VOICE-ENABLED HANDS-FREE TELEPHONE SYSTEM FOR AUDIBLY ANNOUNCING VEHICLE COMPONENT INFORMATION TO VEHICLE USERS IN RESPONSE TO SPOKEN REQUESTS FROM THE USERS
First Claim
1. A voice-enabled, hands-free telephone system for a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a communications bus;
a speaker connected to the communications bus;
a vehicle component connected to the communications bus, wherein the vehicle component monitors the current status of a condition and provides a vehicle component signal indicative of the current status of the condition to the communications bus;
an appliance connected to the communications bus;
wherein the appliance is operable for wirelessly communicating with a Bluetooth enabled phone in the vehicle, wherein during a call between a user using the phone and an external party the appliance receives voice signals from the user and wirelessly communicates the voice signals of the user to the phone for transmission to the external party and the appliance wirelessly receives voice signals of the external party from the phone and outputs the voice signals of the external party to the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear;
wherein in response to a spoken request of a user for the current status of the condition the appliance obtains the vehicle component signal from the communications bus to determine the current status of the condition and audibly announces a computerized voice signal indicative of the current status of the condition through the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear the current status of the condition.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A voice-enabled, hands-free telephone system includes an appliance, speakers, and a component connected to a communications bus of a vehicle. The component provides to the bus a signal indicative of a condition monitored by the component. During a call between a user using a Bluetooth enabled phone and another party the appliance wirelessly communicates voice signals from the user to the phone for transmission to the party and the appliance wirelessly receives voice signals of the party from the phone and outputs these signals to the speakers via the bus for the user to hear. In response to the user speaking a request for the status of the condition, the appliance obtains the component signal from the bus to determine the status of the condition and audibly announces a computerized voice signal indicative of the status of the condition through the speakers via the bus for the user to hear.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A voice-enabled, hands-free telephone system for a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a communications bus; a speaker connected to the communications bus; a vehicle component connected to the communications bus, wherein the vehicle component monitors the current status of a condition and provides a vehicle component signal indicative of the current status of the condition to the communications bus; an appliance connected to the communications bus; wherein the appliance is operable for wirelessly communicating with a Bluetooth enabled phone in the vehicle, wherein during a call between a user using the phone and an external party the appliance receives voice signals from the user and wirelessly communicates the voice signals of the user to the phone for transmission to the external party and the appliance wirelessly receives voice signals of the external party from the phone and outputs the voice signals of the external party to the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear; wherein in response to a spoken request of a user for the current status of the condition the appliance obtains the vehicle component signal from the communications bus to determine the current status of the condition and audibly announces a computerized voice signal indicative of the current status of the condition through the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear the current status of the condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A voice-enabled, hands-free telephone system for a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a communications bus; a speaker connected to the communications bus; a plurality of vehicle components connected to the communications bus, wherein each vehicle component monitors the current status of a respective condition and provides a vehicle component signal indicative of the current status of the respective condition to the communications bus; an appliance connected to the communications bus; wherein the appliance is operable for wirelessly communicating with a Bluetooth enabled phone in the vehicle, wherein during a call between a user using the phone and an external party the appliance receives voice signals from the user and wirelessly communicates the voice signals of the user to the phone for transmission to the external party and the appliance wirelessly receives voice signals of the external party from the phone and outputs the voice signals of the external party to the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear; wherein in response to a spoken request of a user for the current status of one of conditions the appliance obtains the vehicle component signal corresponding to the condition from the communications bus to determine the current status of the condition and audibly announces a computerized voice signal indicative of the current status of the condition through the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear the current status of the condition. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A voice-enabled, hands-free telephone system for a vehicle having a communications bus, a speaker connected to the communications bus, and a vehicle component connected to the communications bus, wherein the vehicle component monitors the current status of a condition and provides a vehicle component signal indicative of the current status of the condition to the communications bus, the system comprising:
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an appliance connected to the communications bus, the appliance including a processor, a Bluetooth enabled communications module, a voice recognition unit, and a voice synthesizer; wherein the communications module is operable for wirelessly communicating with a Bluetooth enabled phone in the vehicle, wherein during a call between a user using the phone and an external party the communications module receives voice signals from the user and wirelessly communicates the voice signals of the user to the phone for transmission to the external party and the communications module wirelessly receives voice signals of the external party from the phone and outputs the voice signals of the external party to the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear; wherein the voice recognition unit converts a spoken request of a user for the current status of the condition into a request signal, wherein the request signal indicates that the user requests the current status of the condition, wherein the voice recognition unit provides the request signal to the processor; wherein in response to the request signal the processor obtains the vehicle component signal from the communications bus to determine the current status of the condition, wherein the processor provides a processor signal indicative of the current status of the condition to the voice synthesizer; wherein the voice synthesizer uses the processor signal to generate a computerized voice signal indicative of the current status of the condition, wherein the voice synthesizer audibly announces the computerized voice signal through the speaker via the communications bus for the user to hear the current status of the condition. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification