阅读说明：本技术 零延迟数字助理 (Zero delay digital assistant ) 是由 W·F·斯塔希奥 D·卡森 R·达萨里 Y·金 于 2016-05-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明题为“零延迟数字助理”。一种电子设备可通过从麦克风捕获音频输入并使用第一处理器将表示所捕获的音频输入的音频数据写到存储缓冲器来实现零延迟数字助理。响应于在捕获音频输入时检测到用户输入,设备可确定用户输入是否满足预先确定的标准。如果用户输入满足标准,则设备可使用第二处理器基于存储缓冲器的内容的至少一部分来识别并执行任务。(The invention provides a zero delay digital assistant. An electronic device may implement a zero-delay digital assistant by capturing audio input from a microphone and writing audio data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer using a first processor. In response to detecting the user input while capturing the audio input, the device may determine whether the user input satisfies a predetermined criterion. If the user input satisfies the criteria, the device may identify and perform a task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer using the second processor.)

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a first processor and a second processor of an electronic device with a microphone, cause the device to:

capturing a first audio input from the microphone, wherein the audio input comprises speech from a user of the electronic device;

writing, using the first processor, data representing the first audio input into a memory buffer, wherein the data includes at least a first data portion representing at least a portion of speech from a user of the electronic device;

receiving user input while capturing audio input using the microphone and after writing the first portion of data to the memory buffer, wherein the user input is different from the first portion of audio data;

determining, using the first processor, whether the user input meets a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based at least on the first data portion, wherein identifying the computing task includes identifying, based at least on the first data portion, a user intent corresponding to the computing task; and

in accordance with a determination that the user input does not meet the criteria, forgoing identifying the task.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein identifying the computing task is further based on a second data portion written to the buffer during detection of the user input.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the device to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria, performing the identified computing task.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein identifying the computing task comprises initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the digital assistant session identifies and performs the computing task.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein initiating the digital assistant session comprises displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the user interface associated with the digital assistant session is displayed in a full screen view.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein initiating the digital assistant session comprises activating one or more audio components on the device.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the portion of the contents of the storage buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant session.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, further comprising instructions that cause the device to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria:

activating a second microphone on the device, and

streaming audio detected by the second microphone to the digital assistant session.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the user input is a button press.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the criteria comprise a criterion that is met when the button press exceeds a predetermined threshold duration.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the user input is audio data captured by the microphone and written to the buffer.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the criteria comprise a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a second portion of the memory buffer includes audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the criteria comprise a criterion that is met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the audio input is captured while the second processor is in a low power mode, further comprising instructions that cause the device to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input meets the criteria, causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first processor is a first type of processor and the second processor is a second type of processor.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein identifying the computing task further comprises identifying one or more parameters corresponding to the user intent.

19. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device comprising a microphone, a first processor, and a second processor:

capturing a first audio input from the microphone, wherein the audio input comprises speech from a user of the electronic device;

writing, using the first processor, data representing the first audio input into a memory buffer, wherein the data includes at least a first data portion representing at least a portion of speech from a user of the electronic device;

receiving a user input while capturing the audio input using the microphone and after writing the first portion of data to the memory buffer, wherein the user input is different from the first portion of audio data;

determining, using the first processor, whether the user input meets a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based at least on the first data portion, wherein identifying the computing task includes identifying, based at least on the first data portion, a user intent corresponding to the computing task; and

in accordance with a determination that the user input does not meet the criteria, forgoing identifying the task.

20. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

two or more processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the two or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

capturing a first audio input from the microphone, wherein the audio input comprises speech from a user of the electronic device;

writing, using a first processor, data representing the first audio input to a memory buffer in the memory, wherein the data includes at least a first data portion representing at least a portion of speech from a user of the electronic device;

receiving user input while capturing audio input using the microphone and after writing the first portion of data to the memory buffer, wherein the user input is different from the first portion of audio data;

determining, using the first processor, whether the user input meets a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria, identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based at least on the first data portion, wherein identifying the computing task includes identifying, based at least on the first data portion, a user intent corresponding to the computing task; and

in accordance with a determination that the user input does not meet the criteria, forgoing identifying the task.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the user input is a user input invoking the digital assistant session.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein identifying the computing task is further based on a second portion of data written to the buffer during detection of the user input.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria, performing the identified computing task.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein identifying the computing task comprises initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the digital assistant session identifies and performs the computing task.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein initiating the digital assistant session comprises displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the user interface associated with the digital assistant session is displayed in a full screen view.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein initiating the digital assistant session comprises activating one or more audio components on the device.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the portion of the contents of the memory buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant session.

30. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria:

activating a second microphone on the device, and

streaming audio detected by the second microphone to the digital assistant session.

31. The method of claim 24, the user input being a user input invoking the digital assistant session.

32. The method of claim 19, wherein the user input is a button press.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the criteria comprises a criterion that is met when the button press exceeds a predetermined threshold duration.

34. The method of claim 19, wherein the user input is audio data captured by the microphone and written to the buffer.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the criteria comprise a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a second portion of the memory buffer comprises audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the criteria comprise criteria that are met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

37. The method of claim 19, wherein the audio input is captured while the second processor is in a low power mode, and further comprising:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input meets the criteria, causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

38. The method of claim 19, wherein the first processor is a first type of processor and the second processor is a second type of processor.

39. The method of claim 19, wherein identifying the computing task further comprises identifying one or more parameters corresponding to the user intent.

40. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein identifying the computing task is further based on a second portion of data written to the buffer during detection of the user input.

41. The electronic device of claim 20, the one or more programs further comprising instructions for:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria, performing the identified computing task.

42. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein identifying the computing task comprises initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

43. The electronic device of claim 42, wherein the digital assistant session identifies and performs the computing task.

44. The electronic device of claim 42, wherein initiating the digital assistant session comprises displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

45. The electronic device of claim 44, wherein the user interface associated with the digital assistant session is displayed in a full screen view.

46. The electronic device of claim 42, wherein initiating the digital assistant session comprises activating one or more audio components on the device.

47. The electronic device of claim 42, wherein the portion of the contents of the memory buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant session.

48. The electronic device of claim 42, the one or more programs further comprising instructions for:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input satisfies the criteria:

activating a second microphone on the device, and

streaming audio detected by the second microphone to the digital assistant session.

49. The electronic device of claim 42, the user input is a user input invoking the digital assistant session.

50. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the user input is a button press.

51. The electronic device of claim 50, the criteria comprising a criterion that is met when the button press exceeds a predetermined threshold duration.

52. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the user input is audio data captured by the microphone and written to the buffer.

53. The electronic device of claim 52, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a second portion of the memory buffer includes audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

54. The electronic device of claim 52, wherein the criteria comprise criteria that are met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

55. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the audio input is captured while the second processor is in a low power mode, the one or more programs further comprising instructions to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input meets the criteria, causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

56. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the first processor is a first type of processor and the second processor is a second type of processor.

57. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein identifying the computing task further comprises identifying one or more parameters corresponding to the user intent.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to digital assistants, and more particularly to reducing digital assistant latency.

Background

Intelligent automated assistants (or digital assistants) provide an advantageous interface between a human user and an electronic device. Such assistants allow users to interact with a device or system in speech and/or text form using natural language. For example, a user may access a service of an electronic device by providing a voice user request to a digital assistant associated with the electronic device. The digital assistant can interpret the user's intent and manipulate the user's intent into a task according to the voice user request. The identified tasks may then be performed by executing one or more services of the electronic device, and the associated output may be returned to the user.

Disclosure of Invention

Some techniques for implementing a digital assistant on an electronic device result in a delay between the time a user requests a digital assistant session and the time the device can receive voice input to the digital assistant, which is inefficient and counterintuitive to the user. The prior art requires more time than necessary, which results in wasted user time and device energy. The latter consideration is particularly important in battery-powered devices.

Accordingly, there is a need for electronic devices that utilize faster and more efficient methods and interfaces for reducing or eliminating the aforementioned delays experienced by users invoking digital assistant sessions. Such methods and interfaces optionally complement or replace other methods for improving the efficiency and accuracy of digital assistants. Such methods and interfaces reduce the cognitive burden placed on the user and result in a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-powered computing devices, such methods and interfaces conserve power and increase the time interval between battery charges by reducing the occurrence of sporadic voice inputs and corresponding errors in recognition of requested tasks.

In some embodiments, a method for implementing a digital assistant comprises: at an electronic device comprising a microphone, a first processor, and a second processor: capturing audio input from a microphone; writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer; detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone; determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and upon determining that the user input has not met the criteria, abandoning the recognition task.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a first processor and a second processor of an electronic device with a microphone, cause the device to capture audio input from the microphone: writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer; detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone; determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and upon determining that the user input has not met the criteria, abandoning the recognition task.

In some embodiments, a transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a first processor and a second processor of an electronic device with a microphone, cause the device to capture audio input from the microphone: writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer; detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone; determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the storage buffer; and upon determining that the user input has not met the criteria, abandoning the recognition task.

In some embodiments, an electronic device includes: a microphone; two or more processors; a memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the two or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for capturing audio input from the microphone: writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer in a memory; detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone; determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and upon determining that the user input has not met the criteria, abandoning the recognition task.

In some embodiments, a method for implementing a digital assistant, the method comprising: at an electronic device comprising a microphone, a first processor, and a second processor: while the second processor is in the low power mode: capturing audio input from a microphone; writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer; and determining, using the first processor, whether at least a first portion of the memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets a predetermined criterion: causing the second processor to exit the low power mode; identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and executing the identified task using the second processor. And in accordance with a determination that the at least a first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria, forgoing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a first processor and a second processor of an electronic device with a microphone, cause the device to: while the second processor is in the low power mode: capturing audio input from a microphone; writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer; and determining, using the first processor, whether at least a first portion of the memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets a predetermined criterion: causing the second processor to exit the low power mode; identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and executing the identified task using the second processor. And in accordance with a determination that the at least first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria, forgoing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

In some embodiments, a transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a first processor and a second processor of an electronic device with a microphone, cause the device to: while the second processor is in the low power mode: capturing audio input from a microphone; writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer; and determining, using the first processor, whether at least a first portion of the memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer satisfies a predetermined criterion: causing the second processor to exit the low power mode; identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and executing the identified task using the second processor. And in accordance with a determination that the at least a first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria, forgoing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

In some embodiments, an electronic device includes: a microphone; two or more processors; a memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the two or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: while the second processor is in the low power mode: capturing audio input from a microphone; writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer; and determining, using the first processor, whether at least a first portion of the memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion; in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets a predetermined criterion: causing the second processor to exit the low power mode; identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the storage buffer; and executing the identified task using the second processor. And in accordance with a determination that the at least a first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria, forgo causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

Executable instructions for performing these functions are optionally included in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or other computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors. Executable instructions for performing these functions are optionally included in a transitory computer-readable storage medium or other computer program product configured for execution by two or more processors.

Accordingly, faster and more efficient methods and interfaces are provided for devices for implementing digital assistants, thereby increasing the effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction of such devices. Such methods and interfaces may complement or replace other methods for performing a digital assistant.

Drawings

For a better understanding of the various described embodiments, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the figures.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system and environment for implementing a digital assistant in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device implementing a client-side portion of a digital assistant, according to various examples.

Fig. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event processing according to various examples.

Fig. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device implementing a client-side portion of a digital assistant, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface of a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device according to various examples.

Fig. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface of a multifunction device with a touch-sensitive surface separate from a display, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 6A illustrates a personal electronic device, according to various examples.

Fig. 6B is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device, according to various examples.

Fig. 7A is a block diagram illustrating a digital assistant system or server portion thereof according to various examples.

Fig. 7B illustrates functionality of the digital assistant illustrated in fig. 7A according to various examples.

Fig. 7C illustrates a portion of an ontology according to various examples.

Fig. 8A provides a conceptual illustration of a prior art digital assistant with a delay.

Fig. 8B illustrates a block diagram of a processor for implementing a digital assistant on an electronic device, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 8C provides a conceptual diagram of a zero-delay digital assistant, according to various examples.

Fig. 8D provides a conceptual diagram of a zero-delay digital assistant, according to various examples.

Fig. 8E provides a conceptual diagram of a zero-delay digital assistant according to various examples.

Fig. 9 illustrates a method for implementing a zero-delay digital assistant, according to various examples.

Fig. 10 illustrates a method for implementing a zero-delay digital assistant, according to various examples.

Fig. 11 illustrates a functional block diagram of an electronic device, according to various examples.

Fig. 12 illustrates a functional block diagram of an electronic device, according to various examples.

Detailed Description

The following description sets forth exemplary methods, parameters, and the like. It should be recognized, however, that such description is not intended as a limitation on the scope of the present disclosure, but is instead provided as a description of exemplary embodiments.

There is a need for an electronic device that provides an efficient method and interface for identifying and performing tasks based on non-specific unstructured natural language requests. A zero-latency digital assistant that allows a user to invoke a digital assistant session and immediately provide a verbal request may reduce the cognitive burden on the user, thereby increasing productivity. In addition, such techniques may reduce processor power and battery power that would otherwise be wasted on redundant user inputs or delays.

Fig. 1, 2A-2B, 3, 4, 5A-5B, 6A-6B, 8B, 11, and 12 below provide descriptions of exemplary devices for performing techniques for implementing a zero-delay digital assistant. Fig. 7A-7C are block diagrams illustrating a digital assistant system or a server portion thereof and a portion of an ontology associated with the digital assistant system.

Fig. 8A provides a conceptual illustration of a digital assistant with delay. Figures 8C-8E provide conceptual illustrations of a zero-delay digital assistant, according to some embodiments. Fig. 9-10 are flow diagrams illustrating methods of implementing a zero-delay digital assistant according to some embodiments.

Although the following description uses the terms first, second, etc. to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first touch may be named a second touch and similarly a second touch may be named a first touch without departing from the scope of various described embodiments. The first touch and the second touch are both touches, but they are not the same touch.

The terminology used in the description of the various described embodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Depending on the context, the term "if" may be interpreted to mean "when" ("where" or "upon") or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a detection". Similarly, the phrase "if it is determined." or "if [ a stated condition or event ] is detected" may, depending on the context, be interpreted to mean "upon determining.. or" in response to determining. "or" upon detecting [ a stated condition or event ] or "in response to detecting [ a stated condition or event ]".

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, and related processes for using such devices are described herein. In some embodiments, the device is a portable communication device, such as a mobile phone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/or music player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunction devices include, but are not limited to, those from Apple IncDevice and iPodAn apparatus, andan apparatus. Other portable electronic devices are optionally used, such as laptops, tablets, or smart watches with touch-sensitive surfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touch pads). It should also be understood that in some embodiments, the device is not a portable communication device, but is a desktop computer with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touchpad).

In the following discussion, an electronic device including a display and a touch-sensitive surface is described. However, it should be understood that the electronic device optionally includes one or more other physical user interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, mouse, and/or joystick.

The device may support a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a mapping application, a rendering application, a word processing application, a website creation application, a disc editing application, a spreadsheet application, a gaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an email application, an instant messaging application, a fitness support application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.

Various applications executing on the device optionally use at least one common physical user interface device, such as a touch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitive surface and corresponding information displayed on the device are optionally adjusted and/or varied for different applications and/or within respective applications. In this way, a common physical architecture of the device (such as a touch-sensitive surface) optionally supports various applications with a user interface that is intuitive and clear to the user.

Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system 100 according to various examples. In some examples, system 100 may implement a digital assistant. The terms "digital assistant," "virtual assistant," "intelligent automated assistant," or "automatic digital assistant" may refer to any information processing system that interprets natural language input in speech and/or text form to infer user intent and perform actions based on the inferred user intent. For example, to act on the inferred user intent, the system may perform one or more of the following steps: identifying a task flow having steps and parameters designed to implement the inferred user intent; inputting specific requirements into the task flow according to the inferred user intent; executing a task flow by calling a program, method, service, API, etc.; and generating an output response to the user in audible (e.g., voice) form and/or visual form.

In particular, the digital assistant may be capable of accepting user requests at least partially in the form of natural language commands, requests, statements, narratives and/or inquiries. Typically, the user request may seek an informational answer by the digital assistant or seek the digital assistant to perform a task. A satisfactory response to a user request may be to provide a requested informational answer, to perform a requested task, or a combination of both. For example, a user may present a question to the digital assistant, such as "where do i am present? "based on the user's current location, the digital assistant may answer" you are near siemens of the central park. A "user may also request to perform a task, such as" please invite my friend to join my girlfriend's birthday party on the next week. In response, the digital assistant can acknowledge the request by speaking "good, now," and then send an appropriate calendar invitation on behalf of the user to each of the user's friends listed in the user's electronic address book. During the performance of requested tasks, the digital assistant can sometimes interact with the user over a long period of time in a continuous conversation involving multiple exchanges of information. There are many other ways to interact with a digital assistant to request information or perform various tasks. In addition to providing a voice response and taking programmed actions, the digital assistant may also provide responses in other visual or audio forms, such as text, alerts, music, videos, animations, and the like.

As shown in fig. 1, in some examples, a digital assistant may be implemented according to a client-server model. The digital assistant may include a client-side portion 102 (hereinafter "DA client 102") executing on a user device 104, and a server-side portion 106 (hereinafter "DA server 106") executing on a server system 108. The DA client 102 may communicate with the DA server 106 through one or more networks 110. The DA client 102 may provide client-side functionality, such as user-oriented input and output processing, as well as communicating with the DA server 106. The DA server 106 may provide server-side functionality for any number of DA clients 102, each of the number of DA clients 102 being located on a respective user device 104.

In some examples, DA server 106 may include a client-facing I/O interface 112, one or more processing modules 114, data and models 116, and an I/O interface 118 to external services. The client-facing I/O interface 112 may facilitate client-facing input and output processing for the DA server 106. The one or more processing modules 114 may utilize the data and models 116 to process speech input and determine the user's intent based on natural language input. Further, the one or more processing modules 114 perform task execution based on the inferred user intent. In some examples, DA server 106 may communicate with external services 120 over one or more networks 110 to complete tasks or collect information. An I/O interface 118 to external services may facilitate such communication.

The user device 104 may be any suitable electronic device. For example, the user device may be a portable multi-function device (e.g., device 200 described below with reference to FIG. 2A), a multi-function device (e.g., device 400 described below with reference to FIG. 4), or a personal electronic device (e.g., device 600 described below with reference to FIGS. 6A-B). The portable multifunction device may be, for example, a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/or music player functions. Specific examples of portable multifunction devices can include those from Apple incDevice and iPodAn apparatus, andan apparatus. Other examples of portable multifunction devices may include, but are not limited to, a laptop or tablet. Further, in some examples, user device 104 may be a non-portable multifunction device. In particular, user device 104 may be a desktop computer, a game console, a television, or a television set-top box. In some examples, user device 104 may include a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchscreen display and/or a touchpad). Further, the user device 104 may optionally include one or more other physical user interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, mouse, and/or joystick. Various examples of electronic devices, such as multifunction devices, are described in more detail below.

Examples of one or more communication networks 110 may include a Local Area Network (LAN) and a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the internet. The one or more communication networks 110 may be implemented using any known network protocol, including various wired or wireless protocols, such as, for example, Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), firewire, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communication protocol.

The server system 108 may be implemented on one or more stand-alone data processing devices of a computer or a distributed network. In some examples, the server system 108 may also employ various virtual devices and/or services of a third party service provider (e.g., a third party cloud service provider) to provide potential computing resources and/or infrastructure resources of the server system 108.

In some examples, user device 104 may communicate with DA server 106 via second user device 122. The second user device 122 may be similar to or the same as the user device 104. For example, the second user equipment 122 may be similar to the apparatus 200, apparatus 400, or apparatus 600 described below with reference to fig. 2A, 4, and 6A-6B. The user device 104 may be configured to communicatively couple to the second user device 122 via a direct communication connection such as bluetooth, NFC, BTLE, etc., or via a wired or wireless network such as a local Wi-Fi network. In some examples, second user device 122 may be configured to act as a proxy between user device 104 and DA server 106. For example, DA client 102 of user device 104 may be configured to transmit information (e.g., a user request received at user device 104) to DA server 106 via second user device 122. DA server 106 may process the information and return relevant data (e.g., data content in response to the user request) to user device 104 via second user device 122.

In some examples, the user device 104 may be configured to send an abbreviated request for data to the second user device 122 to reduce the amount of information transmitted from the user device 104. Second user device 122 may be configured to determine supplemental information to add to the abbreviated request to generate a complete request for transmission to DA server 106. The system architecture may advantageously allow a user device 104 with limited communication capabilities and/or limited battery power (e.g., a watch or similar compact electronic device) to access services provided by the DA server 106 by using a second user device 122 with stronger communication capabilities and/or battery power (e.g., a mobile phone, laptop, tablet, etc.) as a proxy to the DA server 106. Although only two user devices 104 and 122 are shown in fig. 1, it should be understood that system 100 may include any number and type of user devices configured to communicate with DA server system 106 in this proxy configuration.

While the digital assistant shown in fig. 1 may include both a client-side portion (e.g., DA client 102) and a server-side portion (e.g., DA server 106), in some examples, the functionality of the digital assistant may be implemented as a standalone application that is installed on a user device. Moreover, the division of functionality between the client portion and the server portion of the digital assistant may vary in different implementations. For example, in some examples, the DA client may be a thin client that provides only user-oriented input and output processing functions and delegates all other functions of the digital assistant to a backend server.

1. Electronic device

Attention is now directed to implementations of electronic devices for implementing a client-side portion of a digital assistant. FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a portable multifunction device 200 with a touch-sensitive display system 212 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch sensitive display 212 is sometimes referred to as a "touch screen" for convenience, and may sometimes be referred to or called a "touch sensitive display system". Device 200 includes memory 202 (which optionally includes one or more computer-readable storage media), a memory controller 222, one or more processing units (CPUs) 220, a peripheral interface 218, RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, a speaker 211, a microphone 213, an input/output (I/O) subsystem 206, other input control devices 216, and an external port 224. The device 200 optionally includes one or more optical sensors 264. Device 200 optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors 265 for detecting intensity of contacts on device 200 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface, such as touch-sensitive display system 212 of device 200). Device 200 optionally includes one or more tactile output generators 267 for generating tactile outputs on device 200 (e.g., generating tactile outputs on a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitive display system 212 of device 200 or touch panel 455 of device 400). These components optionally communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 203.

As used in this specification and claims, the term "intensity" of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure (force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on the touch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (surrogate) for the force or pressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of the contact has a range of values that includes at least four different values and more typically includes hundreds of different values (e.g., at least 256). The intensity of the contact is optionally determined (or measured) using various methods and various sensors or combinations of sensors. For example, one or more force sensors below or adjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are optionally used to measure forces at different points on the touch-sensitive surface. In some implementations, force measurements from multiple force sensors are combined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine an estimated contact force. Similarly, the pressure sensitive tip of the stylus is optionally used to determine the pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitive surface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on the touch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto, and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto are optionally used as a substitute for the force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. In some implementations, the surrogate measure of contact force or pressure is used directly to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in units corresponding to the surrogate measure). In some implementations, the substitute measurement of contact force or pressure is converted into an estimated force or pressure, and the estimated force or pressure is used to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in units of pressure). The intensity of the contact is used as a property of the user input, allowing the user to access additional device functionality that the user may not have access to on a smaller sized device having a limited real estate for displaying affordances (e.g., on a touch-sensitive display) and/or receiving user input (e.g., via a touch-sensitive display, a touch-sensitive surface, or physical/mechanical controls, such as knobs or buttons).

As used in this specification and claims, the term "haptic output" refers to a physical displacement of a device relative to a previous position of the device, a physical displacement of a component of the device (e.g., a touch-sensitive surface) relative to another component of the device (e.g., a housing), or a displacement of a component relative to a center of mass of the device that is to be detected by a user with the user's sense of touch. For example, where a device or component of a device is in contact with a surface of a user that is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other portion of a user's hand), the haptic output generated by the physical displacement will be interpreted by the user as a haptic sensation corresponding to a perceived change in a physical characteristic of the device or component of the device. For example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is optionally interpreted by the user as a "press click" or "release click" of a physical actuation button. In some cases, the user will feel a tactile sensation, such as a "press click" or an "unclamp click," even when the physical actuation button associated with the touch-sensitive surface that is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movement is not moving. As another example, movement of the touch sensitive surface may optionally be interpreted or sensed by the user as "roughness" of the touch sensitive surface even when there is no change in the smoothness of the touch sensitive surface. While such interpretation of touch by a user will be limited by the user's individualized sensory perception, the sensory perception of many touches is common to most users. Thus, when haptic output is described as corresponding to a particular sensory perception of the user (e.g., "up click," "down click," "roughness"), unless otherwise stated, the generated haptic output corresponds to a physical displacement of the device or its components that would generate the described sensory perception of a typical (or ordinary) user.

It should be understood that device 200 is only one example of a portable multifunction device, and that device 200 optionally has more or fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or more components, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangement of these components. The various components shown in fig. 2A are implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing circuits and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 202 may include one or more computer-readable storage media. The computer-readable storage medium may be tangible and non-transitory. The memory 202 may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Memory controller 222 may control other components of device 200 to access memory 202.

In some examples, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of memory 202 may be used to store instructions (e.g., for performing aspects of method 900 described below) for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In other examples, the instructions (e.g., for performing aspects of the method 900 described below) may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (not shown) of the server system 108 or may be divided between the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the memory 202 and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the server system 108. In the context of this document, a "non-transitory computer-readable storage medium" can be any medium that can contain or store the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Peripheral interface 218 may be used to couple the input and output peripherals of the device to CPU 220 and memory 202. The one or more processors 220 execute or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in the memory 202 to perform various functions of the device 200 and to process data. In some embodiments, peripherals interface 218, CPU 220, and memory controller 222 may be implemented on a single chip, such as chip 204. In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 208 receives and transmits RF signals, also known as electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 208 converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communication networks and other communication devices via electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 208 optionally includes well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a codec chipset, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RF circuitry 208 optionally communicates with networks, such as the internet, also known as the World Wide Web (WWW), intranets, and/or wireless networks, such as cellular telephone networks, wireless Local Area Networks (LANs), and/or Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), as well as other devices via wireless communications. The RF circuitry 208 optionally includes well-known circuitry for detecting Near Field Communication (NFC) fields, such as by short-range communication radios. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a variety of communication standards, protocols, and technologies, including, but not limited to, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), evolution, data-only (EV-DO), HSPA +, Dual-cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Near Field Communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple Access (W-CDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Bluetooth Low Power consumption (BTLE), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, and/or IEEE 802.11ac), Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, email protocols (e.g., Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), and/or Post Office Protocol (POP)) Instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), session initiation protocol for instant messaging and presence with extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol including communication protocols not yet developed at the time of filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 210, speaker 211, and microphone 213 provide an audio interface between a user and device 200. The audio circuit 210 receives audio data from the peripheral interface 218, converts the audio data into an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker 211. The speaker 211 converts the electrical signal into a sound wave audible to a human. The audio circuit 210 also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone 213 from sound waves. The audio circuit 210 converts the electrical signals to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripheral interface 218 for processing. The audio data may be retrieved from the memory 202 and/or the RF circuitry 208 by the peripheral interface 218 and/or transmitted to the memory 602 and/or the RF circuitry 608. In some implementations, the audio circuit 210 also includes a headset jack (e.g., 312 in fig. 3). The headset jack provides an interface between the audio circuitry 210 and a removable audio input/output peripheral, such as an output-only headset or a headset having both an output (e.g., a monaural or binaural headset) and an input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 206 couples input/output peripheral devices on the device 200, such as the touch screen 212 and other input control devices 216, to a peripheral interface 218. The I/O subsystem 206 optionally includes a display controller 256, an optical sensor controller 258, an intensity sensor controller 259, a haptic feedback controller 261, and one or more input controllers 260 for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 260 receive/transmit electrical signals from/to the other input control devices 116 from/to the other input control devices 216. Other input control devices 216 optionally include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slide switches, joysticks, click wheels, and the like. In some alternative embodiments, one or more input controllers 260 are optionally coupled to (or not coupled to) any of: a keyboard, an infrared port, a USB port, and a pointing device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 308 in fig. 3) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker 211 and/or microphone 213. The one or more buttons optionally include a push button (e.g., 306 in fig. 3).

Quick depression of the push button unlocks the touch screen 212 or initiates the process of Unlocking the Device using a gesture on the touch screen, as described in U.S. patent application 11/322,549 entitled "Unlocking a Device by Performance testing on an Unlock Image," filed on 23.12.2005, and U.S. patent application No.7,657,849, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Pressing the push button (e.g., 306) longer may turn the device 200 on or off. The user can customize the functionality of one or more buttons. The touch screen 212 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

The touch sensitive display 212 provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and the user. The display controller 256 receives electrical signals from the touch screen 212 and/or transmits electrical signals to the touch screen 212. Touch screen 212 displays visual output to a user. The visual output may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively "graphics"). In some implementations, some or all of the visual output may correspond to user interface objects.

Touch screen 212 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor, or group of sensors that accept input from a user based on tactile and/or haptic contact. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 202) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 212 and convert the detected contact into interaction with user interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages, or images) displayed on touch screen 212. In an exemplary embodiment, the point of contact between the touch screen 212 and the user corresponds to a finger of the user.

The touch screen 212 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED (light emitting diode) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. Touch screen 212 and display controller 256 may detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a variety of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive technologies, resistive technologies, infrared technologies, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with touch screen 212. In one exemplary embodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensing technology is used, such as that in Apple Inc. (Cupertino, California)And iPodThe technique found in (1).

In some embodiments, the touch sensitive display of the touch screen 212 may be similar to the following U.S. patents: 6,323,846(Westerman et al), 6,570,557(Westerman et al), and/or 6,677,932 (Westerman) and/or the multi-touch touchpad described in U.S. patent publication 2002/0015024A1, which are each hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, touch screen 212 displays visual output from device 200, whereas touch-sensitive touchpads do not provide visual output.

In some embodiments, the touch sensitive display of touch screen 212 may be as described in the following patent applications: (1) U.S. patent application No. 11/381,313 entitled "Multipoint Touch Surface Controller" filed on 2.5.2006; (2) U.S. patent application No. 10/840,862 entitled "Multipoint touchhscreen" filed on 6.5.2004; (3) U.S. patent application No. 10/903,964 entitled "Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices" filed on 30.7.2004; (4) U.S. patent application No. 11/048,264 entitled "Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices" filed on 31/1/2005; (5) U.S. patent application No. 11/038,590 entitled "model-Based Graphical User Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices", filed on 18.1.2005; (6) U.S. patent application No. 11/228,758 entitled "Virtual Input Device On A Touch Screen User Interface" filed On 16.9.2005; (7) U.S. patent application No. 11/228,700 entitled "Operation Of A Computer With A Touch Screen Interface" filed on 16.9.2005; (8) U.S. patent application No. 11/228,737 entitled "Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen Virtual Keys" filed on 16.9.2005; and (9) U.S. patent application No. 11/367,749 entitled "Multi-Functional Hand-help Device" filed 2006, 3.3.2006. All of these patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The touch screen 212 may have a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution of about 160 dpi. The user may make contact with touch screen 212 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which may not be as accurate as stylus-based input due to the large contact area of the finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the action desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to a touch screen, device 200 may also include a touch pad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike a touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface separate from the touch screen 212 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

The device 200 also includes a power system 262 for powering the various components. The power system 262 may include a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., batteries, Alternating Current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a Light Emitting Diode (LED)), and any other components associated with the generation, management, and distribution of power in a portable device.

The device 200 may also include one or more optical sensors 264. Fig. 2A shows an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 258 in the I/O subsystem 206. The optical sensor 264 may comprise a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistor. The optical sensor 264 receives light projected through one or more lenses from the environment and converts the light into data representing an image. In conjunction with the imaging module 243 (also called a camera module), the optical sensor 264 may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of device 200 opposite touch screen display 212 on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display can be used as a viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that an image of the user may be acquired for the video conference while the user views other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some implementations, the position of the optical sensor 264 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating a lens and sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor 264 can be used with a touch screen display for both video conferencing and still image and/or video image capture.

Device 200 optionally further comprises one or more contact intensity sensors 265. FIG. 2A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled to intensity sensor controller 259 in I/O subsystem 206. Contact intensity sensor 265 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, electrical force sensors, piezoelectric force sensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, or other intensity sensors (e.g., sensors for measuring the force (or pressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensity sensor 265 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressure information or a surrogate for pressure information) from the environment. In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is juxtaposed or adjacent to the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is located on the back of device 200 opposite touch screen display 212, which is located on the front of device 200.

The device 200 may also include one or more proximity sensors 266. Fig. 2A shows a proximity sensor 266 coupled to the peripheral interface 218. Alternatively, the proximity sensor 266 may be coupled to the input controller 260 in the I/O subsystem 206. The Proximity sensor 266 may be as described In U.S. patent application No. 11/241,839 entitled "Proximity Detector In dheld Device"; U.S. patent application No. 11/240,788 entitled "Proximity Detector In a handadeld Device"; U.S. patent application No. 11/620,702 entitled "Using Ambient Light Sensor To inductance Sensor Output"; U.S. patent application No. 11/586,862 entitled "Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices"; and U.S. patent application No. 11/638,251 entitled "Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration Of metals," which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen 212 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 200 optionally further comprises one or more tactile output generators 267. Fig. 2A shows a tactile output generator coupled to a tactile feedback controller 261 in the I/O subsystem 206. The tactile output generator 267 optionally includes one or more electro-acoustic devices such as speakers or other audio components, and/or electromechanical devices that convert energy into linear motion such as motors, solenoids, electroactive polymers, piezoelectric actuators, electrostatic actuators, or other tactile output generating components (e.g., components that convert electrical signals into tactile output on the device). Contact intensity sensor 265 receives haptic feedback generation instructions from haptic feedback module 233 and generates haptic output on device 200 that can be felt by a user of device 200. In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator is juxtaposed or adjacent to a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212), and optionally generates tactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g., into/out of the surface of device 200) or laterally (e.g., back and forth in the same plane as the surface of device 200). In some embodiments, at least one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back of device 200 opposite touch screen display 212, which is located on the front of device 200.

