognition and synthesis and of machine translation. For machine translation, re- ference can be made to the project called JANUS of Interactive Systems Laboratories and the Verbmobil project. The technique of today allows a translation factor between 90 and 95 % for normal conversation.

Thus, the workstation 19 accepts continuous speech independently in two different input languages. It produces synthetic speech which is output in real time, where typical delays may be of the magnitude of order of half a second. A separate workstation 19 may be used for each call, in which the conversation is to translated, depending on the vast amount of processing that must made with a minimum delay. The workstation can have different input and outputs ports or similar facilities for each pair of languages between which it is to translate. In one embodiment it can receive a signal, for example a code transmitted in DTMF-signals, informing on the selected languages.

In Fig. 2a is the construction of a service switching point 7 schematically illustrated. The point 7 as shown has six bidirectional terminals or output/input ports to be connected to other exchanges, such as local exchanges 3, transit exchanges 5, other service switching points 7. For each input/output port there is arranged a call handling block 21, which has one module 23 for detecting events on the incoming line such as a dialling being made for a new call, hook-on, the occurrence of DTMF-signals or -tones, and another module 25 for sending voice messages and DTMF-tones on the outgoing line of the considered input/output port. The call handling blocks 21 are connected to a switch 27 making the actual switching of calls. The call handling blocks 21 and the switch 27 con- stitute the call control function 15 and are controlled by the service switching function 13. Two of the bidirectional ports of the service switching point 7 are in this embodiment connected to the workstation 19. The workstation 19 can in the simplest case, as illustrated, comprise only two language modules 29, one for translating from a language LI to another language L2 and one for translating from the language L2 to the language LI. In addition the workstation 19 can have some means for receiving a control signal from the service switching point 7, such as a DTMF-detector, not shown, in the case where it holds more than two language modules.

In Fig. 2a the same basic construction of the SSP 7 is illustrated but having an alternative communication channel to the workstation 19. The communication is here made on a single link 30 using interfaces or protocol handlers 30' and 30" in the SSP 7 and the workstation 19 respectively. These interfaces can operate according to some suitable method, such as the "Ethernet" or using the TCP/IP protocol, which allows communication between a plurality of ports on a single line. Also the communication with other communication can be made using such links, see the interface 30'" in Fig. 2b. However, there will always one logical input port and one logical output port for each link and two logical input ports and two logical output ports for communication with the workstation 19.

In Fig. 3 is shown the basic design of a service control point 9 and its service control function 17. The various services which can be executed by the service switching function are administered by a service administrator 31 which receives signals of detected events, such as that a telephone set has dialled some number and then also the connection number of the dialling telephone set is received, dialled numbers and other key depressions, from service switching functions 13 in service switching points 7. The service administrator block 31 starts for a detected event a script interpreter 33 using a service script (SS) 35, the service script 35 being selected depending on the type of detected event. Each service script 35 consists of the calls of one or more control types or service independent building blocks (SIBs) 37. The service independent building blocks 37 can be considered as computer procedures, each executing some specialized function. A service independent building block 37 then always holds a logic module 39 and it can also hold one or more data modules (DM) 41. Data on current, not finished calls are stored in call data blocks 43 , one for each call. Data on subscribers are stored in subscriber data blocks 45. Some of these data blocks may actually be stored in a service data point 11, see Fig. 1, connected to the considered service control point 9. In particular the following service scripts 35 can be distinguished for the case of starting a translation service: NRANALYSIS, CONNECTION, INITIATE TRANSLATION.

For a telephone call which is to be translated, the following general sequence of steps is performed: 1. At a calling telephone set 1 the service is initiated by pressing for example the keys *123#.

2. The translation service sends a voice message to the calling set asking the customer operating the telephone set 1 to choose languages by pressing appropriate keys.

3. At the calling telephone set 1 the telephone number of the telephone set to which a call is to be made is dialled. The connection is established.

4. The workstation 19 starts analysing incoming signals for speech and makes a translation output to the called and calling telephone sets respectively.

5. The service is closed when the calling telephone set 1 goes on-hook.

During a normal, not-translated conversation it is also possible to start the trans- lation service by pressing the keys *123#. In this case the steps 1. and 2. will came after step 3.

The detailed sequence of events corresponding to steps 1. - 5. above will now be described with reference to Fig. 4 illustrating some steps of some of the involved service scripts in the service control function 17.

