Voice Over Short Messaging Service

Abstract

A method of operating a mobile communication device is described. A text message is received over a wireless messaging channel, wherein the text message contains a non-text representation of an utterance. The non-text representation is extracted from the text message, and an audio representation of the spoken utterance is synthesized from the non-text representation.

1 . A method of operating a mobile communication device, said method comprising:
 over a wireless messaging channel receiving a text message, wherein the text message contains a non-text representation of an utterance;   extracting the non-text representation from the text message; and   synthesizing an audio representation of the spoken utterance from the non-text representation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile communication device is a cellular phone. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-text representation of the utterance is a string of symbols representing sounds of the utterance. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the symbols in the string of symbols are selected from the group consisting of phonemes, diphones, triphones, syllables, and demisyllables. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the symbols in the string of symbols are phonemes. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless messaging channel is an SMS channel and the text message is an SMS message. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received text message includes an indicator identifying the text message as containing a non-text representation of the utterance. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-text representation is a compressed version of the utterance. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 over the wireless messaging channel receiving a plurality of text messages in addition to the first-mentioned text message, said first-mentioned text message and said plurality of text messages forming a set of text messages, wherein each text message of the set of text messages contains a non-text representation of a different portion of the utterance; and 
 extracting the non-text representations from the plurality of text messages. 
 
     
     
         10 . A mobile communication device for receiving a voice message, said mobile communication device comprising:
 a processor system;   a transceiver for receiving a text message that contains a non-text representation of an utterance;   an audio output device; and   memory storing code which when executed on the processor system causes the mobile communication device to extract the non-text representation from the received text message; synthesize an audio representation of the spoken utterance from the non-text representation.   
     
     
         11 . The mobile communication device of  claim 10 , wherein the mobile communication device includes a cellular phone. 
     
     
         12 . The mobile communication device of  claim 10 , wherein the non-text representation of the utterance is a string of symbols representing sounds of the utterance. 
     
     
         13 . The mobile communication device of  claim 12 , wherein the symbols in the string of symbols are selected from the group consisting of phonemes, diphones, triphones, syllables, and demisyllables. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile communication device of  claim 12 , wherein the symbols in the string of symbols are phonemes. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile communication device of  claim 10 , wherein the wireless messaging channel is an SMS channel and the text message is an SMS message. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile communication device of  claim 10 , wherein the received text message includes an indicator identifying the text message as containing a non-text representation of the utterance. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile communication device of  claim 10 , wherein the non-text representation is a compressed version of the utterance. 
     
     
         18 . The mobile communication device of  claim 10 , wherein the code when executed on the processor further causes the mobile communication device to:
 over the wireless messaging channel, receive a plurality of text messages in addition to the first-mentioned text message, said first-mentioned text message and said plurality of text messages forming a set of text messages, wherein each text message of the set of text messages contains a non-text representation of a different portion of the utterance; and   extract the non-text representations from the plurality of text messages.