Device 200 may also include one or more accelerometers 268. Fig. 2A shows accelerometer 268 coupled to peripheral interface 218. Alternatively, accelerometer 268 may be coupled to input controller 260 in I/O subsystem 206. The Accelerometer 268 can be implemented as described in U.S. patent publication 20050190059 entitled "Acceleration-Based Detection System For Portable Electronic Devices" And U.S. patent publication 20060017692 entitled "Methods And applications For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer," both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed in a portrait view or a landscape view on the touch screen display based on analysis of data received from one or more accelerometers. The device 200 optionally includes a magnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASS or other global navigation system) receiver (not shown) in addition to the accelerometer 268 for obtaining information about the position and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape) of the device 200.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 202 include an operating system 226, a communication module (or set of instructions) 228, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 230, a graphics module (or set of instructions) 232, a text input module (or set of instructions) 234, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions) 235, a digital assistant client module 229, and an application program (or set of instructions) 236. Further, memory 202 may store data and models, such as user data and models 231. Further, in some embodiments, memory 202 (fig. 2A) or 470 (fig. 4) stores device/global internal state 257, as shown in fig. 2A and 4. Device/global internal state 257 includes one or more of: an active application state indicating which applications (if any) are currently active; display state, which indicates what applications, views, or other information occupy various areas of the touch screen display 212; sensor status, which includes information obtained from the various sensors of the device and the input control device 216; and location information regarding the location and/or pose of the device.

The operating system 226 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, iOS, WINDOWS, or embedded operating systems such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components.

The communication module 228 facilitates communication with other devices via one or more external ports 224 and also includes various software components for processing data received by the RF circuitry 208 and/or the external ports 224. External port 224 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), firewire, etc.) is adapted to couple directly to other devices or indirectly through a network (e.g., the internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is an external port(trademark of Apple inc.) the same or similar and/or compatible multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connectors used on 30-pin connectors on devices.

The contact/motion module 230 optionally detects contact with the touch screen 212 (in conjunction with the display controller 256) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or a physical click wheel). The contact/motion module 230 includes various software components for performing various operations related to the detection of contact, such as determining whether contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger press event), determining the intensity of contact (e.g., the force or pressure of the contact, or a surrogate for the force or pressure of the contact), determining whether there is movement of the contact and tracking movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or more finger drag events), and determining whether contact has ceased (e.g., detecting a finger lift event or contact disconnection). The contact/motion module 230 receives contact data from the touch-sensitive surface. Determining movement of the point of contact optionally includes determining velocity (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or acceleration (change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact, the movement of the point of contact being represented by a series of contact data. These operations are optionally applied to single point contacts (e.g., single finger contacts) or multiple point simultaneous contacts (e.g., "multi-touch"/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 230 and the display controller 256 detect a contact on the touch pad.

In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 230 uses a set of one or more intensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has been performed by the user (e.g., determine whether the user has "clicked" on an icon). In some embodiments, at least a subset of the intensity thresholds are determined as a function of software parameters (e.g., the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholds of particular physical actuators and may be adjusted without changing the physical hardware of device 200). For example, the mouse "click" threshold of the trackpad or touch screen display may be set to any one of a wide range of predefined thresholds without changing the trackpad or touch screen display hardware. Additionally, in some implementations, a user of the device is provided with software settings for adjusting one or more intensity thresholds of a set of intensity thresholds (e.g., by adjusting individual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting multiple intensity thresholds at once with a system-level click on an "intensity" parameter).

The contact/motion module 230 optionally detects gesture input by the user. Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contact patterns (e.g., different motions, timings, and/or intensities of detected contacts). Thus, the gesture is optionally detected by detecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includes detecting a finger press event and then detecting a finger lift (lift off) event at the same location (or substantially the same location) as the finger press event (e.g., at the location of an icon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger press event, then detecting one or more finger drag events, and then subsequently detecting a finger lift (lift off) event.

Graphics module 232 includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 212 or other display, including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness, transparency, saturation, contrast, or other visual characteristics) of the displayed graphics. As used herein, the term "graphic" includes any object that may be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 232 stores data representing graphics to be used. Each graphic is optionally assigned a corresponding code. The graphic module 232 receives one or more codes for specifying a graphic to be displayed, if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic attribute data from an application program or the like, and then generates screen image data to output to the display controller 256.

Haptic feedback module 233 includes various software components for generating instructions for use by one or more haptic output generators 267 to produce haptic outputs at one or more locations on device 100 in response to user interaction with device 200.

Text input module 234, which may be a component of graphics module 232, provides a soft keyboard for entering text in a variety of applications, such as contacts 237, email 240, instant message 241, browser 247, and any other application that requires text input.

The GPS module 235 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to the phone 238 for location-based dialing; to the camera 243 for picture/video metadata; and to applications that provide location-based services, such as weather desktop applets, local yellow pages desktop applets, and map/navigation desktop applets).

The digital assistant client module 229 may include various client-side digital assistant instructions to provide client-side functionality of the digital assistant. For example, the digital assistant client module 229 may be capable of accepting sound input (e.g., voice input), text input, touch input, and/or gesture input through various user interfaces of the portable multifunction device 200 (e.g., the microphone 213, the accelerometer 268, the touch-sensitive display system 212, the optical sensor 229, the other input control device 216, etc.). The digital assistant client module 229 may also be capable of providing audio-form output (e.g., speech output), visual-form output, and/or tactile-form output through various output interfaces of the portable multifunction device 200 (e.g., the speaker 211, the touch-sensitive display system 212, the one or more tactile output generators 267, etc.). For example, the output may be provided as voice, sound, prompts, text messages, menus, graphics, video, animation, vibrations, and/or a combination of two or more of the foregoing. During operation, digital assistant client module 229 may use RF circuitry 208 to communicate with DA server 106.

The user data and model 231 may include various data associated with the user (e.g., user-specific vocabulary data, user preference data, user-specified name pronunciations, data from the user's electronic address book, backlogs, shopping lists, etc.) to provide client-side functionality of the digital assistant. Further, the user data and models 231 may include various models (e.g., speech recognition models, statistical language models, natural language processing models, ontologies, task flow models, service models, etc.) for processing user input and determining user intent.

In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 may utilize various sensors, subsystems, and peripherals of the portable multifunction device 200 to sample additional information from the surroundings of the portable multifunction device 200 to establish context associated with the user, current user interaction, and/or current user input. In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 may provide the context information, or a subset thereof, to the DA server 106 along with the user input to help infer the user intent. In some examples, the digital assistant may also use the context information to determine how to prepare and deliver the output to the user. The context information may be referred to as context data.

In some examples, contextual information accompanying the user input may include sensor information, such as lighting, ambient noise, ambient temperature, images or video of the surrounding environment, and so forth. In some examples, contextual information may also include physical states of the device, such as device orientation, device location, device temperature, power level, velocity, acceleration, motion pattern, cellular signal strength, and the like. In some examples, information related to the software state of DA server 106 (e.g., running process, installed programs, past and current network activity, background services, error logs, resource usage, etc.) and information related to the software state of portable multifunction device 200 can be provided to DA server 106 as context information associated with user input.

In some examples, digital assistant client module 229 may selectively provide information (e.g., user data 231) stored on portable multifunction device 200 in response to a request from DA server 106. In some examples, the digital assistant client module 229 may also elicit additional input from the user via a natural language dialog or other user interface upon request by the DA server 106. The digital assistant client module 229 may transmit this additional input to the DA server 106 to assist the DA server 106 in intent inference and/or to satisfy the user intent expressed in the user request.

The digital assistant is described in more detail below with reference to fig. 7A-C. It should be appreciated that the digital assistant client module 229 may include any number of sub-modules of the digital assistant module 726 described below.

The application programs 236 may include the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

a contacts module 237 (sometimes called an address book or contact list);

a phone module 238;

a video conferencing module 239;

an email client module 240;

an Instant Messaging (IM) module 241;

fitness support module 242;

a camera module 243 for still and/or video images;

an image management module 244;

a video player module;

a music player module;

a browser module 247;

a calendar module 248;

desktop applet modules 249 that may include one or more of the following: a weather desktop applet 249-1, a stock market desktop applet 249-2, a calculator desktop applet 249-3, a clock desktop applet 249-4, a dictionary desktop applet 249-5, and other desktop applets acquired by a user, and a user created desktop applet 249-6;

a desktop applet creator module 250 for making a user-created desktop applet 249-6;

a search module 251;

a video and music player module 252 that incorporates a video player module and a music player module;

a notepad module 253;

a map module 254; and/or

Online video module 255.

Examples of other application programs 236 that may be stored in memory 202 include other word processing applications, other image editing applications, drawing applications, rendering applications, JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voice recognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the text input module 234, the contacts module 237 may be used to manage contact lists or contact lists (e.g., stored in the memory 202 or in the application internal state 292 of the contacts module 137 in the memory 470), including: adding one or more names to the address book; deleting one or more names from the address book; associating one or more telephone numbers, one or more email addresses, one or more physical addresses, or other information with a name; associating the image with a name; classifying and classifying names; providing a telephone number or email address to initiate and/or facilitate communication via telephone 238, video conferencing module 239, email 240, or instant message 241; and so on.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, audio circuitry 210, speaker 211, microphone 213, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, the phone module 238 may be used to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to a phone number, access one or more phone numbers in the contacts module 237, modify an entered phone number, dial a corresponding phone number, conduct a session, and disconnect or hang up when the session is complete. As described above, wireless communication may use any of a number of communication standards, protocols, and technologies.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the audio circuitry 210, the speaker 211, the microphone 213, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the optical sensor 264, the optical sensor controller 258, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, the contacts module 237, and the phone module 238, the video conference module 239 includes executable instructions to initiate, conduct, and terminate video conferences between the user and one or more other participants according to user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, email client module 240 includes executable instructions to create, send, receive, and manage emails in response to user instructions. In conjunction with the image management module 244, the email client module 240 makes it very easy to create and send emails with still images or video images captured by the camera module 243.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the text input module 234, the instant message module 241 includes executable instructions for: the method includes inputting a sequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, modifying previously input characters, transmitting a corresponding instant message (e.g., using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for a phone-based instant message, or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for an internet-based instant message), receiving the instant message, and viewing the received instant message. In some embodiments, the transmitted and/or received instant messages may include graphics, photos, audio files, video files, and/or other attachments supported in MMS and/or Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, "instant message" refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) and internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS).

In conjunction with radio frequency circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234, GPS module 235, map module 254, and music player module 146, fitness support module 242 includes executable instructions for: creating a fitness (e.g., having a time, distance, and/or calorie burning goal); communicate with fitness sensors (sports equipment); receiving fitness sensor data; calibrating a sensor for monitoring fitness; selecting and playing music for fitness; and displaying, storing and transmitting fitness data.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the one or more optical sensors 264, the optical sensor controller 258, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the image management module 244, the camera module 243 includes executable instructions for: capturing still images or video (including video streams) and storing them in the memory 202, modifying features of the still images or video, or deleting the still images or video from the memory 202.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, and the camera module 243, the image management module 244 includes executable instructions to: arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, tag, delete, present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/or video images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, browser module 247 includes executable instructions to browse the internet (including searching for, linking to, receiving and displaying web pages or portions thereof, and attachments and other files linked to web pages) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, the email client module 240, and the browser module 247, the calendar module 248 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify, and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendar entries, to-do items, etc.) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, and the browser module 247, the desktop applet module 249 is a mini-application (e.g., a weather desktop applet 249-1, a stock desktop applet 249-2, a calculator desktop applet 249-3, an alarm desktop applet 249-4, and a dictionary desktop applet 249-5) that may be downloaded and used by a user, or a mini-application created by a user (e.g., a user-created desktop applet 249-6). In some embodiments, the desktop applet includes an HTML (hypertext markup language) file, a CSS (cascading style sheet) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, the desktop applet includes an XML (extensible markup language) file and a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! desktop applet).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 208, touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, text input module 234, and browser module 247, the desktop applet creator module 250 may be used by a user to create a desktop applet (e.g., to turn a user-specified portion of a web page into a desktop applet).

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, and text input module 234, search module 251 includes executable instructions to search memory 202 for text, music, sound, images, videos, and/or other files that match one or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified search terms) based on user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 212, display controller 256, contact/motion module 230, graphics module 232, audio circuitry 210, speakers 211, RF circuitry 208, and browser module 247, video and music player module 252 includes executable instructions that allow a user to download and playback recorded music and other sound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, as well as executable instructions for displaying, rendering, or otherwise playing back video (e.g., on touch screen 212 or on an external display connected via external port 224). In some embodiments, the device 200 optionally includes the functionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple inc.).

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, and the text input module 234, the notepad module 253 includes executable instructions to create and manage notepads, backlogs, and the like according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the RF circuitry 208, the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the text input module 234, the GPS module 235, and the browser module 247, the map module 254 may be used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and data associated with maps (e.g., driving directions, data associated with stores and other points of interest at or near a particular location, and other location-based data) according to user instructions.

In conjunction with the touch screen 212, the display controller 256, the contact/motion module 230, the graphics module 232, the audio circuitry 210, the speaker 211, the RF circuitry 108, the text input module 234, the email client module 240, and the browser module 247, the online video module 255 includes instructions for: allowing a user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streaming and/or downloading), playback (e.g., on a touch screen or on an external display connected via external port 224), send email with a link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online video in one or more file formats, such as h.264. In some embodiments, the link to a particular online video is sent using instant messaging module 241 rather than email client module 240. Additional descriptions of Online video applications may be found in U.S. provisional patent application 60/936,562 entitled "Portable Multi function Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online video", filed on day 6/20 2007, and U.S. patent application 11/968,067 entitled "Portable Multi function Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Playing Online video", filed on day 12/31 2007, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Each of the modules and applications described above corresponds to a set of executable instructions for performing one or more of the functions described above as well as the methods described in this patent application (e.g., the computer-implemented methods and other information processing methods described herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. For example, a video player module may be combined with a music player module into a single module (e.g., video and music player module 252 in fig. 2A). In some embodiments, memory 202 may store a subset of the modules and data structures described above. Further, memory 202 may store additional modules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, device 200 is a device in which the operation of a predefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusively through a touch screen and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screen and/or touch pad as the primary input control device for operation of device 200, the number of physical input control devices (such as push buttons, dials, and the like) on device 200 may be reduced.

The set of predefined functions performed exclusively by the touch screen and/or the touchpad optionally includes navigating between user interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by a user, navigates device 200 from any user interface displayed on device 200 to a main, home, or root menu. In such embodiments, a touchpad is used to implement a "menu button". In some other embodiments, the menu button is a physical push button or other physical input control device, rather than a touch pad.

Fig. 2B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for event processing according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 202 (fig. 2A) or memory 470 (fig. 4) includes an event classifier 270 (e.g., in operating system 226) and a corresponding application program 236-1 (e.g., any of the aforementioned application programs 237 through 251, 255, 480 through 490).

The event sorter 270 receives the event information and determines the application 236-1 to which the event information is to be delivered and the application view 291 of the application 236-1. Event sorter 270 includes event monitor 271 and event dispatcher module 274. In some embodiments, the application 236-1 includes an application internal state 292 that indicates one or more current application views that are displayed on the touch-sensitive display 212 when the application is active or executing. In some embodiments, device/global internal state 257 is used by event classifier 270 to determine which application(s) are currently active, and application internal state 292 is used by event classifier 270 to determine the application view 291 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, the application internal state 292 includes additional information, such as one or more of the following: resume information to be used when the application 236-1 resumes execution, user interface state information indicating information being displayed by the application 236-1 or information that is ready for display by the application 236-1, a state queue for enabling a user to return to a previous state or view of the application 136-1, and a repeat/undo queue of previous actions taken by the user.

The event monitor 271 receives event information from the peripheral interface 218. The event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., a user touch on the touch-sensitive display 212 as part of a multi-touch gesture). Peripherals interface 218 transmits information it receives from I/O subsystem 206 or sensors such as proximity sensor 266, accelerometer 268, and/or microphone 213 (through audio circuitry 210). Information received by peripheral interface 218 from I/O subsystem 206 includes information from touch-sensitive display 212 or a touch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 271 sends requests to peripheral interface 218 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheral interface 218 transmits event information. In other embodiments, peripheral interface 218 transmits event information only when there is a significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predetermined noise threshold and/or receiving more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event classifier 270 also includes hit view determination module 272 and/or activity event recognizer determination module 273.

When the touch-sensitive display 212 displays more than one view, the hit view determination module 272 provides a software process for determining where within one or more views a sub-event has occurred. The view consists of controls and other elements that the user can see on the display.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is a set of views, sometimes referred to herein as application views or user interface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-based gestures occur. The application view (of the respective application) in which the touch is detected may correspond to a programmatic level within a programmatic or view hierarchy of applications. For example, the lowest hierarchical view in which a touch is detected may be referred to as a hit view, and the set of events identified as correct inputs may be determined based at least in part on the hit view of the initial touch that began the touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 272 receives information related to sub-events of the contact-based gesture. When the application has multiple views organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 272 identifies the hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy that should handle the sub-event. In most cases, the hit view is the lowest level view in which the initiating sub-event (e.g., the first sub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potential event) occurs. Once the hit view is identified by hit view determination module 272, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to the same touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view.

The activity event identifier determination module 273 determines which view or views within the view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In some implementations, the activity event recognizer determination module 273 determines that only the hit view should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, the active event recognizer determination module 273 determines that all views including the physical location of the sub-event are actively participating views, and thus determines that all actively participating views should receive a particular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if the touch sub-event is completely confined to the area associated with one particular view, the higher views in the hierarchy will remain actively participating views.

Event dispatcher module 274 dispatches event information to event recognizers (e.g., event recognizer 280). In embodiments that include the activity event recognizer determination module 273, the event dispatcher module 274 delivers the event information to the event recognizer determined by the activity event recognizer determination module 273. In some embodiments, the event dispatcher module 274 stores event information in an event queue, which is retrieved by the respective event receiver 282.

In some embodiments, the operating system 226 includes an event classifier 270. Alternatively, the application 236-1 includes an event classifier 270. In other embodiments, the event classifier 270 is a stand-alone module or is part of another module (such as the contact/motion module 230) that is stored in the memory 202.

In some embodiments, the application 236-1 includes a plurality of event handlers 290 and one or more application views 291, where each application view includes instructions for handling touch events that occur within a respective view of the application's user interface. Each application view 291 of the application 236-1 includes one or more event recognizers 280. Typically, the respective application view 291 includes a plurality of event recognizers 280. In other embodiments, one or more of the event recognizers 280 are part of a separate module, such as a user interface toolkit (not shown) or a higher level object from which the application 236-1 inherits methods and other properties. In some implementations, the respective event handlers 290 include one or more of: data updater 276, object updater 277, GUI updater 278, and/or event data 279 received from event classifier 270. Event handler 290 may utilize or call data updater 276, object updater 277 or GUI updater 278 to update application internal state 292. Alternatively, one or more of the application views 291 include one or more respective event handlers 290. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more of the data updater 276, the object updater 277, and the GUI updater 278 are included in a respective application view 291.

The corresponding event identifier 280 receives event information (e.g., event data 279) from the event classifier 270 and identifies events from the event information. Event recognizer 280 includes an event receiver 282 and an event comparator 284. In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 also includes at least a subset of metadata 283 and event delivery instructions 288 (which may include sub-event delivery instructions).

Event receiver 282 receives event information from event sorter 270. The event information includes information about a sub-event such as a touch or touch movement. According to the sub-event, the event information further includes additional information, such as the location of the sub-event. When the sub-event relates to motion of a touch, the event information may also include the velocity and direction of the sub-event. In some embodiments, the event comprises rotation of the device from one orientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to a landscape orientation, or vice versa), and the event information comprises corresponding information about the current orientation of the device (also referred to as the device pose).

Event comparator 284 compares the event information to predefined event or sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines an event or sub-event or determines or updates the state of an event or sub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 284 includes an event definition 286. The event definition 286 contains definitions of events (e.g., predefined sub-event sequences), such as event 1(287-1), event 2(287-2), and other events. In some embodiments, sub-events in event (287) include, for example, touch start, touch end, touch move, touch cancel, and multi-touch. In one example, the definition for event 1(287-1) is a double click on the display object. For example, the double tap includes a first touch (touch start) on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time, a first lift-off (touch end) for a predetermined length of time, a second touch (touch start) on the displayed object for a predetermined length of time, and a second lift-off (touch end) for a predetermined length of time. In another example, event 2(287-2) is defined as a drag on the displayed object. For example, dragging includes a predetermined length of time of touch (or contact) on the displayed object, movement of the touch across the touch sensitive display 212, and liftoff of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments, the events also include information for one or more associated event handlers 290.

In some embodiments, the event definitions 287 include definitions of events for respective user interface objects. In some embodiments, event comparator 284 performs a hit test to determine which user interface object is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an application view that displays three user interface objects on the touch-sensitive display 212, when a touch is detected on the touch-sensitive display 212, the event comparator 284 performs a hit test to determine which of the three user interface objects is associated with the touch (sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a corresponding event handler 290, the event comparator uses the results of the hit test to determine which event handler 290 should be activated. For example, the event comparator 284 selects the event handler associated with the sub-event and the object that triggered the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition of the respective event (287) further comprises a delay action that delays the delivery of the event information until it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-events does or does not correspond to the event type of the event recognizer.

When the respective event recognizer 280 determines that the sequence of sub-events does not match any event in the event definition 286, the respective event recognizer 280 enters an event not possible, event failed, or event end state, after which subsequent sub-events of the touch-based gesture are ignored. In this case, the other event recognizers (if any) that remain active for the hit view continue to track and process sub-events of the ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, the respective event recognizer 280 includes metadata 283 with configurable attributes, tags, and/or lists that indicate how the event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to actively participating event recognizers. In some embodiments, the metadata 283 includes configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate how event recognizers may interact with each other or be enabled to interact with each other. In some embodiments, metadata 283 includes configurable attributes, flags, and/or lists that indicate whether a sub-event is delivered to a different level in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, when one or more particular sub-events of an event are identified, the respective event identifier 280 activates the event handler 290 associated with the event. In some implementations, the respective event identifier 280 delivers event information associated with the event to the event handler 290. Activating the event handler 290 is different from sending (and deferring) sub-events to the corresponding hit view. In some embodiments, event recognizer 280 throws a flag associated with the recognized event and event handler 290 associated with the flag retrieves the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, the event delivery instructions 288 include sub-event delivery instructions that deliver event information about sub-events without activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event delivery instructions deliver event information to event handlers associated with the series of sub-events or to actively participating views. Event handlers associated with the series of sub-events or with actively participating views receive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, the data updater 276 creates and updates data used in the application 236-1. For example, the data updater 276 updates a phone number used in the contacts module 237 or stores a video file used in the video player module. In some embodiments, the object updater 277 creates and updates objects used in the application 236-1. For example, object updater 277 creates a new user interface object or updates the location of a user interface object. The GUI updater 278 updates the GUI. For example, GUI updater 278 prepares display information and sends the display information to graphics module 232 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, one or more event handlers 290 include or have access to data updater 276, object updater 277, and GUI updater 278. In some embodiments, the data updater 276, the object updater 277, and the GUI updater 278 are included in a single module of the respective application 236-1 or application view 291. In other embodiments, they are included in two or more software modules.

It should be understood that the above discussion of event processing with respect to user touches on a touch sensitive display also applies to other forms of user input utilizing an input device to operate multifunction device 200, not all of which are initiated on a touch screen. For example, mouse movements and mouse button presses, optionally in conjunction with single or multiple keyboard presses or presses; contact movements on the touchpad, such as taps, drags, scrolls, and the like; inputting by a stylus; movement of the device; verbal instructions; the detected eye movement; inputting biological characteristics; and/or any combination thereof, is optionally used as input corresponding to sub-events defining the event to be identified.

Fig. 3 illustrates a portable multifunction device 200 with a touch screen 212 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen optionally displays one or more graphics within a User Interface (UI) 300. In this and other embodiments described below, a user can select one or more of these graphics by graphically gesturing with, for example, one or more fingers 302 (not drawn to scale in the figures) or one or more styluses 303 (not drawn to scale in the figures). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics will occur when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the gesture optionally includes one or more taps, one or more swipes (left to right, right to left, up, and/or down), and/or a rolling of a finger (right to left, left to right, up, and/or down) that has made contact with device 200. In some implementations, or in some cases, inadvertent contact with a graphic does not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon optionally does not select the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding to the selection is a tap.

Device 200 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as a "home" button, or menu button 304. As previously described, the menu button 304 may be used to navigate to any application 236 in a set of applications that may be executed on the device 200. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the menu buttons are implemented as soft keys in a GUI displayed on touch screen 212.

In one embodiment, device 200 includes a touch screen 212, menu buttons 304, a push button 306 for powering the device on/off and for locking the device, one or more volume adjustment buttons 308, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card slot 310, a headset jack 312, and a docking/charging external port 224. Pressing the button 306 optionally serves to turn the device on/off by depressing the button and holding the button in a depressed state for a predefined interval of time; locking the device by depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefined time interval has elapsed; and/or unlocking the device or initiating an unlocking process. In an alternative embodiment, device 200 also accepts voice input for activating or deactivating some functions through microphone 213. Device 200 also optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors 265 for detecting the intensity of contacts on touch screen 212, and/or one or more tactile output generators 267 for generating tactile outputs for a user of device 200.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with a display and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with some embodiments. The device 400 need not be portable. In some embodiments, the device 400 is a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet computer, multimedia player device, navigation device, educational device (such as a child learning toy), gaming system, or control device (e.g., a home controller or industrial controller). Device 400 typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 410, one or more network or other communication interfaces 460, memory 470, and one or more communication buses 420 for interconnecting these components. The communication bus 420 optionally includes circuitry (sometimes referred to as a chipset) that interconnects and controls communication between system components. Device 400 includes an input/output (I/O) interface 430 having a display 440, typically a touch screen display. The I/O interface 430 also optionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or other pointing device) 450 and a touchpad 455, a tactile output generator 457 (e.g., similar to tactile output generator 267 described above with reference to fig. 2A), a sensor 459 (e.g., an optical sensor, an acceleration sensor, a proximity sensor, a touch-sensitive sensor, and/or one or more contact intensity sensors (similar to contact intensity sensor 265 described above with reference to fig. 2A)) for generating tactile outputs on the device 400. Memory 470 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random access solid state memory devices; and optionally non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. Memory 470 optionally includes one or more storage devices located remotely from CPU 410. In some embodiments, memory 470 stores programs, modules, and data structures similar to those stored in memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200 (fig. 2A), or a subset thereof. Further, the memory 470 optionally stores additional programs, modules, and data structures that are not present in the memory 202 of the portable multifunction device 200. For example, memory 470 of device 400 optionally stores drawing module 480, presentation module 482, word processing module 484, website creation module 486, disk editing module 488, and/or spreadsheet module 490, while memory 202 of portable multifunction device 200 (FIG. 2A) optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above elements in fig. 4 may be stored in one or more of the aforementioned memory devices. Each of the above identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a function described above. The modules or programs (e.g., sets of instructions) described above need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 470 may store a subset of the modules and data structures described above. In addition, memory 470 may store additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed to embodiments of user interfaces that may be implemented on, for example, portable multifunction device 200.

Fig. 5A illustrates an exemplary user interface of an application menu on a portable multifunction device 200 according to some embodiments. A similar user interface may be implemented on device 400. In some embodiments, the user interface 500 includes the following elements, or a subset or superset thereof:

one or more signal strength indicators 502 for one or more wireless communications (such as cellular signals and Wi-Fi signals);

time 504;

a bluetooth indicator 505;

a battery status indicator 506;

tray 508 with common application icons such as:

an icon 516 of the telephone module 238, labeled "telephone", this icon 216 optionally including an indicator 514 of the number of missed calls or voice messages;

an icon 518 of the email client module 240 labeled "mail", optionally including an indicator 510 of the number of unread emails;

icon 520 of browser module 247 labeled "browser"; and

an icon 522 labeled "iPod" of the video and music player module 252 (also called iPod (trademark of Apple inc.) module 252); and

icons for other applications, such as:

icon 524 of IM module 241, labeled "message";

icon 526 of calendar module 248 labeled "calendar";

icon 528 of image management module 244 labeled "photo";

icon 530 labeled "camera" for camera module 243;

icon 532 labeled "online video" for online video module 255;

an icon 534 labeled "stock market" of the stock market desktop applet 249-2;

icon 536 of map module 254 labeled "map";

icon 538 of weather desktop applet 249-1 labeled "weather";

icon 540 labeled "clock" for alarm clock desktop applet 249-4;

icon 542 of fitness support module 242 labeled "fitness support";

icon 544 labeled "notepad" for notepad module 253; and

an icon 546 labeled "settings" for setting applications or modules, which provides access to the settings of the device 200 and its various applications 236.

Note that the icon labels shown in fig. 5A are merely exemplary. For example, icon 522 of video and music player module 252 may optionally be labeled "music" or "music player". Other tabs are optionally used for various application icons. In some embodiments, the label of the respective application icon includes a name of the application corresponding to the respective application icon. In some embodiments, the label of a particular application icon is different from the name of the application corresponding to the particular application icon.

Fig. 5B illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g., device 400 of fig. 4) having a touch-sensitive surface 551 (e.g., tablet or touchpad 455 of fig. 4) separate from a display 550 (e.g., touchscreen display 212). The device 400 also optionally includes one or more contact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of the sensors 457) for detecting intensity of contacts on the touch-sensitive surface 551, and/or one or more tactile output generators 459 for generating tactile outputs for a user of the device 400.

Although some of the examples that follow will be given with reference to input on the touch screen display 212 (where the touch-sensitive surface and the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detects input on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display, as shown in fig. 5B. In some implementations, the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 551 in fig. 5B) has a major axis (e.g., 552 in fig. 5B) that corresponds to a major axis (e.g., 553 in fig. 5B) on the display (e.g., 550). According to these embodiments, the device detects contacts (e.g., 560 and 562 in fig. 5B) with the touch-sensitive surface 551 at locations corresponding to respective locations on the display (e.g., 560 corresponds to 568 and 562 corresponds to 570 in fig. 5B). In this way, when the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 551 in FIG. 5B) is separated from the display (550 in FIG. 5B) of the multifunction device, user inputs (e.g., contacts 560 and 562 and their movements) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface are used by the device to manipulate the user interface on the display. It should be understood that similar methods are optionally used for the other user interfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily with reference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contact, single-finger tap gesture, finger swipe gesture), it should be understood that in some embodiments, one or more of these finger inputs are replaced by inputs from another input device (e.g., mouse-based inputs or stylus inputs). For example, the swipe gesture is optionally replaced by a mouse click (e.g., rather than a contact), followed by movement of the cursor along the path of the swipe (e.g., rather than movement of the contact). As another example, a flick gesture is optionally replaced by a mouse click (e.g., rather than detection of a contact, and then ceasing to detect a contact) while the cursor is over the location of the flick gesture. Similarly, when multiple user inputs are detected simultaneously, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are optionally used simultaneously, or mouse and finger contacts are optionally used simultaneously.

Fig. 6A illustrates an exemplary personal electronic device 600. The device 600 includes a body 602. In some embodiments, device 600 may include some or all of the features described for devices 200 and 400 (e.g., fig. 2A-4). In some embodiments, device 600 has a touch-sensitive display screen 604, hereinafter referred to as touch screen 604. Instead of or in addition to the touch screen 604, the device 600 has a display and a touch-sensitive surface. As with device 200 and device 400, in some embodiments, touch screen 604 (or touch-sensitive surface) may have one or more intensity sensors for detecting the intensity of a contact (e.g., touch) being applied. One or more intensity sensors of touch screen 604 (or touch-sensitive surface) may provide output data representing the intensity of a touch. The user interface of device 600 may respond to the touch based on the strength of the touch, meaning that different strengths of the touch may invoke different user interface operations on device 600.

Techniques for detecting and processing touch intensity may be found in related patent applications: for example, International patent Application Ser. No. PCT/US2013/040061 entitled "Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Displaying User Interface Objects correcting to an Application", filed on 8.5.2013, and International patent Application Ser. No. PCT/US2013/069483 entitled "Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for translating Between Touch Input to Display Output references", filed on 11.11.2013, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more input mechanisms 606 and 608. The input mechanisms 606 and 608 (if included) may be in physical form. Examples of physical input mechanisms include push buttons and rotatable mechanisms. In some embodiments, device 600 has one or more attachment mechanisms. Such attachment mechanisms, if included, may allow device 600 to be attached with, for example, a hat, glasses, earrings, necklace, shirt, jacket, bracelet, watchband, bracelet, pants, belt, shoe, purse, backpack, and the like. These attachment mechanisms may allow the user to wear the device 600.

Fig. 6B illustrates an exemplary personal electronic device 600. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 may include some or all of the components described with reference to fig. 2A, 2B, and 4. The device 600 has a bus 612 that operatively couples an I/O portion 614 with one or more computer processors 616 and a memory 618. I/O portion 614 may be connected to display 604, which may have touch sensitive component 622 and optionally touch intensity sensitive component 624. Further, I/O portion 614 may be connected to communications unit 630 for receiving applications and operating system data using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), cellular, and/or other wireless communications technologies. Device 600 may include input mechanisms 606 and/or 608. For example, input mechanism 606 may be a rotatable input device or a depressible and rotatable input device. In some examples, input mechanism 608 may be a button.

In some examples, input mechanism 608 may be a microphone. The personal electronic device 600 may include various sensors, such as a GPS sensor 632, an accelerometer 634, an orientation sensor 640 (e.g., a compass), a gyroscope 636, a motion sensor 638, and/or combinations thereof, all of which may be operatively connected to the I/O section 614.

The memory 618 of the personal electronic device 600 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors 616, may, for example, cause the computer processors to perform the techniques described below, including the method 900 (fig. 8A-D). The computer-executable instructions may also be stored and/or transmitted within any non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. The personal electronic device 600 is not limited to the components and configuration of fig. 6B, but may include other components or additional components in a variety of configurations.

