ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME

• US 20180033438A1
• Filed: 02/24/2017
• Published: 02/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: TOMA, Anas, ABU SHARIAH, Ahmad, JADALLAH, Hadi
• Granted Patent: US 10,762,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 17/04 Training, enrolment or model building
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/088 Word spotting
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42222 Additional components integrated in the remote control device, e.g. timer, speaker, sensors for detecting position, direction or movement of the remote control, microphone or battery charging device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4415 using biometric characteristics of the user, e.g. by voice recognition or fingerprint scanning cryptography using biological data H04L9/3231; authentication in networks using biometric H04L63/0861

Abstract

A method of operating an electronic device and an electronic device thereof are provided. The method includes receiving a first voice signal of a first user, authenticating whether the first user has authority to control the electronic device, based on the first voice signal, and determining an instruction corresponding to the first voice signal based on an authentication result and controlling the electronic device according to the instruction. The electronic device includes a receiver configured to receive a first voice signal of a first user and at least one processor configured to authenticate whether the first user has authority to control the electronic device based on the first voice signal, determine an instruction corresponding to the first voice signal, and control the electronic device according to the instruction.

Claims

1. A method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising:

receiving a first voice signal of a first user;

authenticating whether the first user has authority to control the electronic device, based on the first voice signal;

determining a first instruction corresponding to the first voice signal based on an authentication result; and

controlling the electronic device according to the first instruction.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second voice signal of the first user and determining whether the second voice signal comprises a trigger signal; and

when the second voice signal comprises the trigger signal, setting the first user as a user who controls the electronic device based on the second voice signal, and controlling the electronic device by using at least one voice signal of the first user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the setting of the first user as the user who controls the electronic device comprises:

extracting, from the second voice signal, a value of at least one voice parameter regarding the first user,

storing the value of the at least one voice parameter extracted from the second voice signal as a reference value, and

registering the first user as the user who controls the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one voice parameter comprises at least one of a voice energy of the first user, a frequency bandwidth, a vibration value generated during an utterance by the first user, and a voice signal to noise ratio (SNR).

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

when the second voice signal does not comprise the trigger signal, authenticating whether the first user has the authority to control the electronic device based on the second voice signal.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the first user has the authority to control the electronic device, determining a second instruction for performing a first function of the electronic device based on the first voice signal; and

performing the first function of the electronic device according to the second instruction.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the first user does not have the authority to control the electronic device, determining a second instruction for bypassing the first voice signal based on the first voice signal; and

bypassing the first voice signal according to the second instruction.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of voice signals from a plurality of users;

extracting voice characteristics respectively from the plurality of voice signals;

detecting a second voice signal comprising a voice characteristic that matches a voice characteristic of a second user who has the authority to control the electronic device, the voice characteristic of the second user being selected from among the voice characteristics extracted respectively from the plurality of voice signals; and

determining a second instruction corresponding to the second voice signal and controlling the electronic device according to the second instruction.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when there is a plurality of users who have the authority to control the electronic device and voice signals are received from the plurality of users who have the authority to control the electronic device, determining a second instruction corresponding to a voice signal of a second user from among the plurality of users according to preset criteria; and

controlling the electronic device according to the second instruction.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the preset criteria comprise priorities respectively assigned to the plurality of users based on a preset order or a use pattern of the electronic device with regard to each of the plurality of users.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the use pattern of the electronic device is obtained based on at least one of a use frequency of the electronic device and a use time of the electronic device with regard to each of the plurality of users.

12. An electronic device comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a first voice signal of a first user; and

at least one processor configured to;

authenticate whether the first user has authority to control the electronic device based on the first voice signal,

determine a first instruction corresponding to the first voice signal, and control the electronic device according to the first instruction.

13. The electronic device of claim 12,

wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a second voice signal of the first user,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether the second voice signal comprises a trigger signal, and

wherein, when the second voice signal comprises the trigger signal, the at least one processor is further configured to set the first user as a user who controls the electronic device based on the second voice signal such that the electronic device is controlled by at least one voice signal of the first user.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

extract, from the second voice signal, a value of at least one voice parameter regarding the first user,

store the extracted value of the at least one voice parameter as a reference value of the at least one voice parameter, and

register the first user as the user who controls the electronic device.

15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein, when the second voice signal does not comprise the trigger signal, the at least one processor is further configured to authenticate whether the first user has the authority to control the electronic device.

16. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein, when the first user has the authority to control the electronic device, the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine a second instruction for performing a first function of the electronic device based on the first voice signal, and

perform the first function of the electronic device according to the second instruction.

17. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein, when the first user does not have the authority to control the electronic device, the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine a second instruction for bypassing the first voice signal based on the first voice signal, and

bypass the first voice signal according to the second instruction.

18. The electronic device of claim 12,

wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a plurality of voice signals from a plurality of users, and

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

extract voice characteristics respectively from the plurality of voice signals,

detect a second voice signal comprising a voice characteristic that matches a voice characteristic of a second user who has the authority to control the electronic device, the voice characteristic of the second user being selected from among the voice characteristics extracted respectively from the plurality of voice signals, and

control the electronic device based on a second instruction corresponding to the second voice signal.

19. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein, when there is a plurality of users who have the authority to control the electronic device and voice signals are received from the plurality of users who have the authority to control the electronic device, the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine a second instruction corresponding to a voice signal of a second user from among the plurality of users according to preset criteria, and

control the electronic device according to the second instruction.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the preset criteria comprise priorities respectively assigned to the plurality of users based on a use pattern of the electronic device with regard to each of the plurality of users.