Case 1:21-cv-00432-UNA Document 1-1 Filed 03/25/21 Page 1 of 8 PageID #: 6
`
`Exhibit 1
`
`

`

`USOO8165867B1
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Fish
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,165,867 B1
`Apr. 24, 2012
`
`(54) METHODS FORTRANSLATING A DEVICE
`COMMAND
`
`(76) Inventor: Robert D. Fish, Tustin, CA (US)
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 649 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`10/466,202
`
`(22) PCT Filed:
`
`Sep.15, 2000
`
`(86). PCT No.:
`S371 (c)(1)
`2). (4) Dat .
`(2), (4) Date:
`
`PCT/USOO/25613
`
`Sep. 6, 2006
`ep. O,
`
`(87) PCT Pub. No.: WO02/23389
`PCT Pub. Date: Mar. 21, 2002
`e af-l9
`
`(51) Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`G06F 7/28
`(52) U.S. Cl. ............. 704/3; 704/251; 704/260; 704/271
`(58) Field of Classification Search .............. 7043,251
`704/260, 271
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,818,733 A * 10/1998 Hyuga .......................... TO2,188
`6,080,972 A *
`6/2000 May ........
`... 219,494
`6,397.267 B1 * 5/2002 Chong, Jr. ......................... T10/1
`6,633,235 B1 * 10/2003 Hsu s al. .......
`... 340,825.69
`6,654,378 B1 * 1 1/2003 Mahany et al. ............... 370/401
`2002/0069063 A1* 6/2002 Buchner et al. ............... 704/27O
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner — Leonard Saint Cyr
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Fish & Associates, PC
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`An item of information is transmitted to a distal computer,
`translated to a different sense modality and/or, language and
`in Substantially real time, and the translation is transmitted
`back to the location from which the item was sent. The device
`sending the item is preferably a wireless device, and more
`preferably a cellular or other telephone. The device receiving
`the translation is also preferably a wireless device, and more
`preferably a cellular or other telephone, and may advanta
`geously be the same device as the sending device. The item of
`information preferably comprises a sentence of human
`speech having at least ten words, and the translation is a
`written expression of the sentence. All of the steps of trans
`mitting the item of information, executing the program code,
`and transmitting the translated information preferably occurs
`in less than 60 seconds of elapsed time.
`17 Claims, 1 Drawing Sheet
`
`212
`
`
`
`(
`
`Case 1:21-cv-00432-UNA Document 1-1 Filed 03/25/21 Page 2 of 8 PageID #: 7
`
`200
`
`(Voice Mode)
`(
`(
`(TextMode)
`
`{
`
`
`
`{
`
`230
`
`222
`
`211
`
`film...-- -
`220
`
`-
`
`---
`
`wereeeeee-weareass
`
`-
`
`221
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Apr. 24, 2012
`
`US 8,165,867 B1
`
`COM
`
`COM
`
`11.
`
`
`
`Figure 1
`
`212
`
`200
`
`Case 1:21-cv-00432-UNA Document 1-1 Filed 03/25/21 Page 3 of 8 PageID #: 8
`
`Figure 2
`
`

`

`US 8,165,867 B1
`
`1.
`METHODS FORTRANSLATING ADEVICE
`COMMAND
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The field of the invention is remote computing.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`2
`capabilities for different accents and languages, and perhaps
`even language translation capabilities. Still further, it is
`impractical to install Voice recognition in all the myriad types
`of devices that may advantageously utilize Voice recognition.
`For example, voice recognition may be useful in VCR and CD
`players, kitchen and otherhousehold appliances such as toast
`ers and washing machines, automobiles and so forth.
`Thus, while it has been known to translate information in a
`first sense modality and language into a second sense modal
`ity and language on a single local computer, it has not been
`appreciated to perform the translation in a “remote comput
`ing manner, thereby concentrating the computing power in a
`cost effective manner. Consequently, there is a need to pro
`vide Voice recognition capabilities, and especially speech
`recognition capabilities, to myriad electronic devices without
`actually installing all of the required hardware and software in
`all Such devices.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention provides systems and methods in
`which an item of information is transmitted to a distal com
`puter, translated to a different sense modality and/or lan
`guage, and in Substantially real time, and the translation is
`transmitted back to the location from which the item was sent.