As used herein, the term "affordance" refers to a user-interactive graphical user interface object that may be displayed on a display screen of device 200,400, and/or 600 (FIGS. 2, 4, and 6). For example, images (e.g., icons), buttons, and text (e.g., hyperlinks) may each constitute an affordance.

As used herein, the term "focus selector" refers to an input element that is used to indicate the current portion of the user interface with which the user is interacting. In some implementations that include a cursor or other position marker, the cursor acts as a "focus selector" such that, if an input (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touchpad 455 in fig. 4 or touch-sensitive surface 551 in fig. 5B) while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, or other user interface element), the particular user interface element is adjusted according to the detected input. In some implementations that include a touch screen display (e.g., touch-sensitive display system 212 in fig. 2A or touch screen 212 in fig. 5A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elements on the touch screen display, a detected contact on the touch screen acts as a "focus selector" such that when an input (e.g., a press input by the contact) is detected at a location of a particular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider, or other user interface element) on the touch screen display, the particular user interface element is adjusted according to the detected input. In some implementations, focus is moved from one area of the user interface to another area of the user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor or movement of a contact on the touch screen display (e.g., by moving focus from one button to another using tab or arrow keys); in these implementations, the focus selector moves according to movement of the focus between different regions of the user interface. Regardless of the particular form taken by the focus selector, the focus selector is typically a user interface element (or contact on a touch screen display) that is controlled by the user in order to deliver the user-intended interaction with the user interface (e.g., by indicating to the device the element with which the user of the user interface desires to interact). For example, upon detection of a press input on a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touchscreen), the location of a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, contact, or selection box) over a respective button will indicate that the user desires to activate the respective button (rather than other user interface elements shown on the display of the device).

As used in the specification and in the claims, the term "characteristic intensity" of a contact refers to a characteristic of the contact based on one or more intensities of the contact. In some embodiments, the characteristic intensity is based on a plurality of intensity samples. The characteristic intensity is optionally based on a predefined number of intensity samples or a set of intensity samples sampled during a predetermined time period (e.g., 0.05 seconds, 0.1 seconds, 0.2 seconds, 0.5 seconds, 1 second, 2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds) relative to a predefined event (e.g., after detecting contact, before detecting contact lift, before or after detecting contact start movement, before or after detecting contact end, before or after detecting intensity increase of contact, and/or before or after detecting intensity decrease of contact). The characteristic intensity of the contact is optionally based on one or more of: maximum value of contact strength, mean value of contact strength, average value of contact strength, value at the first 10% of contact strength, half maximum value of contact strength, 90% maximum value of contact strength, and the like. In some embodiments, the duration of the contact is used in determining the characteristic intensity (e.g., when the characteristic intensity is an average of the intensity of the contact over time). In some embodiments, the characteristic intensity is compared to a set of one or more intensity thresholds to determine whether the user has performed an operation. For example, the set of one or more intensity thresholds may include a first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold. In this example, a contact whose characteristic intensity does not exceed the first threshold results in a first operation, a contact whose characteristic intensity exceeds the first intensity threshold but does not exceed the second intensity threshold results in a second operation, and a contact whose characteristic intensity exceeds the second threshold results in a third operation. In some embodiments, the comparison between the feature strengths and the one or more thresholds is used to determine whether to perform the one or more operations (e.g., whether to perform the respective operation or to forgo performing the respective operation) rather than to determine whether to perform the first operation or the second operation.

In some implementations, a portion of the gesture is recognized for determining the feature intensity. For example, the touch-sensitive surface may receive a continuous swipe contact that transitions from a starting position and reaches an ending position where the strength of the contact increases. In this example, the characteristic strength of the contact at the end position may be based on only a portion of the continuous swipe contact, rather than the entire swipe contact (e.g., only a portion of the swipe contact at the end position). In some implementations, a smoothing algorithm may be applied to the intensity of the swipe gesture before determining the characteristic intensity of the contact. For example, the smoothing algorithm optionally includes one or more of: a non-weighted moving average smoothing algorithm, a triangular smoothing algorithm, a median filter smoothing algorithm, and/or an exponential smoothing algorithm. In some cases, these smoothing algorithms eliminate narrow spikes or dips in the intensity of the swipe contact for determining feature intensity.

The intensity of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface may be characterized relative to one or more intensity thresholds, such as a contact detection intensity threshold, a light press intensity threshold, a deep press intensity threshold, and/or one or more other intensity thresholds. In some embodiments, the light press intensity threshold corresponds to an intensity that: at this intensity, the device will perform the operations typically associated with clicking a button of a physical mouse or trackpad. In some embodiments, the deep press intensity threshold corresponds to an intensity that: at which intensity the device will perform a different operation than that typically associated with clicking a button of a physical mouse or trackpad. In some implementations, when a contact is detected whose characteristic intensity is below a light press intensity threshold (e.g., and above a nominal contact detection intensity threshold, a contact below the nominal contact detection intensity threshold is no longer detected), the device will move the focus selector in accordance with movement of the contact across the touch-sensitive surface without performing an operation associated with a light press intensity threshold or a deep press intensity threshold. Generally, unless otherwise stated, these intensity thresholds are consistent between different sets of user interface drawings.

The increase in the characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the light press intensity threshold to an intensity between the light press intensity threshold and the deep press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as a "light press" input. An increase in the characteristic intensity of a contact from an intensity below the deep press intensity threshold to an intensity above the deep press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as a "deep press" input. An increase in the characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity below the contact detection intensity threshold to an intensity between the contact detection intensity threshold and the light press intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as detecting a contact on the touch surface. The decrease in the characteristic intensity of the contact from an intensity above the contact detection intensity threshold to an intensity below the contact detection intensity threshold is sometimes referred to as detecting lift-off of the contact from the touch surface. In some embodiments, the contact detection intensity threshold is zero. In some embodiments, the contact detection intensity threshold is greater than zero.

In some embodiments described herein, one or more operations are performed in response to detecting a gesture that includes a respective press input or in response to detecting a respective press input performed with a respective contact (or contacts), wherein the respective press input is detected based at least in part on detecting an increase in intensity of the contact (or contacts) above a press input intensity threshold. In some embodiments, the respective operation is performed in response to detecting an increase in intensity of the respective contact above a press input intensity threshold (e.g., a "down stroke" of the respective press input). In some embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity of the respective contact above a press input intensity threshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the press input intensity threshold, and the respective operation is performed in response to detecting a subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contact below the press input threshold (e.g., an "up stroke" of the respective press input).

In some embodiments, the device employs intensity hysteresis to avoid accidental input sometimes referred to as "jitter," where the device defines or selects a hysteresis intensity threshold having a predefined relationship to the press input intensity threshold (e.g., the hysteresis intensity threshold is X intensity units less than the press input intensity threshold, or the hysteresis intensity threshold is 75%, 90%, or some reasonable proportion of the press input intensity threshold). Thus, in some embodiments, a press input includes an increase in intensity of a respective contact above a press input intensity threshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below a hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to the press input intensity threshold, and a respective operation is performed in response to detecting a subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contact below the hysteresis intensity threshold (e.g., an "up stroke" of the respective press input). Similarly, in some embodiments, a press input is detected only when the device detects an increase in intensity of the contact from an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity at or above the press input intensity threshold and optionally a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact to an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity, and a corresponding operation is performed in response to detecting the press input (e.g., an increase in intensity of the contact or a decrease in intensity of the contact, depending on the circumstances).

For ease of explanation, optionally, a description of an operation performed in response to a press input associated with a press input intensity threshold or in response to a gesture that includes a press input is triggered in response to detection of any of the following: the contact intensity increases above the press input intensity threshold, the contact intensity increases from an intensity below the hysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity above the press input intensity threshold, the contact intensity decreases below the press input intensity threshold, and/or the contact intensity decreases below the hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to the press input intensity threshold. Additionally, in examples in which operations are described as being performed in response to detecting that the intensity of the contact decreases below the press input intensity threshold, the operations are optionally performed in response to detecting that the intensity of the contact decreases below a hysteresis intensity threshold that corresponds to and is less than the press input intensity threshold.

2. Digital assistant system

Fig. 7A illustrates a block diagram of a digital assistant system 700, according to various examples. In some examples, the digital assistant system 700 may be implemented on a stand-alone computer system. In some examples, the digital assistant system 700 may be distributed across multiple computers. In some examples, some of the modules and functionality of a digital assistant may be divided into a server portion and a client portion, where the client portion is located on one or more user devices (e.g., devices 104,122,200,400 or 600) and communicates with the server portion (e.g., server system 108) over one or more networks, e.g., as shown in fig. 1. In some examples, the digital assistant system 700 may be an implementation of the server system 108 (and/or DA server 106) shown in fig. 1. It should be noted that the digital assistant system 700 is only one example of a digital assistant system, and that the digital assistant system 700 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or may have a different configuration or arrangement of components. The various components shown in fig. 7A may be implemented in hardware, software instructions for execution by one or more processors, firmware (including one or more signal processing integrated circuits and/or application specific integrated circuits), or a combination thereof.

The digital assistant system 700 can include a memory 702, one or more processors 704, input/output (I/O) interfaces 706, and a network communication interface 708. These components may communicate with each other via one or more communication buses or signal lines 710.

In some examples, the memory 702 can include non-transitory computer-readable media, such as high-speed random access memory and/or non-volatile computer-readable storage media (e.g., one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices).

In some examples, I/O interface 706 may couple input/output devices 716 of digital assistant system 700, such as a display, a keyboard, a touch screen, and a microphone, to user interface module 722. I/O interface 706 in conjunction with user interface module 722 may receive user inputs (e.g., voice inputs, keyboard inputs, touch inputs, etc.) and process those inputs accordingly. In some examples, such as when the digital assistant is implemented on a standalone user device, the digital assistant system 700 can include any of the components and I/O communication interfaces described with respect to the devices 200,400, or 600 in fig. 2A, 4, 6A-B, respectively. In some examples, the digital assistant system 700 may represent a server portion of a digital assistant implementation and may interact with a user through a client-side portion located on a user device (e.g., device 104,200,400 or device 600).

In some examples, the network communication interface 708 may include one or more wired communication ports 712, and/or wireless transmission and reception circuitry 714. The one or more wired communication ports may receive and transmit communication signals via one or more wired interfaces, such as ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), firewire, and the like. The wireless circuitry 714 may receive RF signals and/or optical signals from, and transmit RF signals and/or optical signals to, communication networks and other communication devices. The wireless communication may use any of a variety of communication standards, protocols, and technologies, such as GSM, EDGE, CDMA, TDMA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VoIP, Wi-MAX, or any other suitable communication protocol. Network communication interface 708 may enable communication between digital assistant system 700 and other devices over a network, such as the internet, an intranet, and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless Local Area Network (LAN), and/or a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).

In some examples, memory 702 or the computer-readable storage medium of memory 702 may store programs, modules, instructions, and data structures, including all or a subset of the following: an operating system 718, a communications module 720, a user interface module 722, one or more application programs 724, and a digital assistant module 726. In particular, memory 702 or the computer-readable storage medium of memory 702 may store instructions for performing method 900 described below. The one or more processors 704 may execute the programs, modules, and instructions and read data from, or write data to, the data structures.

An operating system 718 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) may include various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware, firmware, and software components.

The communication module 720 may facilitate communications between the digital assistant system 700 and other devices via the network communication interface 708. For example, the communication module 720 may communicate with the RF circuitry 208 of an electronic device, such as the devices 200,400, and 600 shown in FIGS. 2A, 4, and 6A-B, respectively. The communications module 720 may also include various components for processing data received by the wireless circuitry 714 and/or the wired communications port 712.

User interface module 722 may receive commands and/or input from a user (e.g., from a keyboard, touch screen, pointing device, controller, and/or microphone) via I/O interface 706 and generate user interface objects on the display. User interface module 722 may also prepare and deliver output (e.g., voice, sound, animation, text, icons, vibrations, haptic feedback, lighting, etc.) to the user via I/O interface 706 (e.g., through a display, audio channel, speaker, touchpad, etc.).

The application programs 724 may include programs and/or modules configured to be executed by the one or more processors 704. For example, if the digital assistant system is implemented on a standalone user device, the applications 724 may include user applications such as games, calendar applications, navigation applications, or mail applications. If the digital assistant system 700 is implemented on a server, the application programs 724 may include, for example, a resource management application, a diagnostic application, or a scheduling application.

The memory 702 may also store a digital assistant module 726 (or a server portion of a digital assistant). In some examples, digital assistant module 726 may include the following sub-modules, or a subset or superset thereof: an input/output processing module 728, a Speech To Text (STT) processing module 730, a natural language processing module 732, a conversation stream processing module 734, a task stream processing module 736, a services processing module 738, and a speech synthesis module 740. Each of these modules may have access to one or more, or a subset or superset thereof, of the systems or data and models of the following digital assistant module 726: ontology 760, vocabulary index 744, user data 748, task flow model 754, service model 756, and ASR system.

In some examples, using the processing modules, data, and models implemented in digital assistant module 726, the digital assistant can perform at least a portion of: converting the voice input to text; identifying a user intent expressed in a natural language input received from a user; actively elicit and obtain information needed to fully infer a user's intent (e.g., by disambiguating words, names, intentions, etc.); determining a task flow for satisfying the inferred intent; and executing the task flow to satisfy the inferred intent.

In some examples, as shown in fig. 7B, I/O processing module 728 may interact with a user via I/O device 716 in fig. 7A or interact with a user device (e.g., device 104, device 200, device 400, or device 600) via network communication interface 708 in fig. 7A to obtain user input (e.g., voice input) and provide a response to the user input (e.g., as voice output). The I/O processing module 728 may optionally obtain contextual information associated with the user input from the user device along with or shortly after receiving the user input. The context information may include user-specific data, vocabulary, and/or preferences related to user input. In some examples, the context information also includes software and hardware states of the user device at the time the user request is received, and/or information related to the user's surroundings at the time the user request is received. In some examples, the I/O processing module 728 may also send follow-up questions to the user related to the user request and receive answers from the user. When a user request is received by the I/O processing module 728 and the user request may include voice input, the I/O processing module 728 may forward the voice input to the STT processing module 730 (or speech recognizer) for speech-to-text conversion.

STT processing module 730 may include one or more ASR systems. The one or more ASR systems may process speech input received through I/O processing module 728 to generate recognition results. Each ASR system may include a front-end speech preprocessor. The front-end speech preprocessor may extract representative features from the speech input. For example, the front-end speech preprocessor may perform a fourier transform on the speech input to extract spectral features characterizing the speech input as a sequence of representative multi-dimensional vectors. Further, each ASR system may include one or more speech recognition models (e.g., acoustic models and/or language models) and may implement one or more speech recognition engines. Examples of speech recognition models may include hidden markov models, gaussian mixture models, deep neural network models, n-gram language models, and other statistical models. Examples of speech recognition engines may include dynamic time warping based engines and Weighted Finite State Transducer (WFST) based engines. One or more speech recognition models and one or more speech recognition engines may be used to process the extracted representative features of the front-end speech preprocessor to produce intermediate recognition results (e.g., phonemes, phoneme strings, and subwords) and, ultimately, text recognition results (e.g., word string, or sequence of symbols). In some examples, the voice input may be processed at least in part by a third party service or on a device of the user (e.g., device 104,200,400 or 600) to produce a recognition result. Once STT processing module 730 generates a recognition result that includes a text string (e.g., a word, or a sequence of words, or a sequence of symbols), the recognition result may be communicated to natural language processing module 732 for intent inference.

More details regarding the Speech to text process are described in U.S. utility model patent application serial No. 13/236,942 entitled "Consolidating Speech Recognition Results" filed on 20/9/2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, STT processing module 730 may include a vocabulary of recognizable words and/or may access the vocabulary via speech-to-alphabet conversion module 731. Each vocabulary word may be associated with one or more candidate pronunciations of the word represented in a speech recognition phonetic alphabet. In particular, the vocabulary of recognizable words may include words associated with multiple candidate pronunciations. For example, the vocabulary may includeAndthe word "tomato" associated with the candidate pronunciation. Further, the vocabulary words may be associated with custom candidate pronunciations based on previous speech input from the user. Such custom candidate pronunciations can be stored in STT processing module 730 and can be associated with a particular user via a user profile on the device. In some examples, candidate pronunciations for a word may be determined based on the spelling of the word and one or more linguistic and/or phonetic rules. In some examples, the candidate pronunciation may be generated manually, e.g., based on a known standard pronunciation.

In some examples, candidate pronunciations may be ranked based on their prevalence. For example, candidate speechMay be ranked higher thanAs the former is a more common pronunciation (e.g., among all users, for users in a particular geographic area, or for any other suitable subset of users). In some examples, the candidate pronunciations may be ranked based on whether the candidate pronunciations are custom candidate pronunciations associated with the user. For example, the custom candidate pronunciation may be ranked higher than the standard candidate pronunciation. This can be used to identify proper nouns with unique pronunciations that deviate from the canonical pronunciation. In some examples, the candidate pronunciation may be associated with one or more speech features (such as geographic origin, country, or ethnicity). For example, candidate pronunciationsMay be associated with the United states and the candidate pronunciationPossibly associated with the united kingdom. Further, the ranking of the candidate pronunciations may be based on one or more characteristics of the user (e.g., geographic origin, country, race, etc.) stored in a user profile on the device. For example, it may be determined from a user profile that the user is associated with the united states. Based on the user's association with the United states, candidate pronunciations can be assignedRanking (associated with the United states) candidate vocalsHigher (associated with the united kingdom). In some examples, one of the ranked candidate pronunciations may be selected as a predicted pronunciation (e.g., the most likely pronunciation).

When a speech input is received, the STT processing module 730 may be used to determine a phoneme (e.g., using a sound model) corresponding to the speech input, and then attempt to determine a word (e.g., using a language model) that matches the phoneme. For example, if STT processing module 730 may first identify a phoneme sequence corresponding to a portion of the speech inputIt may then determine that the sequence corresponds to the word "tomato" based on the lexical index 744.

In some examples, STT processing module 730 may use fuzzy matching techniques to determine words in the utterance. Thus, for example, STT processing module 730 may determine a phoneme sequenceCorresponding to the word "tomato", even if the particular phoneme sequence is not a candidate phoneme sequence for the word.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 may be configured to receive metadata associated with the speech input. The metadata may indicate whether natural language processing is performed on the speech input (or a sequence of words or symbols corresponding to the speech input). If the metadata indicates that natural language processing is to be performed, the natural language processing module may receive a sequence of words or symbols from the STT processing module to perform the natural language processing. However, if the metadata indicates that natural language processing is not to be performed, the natural language processing module may be disabled and a sequence of words or symbols (e.g., a text string) from the STT processing module may be output from the digital assistant. In some examples, the metadata may further identify one or more domains corresponding to the user request. Based on the one or more domains, the natural language processor may disable domains in ontology 760 other than the one or more domains. In this way, natural language processing is constrained to the one or more domains in ontology 760. In particular, the one or more domains in the ontology may be used instead of other domains to generate a structured query (described below).

The natural language processing module 732 ("natural language processor") of the digital assistant may take a sequence of words or symbols ("symbol sequence") generated by the STT processing module 730 and attempt to associate the symbol sequence with one or more "actionable intents" identified by the digital assistant. An "executable intent" may represent a task that may be performed by a digital assistant and may have an associated task flow implemented in task flow model 754. The associated task stream may be a series of programmed actions and steps taken by the digital assistant to perform the task. The capability scope of the digital assistant may depend on the number and variety of task flows that have been implemented and stored in task flow model 754, or in other words, on the number and variety of "actionable intents" that the digital assistant recognizes. However, the effectiveness of a digital assistant may also depend on the ability of the assistant to infer the correct "executable intent or intents" from a user request expressed in natural language.

In some examples, natural language processing module 732 may receive context information associated with the user request (e.g., from I/O processing module 728) in addition to the sequence of words or symbols obtained from STT processing module 730. The natural language processing module 732 may optionally use the context information to clarify, supplement, and/or further qualify information contained in the symbol sequence received from the STT processing module 730. The context information may include, for example: user preferences, hardware and/or software state of the user device, sensor information collected before, during, or shortly after the user request, previous interactions (e.g., conversations) between the digital assistant and the user, and the like. As described herein, contextual information may be dynamic and may vary with time, location, content of a conversation, and other factors.

In some examples, the natural language processing may be based on, for example, ontology 760. Ontology 760 may be a hierarchical structure that includes a number of nodes, each node representing an "actionable intent" or an "attribute" related to one or more of the "actionable intents" or other "attributes". As described above, an "actionable intent" may represent a task that the digital assistant is capable of performing, i.e., the task is "executable" or can be performed. An "attribute" may represent a parameter associated with a sub-aspect of an executable intent or another attribute. The link between the actionable intent node and the property node in the ontology 760 may define how the parameters represented by the property node relate to the task represented by the actionable intent node.

In some examples, ontology 760 may be composed of actionable intent nodes and property nodes. Within ontology 760, each actionable intent node may be linked directly to one or more property nodes or through one or more intermediate property nodes. Similarly, each property node may be linked directly to one or more actionable intent nodes or through one or more intermediate property nodes. For example, as shown in FIG. 7C, ontology 760 can include a "restaurant reservation" node (i.e., an actionable intent node). The property nodes "restaurant," "date/time" (for reservation), and "party size" may each be directly linked to the actionable intent node (i.e., "restaurant reservation" node).

Further, the property nodes "cuisine," price interval, "" phone number, "and" location "may be child nodes of the property node" restaurant "and may each be linked to the" restaurant reservation "node (i.e., actionable intent node) through an intermediate property node" restaurant. As another example, as shown in fig. 7C, ontology 760 may also include a "set reminder" node (i.e., another actionable intent node). The attribute node "date/time" (for set reminders) and "topic" (for reminders) may each be linked to the "set reminders" node. Since the attribute "date/time" may be related to both the task of making a restaurant reservation and the task of setting a reminder, the attribute node "date/time" may be linked to both the "restaurant reservation" node and the "set reminder" node in ontology 760.

The executable intent node along with its linked concept nodes may be described as a "domain". In this discussion, each domain may be associated with a respective executable intent and refer to a set of nodes (and relationships between those nodes) associated with a particular executable intent. For example, ontology 760 shown in FIG. 7C may include an example of a restaurant reservation field 762, and an example of a reminder field 764 within ontology 760. The restaurant reservation domain includes actionable intent nodes "restaurant reservation," property nodes "restaurant," date/time, "and" peer "and child property nodes" cuisine, "" price range, "" phone number, "and" location. The reminder field 764 may include the executable intent node "set reminder," as well as the property nodes "subject" and "date/time. In some examples, ontology 760 may be composed of multiple domains. Each domain may share one or more attribute nodes with one or more other domains. For example, in addition to the restaurant reservation field 762 and reminder field 764, the "date/time" property node may be associated with a number of different fields (e.g., a scheduling field, a travel reservation field, a movie tickets field, etc.).

Although fig. 7C shows two example domains within ontology 760, other domains may include, for example, "find movie," "initiate phone call," "find direction," "arrange meeting," "send message," and "provide answer to question," "read list," "provide navigation instructions," "provide instructions for task," etc. The "send message" field may be associated with a "send message" actionable intent node, and may also include attribute nodes such as "one or more recipients," message type, "and" message body. The attribute node "recipient" may be further defined, for example, by child attribute nodes such as "recipient name" and "message address".

In some examples, ontology 760 may include all domains (and thus executable intents) that a digital assistant is able to understand and act upon. In some examples, ontology 760 may be modified, such as by adding or removing entire domains or nodes, or by modifying relationships between nodes within ontology 760.

In some examples, nodes associated with multiple related executables may be clustered under a "super domain" in the knowledge ontology 760. For example, a "travel" super-domain may include a cluster of attribute nodes and actionable intent nodes related to travel. Executable intent nodes related to travel may include "flight booking," "hotel booking," "car rental," "routing," "finding points of interest," and so forth. An actionable intent node under the same super-domain (e.g., a "travel" super-domain) may have multiple attribute nodes in common. For example, executable intent nodes for "airline reservations," hotel reservations, "" car rentals, "" route plans, "and" find points of interest "may share one or more of the attribute nodes" start location, "" destination, "" departure date/time, "" arrival date/time, "and" co-workers.

In some examples, each node in ontology 760 may be associated with a set of words and/or phrases that are related to the property or actionable intent represented by the node. The respective set of words and/or phrases associated with each node may be a so-called "vocabulary" associated with the node. The respective set of words and/or phrases associated with each node may be stored in the lexical index 744 associated with the property or executable intent represented by the node. For example, returning to fig. 7B, the vocabulary associated with the node of the "restaurant" property may include words such as "food," "drinks," "cuisine," "hungry," "eating," "pizza," "fast food," "meal," and so forth. As another example, the words associated with the node that may execute the intent of "initiate a telephone call" may include words and phrases such as "call," "make a call," "dial," "make a call with … …," "call the number," "call to," and the like. The vocabulary index 744 may optionally include words and phrases in different languages.

Natural language processing module 732 may receive a sequence of symbols (e.g., a text string) from STT processing module 730 and determine which nodes are involved in words in the sequence of symbols. In some examples, a word or phrase in the sequence of symbols may "trigger" or "activate" one or more nodes in ontology 760 if the word or phrase is found to be associated with those nodes (via lexical index 744). Based on the number and/or relative importance of the activated nodes, natural language processing module 732 may select one of the actionable intents as a task that the user intends for the digital assistant to perform. In some examples, the domain with the most "triggered" nodes may be selected. In some examples, the domain with the highest confidence (e.g., based on the relative importance of its respective triggered node) may be selected. In some examples, the domain may be selected based on a combination of the number and importance of triggered nodes. In some examples, additional factors are also considered in selecting a node, such as whether the digital assistant has previously correctly interpreted a similar request from the user.

The user data 748 may include user-specific information such as user-specific vocabulary, user preferences, user addresses, the user's default and second languages, the user's contact list, and other short-term or long-term information for each user. In some examples, natural language processing module 732 may supplement information contained in the user input with user-specific information to further define the user intent. For example, for a user request to "invite my friends to my birthday party," natural language processing module 732 may be able to access user data 748 to determine which people the "friends" are and where and when the "birthday party" will be held without the user explicitly providing such information in their request.

Additional details of Searching for ontologies based on symbolic strings are described in U.S. utility patent application serial No. 12/341,743, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Searching Using An Active Ontology," filed on 22/2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In some examples, once natural language processing module 732 identifies an actionable intent (or domain) based on a user request, natural language processing module 732 may generate a structured query to represent the identified actionable intent. In some examples, the structured query may include parameters for one or more nodes within the domain that may execute the intent, and at least some of the parameters are populated with specific information and requirements specified in the user request. For example, the user may say "help me reserve a seat at 7pm at a sushi store. In this case, the natural language processing module 732 may be able to correctly identify the actionable intent as "restaurant reservation" based on the user input. According to the ontology, a structured query for the "restaurant reservation" domain may include parameters such as { cuisine }, { time }, { date }, { party size }, and the like. In some examples, based on the speech input and text derived from the speech input using STT processing module 730, natural language processing module 732 may generate a partially structured query for the restaurant reservation field, where the partially structured query includes parameters { cuisine ═ sushi class "} and { time ═ 7 pm" }. However, in this example, the user utterance contains insufficient information to complete a structured query associated with the domain. Thus, other necessary parameters, such as number of people and date, may not be specified in the structured query based on the currently available information. In some examples, natural language processing module 732 may populate some parameters of the structured query with the received contextual information. For example, in some examples, if a "nearby" sushi store is requested, natural language processing module 732 may populate the { location } parameter in the structured query with GPS coordinates from the user device.

In some examples, the natural language processing module 732 may communicate the generated structured query (including any completed parameters) to the task flow processing module 736 ("task flow processor"). Task flow processing module 736 may be configured to receive the structured query from natural language processing module 732, complete the structured query (if necessary), and perform the actions required to "complete" the user's final request. In some examples, various processes necessary to accomplish these tasks may be provided in task flow model 754. In some examples, task flow model 754 may include procedures for obtaining additional information from a user, as well as task flows for performing actions associated with the executable intent.

As described above, to complete a structured query, the task flow processing module 736 may need to initiate additional conversations with the user in order to obtain additional information and/or clarify potentially ambiguous utterances. When such interaction is necessary, the task flow processing module 736 may invoke the conversation flow processing module 734. To participate in a conversation with the user. In some examples, dialog flow processing module 734 may determine how (and/or when) to request additional information from the user, and receive and process the user response. The question may be provided to the user through the I/O processing module 728 and may receive an answer from the user. In some examples, dialog processing module 734 may present dialog output to the user via audio output and/or visual output and receive input from the user via spoken or physical (e.g., click) responses. Continuing with the above example, when the task flow processing module 736 invokes the conversation flow processing module 734 to determine the "number of people in the same row" and "date" information for the structured query associated with the domain "restaurant reservation," the conversation flow processing module 734 may generate a question such as "a few bits in a row? "and" which day to subscribe? "to be delivered to the user. Once an answer is received from the user, the dialog flow processing module 734 may populate the structured query with the missing information or pass the information to the task flow processing module 736 to complete the missing information in accordance with the structured query.

Once task flow processing module 736 has completed a structured query for an executable intent, task flow processing module 736 may proceed to execute and execute the intentThe associated final task is illustrated. Thus, the task flow processing module 736 may perform the steps and instructions in the task flow model according to the specific parameters contained in the structured query. For example, a task flow model for the actionable intent "restaurant reservation" may include steps and instructions for contacting a restaurant and actually requesting a reservation for a particular peer at a particular time. For example, using structured queries such as: restaurant reservation, { restaurant-ABC cafe, date-3/12/2012, time-7 pm, peer-5, } task flow processing module 736 may perform the following steps: (1) logging into a server of an ABC cafe or a coffee shop such asSuch restaurant reservation systems, (2) enter date, time, and co-range information in the form of a website, (3) submit a form, and (4) form a calendar entry for the reservation on the user's calendar.

In some examples, the task flow processing module 736 may complete the task requested in the user input or provide the informational answer requested in the user input with the assistance of the service processing module 738 ("service processing module"). For example, the service processing module 738 may initiate a telephone call, set a calendar entry, invoke a map search, invoke or interact with other user applications installed on the user device, and invoke or interact with third-party services (e.g., a dining room reservation portal, a social networking site, a bank portal, etc.) on behalf of the task flow processing module 736. In some examples, the protocols and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) required for each service may be specified by respective ones of service models 756. The service handling module 738 may access the appropriate service model for the service and generate a request for the service according to the service model according to the protocols and APIs required by the service.

For example, if a restaurant has enabled an online reservation service, the restaurant may submit a service model that specifies the necessary parameters to make a reservation and an API to communicate the values of the necessary parameters to the online reservation service. The service processing module 738, when requested by the task stream processing module 736, may use the web address stored in the service model to establish a network connection with the online booking service and send the necessary parameters for booking (e.g., time, date, number of peers) to the online booking interface in a format that conforms to the API of the online booking service.

In some examples, the natural language processing module 732, the dialog processing module 734, and the task flow processing module 736 may be used jointly and iteratively to infer and define the user's intent, to obtain information, to further clarify and refine the user's intent, and to ultimately generate a response (i.e., output to the user or complete a task) to satisfy the user's intent. The generated response may be a dialog response to the speech input that at least partially satisfies the user's intent. Further, in some examples, the generated response may be output as a voice output. In these examples, the generated response may be sent to a speech synthesis module 740 (e.g., a speech synthesizer) where it may be processed to synthesize the dialog response in speech form. In other examples, the generated response may be data content related to satisfying the user request in the voice input.

The speech synthesis module 740 may be configured to synthesize speech output for presentation to a user. The speech synthesis module 740 synthesizes speech output based on text provided by the digital assistant. For example, the generated dialog response may be in the form of a text string. The speech synthesis module 740 may convert the text string into audible speech output. The speech synthesis module 740 may use any suitable speech synthesis technique to generate speech output from text, including but not limited to: concatenative synthesis, unit-selective synthesis, diphone synthesis, domain-specific synthesis, formant synthesis, articulatory synthesis, Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based synthesis, and sine wave synthesis. In some examples, speech synthesis module 740 may be configured to synthesize individual words based on the phoneme strings corresponding to the words. For example, the phoneme string may be associated with a word in the generated dialog response. The phoneme string may be stored in metadata associated with the word. Speech synthesis model 740 may be configured to directly process the phone strings in the metadata to synthesize words in speech.

In some examples, speech synthesis may be performed on a remote device (e.g., server system 108) instead of (or in addition to) using speech synthesis module 740, and the synthesized speech may be sent to a user device for output to a user. This may occur, for example, in some implementations where the output of the digital assistant is generated at the server system. And since the server system typically has more processing power or more resources than the user device, it is possible to obtain a higher quality speech output than the client side synthesis will achieve.

Additional details regarding digital assistants can be found in U.S. utility model patent application No. 12/987,982 entitled "Intelligent Automated Assistant" filed on 10.1.2011 and U.S. utility model patent application No. 13/251,088 entitled "Generating and Processing Task Items at repeat Tasks to performance" filed on 30.9.2011, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Attention is now directed to a zero-delay digital assistant.

3. Zero delay digital assistant

As previously mentioned, there is typically some delay between the time when the user requests a digital assistant session by providing (or beginning to provide) an appropriate input to the device and the time when the user can begin providing speech input to the digital assistant. Such delays may range from 100 milliseconds to 900 milliseconds (or even longer) and may be long enough to be perceived by the user as significant delays. If the user begins speaking too quickly, the device ignores (or misses) the portion of the speech input before the delay has elapsed. Such device behavior reduces the efficiency of the digital assistant and may be annoying or confusing to the user.

The delay may include a hardware delay such as the time required to activate circuitry for initiating a digital assistant session or the time required to activate an audio component or circuitry, such as a microphone or speaker, required by the digital assistant.

