In-vehicle hands-free apparatus
First Claim
1. An in-vehicle hands-free apparatus for making a hands-free call using a telephone, the hands-free call being a telephone communication between a user of the in-vehicle hands-free apparatus at one end of the telephone communication and a party on another end of the telephone communication, said in-vehicle hands-free apparatus comprising:
- a storage unit operable to store a voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication between the user and the party uttered during the telephone communication between the user and the party;
a situation analysis unit operable to analyze a surrounding situation of the vehicle based on information outputted from at least one sensor for detecting the surrounding situation;
an action determination unit operable to switch a state of the call between a user of the telephone and the party by selecting either a call state in which output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is enabled or a hold state in which the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is suspended, based on a result of the analysis of the situation analysis unit; and
a playback output unit operable, when the action determination unit switches the state of the call from the hold state to the call state after switching from the call state to the hold state, to;
(a) continue suspending the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication and play back the voice of the party that was stored in the storage unit after the state of the call was switched to the hold state by the action determination unit; and
(b) thereafter enable the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication for the user.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An in-vehicle hands-free apparatus includes: a communication unit which is connected with a mobile phone; a storage unit for storing a voice of a party on the other end of a call; a situation analysis unit for analyzing surrounding situations of a car based on information outputted from a group of sensors for detecting the surrounding situations; an action determination unit for determining, based on the result of the analysis of the situation analysis unit, to continue or hold the call between a driver and the party, or cancel the hold; a playback control unit for playing back the voice of the party stored in the storage unit according to a control signal outputted based on the determination by the action determination unit to cancel the hold; and a voice output unit for outputting the voice played back by the playback control unit for the driver.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An in-vehicle hands-free apparatus for making a hands-free call using a telephone, the hands-free call being a telephone communication between a user of the in-vehicle hands-free apparatus at one end of the telephone communication and a party on another end of the telephone communication, said in-vehicle hands-free apparatus comprising:
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a storage unit operable to store a voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication between the user and the party uttered during the telephone communication between the user and the party; a situation analysis unit operable to analyze a surrounding situation of the vehicle based on information outputted from at least one sensor for detecting the surrounding situation; an action determination unit operable to switch a state of the call between a user of the telephone and the party by selecting either a call state in which output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is enabled or a hold state in which the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is suspended, based on a result of the analysis of the situation analysis unit; and a playback output unit operable, when the action determination unit switches the state of the call from the hold state to the call state after switching from the call state to the hold state, to;
(a) continue suspending the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication and play back the voice of the party that was stored in the storage unit after the state of the call was switched to the hold state by the action determination unit; and
(b) thereafter enable the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication for the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A hands-free call method for making a hands-free call using a telephone in a vehicle, the hands-free call being a telephone communication between a user of the in-vehicle hands-free apparatus at one end of the telephone communication and a party on another end of the telephone communication, said hands-free call method comprising:
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a recording step of recording a voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication between the user and the party uttered during the telephone communication between the user and the party; a situation analysis step of analyzing a surrounding situation of the vehicle based on information outputted from at least one sensor for detecting the surrounding situation; an action determination step of switching a state of the call between a user of the telephone and the party by selecting either a call state in which output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is enabled or a hold state in which output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is suspended, based on a result of the analysis in the situation analysis step; and a playback output step of, when the state of the call is switched from the hold state to the call state after being switched from the call state to the hold state in the action determination step;
(a) continuing suspending the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication and playing back the voice of the party that was recorded in the recording step after the state of the call was switched to the hold state by the action determination step; and
(b) thereafter enabling outputting of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication for the user. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A program for an in-vehicle hands-free apparatus for making a hands-free call using a telephone in a vehicle, the hands-free call being a telephone communication between a user of the in-vehicle hands-free apparatus at one end of the telephone communication and a party on another end of the telephone communication, the program being recorded on a computer-readable medium and causing a computer to execute a method comprising:
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a recording step of recording a voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication between the user and the party uttered during the telephone communication between the user and the party; a situation analysis step of analyzing a surrounding situation of the vehicle based on information outputted from at least one sensor for detecting the surrounding situation; an action determination step of switching a state of the call between a user of the telephone and the party by selecting either a call state in which output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is enabled or a hold state in which output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication is suspended, based on a result of the analysis in the situation analysis step; and a playback output step of, when the state of the call is switched from the hold state to the call state after being switched from the call state to the hold state in the action determination step;
(a) continuing suspending the output of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication and playing back the voice of the party that was recorded in the recording step after the state of the call was switched to the hold state by the action determination step; and
(b) thereafter enabling outputting of the voice of the party on the other end of the telephone communication for the user.
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Specification