METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOTE CONTROL OF DEVICES THROUGH A WIRELESS HEADSET USING VOICE ACTIVATION

• US 20080154610A1
• Filed: 12/21/2006
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines SA (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: MAHLBACHER, James Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 8,260,618 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/275
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/31 Voice input
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 2201/93 Remote control using other portable devices, e.g. mobile phone, PDA, laptop
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00

Abstract

Methods and systems for remotely controlling a device through a wireless headset of a cellular phone are provided. In one implementation, the method includes storing a lookup table in a memory, in which the lookup table includes a digitized voice input and a corresponding control signal for the device. The method further includes receiving a voice input through a microphone, converting the voice input into a corresponding digital signal using an analog-to-digital converter, a voice recognition circuit recognizing the digital signal including matching the digital signal to the digitized voice input stored in the memory, and responsive to the digital signal matching the digitized voice input stored in the memory, a processor transmitting the corresponding control signal through the transceiver to the device.

Claims

1. A method for remotely controlling a device through a wireless headset of a cellular phone, the wireless headset including a microphone, an analog-to-digital converter, a voice recognition circuit, a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, the method including:

receiving from the device through the transceiver a lookup table including a digitized voice input and a corresponding control signal for the device;

storing the lookup table in the memory;

receiving a voice input through the microphone, the voice input not being received during a telephone call through the cellular phone;

converting the voice input into a corresponding digital signal using the analog-to-digital converter;

the voice recognition circuit recognizing the digital signal including matching the digital signal to the digitized voice input stored in the memory; and

responsive to the digital signal matching the digitized voice input stored in the memory, the processor transmitting the corresponding control signal through the transceiver to the device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second voice input during a telephone call through the cellular phone; and

transmitting the second voice input to the cellular phone without recognizing the second voice input.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the lookup table is received from the device in a communication packet, the communication packet having been sent through a protocol selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth, Ultra Wideband (UWB), 802.11a/b/g/n, Zigbee, IR, RFID, or a proprietary 2.4 Ghz protocol.

4. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, for remotely controlling a device through a wireless headset of a cellular phone, the wireless headset including a microphone, an analog-to-digital converter, a voice recognition circuit, a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, the computer program product comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

receive from the device through the transceiver a lookup table including a digitized voice input and a corresponding control signal for the device;

store the lookup table in the memory;

receive a voice input through the microphone, the voice input not being received during a telephone call through the cellular phone;

convert the voice input into a corresponding digital signal using the analog-to-digital converter;

recognize the digital signal using the voice recognition circuit, including matching the digital signal to the digitized voice input stored in the memory; and

responsive to the digital signal matching the digitized voice input stored in the memory, transmit the corresponding control signal through the transceiver to the device.

5. A method for remotely controlling a device through a wireless headset of a cellular phone, the wireless headset including a microphone, an analog-to-digital converter, a voice recognition circuit, a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, the method including:

storing a lookup table in the memory, the lookup table including a digitized voice input and a corresponding control signal for the device;

receiving a voice input through the microphone, the voice input not being received during a telephone call through the cellular phone;

converting the voice input into a corresponding digital signal using the analog-to-digital converter;

the voice recognition circuit recognizing the digital signal including matching the digital signal to the digitized voice input stored in the memory; and

responsive to the digital signal matching the digitized voice input stored in the memory, the processor transmitting the corresponding control signal through the transceiver to the device.