METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING OUTGOING CALL IN VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH VOICE RECOGNITION FUNCTION

• US 20160014273A1
• Filed: 11/19/2014
• Published: 01/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: KWAK, Woo Young, JOH, Jae Min, BANG, Kyu Seop, PAIK, Soon Kwon, LEE, Kyung Chul
• Granted Patent: US 9,628,617 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0373 Voice control in general G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/063 Training
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/28 Constructional details of speech recognition systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/00 Speaker identification or verification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/0635 updating or merging of old and new templates; Mean values; Weighting
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/228 of application context
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/54 for retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42153 by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42178 by downloading data to substation equipment

Abstract

An outgoing call control method for an in-vehicle head unit equipped with a voice recognition function includes connecting Bluetooth communication with a user device when a vehicle is powered on. Whether or not an existing voice recognition database is present is checked. Phone book information is downloaded from the user device through the connected Bluetooth communication. Voice recognition for an outgoing call is performed using the existing voice recognition database during download of the phone book information if the existing voice recognition database is present.

Claims

1. An outgoing call control method for an in-vehicle head unit equipped with a voice recognition function, the method comprising steps of:

connecting Bluetooth communication with a user device when a vehicle is powered on;

checking whether an existing voice recognition database is present; and

downloading phone book information from the user device through the connected Bluetooth communication, wherein

voice recognition for an outgoing call is performed using the existing voice recognition database during download of the phone book information if the existing voice recognition database is present.

2. The outgoing call control method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of:

performing the voice recognition for the outgoing call after the step of checking the existing voice recognition database using a dummy voice recognition database if the existing voice recognition database is not present.

3. The outgoing call control method according to claim 2, wherein a notification message indicating that available phone book information is not present in the in-vehicle head unit is output when a user'"'"'s input voice is recognized using the dummy voice recognition database.

4. The outgoing call control method according to claim 3, wherein the notification message is output using at least one selected from a popup notification window and a voice.

5. The outgoing call control method according to claim 2, wherein the dummy voice recognition database is created using dummy phone book information comprising frequently used names, and a dummy phone book does not contain telephone number information corresponding to the names.

6. The outgoing call control method according to claim 5, wherein the number of the names contained in the dummy voice recognition database is based on a voice recognition rate.

7. The outgoing call control method according to claim 6, wherein a confidence value used by a voice recognition engine of the in-vehicle head unit is adjusted based on the number of the names and the voice recognition rate.

8. The outgoing call control method according to claim 5, wherein the number of the names contained in the dummy voice recognition database is based on a voice recognition response time.

9. The outgoing call control method according to claim 2, wherein the dummy voice recognition database is retained based on dummy phone book information based on a country or local area.

10. The outgoing call control method according to claim 9, wherein the in-vehicle head unit is interlocked with an in-vehicle global positioning system (GPS) module and the dummy voice recognition database corresponding to a current location of the in-vehicle head unit is used in the voice recognition for the outgoing call.

11. The outgoing call control method according to claim 1, wherein the existing voice recognition database is retained in the in-vehicle head unit in response to the user device before download of the phone book information.

12. The outgoing call control method according to claim 1, further comprising steps of:

checking whether existing phone book information is identical to the phone book information which is being downloaded; and

performing the voice recognition for the outgoing call using the existing voice recognition database if the existing phone book information is identical to the phone book information,

wherein the existing phone book information corresponding to the existing voice recognition database is retained.

13. The outgoing call control method according to claim 12, further comprising steps of:

creating a new voice recognition database when the existing phone book information is not identical to the phone book information using the phone book information which is being downloaded; and

performing the voice recognition for the outgoing call using the created new voice recognition database if the new voice recognition database is created.

14. The outgoing call control method according to claim 13, further comprising a step of:

performing the voice recognition using the voice recognition database which is currently used if the new voice recognition database is not created.

15. A computer readable medium containing a program for executing the method according to claim 1.

16. An in-vehicle head unit capable of performing an outgoing call through voice recognition, in which the in-vehicle head unit communicates with a user device, the in-vehicle head unit comprising:

a Bluetooth module configured to perform Bluetooth communication with the user device;

an in-vehicle communication module configured to communicate with an electronic control unit (ECU) of a vehicle;

a signal detection module configured to detect a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and to measure strength of the detected signal;

a controller configured to apply the power to the in-vehicle head unit and to commence an automatic pairing procedure;

a memory configured to store programs for operating the controller and temporarily store input/output data; and

a power supply configured to supply power to operate the in-vehicle head unit.

17. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, further comprising:

an input key module configured to generate input data for controlling an operation of the in-vehicle head unit;

an output configured to generate an output relevant to a sense of sight, hearing, or touch; and

an audio/video (A/V) input configured to input audio signals or video signals.

18. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 17, wherein the output includes:

a display module configured to display or output information processed by the in-vehicle head unit;

a sound output module configured to output audio data received through the Bluetooth module or stored in the memory; and

an alarm module configured to output signals for notifying events generated in the in-vehicle head unit.

19. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, wherein the Bluetooth module includes:

a baseband module configured to process a baseband signal according to a Bluetooth standard;

a power amplifier configured to amplify the baseband signal;

a band pass filter (BPF) configured to convert the amplified baseband signal into a transmission frequency band or to pass a signal having a frequency band selected from among radio frequency (RF) signals received through an antenna;

a low noise amplifier (LNA) configured to amplify the band-passed RF signal to be recognized and transmitting the RF signal to the baseband module; and

an antenna for transmitting and receiving the RF signal.

20. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, wherein the signal detection module is configured to select and sort the user device that can be paired based on the strength of the detected signal.

21. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, wherein the memory retains a voice recognition database for Bluetooth hands-free communication.

22. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, wherein the voice recognition database is classified into an existing voice recognition database, a new voice recognition database, or a dummy voice recognition database.

23. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 22, wherein the new voice recognition database is a voice recognition database created when new phone book information received from the user device is different from existing phone book information, compared by the controller.

24. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 22, wherein the dummy voice recognition database is a voice recognition database created based on a dummy phone book.

25. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 22, wherein the dummy voice recognition database is based on dummy phone book information based on a country or local area and is retained in a recording region.

26. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 21, the memory further retains a dummy voice recognition database based on a country or local area.

27. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, wherein the memory includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a flash memory, a hard disk memory, a multimedia card micro memory, a card memory, a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk.

28. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, wherein the input key module includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a key pad, a dome switch, a touch pad, a jog wheel, and a jog switch.

29. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 18, wherein the display module includes at least one selected from the group consisting of a liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, a flexible display, and a three-dimensional (3D) display.

30. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 17, wherein the A/V input includes:

a camera for processing image frames and capturing images behind the vehicle; and

a microphone for receiving external sound signals and converting the received sound signals into electrical voice data in a telephone conversation mode, a recording mode, or a voice recognition mode.

31. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 30, wherein the processed image frames are stored in the memory or transmitted to a paired user device via the Bluetooth module.

32. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 31, wherein in the telephone conversation mode, converted voice data is transmitted to the paired user device through the Bluetooth module, and in the voice recognition mode, the microphone transmits the converted voice data to the controller.

33. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to perform pattern recognition processing that is capable of recognizing a writing input or a drawing input performed on a touchscreen as text and images.

34. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to dynamically adjust a confidence value used by a voice recognition engine of the in-vehicle head unit based on the number of names contained in the dummy phone book and a voice recognition rate.

35. The in-vehicle head unit according to claim 23, wherein the controller is configured to output a notification message indicating that available phone book information is not present in the in-vehicle head unit to be output.