Hands-free telephone conversation apparatus

• US 9,264,527 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2012
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kirigaya, Hideyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Linh
• Application Number:
  US13/525,484
• Publication Number:
  US 20120252540A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,338 Days
• Field of Search: 445/569.1, 445/569.2, 445/557, 445/559, 445/575, 445/570
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6083 by interfacing with the vehicle audio system
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/13 Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/02 for preventing acoustic reaction , i.e. acoustic oscillatory feedback specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/453
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/30 Control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field

Abstract

A hands-free telephone conversation apparatus can reduce negative influence of an echo on a sound to be transmitted to a far-end user without deteriorating the sound. When a MPU determines that a mobile phone receives an incoming call, and a user starts to talk on the mobile phone, in accordance with an operation of an input device connected to an in-vehicle bus line, a MPU controls the mobile phone to have the mobile phone output, to the DSP, a sound signal indicative of a sound to be transmitted to the far-end user, and to have a switch select a loudspeaker, installed in an vehicle without being directed to the microphone, as a loudspeaker for outputting a sound received from the far-end user.

Claims

1. A vehicle having a function to allow a user to talk on a mobile phone, comprising:

a microphone for receiving sound to be transmitted to a far-end user, and

loudspeakers for outputting sound received from said far-end user, wherein

means for outputting a test sound through each of said loudspeakers;

means for detecting a sound pressure level of said test sound from each of said loudspeakers; and

means for selecting, on the basis of said sound pressure level, one of said loudspeakers as a loudspeaker for outputting sound received from said far-end user.

2. A vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for setting filter coefficients to a band pass filter for filtering a sound to be outputted from each of said loudspeakers to said microphone.

3. A hands-free telephone conversation apparatus, comprising:

a microphone to be used when a user is talking on a mobile phone;

a plurality of loudspeakers;

loudspeaker selecting means for selecting one of said loudspeakers for outputting sound received from a far-end user when said user is talking on said mobile phone,

test sound signal generating means for generating a test sound signal;

loudspeaker switching means for switching from one of said loudspeakers to another in a predetermined sequence; and

sound pressure level detecting means for detecting a sound pressure level of a test sound from each of said loudspeakers selected by said loudspeaker switching means, wherein

said loudspeaker selecting means selects, on the basis of said sound pressure level detected by said sound pressure level detecting means, one of said loudspeakers as a loudspeaker for outputting sound received from a far-end user.

4. A hands-free telephone conversation apparatus as set forth in claim 3, further comprising:

a band pass filter for filtering sound signals received from said one of said loudspeakers, wherein

said loudspeaker selecting means sets filter coefficients to said band pass filter on the basis of said sound pressure level detected by said sound pressure level detecting means.