The present invention relates to speech interfaces to computer-based services obtained wirelessly from a cellular phone or other mobile device, and to such interfaces implemented in a vehicle such as a passenger car.
Speech-based human-machine interfaces (HMI) to vehicle functions and cellular phone functions and applications typically involve an application-specific or function-specific limited command set that requires syntactically constrained interactions between the user and HMI. In these systems, inputted speech may be converted into a specific command for a specific application, but there is typically only limited ability to identify and carry out different services involving different applications or service providers.
In the realm of cellular phone use in vehicles, systems have been proposed and some implemented that help reduce driver distraction by providing a hands-free telephony experience as well as carry out some basic vehicle control tasks, such as selecting and controlling radio and other infotainment services on the vehicle. In some systems, this is done using an embedded cellular phone that has access to at least portions of the vehicle electronics so as to permit control and reporting via a speech user interface. In other vehicles, the driver or other occupant's personal mobile device (e.g., cellular phone) is used for this purpose, with the vehicle providing a basic audio interface that includes a microphone and one or more speakers, as well as a Bluetooth or other wireless connection to the mobile device. This permits speech and other audio to be sent between the audio interface and mobile device in either direction. However, these systems are typically limited to only enabling a few basic mobile device functions such as calling and controlling music selection and playback. They do not provide access to the many other built-in and user added applications and functions typically available today.
For example, there is now widespread availability and use of mobile devices such as smartphones that permit user downloading and installing of relatively small software applications (apps). Some of these smartphones have built-in speech support, either via the operating system (OS), such as in the case of the Android™ OS, or via a built-in app such as Siri™ available on the iPhone4S™. See, for example, WO2011088053 published Jul. 21, 2011. While providing a greater level of integration, these commercially-available systems are not configured to provide a fully hands-free experience with the mobile device since they still rely heavily on the screen to interact with the user during the speech session.
According to an aspect of the invention, a method of managing a wireless connection at a mobile device includes detecting a short-range wireless signal at a mobile device; determining whether the short-range wireless signal is broadcast from a vehicular short-range wireless device or a non-vehicular short-range wireless device; and restricting one or more services available at the mobile device based on whether the short-range wireless signal is broadcast from a vehicular short-range wireless device or a non-vehicular short-range wireless device.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method of managing a wireless connection at a mobile device includes detecting a creation or a termination of a short-range wireless link between a mobile device and a short-range wireless device; determining whether the short-range wireless device is vehicular or non-vehicular; and automatically restricting one or more services available at the mobile device based on the detected creation or termination of the short-range wireless link according to a first scheme if the short-range wireless device is vehicular and according to a second scheme if the short-range wireless device is non-vehicular.
One or more embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements, and wherein:
The system and method described below provide a mobile voice platform that (1) enable hands-free communication between a vehicle occupant and the occupant's cellular phone or other mobile device without the need to physically interact with the mobile device, and (2) does so in a manner that enables broad support to some or all of the Internet-based and other computer-based services available to the user via the mobile device. As used herein, “services” generally include the provision of information, control, and/or communication assistance to the mobile device user. Further, as used herein, a service being used on or accessed via the mobile device includes those provided by way of applications installed on the mobile device as well as computer-based services that are only available by communication with a remote server. These latter computer-based services are also referred to as “cloud services” and may be supplied by any service provider having an accessible server that is available over a private or public network, such as an intranet or the Internet.
