System and method for determining recipient of spoken command in a control system
First Claim
1. A method for determining which controllable device an audible command is directed towards, the method comprising:
- receiving at each of two or more controlling devices the audible command signal, the audible command being directed to control at least one of two or more controllable devices controlled by a respective one of the two or more controlling devices;
digitizing each of the received audible command signals;
attaching a unique identifier to each digitized audible command so as to uniquely correlate it to a respective controlling device;
determining a magnitude of each of the digitized audible command;
determining a digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, and further determining to which controlling device the audible command is directed to on the basis of the unique identifier associated with the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude;
performing speech recognition on the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude; and
forwarding a command to the controlling device corresponding to the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, the command corresponding to the audible command that can be implemented on the controllable device controlled by the controlling device, wherein the step of determining a magnitude further comprises—
attaching a time-date stamp to the digitized audible command; and
verifying that the time-date stamp of the greatest magnitude digitized audible command is the same or earlier than any other digitized audible command, and wherein the method further comprises—
applying additional processing to determine which controlling device the audible command is directed to if the time-date stamp of the digitized audible command with the largest magnitude is later than any other digitized audible command, and whereinthe step of applying additional processing comprises—
checking one or more of an occupancy sensor reading, proximity sensor reading, and motion detector reading, each of which is associated with respective controlling devices to determine which controlling device the audible command is directed to, and wherein the method further comprises—
determining that the occupancy sensor reading associated with a respective controlling device matches the audible command in order to determine that the audible command should be applied to the controllable device controlled by the respective controlling device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for determining which controllable device an audible command is directed towards, the method comprising: receiving at each of two or more controlling devices the audible command signal, the audible command being directed to control at least one of two or more controllable devices controlled by a respective one of the two or more controlling devices; digitizing each of the received audible command signals; attaching a unique identifier to each digitized audible command so as to uniquely correlate it to a respective controlling device; determining a magnitude of each of the digitized audible command; determining a digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, and further determining to which controlling device the audible command is directed to on the basis of the unique identifier associated with the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude; performing speech recognition on the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude; and forwarding a command to the controlling device corresponding to the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, the command corresponding to the audible command that can be implemented on the controllable device controlled by the controlling device.
16 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for determining which controllable device an audible command is directed towards, the method comprising:
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receiving at each of two or more controlling devices the audible command signal, the audible command being directed to control at least one of two or more controllable devices controlled by a respective one of the two or more controlling devices; digitizing each of the received audible command signals; attaching a unique identifier to each digitized audible command so as to uniquely correlate it to a respective controlling device; determining a magnitude of each of the digitized audible command; determining a digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, and further determining to which controlling device the audible command is directed to on the basis of the unique identifier associated with the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude; performing speech recognition on the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude; and forwarding a command to the controlling device corresponding to the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, the command corresponding to the audible command that can be implemented on the controllable device controlled by the controlling device, wherein the step of determining a magnitude further comprises— attaching a time-date stamp to the digitized audible command; and verifying that the time-date stamp of the greatest magnitude digitized audible command is the same or earlier than any other digitized audible command, and wherein the method further comprises— applying additional processing to determine which controlling device the audible command is directed to if the time-date stamp of the digitized audible command with the largest magnitude is later than any other digitized audible command, and wherein the step of applying additional processing comprises— checking one or more of an occupancy sensor reading, proximity sensor reading, and motion detector reading, each of which is associated with respective controlling devices to determine which controlling device the audible command is directed to, and wherein the method further comprises— determining that the occupancy sensor reading associated with a respective controlling device matches the audible command in order to determine that the audible command should be applied to the controllable device controlled by the respective controlling device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An acoustic sensor network comprising:
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two or more controllable devices; two or more controlling devices, each of two or more controlling devices comprising at least one respective microphone, and an analog to digital converter, each of the two or more controlling devices being adapted to control a respective one of the two or more controllable devices, and wherein each of the two or more controlling devices are further adapted to receive an audible command through at least one respective microphone, the received audible command being directed to control one of the two or more controllable devices controlled by a respective controlling device, and wherein each of the analog to digital converters are adapted to digitize the received audible command, and wherein each of the two or more controlling devices are further adapted to attach a unique identifier to each of the digitized audible commands so as to uniquely correlate it to a respective controlling device and transmit the same; and a central controller adapted to receive each of the transmitted digitized audible commands, determine a magnitude of each of the digitized audible commands, determine a digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, and further determine to which controlling device the audible command is directed to on the basis of the unique identifier associated with the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to perform speech recognition on the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude to determine a command for a controllable device, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to forward the command to the controlling device corresponding to the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude, the command corresponding to the audible command that can be implemented on the controllable device controlled by the controlling device, wherein each of the controlling devices are further adapted to attach a time-date stamp to the digitized audible commands through use of a time-date stamp generator using a time synch protocol, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to verify that the time-date stamp of the digitized audible command with the greatest magnitude is the same or earlier than the time-date stamp of any other digitized received audible command signal, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to generate a test signal to determine a travel time from each of the plurality of controlling devices to the central controller, modify the time-date stamp of each received digitized audible command signal according to the travel time from a respective controlling device to the central processor, and use the modified time-date stamp to assist in determining to which controlling device the audible command signal is directed to, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to apply additional processing to determine which controlling device the received audible command is directed to if the time-date stamp of the digitized audible command signal with the greatest magnitude is later than the time-date stamp any other digitized audible command, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to check one or more of an occupancy sensor reading, proximity sensor reading, and motion detector reading, each of which is associated with respective controlling devices to determine which controlling device the received audible command is directed to, and wherein the central controller is further adapted to determine that the occupancy sensor reading associated with a respective controlling device matches the received audible command in order to determine that the received audible command should be applied to the controllable device controlled by the respective controlling device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification