Personal safety enhancement for communication devices

• US 6,810,380 B1
• Filed: 03/28/2001
• Issued: 10/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Roberts, Linda Ann, Silver, Edward Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Dorvil, Richemond
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lerner, Martin
• Application Number:
  US09/818,858
• Time in Patent Office: 1,308 Days
• Field of Search: 704/270, 704/270.1, 704/273, 704/275, 704/246, 704/251, 704/274, 340/539.1, 340/539.11, 340/539.13, 379/45, 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/512
• US Class Current: 704/270
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72424 with manual activation of emergency-service functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

The present invention is a system and method for providing personal safety enhancement for communication devices having a speech recognition module. In one embodiment, when a specific speech segment recognized by the speech recognition module is received by a communication device of the present invention, the communication device performs the following tasks: (1) establishing a communication session with the called party; (2) communicating with a location system to generate location information pinpointing the location of the communication device; and (3) providing the location information to the called party. In other embodiments, the communication device performs additional tasks, including for example: (4) detecting a triggering event during the communication session; (5) communicating with the location system to generate subsequent location information; and (6) providing one or more of the subsequent location information and the triggering event to the called party. The called party may then use the location information and the triggering event to perform one or more actions, including providing help to the user of the communication device. The communication device is a wireless device in preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A communication device for reporting an emergency situation to a called party comprising:

a speech recognition module in the communication device;

a microprocessor in communication with the speech recognition module;

a memory in communication with the microprocessor, wherein the memory comprises a user profile and a relationship between the speech segment and the called party; and

a location system in communication with the microprocessor,

wherein when a speech segment is recognized by the speech recognition module in the communication device, the microprocessor establishes a communication session with the called party, wherein the called party has exclusive control over the communication session; and

wherein when the communication session is established, the location system generates location information and provides the location information to the called party.

2. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the user profile is received by the called party during the communication session.

3. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the communication device further comprises an orientation detector.

4. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the speech segment comprises one or more words.

5. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the location system generates subsequent location information, and wherein the subsequent location information is provided to the called party during the communication session.

6. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the speech segment is speaker-specific.

7. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the location system is a GPS receiver.

8. A communication device for reporting an emergency situation to a called party comprising:

an orientation detector in the communication device;

a speech recognition module in the communication device;

a microprocessor in communication with the speech recognition module; and

a location system in communication with the microprocessor,

wherein when a speech segment is recognized by the speech recognition module in the communication device, the microprocessor establishes a communication session with the called party, wherein the called party has exclusive control over the communication session; and

wherein when the communication session is established, the location system generates location information and provides the location information to the called party.

9. The communication device of claim 8, further comprising a memory, wherein the memory comprises the relationship between the speech segment and the called party.

10. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the memory comprises a user profile.

11. The communication device of claim 10, wherein the user profile is received by the called party during the communication session.

12. The communication device of claim 8, wherein the speech segment comprises one or more words.

13. The communication device of claim 8, wherein the location system generates subsequent location information, and wherein the subsequent location information is provided to the called party during the communication session.

14. The communication device of claim 8, wherein the speech segment is speaker-specific.

15. The communication device of claim 8, wherein the location system is a GPS receiver.

16. A communication device for reporting an emergency situation to a called party comprising:

an orientation detector in the communication device;

a speech recognition module in the communication device;

a microprocessor in communication with the speech recognition module;

a memory in communication with the microprocessor, wherein the memory comprises a user profile and a relationship between the speech segment and the called party; and

a location system in communication with the microprocessor,

wherein when a speech segment is recognized by the speech recognition module in the communication device, the microprocessor establishes a communication session with the called party; and

wherein when the communication session is established, the location system generates location information and provides the location information to the called party, wherein the called party has exclusive control over the communication session.

17. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the user profile is received by the called party during the communication session.

18. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the location system generates subsequent location information, and wherein the subsequent location information is provided to the called party during the communication session.

19. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the location system is a GPS receiver.