The delay may also include a software controlled delay. For example, some devices do not begin initiating a digital assistant session until it is determined with sufficient confidence that the user has requested initiation of a digital assistant by providing an appropriate input. For example, if the user input corresponding to the request to initiate a digital assistant session is a long button press, the device may wait until the entire desired button press duration has elapsed before beginning to initiate digital assistant software. In some embodiments, the device may transmit control of the microphone (or other voice component) to the digital assistant until it is ready to start the digital assistant. The method may avoid premature dropping control of the microphone or speaker from another application, such as a phone call application or a voice input application.

One disadvantage associated with the hardware and software delays described above is that a user typically must wait until the delay elapses before providing a request, such as a voice input, to the digital assistant. However, the user may not know how long to wait before providing the request. Thus, the device may need to provide a visual or audible prompt to the user that the digital assistant is ready to receive the request, as shown in fig. 8A.

In the example of fig. 8A, the device detects a user input requesting the digital assistant (or the beginning of the user input) at time T1, and then prompts the user to provide voice input to the digital assistant at time T2 after a delay has elapsed.

It is desirable for a device to allow a user to immediately begin providing voice input upon requesting a digital assistant without waiting for a delay to elapse. For example, it may be desirable to allow a user to provide speech input to a digital assistant as soon as the user initially provides input requesting the digital assistant, before both (1) a determination is made as to whether the user input corresponds to a request to start the digital assistant, and (2) the software or hardware delay associated with actually starting the digital assistant has fully elapsed.

In some embodiments, the device may achieve this by using a low power processor to continuously capture audio input from the microphone and record it to a memory buffer on the device. Once the digital assistant has been initiated, the device may then pass some or all of the buffer contents, including speech input (provided to the digital assistant) captured before or during user input requesting initiation of a digital assistant session. In this way, the device may implement a digital assistant that is visible to the user as "zero delay" without unduly reducing battery life, as described in detail below.

As depicted in fig. 8B, in some embodiments, the device includes a low power manager 810 separate from the main processor 808 on the device. The low power processor may be used to write audio data to the memory buffer 812, thereby maintaining a history of user speech input. In some embodiments, the low power processor consumes less power than the main processor, executes computer-executable instructions that are different from the main processor, and/or is physically smaller than the main processor. Thus, the low power processor is able to continuously write audio data to the memory buffer without compromising battery life.

In some embodiments, main processor 808 is an application processor that executes applications such as operating systems and applications including digital assistants.

In some embodiments, the low power processor 810 is in an active state and operates in a normal mode even when the main processor 808 operates in a low power mode. In some examples, the main processor is in the low power mode if the main processor is limited in number or type of operation and the main processor is still capable of executing while operating in the low power mode. In some examples, the main processor is in a low power mode when the main processor is operating with a portion of the processor circuitry disabled. In some examples, the main processor is in the low power mode where the main processor operates at a lower clock speed, lower voltage, or lower current relative to the value when the main processor is operating in the normal mode. In some examples, the main processor must exit the low power mode to provide some function, such as launching or executing an application.

In some embodiments, the device continuously captures audio input from a microphone 804 on the device and uses the low power processor 810 to write audio data representing the audio input received from the microphone 804 to a memory buffer 812 on the device. In some embodiments, the device captures audio input and writes audio data to the storage buffer 812 continuously or at a predetermined sampling frequency, regardless of whether the device has detected any audio input. In other embodiments, the device uses the low power processor to write audio data to the buffer only if the device detects an audio input; for example, when the device detects that the user is speaking into a microphone. Thus, in some embodiments, the device uses a low power processor to monitor a microphone for audio input, and in the event such audio input is detected, the device uses a low frequency processor to write audio data representing the audio input to the memory buffer.

In some embodiments, the memory buffer is a ring buffer. A ring buffer is a fixed length store buffer that, when filled with data, is overwritten with new data starting at the beginning of the buffer. In some embodiments, the storage buffer is large enough to store a predetermined duration of audio input captured by the microphone. For example, the memory buffer may be large enough to store 1 second, 2 seconds, or 3 seconds of audio input.

In some embodiments, if the device detects a user input while capturing audio input using the microphone, the device uses the low power processor to determine whether the user input corresponds to a request to initiate a digital housekeeping session. The user input may be, for example, a button press or a contact on a touch sensitive display, etc.

In some embodiments, if the device determines that the user input has met the predetermined criteria and thus corresponds to a request to launch the digital assistant, the device immediately begins to identify and perform a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer. The requested computing task may be a request to, for example, find information or a request to require the device to perform a function such as making a phone call, sending text, making a reservation, launching an application, etc., as discussed above with respect to the digital assistant system.

In some embodiments, the device identifies and performs the task by initiating a digital assistant session on the main processor and providing at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer to the digital assistant. Because the memory buffer may contain audio data that is captured and written before, during, and after the device detects the user input, the buffer provides an audio history that can be used to reduce or eliminate the delay between the time when the user requests (via user input) initiation of a digital assistant session and the time when the user is able to provide voice input to the digital assistant.

In some embodiments, the device determines whether the user input corresponds to a request to launch the digital assistant by determining whether the user input satisfies some predetermined criteria. In some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when the button press meets a minimum duration; that is, the button press input must exceed a threshold duration in order to be recognized as a request to initiate a digital assistant session. The threshold button press duration may be, for example, 100 milliseconds, 200 milliseconds, 300 milliseconds, 400 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds, 600 milliseconds, 700 milliseconds, 800 milliseconds, or 900 milliseconds.

In some embodiments, the criteria for determining whether the user input corresponds to a request to initiate a digital assistant session include criteria that are met when contact on the touch display is detected at a particular location on the display, when the contact is of a particular contact type (e.g., swipe or double-tap), and/or when the device detects that a particular icon has been selected.

In some embodiments, the device analyzes the audio data in the memory buffer using the low power processor to determine whether the audio data includes a "trigger phrase" corresponding to a request to initiate a digital assistant session. Such a trigger phrase may be, for example, the phrase "hey, Siri" or "wake up" or another phrase, word or sound.

In some implementations, the user input corresponding to the request to initiate the digital assistant is a speech input that includes a trigger term. When the device uses the low power processor to determine that the memory buffer includes the trigger term, the device starts the digital assistant on the main processor. Thus, in some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when at least a portion of the memory buffer includes a trigger phrase.

In some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that the authorized user speaks the trigger phrase. The device may determine whether the authorized user speaks the trigger phrase by comparing the speech or speech characteristics of the audio data in the memory buffer to a set of known characteristics of the authorized user. Such features may include feature spectrum patterns, speech patterns, intonation, and the like.

In some embodiments, if the main processor is operating in the low power mode when the device determines (using the low power processor) that the user input has met the predetermined criteria, the device causes the main processor to exit the low power mode and initiate a digital assistant session. In some embodiments, the device activates audio circuitry on the device for receiving and responding to subsequent speech input to the digital assistant. Such audio circuitry may include additional microphone or audio output hardware (such as speakers), which may be used by the digital assistant to receive audio input from the user or provide audio output to the user, for example. In some embodiments, initiating the digital assistant session includes transferring control of such audio circuitry to the digital assistant session.

In some embodiments, initiating a digital assistant session includes displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session on a display of the device (such as the touch screen 104). The user interface may include, for example, one or more affordances, waveforms, or text outputs associated with a digital assistant session. Fig. 8A illustrates an exemplary user interface 802 associated with a digital assistant session.

In some embodiments, a user interface associated with a digital assistant is displayed in a full screen view, as shown in fig. 8A. In some embodiments, when the device initiates a digital assistant session on the host processor, the device replaces the display of another application view with the display of a user interface associated with the digital assistant.

Fig. 8C illustrates a conceptual example of a zero-delay digital assistant implemented according to some embodiments. In this example, the user does not have to wait to provide speech input to the digital assistant after invoking the digital assistant; in fact, in this example, the user begins providing speech input before invoking the digital assistant; that is, having spoken the request, the user presses a button corresponding to the request to launch the digital assistant. The device then uses the speech input to recognize and perform the requested task, as described below.

As shown in fig. 8C, at time T1, the device detects a user input (in this case, a button press) while the device 200 is capturing and writing an audio input to the storage buffer (in this case, the ring buffer 816). Note that at time T1, when the user detects a button press, the user has begun providing a speech input "are something now zurich? "and a portion of that term has been written to the ring buffer 816. The device 200 determines that the user input meets a predetermined criterion corresponding to a request to launch the digital assistant (e.g., a button press meets a threshold duration), the device uses the main processor to identify and execute a task based on a portion 814 of the contents of the ring buffer 816. A portion 814 of the buffer includes a query "is zurich now a few? "and the device recognizes and performs the task of determining that zurich is now a point. The device provides the results of the task to the user on the display by displaying the text "zurich is now 9:41 am". In some embodiments, the device may also provide an audio output to present the results of the task to the user.

In the example shown in fig. 8C, the device does not require any additional input from the user to identify and perform the task, and the device does not prompt the user for input, as previously described in fig. 8A.

Fig. 8D illustrates a conceptual example of a zero-delay digital assistant implemented according to some embodiments. This example is similar to the example described in FIG. 8C, but in this case, the user input does not meet the predetermined criteria and is therefore not interpreted as a request to launch the digital assistant; for example, the button is not pressed long enough to meet the threshold duration. In this case, although the device has captured the voice request and written it to the memory buffer, the device does not continue to recognize and perform tasks based on the contents of the memory buffer, and the device does not initiate a digital assistant session. Subsequently, the content of the buffer will be overwritten by new audio data.

Fig. 8E illustrates a conceptual example of a zero-delay digital assistant implemented according to some embodiments. In this example, the device determines that the memory buffer includes a predetermined trigger phrase, and in response, the device immediately identifies and executes the task based on the content in the memory buffer.

In the example shown in fig. 8E, at time T1, when the main processor is in the low power mode and the device 200 is capturing audio input and writing it to the ring buffer 816 using the low power processor, the device determines (using the low power processor) that the first portion 818 of the memory buffer includes a trigger phrase associated with the request to start the digital assistant. In response to this determination, the device causes the main processor to exit the low power mode and identify and execute tasks based on the second portion 820 of the contents of the ring buffer 816. Thus, in this example, the user speaks a trigger term associated with the digital assistant and immediately begins making a request to the digital assistant. The device then identifies and executes the task based on a portion of the contents of the memory buffer, and provides the results of the task to the user. In this example, the device does not require any additional input from the user to identify and perform the task, and does not prompt the user for input, as previously described in fig. 8A.

As described with respect to fig. 1, the digital assistant system may include a remote server system 108 that can be used, for example, to remotely perform native language processing and identify tasks. In some embodiments, the device provides a portion or all of the contents of the memory buffer to one or more remote servers associated with the digital assistant. The device may provide the contents of the memory buffer to the server via, for example, a wired or wireless network connection.

In some embodiments, a device may include multiple microphones. In this case, the device may use one microphone to capture audio input and use the low power processor to write it to the memory buffer, and the device may use a second microphone to capture audio used by an application or function executing on the main processor, such as a telephone call or digital assistant. Thus, in some embodiments, the device may capture audio input using the first microphone and write it to the memory buffer while executing another audio-based application (such as a telephone call) using the second microphone.

In some embodiments, when the device determines that the user input has met the predetermined criteria such that the user has requested a digital assistant session, the device provides a portion or all of the contents of the memory buffer to the digital assistant, transmits control of the second microphone to the digital assistant (if it is assigned to another application), and begins streaming (e.g., continuously providing) subsequent audio detected by the second microphone to the digital assistant.

Fig. 9 illustrates a method 900 for implementing a zero-delay digital assistant, according to various examples. Method 900 may be performed using one or more electronic devices implementing a digital assistant. Some operations in method 900 may be combined, the order of some operations may be changed, and some operations may be omitted. In some examples, method 900 may be performed using a client-server system (e.g., system 100) implementing a digital assistant. The blocks of method 900 may be distributed in any suitable manner among one or more computers, systems or electronic devices. For example, in some examples, method 900 may be performed entirely on an electronic device (e.g., device 104,200,400 or 600). References in this document to any one particular electronic device (104,200,400 or 600) should be understood to encompass all electronic devices (104,200,400, or 600) unless one or more of these electronic devices (104,200,400 or 600) is excluded by express meaning herein. For example, the electronic device (104,200,400 or 600) used in several examples is a smartphone. However, the method 900 is not limited to use with smart phones; method 900 may be implemented on any other suitable electronic device, such as a tablet, desktop computer, laptop computer, or smart watch. An electronic device with greater computing power and longer battery life may perform more of the blocks of method 900. The distribution of the blocks of method 900 need not be fixed and may vary according to network connection bandwidth, network connection quality, server load, availability of computer power and battery power at the electronic device (e.g., 104,200,400,600), and/or other factors. Further, while the following discussion describes the method 900 as being performed by a digital assistant system (e.g., the system 100 and/or the digital assistant system 700), it should be appreciated that the method or any particular portion of the method is not limited to being performed by any particular device, combination of devices, or implementation. The description of the method is further illustrated and exemplified by fig. 8B-8D, and the description above is related to these figures.

As described below, the method 900 provides a way to implement an intuitive "zero-delay" digital assistant. The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user to invoke and provide requests to a digital assistant, thereby creating a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-powered computing devices, having the user immediately begin providing voice input to the digital assistant reduces latency and reduces errors (caused by improperly timed voice input), thereby saving power and increasing the time interval between battery charges.

At block 902 of method 900, an electronic device (e.g., 104,200,400,600) captures audio input from a microphone (e.g., microphone 213). The audio input may include user speech, such as a voice user request.

At block 904, the device writes data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer (e.g., memory buffer 812) using a first processor (e.g., low power processor 810). The storage buffer may be, for example, a ring buffer as shown in fig. 8C.

At block 906, the device detects the user input while the device captures the audio input using the microphone. The user input may be, for example, a button press as shown in fig. 8C, or a contact on a touch screen (e.g., on touch screen 212) or a voice input captured by a microphone.

At block 908, the device determines whether the user input detected at block 906 meets predetermined criteria. The predetermined criteria may include, for example, a minimum duration of button press or type of contact (e.g., tap or swipe) of a contact on the touch screen, or the presence of a particular trigger phrase in a memory buffer.

At block 910, in accordance with a determination that the user input meets predetermined criteria, the device identifies and performs a computing task based on at least a portion of the memory buffer using a second processor (e.g., the main processor 808 shown in fig. 8B). In some implementations, the device may identify and perform the task using the second processor based on a portion of the buffer written before, during, and/or after the device detects the user input at block 906.

At block 912, in accordance with a determination that the user input does not meet the predetermined criteria, the device abandons the recognition task, as shown in FIG. 8D.

Fig. 10 illustrates a method 1000 for implementing a zero-delay digital assistant, according to various examples. Method 1000 may be performed using one or more electronic devices implementing a digital assistant. Some operations in method 1000 may be combined, the order of some operations may be changed, and some operations may be omitted. In some examples, method 1000 may be performed using a client-server system (e.g., system 100) implementing a digital assistant. The various blocks of method 1000 may be distributed in any suitable manner among one or more computers, systems or electronic devices. For example, in some examples, method 1000 may be performed entirely on an electronic device (e.g., device 104,200,400 or 600). Reference in this document to any one particular electronic device (104,200,400 or 600) should be understood to encompass all electronic devices (104,200,400 or 600) unless one or more of these electronic devices (104,200,400 or 600) is excluded from the explicit meaning herein. For example, the electronic device (104,200,400 or 600) used in several examples is a smartphone. However, the method 1000 is not limited to use with smart phones; method 1000 may be implemented on any other suitable electronic device, such as a tablet, desktop computer, laptop, or smart watch. An electronic device with greater computing power and longer battery life may perform more of the blocks of method 1000. The distribution of the blocks of method 1000 need not be fixed and may vary depending on network connection bandwidth, network connection quality, server load, availability of computer power and battery power at the electronic device (e.g., 104,200,400,600), and/or other factors. Further, while the following discussion describes method 1000 as being performed by a digital assistant system (e.g., system 100 and/or digital assistant system 700), it should be appreciated that the method or any particular portion of the method is not limited to being performed by any particular device, combination of devices, or implementation. The description of method 1000 is further illustrated and exemplified by fig. 8B and 8E, and the description above pertains to these figures.

As described below, the method 1000 provides an intuitive way to implement a zero-delay digital assistant. The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user to invoke and provide voice requests to a digital assistant, thereby creating a more efficient human machine interface. For battery-powered computing devices, having the user immediately begin providing voice input to the digital assistant reduces latency and reduces errors (caused by improperly timed voice input), thereby saving power and increasing the time interval between battery charges.

In method 1000, a device performs blocks 1002,1004, and 1006 while a second processor (e.g., main processor 808) on an electronic device (e.g., device 104,200,400,600) is in a low power mode.

At block 1002, the electronic device continuously captures audio input from a microphone (e.g., microphone 213). The audio input may include a user voice, such as a voice user request. At block 1004, the device uses a first processor (e.g., low power processor 810) to write data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer (e.g., memory buffer 812) in succession. The memory buffer may be, for example, a circular buffer as shown in FIG. 8E. At block 1006, the device determines, using the first processor, whether at least a first portion of the contents of the memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion. The criteria may include a criterion that is met when at least a first portion of the contents of the memory buffer includes a predetermined trigger phrase, such as shown in FIG. 8E.

In accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets predetermined criteria, the device causes the second processor to exit the low power mode at block 1008.