`The device sending the item is preferably a wireless device,
`and more preferably a cellular or other telephone. The device
`receiving the translation is also preferably a wireless device,
`and more preferably a cellular or other telephone, and may
`advantageously be the same device as the sending device. The
`item of information preferably comprises a sentence of
`human speech having at least ten words, and the translation is
`a written expression of the sentence. All of the steps of trans
`mitting the item of information, executing the program code,
`and transmitting the translated information preferably occurs
`in less than 60 seconds of elapsed time, and more preferably
`less than 30 seconds.
`Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the
`present invention will become more apparent from the fol
`lowing detailed description of preferred embodiments of the
`invention, along with the accompanying drawing.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is an exemplary schematic of a method of changing
`the sense modality of an information according to the inven
`tive subject matter.
`FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a method of chang
`ing the sense modality of an information according to the
`inventive subject matter.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`As used herein, the term “sense modality” refers to the
`manner in which information is perceived by a human being.
`There are five sense modalities comprising sight, Sound, taste,
`smell, and touch. Obviously, different aspects of information
`may be expressed in multiple sense modalities at the same
`time. A conversation between two people, for example, may
`be perceived as both sound (spoken language) and sight (hand
`gestures). Similarly, music can be perceived as both Sound
`(auditorily perceived vibration) and touch (tactually per
`ceived vibration).
`Information in each of the five sense modalities can be
`expressed in numerous languages, with the term “language'
`being interpreted very broadly. Information expressed in the
`sight modality, for example, can be expressed in various text
`
`10
`
`15
`
`As processing speeds continue to improve and data storage
`becomes ever less expensive, many Sophisticated applica
`tions that were previously only available on mainframe or
`desktop computers have been ported to laptop computers and
`other portable electronic equipment. Many applications have
`even been ported to hand held electronic devices as well,
`including hand held computers, digital telephones, personal
`digital assistants (PDAs), and so forth. For example, personal
`databases with limited search capabilities are now included in
`cellular phones, and word processing can now be performed
`in PDAs.
`There are, however, several applications that are presently
`difficult or impossible to realize on hand-held electronic
`devices, and are only poorly realized even on larger systems
`Such as desktop computers. Due to the large Volumes of data
`involved, and the need to process at very high speeds, a
`particularly difficult application is voice recognition. Some
`attempts have been made in that direction, but all of them
`Suffer from one or more disadvantages.
`At the low end, limited word or phrase recognition capa
`bilities are sometimes provided in cell phones. Such systems
`can usually recognize only a few words (e.g., the numerals
`0-9, and specialized key words such as a person’s name, or the
`commands “dial or “open file patentapp.doc'). Such sys
`tems are particularly advantageous where only rudimentary
`recognition capabilities are needed, or where only very lim
`ited data storage capability or computing power is available.
`However, an obvious shortcoming of the word or phrase
`recognition systems is that the usability is limited to a small,
`preprogrammed Vocabulary, and at most a few custom words.
`Moreover, word or phrase recognition systems often fail to
`recognize personal speech pattern or accents.
`At the higher end, speech recognition programs are cur
`rently available for operation on laptop computers. As used
`herein both “speech recognition' and “word or phrase recog
`nition” are considered to be categories of Voice recognition.
`“Speech recognition’, however, is limited to systems having
`a vocabulary of at least 200 words, and where individual
`words are interpreted in the context of surrounding words. For
`example, speech recognition would correctly interpret
`phrases such as “I have been to the beach' whereas a word or
`phrase recognition system may substitute “bean” for “been”.
`As with other computer Software application, most of the
`development effort is being directed towards porting the more
`Sophisticated speech recognition to Smaller and Smaller
`devices. It may well be that within a decade the goal of true
`speech recognition will be available on even hand-held elec
`tronic devices.
`What is not presently appreciated, however, is that porting
`of sophisticated software to portable electronic devices may
`not be desirable. Cell phones, for example, need only rela
`60
`tively rudimentary electronics to Support the required com
`munications, and placing Sophisticated storage and process
`ing in cell phones may be a waste of money. Moreover, no
`matter how sophisticated the software and hardware becomes
`in hand held and other portable devices, there will always be
`a perceived need for additional capabilities. Larger or spe
`cialized vocabularies may be desired, as well as recognition
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`Case 1:21-cv-00432-UNA Document 1-1 Filed 03/25/21 Page 4 of 8 PageID #: 9
`
`

`

`4
`changed between digital and analog, the information is still
`considered to maintain the same language and style.