In the illustrated embodiment, a driver of a vehicle 12 interacts via speech with an on-board, installed audio user interface 14 that communicates via a short range wireless connection with the driver's mobile device 16, which in this case is a cellular phone. Mobile device 16 can be any portable device capable of wireless communication and digital processing whether using a microprocessor or some simpler or more complex circuitry. Thus, mobile devices include cellular phones, PDAs, laptops, notebooks, netbooks and other personal electronic devices. The cellular phone 16 depicted in
Apart from the mobile device hardware, cellular phone 16 includes a mobile voice platform (MVP) 18 comprising software running on the mobile device. MVP 18 includes a speech platform kernel (SPK) 20 and an application interface suite (AIS) 22, both of which are program modules comprising computer instructions that, upon execution by the device's processor, carry out their respective module's functions, as will be described below. Rather than providing automated speech processing (ASR) on the mobile device itself, remotely located (cloud) speech services 24 are used, although in some embodiments ASR can be carried out on the mobile device 16, either with or without access to remotely located speech modules, grammars, and computing facilities. Mobile device 16 also includes an operating system (OS) 26 that provides root level functions, including for example inter-application communication mechanisms and input/output (I/O) interfacing between device hardware and the software modules and applications running on device 16. Included in these hardware interfacing functions of the OS are the communication protocols used by the device to communicate with the speech services 24 as well as other cloud services 28 that are available via the Internet or other network. Any computer-based service can be included in the list of cloud services 28, but shown in
In general, hands-free access to services using mobile voice platform 18 will involve carrying out a completed speech session via mobile device 16 without any physical interaction with the mobile device. This broadly includes receiving a speech input from a user, obtaining a service result from a cloud service that is responsive to the content of the speech input, and providing the service result as a speech response presented to the user. Using vehicle 12 of
Turning now to
Vehicle 12 is depicted in the illustrated embodiment as a sports utility vehicle (SUV), but it should be appreciated that any other vehicle including passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles (RVs), marine vessels, aircraft, etc., can also be used. Some of the vehicle electronics 29 are shown generally in
In the illustrated embodiment, telephony unit 30 is an optional component that is not used in carrying out the operation of the speech user interface (SUI) 10, but in other embodiments can be included and can be integrated in with the audio user interface as a single functional module. Telephony unit 30 can be an OEM-installed (embedded) or aftermarket device that is installed in the vehicle and that enables wireless voice and/or data communication over wireless carrier system 34 and via wireless networking This enables the vehicle to communicate with call center 38, other telematics-enabled vehicles, or some other entity or device. The telephony unit preferably uses radio transmissions to establish a communications channel (a voice channel and/or a data channel) with wireless carrier system 34 so that voice and/or data transmissions can be sent and received over the channel. By providing both voice and data communication, telephony unit 30 enables the vehicle to offer a number of different services including those related to navigation, telephony, emergency assistance, diagnostics, infotainment, etc. Data can be sent either via a data connection, such as via packet data transmission over a data channel, or via a voice channel using techniques known in the art. For combined services that involve both voice communication (e.g., with a live advisor or voice response unit at the call center 38) and data communication (e.g., to provide GPS location data or vehicle diagnostic data to the call center 38), the system can utilize a single call over a voice channel and switch as needed between voice and data transmission over the voice channel, and this can be done using techniques known to those skilled in the art. For location services, the telephony unit may have its own GPS circuitry, or can utilize other available GPS devices, such as one installed in the vehicle as a part of a vehicle navigation system, or using one from the mobile device 16.
Wireless carrier system 34 is preferably a cellular telephone system that includes a plurality of cell towers 50 (only one shown), one or more mobile switching centers (MSCs) 52, as well as any other networking components required to connect wireless carrier system 34 with land network 36. Each cell tower 50 includes sending and receiving antennas and a base station, with the base stations from different cell towers being connected to the MSC 52 either directly or via intermediary equipment such as a base station controller. Cellular system 34 can implement any suitable communications technology, including for example, analog technologies such as AMPS, or the newer digital technologies such as CDMA (e.g., CDMA2000) or GSM/GPRS. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, various cell tower/base station/MSC arrangements are possible and could be used with wireless system 34. For instance, the base station and cell tower could be co-located at the same site or they could be remotely located from one another, each base station could be responsible for a single cell tower or a single base station could service various cell towers, and various base stations could be coupled to a single MSC, to name but a few of the possible arrangements.
Apart from using wireless carrier system 34, a different wireless carrier system in the form of satellite communication can be used to provide uni-directional or bi-directional communication with the vehicle. This can be done using one or more communication satellites 56 and an uplink transmitting station 54. Uni-directional communication can be, for example, satellite radio services, wherein programming content (news, music, etc.) is received by transmitting station 54, packaged for upload, and then sent to the satellite 52, which broadcasts the programming to subscribers. Bi-directional communication can be, for example, satellite telephony services using satellite 56 to relay telephone communications between the vehicle 12 and station 54. If used, this satellite telephony can be utilized either in addition to or in lieu of wireless carrier system 34.
