1. Apparatus for receiving input spoken vocabulary words during a training phase of operation and for subsequently recognizing strings of received input spoken command words, comprising: feature extraction means for generating digital feature signals dependent on the features present in input words; reference array formation means for forming and storing, for each vocabulary word, a time-dependent reference array dependent on the feature signals present during the vocabulary word as spoken during the training phase; boundary detection means for detecting relatively long duration pauses between speech sounds as inter-string pauses from which string boundaries are determined, the string boundaries defining the beginning and end of a string of words, and for detecting relatively short duration pauses between speech sounds as inter-segment pauses from which speech segment boundaries are determined within a string of words; candidate feature array formation means for forming and storing, for each command word candidate consisting of each segment and each sequence of up to a predetermined number of segments, a time-dependent candidate feature array dependent upon the feature signals present during said command word candidate; array correlation means for comparing each candidate feature array with each reference array and for storing, for each command word candidate, the vocabulary word whose reference array results in the highest correlation and a record of the score of said highest correlation; string matching means responsive to the stored correlation scores for determining the sequence of vocabulary words that yields the highest overall correlation score for the string; and means for generating output indications of the determined sequence of vocabulary words.
1. Apparatus for receiving input spoken vocabulary words during a training phase of operation and for subsequently recognizing strings of received input spoken command words, comprising: feature extraction means for generating digital feature signals dependent on the features present in input words; reference array formation means for forming and storing, for each vocabulary word, a time-dependent reference array dependent on the feature signals present during the vocabulary word as spoken during the training phase; boundary detection means for detecting relatively long duration pauses between speech sounds as inter-string pauses from which string boundaries are determined, the string boundaries defining the beginning and end of a string of words, and for detecting relatively short duration pauses between speech sounds as inter-segment pauses from which speech segment boundaries are determined within a string of words; candidate feature array formation means for forming and storing, for each command word candidate consisting of each segment and each sequence of up to a predetermined number of segments, a time-dependent candidate feature array dependent upon the feature signals present during said command word candidate; array correlation means for comparing each candidate feature array with each reference array and for storing, for each command word candidate, the vocabulary word whose reference array results in the highest correlation and a record of the score of said highest correlation; string matching means responsive to the stored correlation scores for determining the sequence of vocabulary words that yields the highest overall correlation score for the string; and means for generating output indications of the determined sequence of vocabulary words. 5. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said string matching means is operative to identify, at each segment of a string, the sequence of vocabulary words which provides the highest overall correlation up to that particular segment of the string when considering said particular segment and all previous segments of the string as being part of sequences of different word lengths.