`There are many circumstances in which it is known to
`translate information between sense modalities, and between
`languages of the same or different sense modalities. For
`example, the jazz can be translated between written notes
`(sight modality, and possibly Western music transcription as
`the language) and notes played on an instrument (Sound
`modality, with jazz, as the language). Similarly, spoken
`English (Sound modality, English language) can be translated
`between spoken German (Sound modality, German lan
`guage). Humans are quite adept at performing Such transla
`tions internally, and as discussed above, computers are begin
`ning to achieve a useful translation capability as well.
`In all known instances of which the present inventor has
`knowledge, however, the information is never wirelessly
`transmitted to a distant computer for translation, translated at
`the distant computer (at least 20 kilometers away), wirelessly
`returned to the location from which it was sent (“locally”.
`“local’, and “location all being defined as within a radius of
`100 meters), and then expressed locally to the source, all in
`substantially real time (less than three minutes from initial
`transmission of the information to expression of the trans
`lated information). Examples follow:
`In laboratories that develop voice recognition software, it is
`presumably known to utilize a central computer for
`development work, and to access that computer using
`workstations wired into the central computer. That situ
`ation does not, however, involve wireless transmission,
`and the translating computer is not distal.
`A user loads voice recognition Software on a desktop or
`laptop computer, telephones the computer to record a
`message, and then accesses that information from a dis
`tant computer. In that situation the operation does not
`occur in substantially real time. The user most likely
`records several minutes of speech using his telephone,
`and then downloads a text file translated from the speech
`using a laptop or other computer.
`One person transmits an e-mail to a recipient, and the
`recipient causes a computer to “read the e-mail to him
`over the telephone. In that situation the total duration
`between transmitting of the e-mail and hearing it spoken
`is most likely not less than 60 seconds, and the message
`is most likely not heard locally to the place from which
`the e-mail was originally sent.
`A user employs a distal central computer for computational
`purposes. The user enters the equation X-156x2, asks
`the computer for the answer, and the computer immedi
`ately transmits back the answer. That situation falls out
`side the present invention because the distal computer
`evaluated the expression rather than translate what was
`sent to it. If the computer had returned the spoken words
`“x equals one hundred fifty six times two, then the
`computer would have returned a translation.
`A user has a cellphone that is connected to a music web site
`on the Internet. The user speaks the words “Beethoven's
`Fifth Symphony”, and the web site transmits a portion of
`the symphony over the phone. This situation also falls
`outside the present invention because the distal com
`puter evaluated the words rather than translated them. If
`the computer had returned the text “Beethoven's Fifth
`Symphony”, then the computer would have returned a
`translation.
`A user employs his cellphone to secure a dictionary defi
`nition. He speaks a particular word, the cellphone trans
`mits the spoken word to a distal computer, and the distal
`computer returns the definition. This situation also falls
`
`Case 1:21-cv-00432-UNA Document 1-1 Filed 03/25/21 Page 5 of 8 PageID #: 10
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`US 8,165,867 B1
`
`3
`languages as well as various graphics languages. Exemplary
`text languages include the various character sets of human
`languages (Roman, Cyrillic, Chinese, etc), as well as com
`puter languages (ASCII, HTTP, XML, Basic, Cobol, Pascal,
`C++, etc). Graphics "languages include moving images, still
`images, painting, and so forth.
`Even within a given language there are different styles,
`which are also referred to herein from time to time as styles.
`Character fonts (Arial, Courier, Gothic, Lucida, Times New
`Roman, various forms of handwriting, etc) comprise one type
`10
`of style, and various sizings and spacings of characters com
`prise other styles. With respect to graphics there are styles
`here as well. Moving images, for example, can be styled as
`VCR or Beta video, or DVD. Similarly, still images can be
`styled as hard copy photographs, TIF, GIF, and other com
`15
`puter files.
`The sense modality of sound is also deemed herein to
`include several languages, including the various spoken and
`written human languages, various languages of music (in
`cluding, for example, classical music, rock music, punk
`music, and jazz), animal Sounds, industrial Sounds, transpor
`tation sounds, and electronic sounds such as beeps. Still other
`languages are contemplated as well, each of which may have
`several different styles. With the language of classical music,
`for example, some of the possible styles include baroque,
`modem, and so forth.
`Technically, the sense modality of taste only includes four
`possible sensations, Sweet, Sour, salty and bitter. In our lexi
`con these would comprise the different languages of taste,
`with variations within each sensation comprising the different
`styles.
`In our lexicon, the sense modality of smell includes the
`“languages of florals, musks, foods, inorganics, etc.
`In our lexicon, the sense modality of touch includes the
`“languages of vibration, pressure, temperature, movement,
`texture, etc.