Land network 36 may be a conventional land-based telecommunications network that is connected to one or more landline telephones and connects wireless carrier system 34 to such things as speech services 24, cloud services 28, and other computers or servers 37, such as a personal computer located in a residence 39 or other facility. For example, land network 36 may include a public switched telephone network (PSTN) such as that used to provide hardwired telephony, packet-switched data communications, and the Internet infrastructure. One or more segments of land network 36 could be implemented through the use of a standard wired network, a fiber or other optical network, a cable network, power lines, other wireless networks such as wireless local area networks (WLANs), or networks providing broadband wireless access (BWA), or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the various speech and cloud services shown in
Computer 37 can be one of a number of computers accessible via a private or public network such as the Internet. Each such computer 37 can be used for one or more purposes, such as a web server accessible by the vehicle over wireless carrier 34 via audio user interface 14/mobile device 16, and/or via telephony unit 30. Other such accessible computers 37 can be, for example: a service center computer where diagnostic information and other vehicle data can be uploaded from the vehicle via the telephony unit 30; a client computer used by the vehicle owner or other telematics service subscriber for such purposes as accessing or receiving vehicle data or to setting up or configuring subscriber preferences or controlling vehicle functions; or a third party repository to or from which vehicle data or other information is provided. A computer 37 can also be used for providing Internet connectivity such as DNS services or as a network address server that uses DHCP or other suitable protocol to assign an IP address to the vehicle 12 and/or to the mobile device 16. When used as a client computer 37 by the vehicle owner, such as within a residence 39, wireless connectivity between the mobile device 16 and computer 37 may be provided using any suitable short range wireless communication technology, such as Bluetooth or any of the 802.11 protocols.
Shown in
Although shown outside the vehicle in
Processor 65 can be any type of device capable of processing electronic instructions including microprocessors, microcontrollers, host processors, controllers, vehicle communication processors, and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Processor 65 executes various types of digitally-stored instructions, such as software or firmware programs stored in memory 66. This includes the device OS 26, the mobile vehicle platform 18, and any installed apps 68, all of which can be stored in memory 66.
GPS module 67 receives radio signals from a constellation 58 of GPS satellites. From these signals, the module 67 can determine mobile device position that is used for providing navigation and other position-related services. Navigation information can be presented on the device's display 69 or can be presented verbally via the device's own speaker (not shown) or via the audio user interface 14, such as may be done for supplying turn-by-turn navigation.
In general, the speech user interface 10 may be realized in part using the mobile voice platform 18 that runs on the device OS 26 and interfaces with installed apps 68, cloud services 28, or both to carry out services for the user based on their speech input. Further details of the mobile voice platform and its interaction with the other components of mobile device 16 are shown in
Device OS 26:
Speech Platform Kernel 20:
Service Interfaces 23:
As indicated above and in
The speech services identified in
Once SPK 20 has identified or otherwise determined a desired service, it uses the App Init 21 to start the selected service via a service interface 23 associated with that service. As indicated in
Turning now to
The App Init module 21 of SPK 20 can be implemented with the same structure as the service interfaces, except that it is a special purpose interface that is used by SPK 20 to contact a selected service interface to initiate the service and pass the needed commands and parameters used by the service.
Operation of the service interfaces 123 can be by way of an app execution engine 125 that provides a runtime execution environment for the service interfaces. An SDK (software developer kit)—defined protocol 127 provides a set of standard or common input/output tags or other identification of the data and commands passed between SPK 120 and the service interfaces 123. This can be done, for example, using VXML, wherein SPK 120 tags the individual portions of the received speech recognition results using SDK protocol 127 and, in some embodiments can convert them to a smaller vocabulary that is at least partially shared among the service interfaces. For example, “a restaurant in the area” as speech input may be broken down into “restaurant” being tagged as the desired service or session context, and “in the area” being converted (as are such other general location terms—“around here”, “near me”, etc.) into a single term “nearby” which is supported by all of the service interfaces for which location is used to carry out the service.
One of the service interfaces 123 may be a speech session voice flow (SSVF) 121 that may perform the same or similar functionality of App Init 21 of
The various program modules shown in the figures can be stored in one or more non-transient memories 66 (e.g., flash memory) on the mobile device 16 as computer instructions that, upon execution by the processor 65, carries out the functions described above. In other embodiments, at least some of the program modules may be stored remotely, such as on a remote server or other computer and accessed as necessary. For example, as shown in
Access and use of the service interfaces 123 may be carried out in any of a number of different ways, at least some of which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, as shown in
Turning to
At step 1120, it is determined whether the short-range wireless signal is broadcast from a vehicular short-range wireless device or a non-vehicular short-range wireless device. Among the detected short-range wireless signals, some can be broadcast by the vehicle 12 whereas other short-range wireless signals can be broadcast from a variety of other wireless devices and/or locations. For instance, the telematics unit 30 of the vehicle 12 is one example of a vehicular short-range wireless device. In contrast, a non-vehicular short-range wireless device can be a short-range wireless device other than those installed in the vehicle 12, such as the fixed local area network facility (e.g., the computer 37 located at the residence 39), a Bluetooth™ mobile device headset, or a WiFi LAN to name a few. Each of these examples of both vehicular and non-vehicular short-range wireless devices can communicate with the mobile device 16 over a short-range wireless protocol.