1. At a telephone set 1 the keys *123# are depressed.

2. The corresponding DTMF-signals are received and decoded by the detecting module 23 in the call handling block 21 in the service switching point 7 connected closest to the considered telephone set 1. 3. The service switching point 7 sends through its service switching function 13 the corresponding codes to the service control point 9 connected to the switching point 7 together with the connection number of the dialling telephone set 1.

4. The service switching function 17 in this service switching point 9 starts the service administrator 31 and receives the codes and number. The service administrator starts the script interpreter 33 to start a service NRANALYSIS, which is defined by a corresponding script 51 as outlined in Fig. 4. First in this script a SIB 53 searches if there is some service associated with the received codes by comparing the codes in a comparing module 55 to values in a service table 57. The SIB 53 recognizes the codes as associated with language translation and in particular with an INITIATE TRANSLATION service, see the script 59, and evokes it (jumps to it) through a jump SIB 61. If the codes were wrongly entered at the telephone set 1, instead a SIB 63 is executed in which a voice message is provided to the telephone set 1, on which the codes were entered.

5. The INITIATE TRANSLATION service in the script 59 performs in the conventional way a dialogue with the calling telephone set 1 for selecting among alternatives, here for choosing among languages from and to which the translations are to be made. Thus first a SIB 65 is executed (similar to SIB 63) for commanding an appropriate voice message. In the next SIB 67 entered characters are received and in the SIB 69 the received characters are analyzed, by making a comparison in a comparing module 71 to a table 73 of language codes. If the language codes were wrongly entered, the first SIB 65 is again executed. Here it is instead assumed that they are found to match a record in the language code table 73.

7. The INITIATE TRANSLATION service in the script 59 will then jump to another service called CONNECTION, see the script 75, in the service switching function 17. Thus it is in a SIB 77 in the script 59 tested whether the received codes are entered during an ongoing call, by comparing the connection number at which the received codes were entered to the call data blocks 43, see Fig. 3. In this case no call has been made and then a jump SIB 79 is executed, similar to the SIB 61. The jump SIB 79 makes a jump to the appropriate SIB 81 in the INITIATE TRANSLATION script 75 in order to have it write in a data block 45 in the subscriber database that when a new connection has been established from the telephone set 1 having the received connection number, it will evoke (jump to) an INITIATE TRANSLATION service. A delay may be used so that this condition is cancelled after e.g. 5 minutes.

8. A valid telephone number is dialled in the considered telephone set 1. 9. The telephone number is received by the service switching point 7.

10. The telephone number is sent to the service control point 9 through the service switching function 13 in the service switching point 7.

11. The service control function 17 in the service control point 7 starts its service administrator 31 and receives the dialling connection number and the dialled telephone number. The service adn inistrator starts the script interpreter in order to start executing the SIBS of the script 75 for the CONNECTION service.

12. The CONNECTION service searches in a SIB 83 the subscriber data blocks 45 for finding special conditions related to calls from the dialling telephone set 1 or subscriber number. 13. In the SIB 83 it is recognized that the data block for the dialling telephone number has been marked that a translation service will be started.

14. In the next SIB 85 the CONNECTION service prepares a command CALL SETUP FOR TRANSLATION, the command being a modified version of the command CALL SETUP used for only estabUshing a standard connection, the command CALL SETUP FOR TRANSLATION telling that the connection will be set up through the service switching point 7 and routed through the workstation 19. The same SIB 85 removes the translation condition from the corresponding subscriber data block 45 and sends the command CALL SETUP FOR TRANSLATION to the service switching point 7.

15. The service switching point 7 receives the command. 16. The service switching point 7 establishes the connection through the workstation

19.

17. The service switching point 7 detects ON-HOOK of one of the telephone sets 1, between which the call was established.

18. The service switching point 7 removes the connection. In the case where the keys *123# are depressed during an already established call, the sequence of events will be the following:

1. A valid telephone number is dialled in a telephone set 1.

2. The telephone number is received by the service switching point 7 connected closest to this telephone set 1. 3. The dialled telephone number together with the dialling connection number is sent to the service control point 9 through the service switching function 13 in the service switching point 7.

4. The service control function 17 in the service control point 7 receives the dialling connection number and the dialled telephone number and starts its service administrator 31. The service administrator 31 starts in turn the script interpreter 33 in order to execute the script 75 for the CONNECTION service.