`As can now be appreciated, the terms "sense modality.
`“language', and 'style” are each used hereinina very specific
`manner. Sense modalities are distinguished one from another
`by the sense organ(s)primarily used to detect the information,
`while languages are different means of expression within a
`given sense modality. With a given sense modality and lan
`guage, styles refer to variations in expressing information that
`can be achieved without changing the language.
`All of these are distinguishable from the “medium', which
`is employed herein to mean the physical device upon which
`an item of information resides. A photographic image, for
`example, may reside on a piece of photographic paper, in
`which case the medium is the paper. The same image may also
`reside on computer disk, in which the medium is the disk. The
`image can also be transmitted via modem, in which case the
`medium may be a copper wire.
`This is an important distinction because a change in
`medium does not necessarily mean a change in sense modal
`ity or style. For example, when a person talks on a portable
`telephone, the relevant item of information may be a spoken
`sentence. The sense modality would be sound, and the lan
`guage may be that of English. The style may be very fast,
`slurred speech. The telephone translates the Sounds into an
`analog or digital language for transmission through the
`medium of air, with the particular style depending upon the
`specific protocols of the service provider. Throughout the
`entire process, however, the sense modality is still considered
`to be sound because that is how a human being would per
`ceive the information once it was converted back into an
`analog formata frequency that the human being could under
`stand. Similarly, even though the information may be inter
`
`45
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`

`

`US 8,165,867 B1
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`5
`outside the scope of the present invention because the
`distal computer evaluated the word rather than translat
`ing it.
`Voice recognition Software is used to operate a cellphone.
`There are two known possibilities here, neither of which
`fall within the inventive concepts herein. The first pos
`sibility is that the cell phone has some sort of primitive
`Voice recognition. The user says “call home', and the
`telephone transmits that speech to a distal computer. The
`distal computer evaluates the number for “home', and
`places the call. This situation again falls outside of the
`present invention because (1) the distal computer evalu
`ated the word “home' rather than translating it, and (2)
`the distal computer placed the call (or caused it to be
`placed) rather than sending the telephone number back
`to the cell phone.
`A user types text into a terminal for transmission to a
`translation website. The website computer translates the
`text into another language, and returns the translation to
`the user.
`These limitations are not merely design choices. Among
`other things, the present invention opens up an entire realm of
`possibilities not previously contemplated. Examples include:
`A cell phone can be used as a dictation machine. Here, a
`user talks into his cellphone, the cellphone transmits the
`information back to a central mainframe that translates
`the speech into text, and then transmits the text back to
`the user's cell phone, PDA or other device for storage.
`When the user wants to hear past speech, the device that
`stored the text either reads back the text using local
`software, or transmits the text (directly or indirectly)
`back to the central computer, which then translates the
`text into speech, and then transmits the speech for play
`ing.
`A cell phone has an output port that connects to various
`household utilities and other devices. He plugs connec
`tor into the output port of the cell phone, and a corre
`sponding port in one of the devices. He then talks to the
`device through the cell phone, using a message such as
`“turn on at 7pm and off at 9 pm. The voice is transmit
`ted to a distal computer, the computer translates the
`message into whatever command language the device
`uses, transmits the command language formatted mes
`sage back to the cellphone, which then transmits it off to
`45
`the device. Alternatively or additionally, the device may
`“talk” to the user by going through the cell phone.
`A cellphone can be used as a translator. A user speaks into
`a cellphone in his native language, the cellphone trans
`mits the speech to a distal computer, the distal computer
`translates the speech into a second language, returns the
`translated speech back to the cell phone, which then
`repeats the speech in the second language. A preferred
`embodiment may even use two cell phones. There, the
`speaker speaks into his own cell phone, the speech is
`transmitted to the distal computer, translated, and
`returned to a local cellphone being held by a person that
`speaks another language.
`A cellphone can be used as an aid for deaf persons. In this
`Scenario a deaf person receives speech in his cellphone,
`the speech is sent to a distal computer for translation into
`text, and the text is returned to the cellphone or another
`device for local display. Such devices could be of great
`benefit for a deaf person watching television or a movie,
`attending a play, or simply speaking with other people.
`The system could also be used to help teach a deaf
`person to improve his vocalization.