After causing the second processor to exit the low power mode at block 1008, the device identifies a computing task based on at least a second portion of the memory buffer using the second processor at block 1010. In some implementations, the second portion can be a portion of a memory buffer that is written after the first portion (e.g., a spoken request spoken after a trigger phrase). In some implementations, the second portion can be a portion that includes or is written before the first portion. In some embodiments, the second portion is the entire memory buffer.

At block 1012, the device uses a second processor to perform the computing task identified at block 1010. The second processor may perform the computational tasks described with respect to fig. 1.

In accordance with a determination that at least the first portion of the buffer does not meet the predetermined criteria, the device foregoes causing the second processor to exit the low power mode at block 1014.

According to some embodiments, fig. 11 illustrates an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 1100 configured in accordance with the principles of various described embodiments. According to some embodiments, the functional blocks of the electronic device 1100 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 1100 are optionally implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software that perform the principles of the various described examples. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functional blocks described in fig. 11 are optionally combined or separated into sub-blocks in order to implement the principles of the various described examples. Thus, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in fig. 11, the electronic device 1100 includes: a microphone unit 1102 configured to capture audio input; a memory buffer unit 1104 configured to be written with audio data representing audio input captured by the microphone unit; and optionally a display unit 1106 configured to display a user interface and an audio component unit 1108 configured to receive or output audio content. The device 1100 comprises a processing unit 1110 coupled to a microphone unit 1102, a memory buffer unit 1104 and optionally a display unit 1106. Processing unit 1110 includes at least two processors (e.g., low power processor 810 and main processor 808).

The processing unit is configured to capture audio input from the microphone unit 1102 (e.g., with the capture unit 1112); writing data representing the captured audio input to the memory buffer unit 1104 (e.g., with the writing unit 1114) using the first processor; detect user input while capturing audio input using the microphone unit (e.g., using detection unit 1116); and determining, using the first processor, whether the user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion. The processing unit is further configured to: in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, the computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer (e.g., with identification unit 1120); and upon determining that the user input has not met the criteria, forgoing identifying the computing task.

In some embodiments, storing at least a portion of the contents of the buffer includes writing data to the buffer prior to detecting the user input.

In some embodiments, storing at least a portion of the contents of the buffer includes writing data to the buffer during detection of the user input.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to perform the identified computational task (e.g., with the pointing unit 1122) in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria.

In some embodiments, identifying the computing task includes initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

In some embodiments, the digital assistant identifies and performs computing tasks.

In some embodiments, initiating a digital assistant session includes displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session on the display unit 1106.

In some embodiments, a user interface associated with a digital assistant is displayed in a full screen view.

In some embodiments, initiating a digital assistant session includes activating one or more audio components on the device (e.g., in audio component unit 1108) (e.g., with activation unit 1124).

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the memory buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to, in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criterion: activating a second microphone on the device (e.g., in microphone unit 1102) (e.g., with activation unit 1124); and streaming audio detected by the second microphone to the digital assistant (e.g., using transmission unit 1126).

In some embodiments, the user input is a button press.

In some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when the button press exceeds a predetermined threshold duration.

In some implementations, the user input is audio data captured by a microphone and written to a buffer.

In some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a second portion of the buffer includes audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

In some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

In some embodiments, the audio input is captured while the second processor is in the low power mode, and the processing unit is further configured to: in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criterion, causing (e.g., causing unit 1128) the second processor to exit the low power mode.

The operations described above with reference to fig. 9 are optionally implemented by components depicted in fig. 2A-2B or fig. 11. For example, capture operation 902, write operation 904, detect operation 706, and determine operation 908 are optionally implemented by peripheral interface 218, memory 202, event sorter 270, event recognizer 280, and event handler 290. Peripheral interface 218 may capture the audio input to write it into a memory buffer in memory 202. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 270 detects the user input and event dispatcher module 274 delivers the event information to application 236-1. The respective event recognizer 280 of the application 236-1 compares the event information to the respective event definition 286 and determines whether the user input meets predetermined criteria corresponding to a predefined event or sub-event, such as a request to initiate a digital assistant. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 280 activates event handler 290 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 290 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 276 or object updater 277 to update the application internal state 292. In some embodiments, event handler 290 accesses a corresponding GUI updater 278 to update the content displayed by the application. Similarly, those skilled in the art will clearly know how other processes may be implemented based on the components depicted in fig. 2A-2B.

According to some embodiments, fig. 12 illustrates an exemplary functional block diagram of an electronic device 1200 configured in accordance with the principles of various described embodiments. According to some embodiments, the functional blocks of the electronic device 1200 are configured to perform the techniques described above. The functional blocks of the device 1200 are optionally implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software that perform the principles of the various described examples. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functional blocks described in fig. 12 are optionally combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of the various described examples. Thus, the description herein optionally supports any possible combination or separation or further definition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in fig. 12, the electronic apparatus 1200 includes: a microphone unit 1202 configured to capture audio input; a memory buffer unit 1204 configured to be written with audio data representing audio input captured by the microphone unit; and optionally a display unit 1206 configured to display a user interface and an audio component unit 1208 configured to receive or output audio content. Device 1200 includes a processing unit 1210 coupled to a microphone unit 1202, a memory buffer unit 1204, and optionally a display unit 1206 and audio components unit 1208. Processing unit 1200 includes at least two processors (e.g., low power processor 810 and main processor 808).

The processing unit is configured to, while the second processor is in the low power mode: capture audio input from the microphone unit 1202 (e.g., with capture unit 1212); writing data representing the captured audio input to the memory buffer unit 1204 (e.g., with the writing unit 1214) using the first processor, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the memory buffer unit; determining whether at least a first portion of the storage buffer units satisfy a predetermined criterion (e.g., usage determination unit 1216); in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the storage buffer units satisfy a predetermined criterion: causing the second processor to exit the low power mode (e.g., using cause unit 1228); identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer unit (e.g., with identification unit 1218); and using the second processor to perform the identified task (e.g., using execution unit 1224). The processing unit is further configured to abort causing the second processor to exit the low power mode in accordance with a determination that at least the first portion of the memory buffer unit does not meet the criteria.

In some embodiments, the second processor immediately executes the identified task without further input from the user.

In some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a first portion of the memory buffer includes audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

In some embodiments, identifying the computing task includes initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

In some embodiments, the digital assistant identifies and performs tasks.

In some embodiments, initiating the digital assistant session includes displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

In some embodiments, a user interface associated with a digital assistant is displayed in a full screen view.

In some embodiments, launching the digital assistant includes activating one or more audio components on the device.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the memory buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to: further in accordance with a determination that the user input has met the criteria: activating a second microphone of the microphone units (1202) on the device (e.g., with activation unit 1226); and streaming audio detected by the second microphone to the digital assistant.

In some embodiments, the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

The operations described above with reference to fig. 10 are optionally implemented by components depicted in fig. 2A-2B or fig. 12. For example, capture operation 1002, write operation 1004, and determination operation 1006 are optionally implemented by peripheral interface 218, memory 202, event sorter 270, event recognizer 280, and event handler 290. Peripheral interface 218 may capture the audio input to write it to a memory buffer in memory 202. The respective event recognizer 280 of the application 236-1 compares event information, such as the contents of a memory buffer, to the respective event definition 286 and determines whether a portion of the memory buffer meets predetermined criteria corresponding to a predefined event or sub-event, such as a request to start a digital assistant. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected, event recognizer 280 activates event handler 290 associated with the detection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 290 optionally utilizes or calls data updater 276 or object updater 277 to update the application internal state 292. In some embodiments, event handler 290 accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update the content displayed by the application. Similarly, those skilled in the art will clearly know how other processes may be implemented based on the components depicted in fig. 2A-2B.

Exemplary methods, non-transitory computer-readable media, systems, and electronic devices are set forth in the following items:

1. a method, comprising:

at an electronic device comprising a microphone, a first processor, and a second processor:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer;

detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone;

determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and

upon determining that the user input does not meet the criteria, the recognition task is aborted.

2. The method of item 1, wherein storing at least a portion of the contents of the buffer comprises writing data to the buffer before detecting the user input.

3. The method of any of items 1-2, wherein storing at least a portion of the contents of the buffer comprises writing data to the buffer during detection of the user input.

4. The method of any of items 1-3, further comprising:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, performing the identified computational task.

5. The method of any of items 1-4, wherein identifying the computing task comprises initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

6. The method of item 5, wherein the digital assistant identifies and performs the computing task.

7. The method of any of items 5-6, wherein initiating a digital assistant session includes displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

8. The method of item 7, wherein a user interface associated with the digital assistant is displayed in a full screen view.

9. The method of any of items 5-8, wherein initiating a digital assistant session includes activating one or more audio components on a device.

10. The method of any of items 5-9, wherein at least a portion of the contents of the storage buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant.

11. The method of any of items 1-10, further comprising:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criterion:

activating a second microphone on the device, an

Audio detected by the second microphone is streamed to the digital assistant.

12. The method of any of items 1-11, wherein the user input is a button press.

13. The method of item 12, wherein the criteria comprise a criterion that is met when a button press exceeds a predetermined threshold duration.

14. The method of any of items 1-11, wherein the user input is audio data captured by a microphone and written to a buffer.

15. The method of item 14, wherein the criteria comprise a criterion that is met when the device determines that the at least a second portion of the memory buffer comprises audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

16. The method of any of items 14-15, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

17. The method of any of items 1-16, wherein the audio input is captured while the second processor is in the low power mode, the method further comprising:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has met the criteria, causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a first processor and a second processor of an electronic device with a microphone, cause the device to:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer;

detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone;

determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and

upon determining that the user input does not meet the criteria, the recognition task is aborted.

19. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

two or more processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by two or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer in a memory;

detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone;

determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and

upon determining that the user input does not meet the criteria, the recognition task is aborted.

20. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

a first processor;

a second processor;

means for capturing audio input from a microphone;

means for writing, using the first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer;

means for detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone;

means for determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion;

means for identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the storage buffer in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria; and

means for foregoing the recognition task in accordance with a determination that the user input has not met the criteria.

21. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

at least two processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the at least two processors, the one or more programs including instructions for performing any of the methods recited in items 1-17.

22. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by an electronic device with a microphone and at least two processors, cause the device to perform any of the methods of items 1-17.

23. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

at least two processors; and

means for performing any of the methods recited in items 1-17.

24. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone unit;

a memory buffer unit; and

a processing unit coupled to the microphone unit and the memory buffer unit, the processing unit including a first processor and a second processor, the processing unit configured to:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

writing, using a first processor, data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer unit;

detecting a user input while capturing audio input using a microphone;

determining, using a first processor, whether a user input has satisfied a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, identifying, using the second processor, a computing task based on at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer; and

upon determining that the user input does not meet the criteria, the recognition task is aborted.

25. The electronic device of item 24, wherein the at least a portion of the contents of the storage buffer comprises data written to the buffer prior to detecting the user input.

26. The electronic device of any of items 24-25, wherein at least a portion of the contents of the memory buffer comprises data written to the buffer during detection of the user input.

27. The electronic device of any of items 24-26, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criteria, performing the identified computational task.

28. The electronic device of any of items 24-27, wherein identifying the computing task includes initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

29. The electronic device of item 28, wherein the digital assistant identifies and performs a computing task.

30. The electronic device of any of items 28-29, wherein initiating a digital assistant session includes displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

31. The electronic device of item 30, wherein a user interface associated with the digital assistant is displayed in a full screen view.

32. The electronic device of any of items 28-31, wherein launching the digital assistant comprises activating one or more audio components on the device.

33. The electronic device of any of items 28-32, wherein at least a portion of the memory buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant.

34. The electronic device of any of items 28-33, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criterion:

activating a second microphone on the device, an

Audio detected by the second microphone is streamed to the digital assistant.

35. The electronic device of any of items 24-34, wherein the user input is a button press.

36. The electronic device of item 35, wherein the criteria comprise a criterion that is met when a button press exceeds a predetermined threshold duration.

37. The electronic device of any of items 24-34, wherein the user input is audio data captured by a microphone and written to a buffer.

38. The electronic device of item 37, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a second portion of the buffer includes audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

39. The electronic device of any of items 37-38, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

40. The electronic device of any of items 24-39, wherein the audio input is captured while the second processor is in the low power mode, wherein the processor unit is further configured to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criterion, causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

41. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device comprising a microphone, a first processor, and a second processor:

while the second processor is in the low power mode:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

writing data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer using a first processor, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer, an

Determining, using a first processor, whether at least a first portion of a memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets a predetermined criterion:

causing the second processor to exit the low power mode,

identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer, and

the identified task is performed using a second processor. And

in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria, forgoing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

42. The method of item 41, wherein the second processor immediately executes the identified computing task without further input from the user.

43. The method of any of items 41-42, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a first portion of the storage buffer includes audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

44. The method of any of items 41-43, wherein identifying the computing task comprises initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

45. The method of item 44, wherein the digital assistant identifies and performs a computing task.

46. The method of any of items 44-45, wherein initiating a digital assistant session includes displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

47. The method of item 46, wherein a user interface associated with the digital assistant is displayed in a full screen view.

48. The method of any of items 46-47, wherein launching the digital assistant comprises activating one or more audio components on the device.

49. The method of any of items 44-48, wherein at least a second portion of the buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant.

50. The method of any of items 44-49, further comprising:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criterion:

activating a second microphone on the device, an

Audio detected by the second microphone is streamed to the digital assistant.

51. The method of any of items 41-50, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

52. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a first processor and a second processor of an electronic device with a microphone, cause the device to:

while the second processor is in the low power mode:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

using the first processor to write data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer, an

Determining, using a first processor, whether at least a first portion of a memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets a predetermined criterion:

causing the second processor to exit the low power mode,

identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer, and

executing the identified task using a second processor; and

in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria, forgoing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

53. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

two or more processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the two or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

while the second processor is in the low power mode:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

writing data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer using a first processor, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer, an

Determining, using a first processor, whether at least a first portion of a memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets a predetermined criterion:

causing the second processor to exit the low power mode,

identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer, and

the identified task is performed using a second processor. And

in accordance with a determination that at least the first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria, forgoing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

54. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

a first processor;

a second processor;

means for, while the second processor is in the low power mode:

capturing audio input from a microphone;

using the first processor to write data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the buffer, an

Determining, using a first processor, whether at least a first portion of a memory buffer meets a predetermined criterion;

means for, in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the buffer meets a predetermined criterion:

causing the second processor to exit the low power mode,

identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer, and

the identified task is performed using a second processor. And

means for relinquishing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode in accordance with a determination that at least the first portion of the buffer does not meet the criteria.

55. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

at least two processors;

a memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the at least two processors, the one or more programs including instructions for performing any of the methods recited in items 41-51.

56. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by an electronic device with a microphone and at least two processors, cause the device to perform any of the methods of items 41-51.

57. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone;

at least two processors; and

means for performing any of the methods recited in items 41-51.

58. An electronic device, comprising:

a microphone unit;

a memory buffer unit; and

a processing unit coupled to the microphone unit and the memory buffer unit, the processing unit including a first processor and a second processor, the processing unit configured to:

while the second processor is in the low power mode:

capturing an audio input from a microphone unit;

writing data representing the captured audio input to a memory buffer unit using a first processor, wherein the audio input is successively captured and written to the memory buffer unit, an

Determining, using a first processor, whether at least a first portion of a memory buffer unit meets a predetermined criterion;

in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the storage buffer units satisfy a predetermined criterion:

causing the second processor to exit the low power mode,

identifying, using a second processor, a computing task based on at least a second portion of the contents of the memory buffer unit, and

executing the identified task using a second processor; and

in accordance with a determination that at least a first portion of the memory buffer units do not meet the criteria, forgoing causing the second processor to exit the low power mode.

59. The electronic device of item 58, wherein the second processor immediately executes the identified task without further input from the user.

60. The electronic device of any of items 58-59, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that at least a second portion of the memory buffer includes audio data representing a predetermined trigger.

61. The electronic device of any of items 58-60, wherein identifying the computing task includes initiating a digital assistant session on the second processor.

62. The electronic device of item 61, wherein the digital assistant identifies and performs the task.

63. The electronic device of any of items 61-62, wherein initiating a digital assistant session includes displaying a user interface associated with the digital assistant session.

64. The electronic device of item 63, wherein a user interface associated with the digital assistant is displayed in a full screen view.

65. The electronic device of any of items 61-64, wherein launching the digital assistant comprises activating one or more audio components on the device.

66. The electronic device of any of items 61-65, wherein at least a portion of the buffer is provided to a remote server associated with the digital assistant.

67. The electronic device of any of items 61-66, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

in further accordance with a determination that the user input has satisfied the criterion:

activating a second microphone in a microphone unit on the device, and

audio detected by the second microphone is streamed to the digital assistant.

68. The electronic device of any of items 58-67, wherein the criteria include a criterion that is met when the device determines that the audio data corresponds to an authorized user.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the exemplary discussion above is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the technology and its practical applications. Those skilled in the art are thus enabled to best utilize the techniques and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Although the present disclosure and examples have been fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that such changes and modifications are to be considered as included within the scope of the disclosure and examples as defined by the following claims.