DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ACTIVATING WITH VOICE INPUT

• US 20140244269A1
• Filed: 02/28/2013
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: TOKUTAKE, Kenji
• Granted Patent: US 10,395,651 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/275
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/325 Power saving in peripheral device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3293 by switching to a less power-consuming processor, e.g. sub-CPU
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/00 Speaker identification or verification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/088 Word spotting
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An information processing apparatus that detects a voice command via a microphone in order to activate the device and execute certain applications. The apparatus comprises a digital signal processor (DSP) and a host controller which are responsible for processing the voice commands. The DSP recognizes and processes voice commands intermittently while the host processor is in a sleep state, thereby reducing the overall power consumption of the apparatus. Further, when the DSP is configured to recognize voice commands intended only to activate the device, a memory having a sufficiently lower storage capacity suffices.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a microphone configured to detect input voice instructions;

a memory configured to store a plurality of keywords, each keyword being associated with a predetermined function of the information processing apparatus;

first circuitry configured to

compare an input voice instruction with the plurality of keywords stored in the memory; and

activate second circuitry, which is configured to execute an application based on the comparison.

2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second circuitry is in a suspended state when the first circuitry performs the comparison.

3. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry is continuously in an active state when the second circuitry is in an active state.

4. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry activates the second circuitry based on a successful match of the input voice instruction with a keyword.

5. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the voice instructions are modulated by pulse code modulation before being stored in the memory.

6. The information processing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the modulated voice instructions are input to the memory at a fixed time period.

7. The information processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first circuitry is in an active state for a fraction of the fixed time period.

8. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the input voice instructions include the keyword and further instructions to execute the application.

9. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry activates the second circuitry by an interrupt signal.

10. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry and the second circuitry exchange data through a plurality of data lines.

11. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry and the second circuitry exchange control information through a plurality of control lines.

12. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second circuitry receives information from the first circuitry regarding a successful match of the voice instruction and the keyword and searches for the corresponding application associated with the keyword.

13. The information processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second circuitry executes the application upon a successful keyword search.

14. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry includes a driving unit configured to activate the second circuitry.

15. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first circuitry is configured to match an input voice with a registered voice of an authorized user.

16. The information processing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first circuitry is further configured to match an input keyword to a predetermined keyword.

17. The information processing apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second circuitry is configured to execute the application by any user.

18. An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving input voice instructions from a microphone;

storing a plurality of keywords in a memory, each keyword associated with a predetermined function of the information processing apparatus;

comparing by a first circuitry the input voice instruction with the plurality of keywords;

activating a second circuitry, by the first circuitry based on the comparing; and

executing an application by the second circuitry corresponding to the keyword associated with the application.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer program instructions, which when executed by an information processing apparatus, cause the information processing apparatus to perform a process, the process comprising:

receiving input voice instructions from a microphone;

storing a plurality of keywords in a memory, each keyword associated with a predetermined function of the information processing apparatus;

comparing by a first circuitry the input voice instruction with the plurality of keywords;

activating a second circuitry, by the first circuitry based on the comparing; and

executing an application by the second circuitry corresponding to the keyword associated with the application.