And the mobile device 16 can determine whether the short-range wireless device is vehicular or non-vehicular in a variety of ways. In one example, the mobile device 16 may have been previously linked with a vehicular short-range wireless device (e.g., a vehicle 12/telematics unit 30) and the mobile device 16 can store the name of that vehicle 12 along with other information identifying the vehicle 12 as a vehicular short-range wireless device for the purpose of linking to the telematics unit 30 of that vehicle 12 in the future. As a result, when the mobile device 16 comes within an area of the vehicle 12 where short-range communications with the vehicle 12 are possible, the mobile device 16 can recognize the short-range wireless signal broadcast by the previously-linked vehicle 12 and determine that the vehicle 12 is a vehicular short-range wireless device.
In another example, it is possible to determine that a wireless device is vehicular without previously linking that device with the mobile device 16. In this case, the mobile device 16 can read the information included with the short-range signal broadcast by the wireless device. More specifically, while in “discoverable mode,” the wireless device can include information in the broadcast short-range wireless signal that makes distinguishing between vehicular and non-vehicular short-range wireless devices possible. The mobile device 16 can acquire the name of the device broadcast as part of the short-range wireless signal and based on the name determine that a wireless device is vehicular. One way to carry this out is to program the mobile device 16 to compare the name of the wireless device with words or combinations of words that may indicate that the short-range wireless signal is broadcast by the vehicle 12. As part of that programming, the mobile device 16 can be given a list of vehicular words that can indicate that the short-range wireless signal is broadcast by the vehicle 12. For example, if the name of the wireless device includes the words “General Motors” or “Cadillac,” then the mobile device 16 can determine that the signal is being broadcast by the vehicle 12 and as a result determine that the wireless device is a vehicular wireless device. Another way to determine whether the short-range wireless device is broadcast by the vehicle 12 is to search the classification of the wireless device broadcasting a short-range wireless signal, the services the device is capable of, and/or other technical information that may indicate that the short-range wireless signal is broadcast by the vehicle 12.
Determining that the wireless device broadcasting the short-range wireless signal is non-vehicular can be carried out in similar ways as determining that the device is vehicular. It is possible to determine whether a wireless device is vehicular, and if not, automatically determining that a device is non-vehicular. Or it is possible to specifically look for non-vehicular wireless devices. In one example, the mobile device 16 can compare the name of the wireless device included as part of the broadcast short-range wireless signal to the list of vehicular words and if no match is discovered, then determine that the wireless device is non-vehicular. Or in another example, it is possible to receive the short-range wireless signal broadcast and search for a list of words that are non-vehicular or words that would indicate that the signal belongs to something other than the vehicle 12. In this case, the mobile device 16 could compare the name of the wireless device received from the short-range wireless signal with descriptors such as “headset,” “residence,” or “coffee shop” to name a few, or with trademarks commonly used for short-range wireless node names. It would also be possible to search the classification of the wireless device broadcasting the short-range wireless signal, the services the device is capable of, and/or other technical information that may indicate that the short-range wireless signal is broadcast by a wireless device other than the vehicle 12. The method 1100 proceeds to step 1130.
At step 1130, a creation and/or a termination of a short-range wireless link is detected between the mobile device 16 and the short-range wireless device. Apart from (or in addition to) determining whether the wireless device is vehicular/non-vehicular, the mobile device 16 can also detect when it establishes a short-range wireless link (e.g., a Bluetooth™ connection) and when it ends or terminates such a link And based on the establishing or ending of the short-range wireless link, one or more decisions can be made by the mobile device 16. For instance, the mobile device 16 can maintain a setting that reflects the status of the short-range wireless link. This status can be set to “connected” when the mobile device 16 is communicatively linked with the vehicular or non-vehicular wireless device and “disconnected” when the mobile device 16 is not communicatively linked with the vehicular or non-vehicular wireless device. The mobile device 16 can also make decisions in response to a change in status, such as when the status changes from “connected” to “disconnected” or vice-versa. In addition to detecting the creation/termination of the short-range wireless link, the mobile device 16 can also associate the identity of the wireless device (i.e., whether the wireless device is vehicular or non-vehicular) with the status of the short-range wireless link. For example, the mobile device can maintain a setting that is set to “connected; vehicular,” “connected; non-vehicular,” “disconnected; vehicular,” or “disconnected; non-vehicular.” In addition, the mobile device 16 can detect changes in the setting, such as moving from a status “connected; vehicular” to “disconnected; vehicular.” The method 1100 proceeds to step 1140.
At step 1140, one or more services available at the handheld device are restricted based on whether the short-range wireless signal is broadcast from a vehicular short-range wireless device or a non-vehicular short-range wireless device. Depending on the identity of the wireless device (vehicular/non-vehicular) and the connection status or change in connection status, the mobile device 16 can restrict services available to a user of the mobile device 16. In the present context, restricting can include both permitting the use of a service as well as denying the use of a service. For example, one or more services available at the mobile device 16 can be automatically restricted based on the detected creation or termination of the short-range wireless link. If the mobile device 16 determines that the short-range wireless device is vehicular, then the services available can be restricted according to a first scheme. However, if the mobile device 16 determines that the short-range wireless device is non-vehicular, then the services available can be restricted according to a second scheme. This can be helpful to limit the number of services or functions available to the user in a vehicle environment.
In one example, the first scheme can include a list of one or more services that may be made unavailable at the mobile device 16. In addition, according to the first scheme the mobile device 16 can be commanded to perform an action in conjunction with the unavailable/restricted service. This may become clearer with help of an example. For instance, the mobile device 16 can detect that short-range wireless link status is or has become “connected; vehicular.” As a result, the mobile device 16 can implement the first scheme, which can restrict the text messaging application of the mobile device 16 using a physical input (e.g., a service). As part of the restricted service, the first scheme can include a command (e.g., an action) to respond to incoming text messages received at the mobile device 16 with an automatically-generated response, such as “I'm driving now but will respond when I've stopped.” The automatically-generated response can be sent while the status is set to “connected; vehicular.” The mobile device 16 can monitor for a change in status, such as when the device 16 leaves the vehicle 12, which could change from “connected; vehicular” to “disconnected; vehicular” or simply “connected” to “disconnected.”
Based on the change in status, or that the mobile device 16 is not connected to a vehicular wireless device, the mobile device 16 can begin implementing the second scheme of restricting services. The second scheme can permit the use of physical inputs for text messaging, such as using a keypad. Broadly speaking, the first scheme can control one or more services available at the mobile device 16 that may be restricted while the user of that device 16 is in the vehicle 12. In contrast, the second scheme can control the services such that those services are permitted when the user of the mobile device 16 is away from the vehicle 12 or when the mobile device 16 is connecting with a non-vehicular device. For example, if the mobile device 16 is connected to the vehicle 12, the first scheme may limit services such as text messaging via physical inputs. However, it is possible that the user of the mobile device 16 may carry a non-vehicular wireless device (e.g., an iPad) while riding in a vehicle 12. In that case, it is possible to implement a second scheme for use with the mobile device 16 while it is wirelessly connected with the non-vehicular wireless device via the short-range wireless link. According to the second scheme, the mobile device 16 may be permitted to stream images, such as photos or video, to the non-vehicular wireless device whereas such streaming would be restricted in the first scheme. Many combinations of services permitted/restricted for each of the first and second schemes are possible. It can be helpful to automatically change from a first scheme to a second scheme and vice versa at the direction of the mobile device 16 so that the user is saved from carrying out this change. The method 1100 then ends.
It is to be understood that the foregoing is a description of one or more embodiments of the invention. The invention is not limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed herein, but rather is defined solely by the claims below. Furthermore, the statements contained in the foregoing description relate to particular embodiments and are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention or on the definition of terms used in the claims, except where a term or phrase is expressly defined above. Various other embodiments and various changes and modifications to the disclosed embodiment(s) will become apparent to those skilled in the art. All such other embodiments, changes, and modifications are intended to come within the scope of the appended claims.
As used in this specification and claims, the terms “e.g.,” “for example,” “for instance,” “such as,” and “like,” and the verbs “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and their other verb forms, when used in conjunction with a listing of one or more components or other items, are each to be construed as open-ended, meaning that the listing is not to be considered as excluding other, additional components or items. Other terms are to be construed using their broadest reasonable meaning unless they are used in a context that requires a different interpretation.