Providing mobile application services with download of speaker independent voice model

• US 6,128,482 A
• Filed: 12/22/1998
• Issued: 10/03/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Watkins, Gary A., Nixon, Timothy R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jackson, Blane J.
• Application Number:
  US09/218,237
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 704/270, 704/275, 379/88.03, 379/88.01, 379/88.02, 379/88.04, 379/354, 455/563, 455/414, 455/564, 455/565, 455/570
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/18 using natural language modelling

Abstract

The vehicle of a subscriber of mobile application services is provided with wireless telecommunication apparatus for communication over a wireless network and a public switched telephone network with a service center. When a subscriber calls the service center to locate a particular point of interest (POI), the service center advisor extracts data from a database and downloads it to the vehicle. The information includes a dialable telephone number and an identifying speaker independent voice model of the POI and may include POI identification and location data. The vehicle is equipped with apparatus which stores the downloaded data for automated dialing of the dialable telephone number initiated by the subscriber speaking data matching the identifying speaker independent voice model and may include apparatus to visually or audibly display the identifying, locating and/or descriptive data. The subscriber may call the service center from the vehicle or from a telephone outside the vehicle, with the download to the vehicle resulting from either call. The vehicle may be equipped to store multiple dialable telephone numbers and identifying speaker independent voice models, with identification data for each displayed so that the subscriber may cycle through them to pick one for automated dialing.

Claims

1. A method of providing mobile application services to a subscriber in a vehicle comprising:

providing a service center having a telecommunication apparatus connected to a public switched telephone network and an electronic database containing a data structure associating each of a plurality of points of interest with an identifying speaker independent voice model and a dialable telephone number;

providing in the vehicle a wireless telecommunication apparatus for communication over a wireless network to the public switched telephone network, the wireless telecommunication apparatus comprising a microphone, a speaker, means for receiving and storing at least one of the identifying speaker independent voice models and its associated dialable telephone number, and means responsive to spoken data matching the stored associated identifying speaker independent voice model for performing automated dialing of the stored dialable telephone number associated therewith;

in response to a subscriber request, choosing a point of interest from the electronic database and downloading the associated dialable telephone number and the associated identifying speaker independent voice model of the chosen point of interest to the data storage means in the vehicle through the public switched telephone network, the wireless network and the wireless telecommunication apparatus of the vehicle, wherein automated dialing thereof may be activated in the vehicle by the subscriber speaking data matching the associated identifying speaker independent voice model.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the data structure further associates each of the plurality of points of interest with identification data, the method further comprising:

providing the wireless telecommunication apparatus in the vehicle with means for displaying identification data stored in the data storage means;

downloading the associated identification data of the chosen point of interest along with the associated dialable telephone number and identifying speaker independent voice model to the data storage means for display by the display means.

3. The method of claim 2 in which the data storage means in the vehicle stores the associated dialable telephone numbers, associated identifying speaker independent voice models and associated identification data for a plurality of points of interest, the method further comprising:

providing means in the vehicle for cycling through the associated dialable telephone numbers and associated identifying speaker independent voice models for the plurality of points of interest while displaying the associated identification data for each point of interest in the display means and pointing to the associated dialable telephone number and associated identifying speaker independent voice model for the same point of interest for automated dialing.

4. The method of claim 2 in which the data structure further associates each of the plurality of points of interest with location data, the method further comprising:

downloading the associated location data of the chosen point of interest along with the associated dialable telephone number and associated identifying speaker independent voice model to the data storage means for display by the display means.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the data structure further associates each of the plurality of points of interest with identification data, the apparatus further comprising:

means in the vehicle for displaying identification data stored in the data storage means; and

means for further downloading the associated identification data of the chosen point of interest along with the associated dialable telephone number and identifying speaker independent voice model to the data storage means for display by the display means.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the data storage means in the vehicle stores the associated dialable telephone number, identifying speaker independent voice model and identification data for a plurality of points of interest, the apparatus further comprising:

means for cycling through the plurality of points of interest while, for each of the points of interest, displaying the associated identification data and remaining responsive to spoken data matching the associated identifying speaker independent voice model to automatically dial the associated dialable telephone number.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the data structure further associates each of the plurality of points of interest with location data, the apparatus further comprising:

means for further downloading the associated location data of the chosen point of interest along with the associated dialable telephone number and identifying speaker independent voice model.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the means for displaying identification data is a visual display apparatus visible to an operator of the vehicle and text data is downloaded to the vehicle for display thereby.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the means for displaying identification data is an audible display apparatus provided with voice generation capability and a voice generation data is downloaded to the vehicle for display thereby.

10. Apparatus for providing mobile application services to a subscriber in a vehicle comprising, in combination:

a service center having a telecommunication apparatus connected to a public switched telephone network and an electronic database containing a data structure associating each of a plurality of points of interest with an identifying speaker independent voice model and a dialable telephone number;

a wireless telecommunication apparatus in the vehicle for communication over a wireless network to the public switched telephone network, the wireless telecommunication apparatus comprising a microphone, a speaker, means for receiving and storing at least one of the identifying speaker independent voice models and its associated dialable telephone number, and means responsive to spoken data matching the stored associated identifying speaker independent voice model for performing automated dialing of the stored dialable telephone number associated therewith;

means at the service center for downloading the associated dialable telephone number and identifying speaker independent voice model of a subscriber chosen point of interest to the data storage means in the vehicle through the public switched telephone network, the wireless network and the wireless telecommunication apparatus in the vehicle, wherein automated dialing thereof may be activated in the vehicle by the subscriber speaking data matching the associated identifying speaker independent voice model.

11. Apparatus for providing mobile application services to a plurality of subscribers in a plurality of vehicles comprising in combination:

a service center having a telecommunication apparatus connected to a public switched telephone network and an electronic database containing a data structure associating each of a plurality of points of interest with a dialable telephone number and an identifying speaker independent voice model;

a wireless telecommunication apparatus in each of the vehicles for communication over a wireless network to the public switched telephone network, each wireless telecommunication apparatus having data storage means for storing a received dialable telephone number and identifying speaker independent voice model and further means responsive to spoken data matching the identifying speaker independent voice model for automated dialing of the associated dialable telephone number; and

means for selecting a point of interest in the electronic database and downloading the associated dialable telephone number and identifying speaker independent voice model of the chosen point of interest selectively to the storage means in any one of the vehicles through the public switched telephone network, the wireless network and the wireless telecommunication apparatus in the selected vehicle, wherein automated dialing thereof may be activated in the vehicle.

12. A method of providing mobile application services to a subscriber comprising:

providing a service center having a telecommunication apparatus coupled to a network and an electronic database containing a plurality of speaker independent voice models;

providing a wireless telecommunication apparatus for communication over the network;

downloading at least one speaker independent voice model to the wireless telecommunications apparatus over the network; and

dialing the wireless telecommunication apparatus in response to a spoken command matching the downloaded speaker independent voice model.