5. The CONNECTION service, in the SIB 83, searches the subscriber data blocks 45 for finding special conditions related to calls from the dialling telephone set 1 or other corresponding subscriber identification and in the considered case no special condition is found.

6. A SIB 87 is then executed for preparing and sending the command CALL SETUP for standard switching and setting up the call.

7. The service switching point 7 receives this command. 8. The service switching point 7 establishes the required connection in a standard manner and thus not through the workstation 19.

9. At the telephone set 1 the keys *123# are depressed.

10. The corresponding DTMF-signals are received and decoded by the service switching point 7. 11. The service switching point 7 sends the corresponding codes to the service control point 9 connected to it together with the connection number of the telephone set 1 from which the DTMF-signals were received.

12. The service control function 17 in this service control point 9 receives the codes and starts the service administrator 31 , which in turn starts the script interpreter 33. The script interpreter starts executing the script 51 defining the service NRANALYSIS in which as above the SIB 53 searches whether there is some service associated with the codes. It recognizes them as associated with language translation and in particular with an INITIATE TRANSLATION service and then executes the jump SIB 61 for making the jump to the script 59 for this service. 13. The INITIATE TRANSLATION service in the script 59 performs in the conventional way a dialogue with the calling telephone set for selecting among alternatives, here for choosing among languages from and to which the translations are to be made, thus the SIBs 65, 67, 69 being executed as above.

14. As above, in the SIB 77 the connection number of the telephone set from which the code was entered is used for searching the call data blocks 43 and it is found that a connection is already established with this telephone set.

15. Next then a jump SIB 89 is executed for jumping to the CONNECTION service as defined in the script 75.

16. In the CONNECTION service a SIB 91 is executed in which a command TRANSLATION is prepared, telling that the connection will be rerouted to pass through the workstation 19. The same SIB 91 removes the translation condition from the corresponding subscriber data block 45 and sends the command TRANSLATION to the service switching point 7 through the service switching function 13 therein.

17. The service switching point 7 receives the TRANSLATION command. 18. The service switching point 7 redirects the already established connection to pass from now on through the workstation 19.

19. The service switching point 7 detects ON-HOOK of one of the telephone sets 1 between which the connection was established. 20. The service switching point 7 removes the connection.

Thus, an intelligent network having extended services including translation of speech in calls have been described. It is obvious to one skilled in the art that such translation services can easily be provided in networks or for nodes in networks operating in basically the same way as been described above, such as in nodes used in mobile com- munication systems.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is realized that numerous additional advantages, modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative devices and illustrated examples shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. It is therefore to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within a true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An intelligent network comprising end users, in particular terminals or telephone sets, and switching points connected to the end users and to each other, the connections of the switching points being through lines carrying speech bidirectionally, the switching points having a plurality of pairs of a logical input port and a logical output port connected to the lines, characterized by a computer connected to a switching point through two logical input ports and two logical output ports of the switching point, the switching point being arranged, as response to a command, to direct a call through the computer, signals coming in one direction being sent through a first logical output port of the switching to the computer and from the computer received on a first logical input port of the output port and then forwarded in the same direction from the switching point, signals coming in the opposite direction to the switching point being sent through a second logical output port different from the first logical output port to the computer and from the computer received on a second logical input port different from the first logical input port and then forwarded in the same direction from the switching point, the computer working according to a program for performing a translation of a first language to a second language for speech signals received from the first output port and send translated speech signals to the first input port and a translation of the second language to the first language for speech signals received from the second output port and send translated speech signals to the second input port.

2. An intelligent network according to claim 1, characterized in that the switching point comprises means for detecting and decoding dialling signals, in particular DTMF- signals, on an input line to the switching point, commanding means being arranged to receive decoded dialling signals, to compare them to a predetermined code and to an issue a command for directing a call arriving on the same input line to pass through the computer.

3. An intelligent network according to claim 2, characterized by a control point connected to the switching point, the control point comprising the commanding means, the commanding means comprising a logic module for making the comparing and a data module holding the predetermined code and other codes for other services.

4. An intelligent network according to claim 3, characterized in that the switching point comprises voice generating means connected to each output port of the switching point, and that the commanding means comprises means for commanding voice messages to be generated, for making a dialogue with an end user from which dialling signals have been received, the decoded correspondence of which agrees with the predetermined code, for determining languages between which translations are to be made.