Anytime Algorithms for Speech Parsing?

This paper discusses to which extent the concept of anytime algorithms can be applied to parsing algorithms with feature uni cation We rst try to give a more precise de nition of what an anytime algorithm is We argue that parsing algorithms have to be classi ed as contract algorithms as opposed to truly interruptible algorithms With the restriction that the transaction being active at the time an interrupt is issued has to be completed before the interrupt can be executed it is possible to provide a parser with limited anytime behavior which is in fact being realized in our research prototype