`
`55
`
`Case 1:21-cv-00432-UNA Document 1-1 Filed 03/25/21 Page 6 of 8 PageID #: 11
`
`50
`
`60
`
`65
`
`6
`A similar system could be used for blind people, where the
`cell phone transmits an image rather than Sounds, and
`receives speech back from the distal computer instead of
`text. Sample sounds received from the distal computer
`and played locally may comprise simple, but very useful
`phrases such as “red light”, “curb 20 feet away”, “super
`market', and so forth. These would simple be voice
`translations of images that the blind person cannot see. A
`single, very Sophisticated nationwide system could be
`put in place and made available for millions of deaf or
`blind individuals, requiring even each user to have only
`relatively inexpensive equipment.
`A cell phone can be used to store information in a com
`puter. Rather than purchase an inexpensive Voice recog
`nition software package, a user hooks his cell phone to
`his desktop, laptop, or hand-held computer. He speaks
`into the cellphone, the cellphone transmits the speech to
`a distal computer that translates the speech into text, and
`transmits the text back to the cell phone. The computer
`downloads the text from the cell phone.
`A cell phone could be used to operate a computer, or even
`the cell phone itself. Here, the user speaks a command
`into the cellphone, the cellphone transmits the speech to
`a distal computer, the distal computer translates the
`speech into device commands, and transmits the text
`back to the cell phone. If appropriate, the computer
`downloads the commands from the cell phone, and
`executes the commands. In a simple example, the user
`could speak the number “714-555-1212 into the cell
`phone, the cell phone could transmit that speech to the
`distal computer, which would translate the speech into
`the equivalent touch tone pulses, and transmit those
`pulses back to the cell phone. Once received, the cell
`phone would use those pulses to dial the number.
`A cellphone can be used to look up terms. A user speaks the
`word “appendix' into his cellphone, the phone transmits
`the spoken word to a distal computer, the distal computer
`translates the word into a picture of an appendix, and
`then transmits the picture back to the cell phone for
`display. If the cell phone were coupled to a device that
`dispensed Smells or tastes, a similar procedure could be
`used to translate terms such as "roast chicken' and “bit
`ter' into the sense modalities of taste and smell. The
`same could also be true of Sounds, where the users
`speaks the words “plano middle C and the distal com
`puter returns a plano tone at middle C.
`It should be recognized that while each of these examples
`recites a cell phone, other communication devices could be
`used as well. The main requirements are that the communi
`cation device be capable of receiving an item of information
`in at least one sense modality and language, and transmitting
`that information wirelessly to a distant computer.
`It should also be recognized that the distance between the
`device that initially transmits the information and the distal
`computer need not be limited to more than 20 kilometers. In
`other contemplated embodiments the distances could be lim
`ited to those greater than 1, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 100 km. Also
`with respect to distance, the device that receives the translated
`information may be disposed at other distances from the
`device that transmits the information to the distal computer.
`Instead of the two devices being disposed within a radius of
`100 meters, the devices may less than 5, 10, 25, 50, 75,250,
`500, 1000 meters apart. In a particularly preferred embodi
`ment, the sending and receiving devices are the same device.
`It should be still further recognized that the total duration
`between transmitting of the information to the distal com
`puter and receiving back the translation could be limited to
`
`

`

`US 8,165,867 B1
`
`5
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`7
`times other than less than 3 minutes. Other contemplated
`times include less than 5, 10,30, and 45 seconds, and less than
`1, 2, 4, 5, and 10 minutes. It may also warrant clarifying that
`these times refer to a first in-first out basis for an item of
`information. In preferred embodiments the device that sends
`the information to the distal computer begins transmitting
`within a few seconds after it begins to receive the information,
`and the distal computer begins translating the translation
`within a few seconds after the beginning of the translation
`becomes available. If all goes well, the translation of the
`beginning of a sentence, and certainly of a paragraph, is being
`received before the sentence or paragraph has been com
`pletely transmitted to the distal computer. This is not to say
`that the receiving device necessarily utilizes the translation
`(by displaying, performing, re-transmitting, etc), immedi
`ately upon receipt. Where a single cell phone is used as a
`foreign language translator, for example, the cell phone may
`wait until the user stops speaking for a second or two before
`expressing the translation.
`FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary method 100 of changing the
`sense modality of an item of information according to the
`inventive subject matter, in which a communication device
`110 in a first location 101 transmits an information in a first
`sense modality and language 112 to a computer 120 located in
`a distal location 102. The computer executes a program (not
`shown) that translates the information into a second sense
`modality and language different from the first sense modality
`and language 122. The translated information, now in the
`second sense modality and language 122, is then transmitted
`back to the first location 101 to a communication device 111.
`It is important to note that the translation does not neces
`sarily mean that both the sense modality and language are
`changed. Translating the information into a second sense
`modality and language different from the first sense modality
`and language means that either the sense modality is changed,
`or the language is changed, or both.
`The item of information is preferably speech, and more
`preferably a sentence of at least 5, 10, or 15 words. Other
`contemplated items of information include single words and
`short phrases, as well as what would comprise an entire
`paragraph is written. Still other contemplated items of infor
`mation include Sounds. It is contemplated, for example, to
`receive a musical performance into a cellphone, have the cell
`phone transmit the performed music to a distal computer, the
`distal computer translate the performed music into sheet
`music, and then send the sheet music back to the cell phone
`for display or storage.
`In FIG. 2, a system 200 according to the present invention
`includes a communication device a first communication
`device 210 in a first location 211 that transmits information in
`a first sense modality 212 to a computer 220 in a distal
`location 221. The computer 220 receives the information in
`the first sense modality and executes a program that translates
`the first sense modality in the second sense modality (not
`shown). Transmitter 230 transmits the information in the
`second sense modality 222 back to the first communication
`device 210, or alternatively to a second communication
`device 230 at the first location 211.
`The first communication device can be any suitable device,
`including a cellular phone, a PC, or a PDA. Where the first
`communication device is a cellular phone, it is particularly
`contemplated that such phones may have transient or perma
`nent data storage capabilities of at least 150 k bytes, more
`preferably at least 1 MByte, and more preferably at least 4
`MByte. There are various transient and permanent data stor
`age elements for electronic devices known in the art (e.g., for
`telephone numbers, addresses, and other related informa
`
`Case 1:21-cv-00432-UNA Document 1-1 Filed 03/25/21 Page 7 of 8 PageID #: 12
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`8
`tion), all of which are contemplated for use herein. Cellular
`telephones need not be restricted to a particular communica
`tion standard, and exemplary Suitable standards include the
`TDMA, CDMA, GSM and PDC standards.
`Where the communication device comprises a PC or PDA,
`it is especially preferred that the data transmission to and from
`the device comprises broadband transmission via wireless
`interface. However, in alternative aspects of the inventive
`Subject matter, data transmission may also include internal
`and external modems, or local networks that may or may not
`be in data communication with another network. However,
`many communication devices other than a cellular phone, a
`PC and a PDA are also contemplated, and particularly con
`templated alternative devices include landline telephones,
`laptop and palmtop computers, and two-way radios.
`The wireless requirement means that what is being trans
`mitted utilizes a wireless means of transmission during at
`least part of its journey. Wireless includes segments of the
`journey carried by radio wave, microwave, Sonic transmis
`sion and so forth, but does not include segments carried by
`copper wires or fiber optics. Nevertheless, it is highly pre
`ferred that the device transmitting the information to the distal
`computer has a direct wireless transmission. In other words,
`the signal leaves the device by a wireless transmission, even
`though the signal may later take paths involving copper wires
`or optical carriers. It is also preferable that the device trans
`mitting the information to the distal computer receives the
`translation directly from wireless signals. There, the distal
`computer may send out the translation across a copper wire or
`optical carrier, but the signal being received by the device is
`wireless.
`Since all permutations of translation are contemplated,
`there are literally millions of possible permutations contem
`plated. This can be demonstrated by considering a very nar
`row subset of only two of the five sense modalities and a
`“command modality” (Sight, Sound, and Command), the 20
`most common spoken languages, and the 20 most common
`device languages (for PCs, cell phones, PDAs, VCRs and so
`on). Using that small subset it is calculated that there are 1560
`translation permutations (40 languages being translated into
`any of 39 other languages), and this calculation ignores most
`of the spoken and written languages of the earth, as well as
`most of the command languages, the various languages of
`music and art, and so forth.
`While it is generally contemplated that information is
`translated from one sense modality and language into a sec
`ond sense modality and language different from the first, it is
`also contemplated that the translation may also be into two or
`more sense modalities and languages. Thus, a person may
`speak to a crowd of people having different nationalities, the
`speech may be sent via cellphone to a distal computer, and the
`distal computer may translates the speech into two or more
`languages, which are then transmitted back to numerous cell
`phones in the vicinity of the speaker. In some cases, as men
`tioned above, the language may be returned as spoken words,
`and in other instances as written words or characters.
`It should also be appreciates that the term “distal com
`puter includes both single computers and networks. It is very
`likely, for example, that the methods and systems embodied
`herein will involve a load balanced server farm. A