System and method for in-vehicle voice calls

Abstract

To provide systems and methods for in-vehicle voice calls.SOLUTION: Embodiments are disclosed for providing voice calls to users of a motor vehicle. As an example, a method comprises, in response to a voice call, routing the voice call to at least one phone zone of a plurality of phone zones based on at least one of a user input and a source of the voice call, the plurality of phone zones being included in a cabin of a motor vehicle. In the method, sonic interference with a voice call may be reduced, and a main system audio may continue to play for unselected phone zones.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of speaker systems within a vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] Many vehicles include an in-vehicle infotainment system for providing media to a user, such as music, navigation assistance, talk radio, virtual personal assistants, and the like. Additionally, the in-vehicle infotainment system may enable a user to receive and make voice calls (e.g., telephone calls, etc.) in a hands-free manner. This may increase satisfaction. For example, the voice coming in from a voice call may be broadcast via the vehicle's speakers, and the voice going out regarding the voice call may be obtained by the vehicle's microphone. However, relying on the vehicle's speakers and microphones may result in lower sound quality compared to using a headset. Furthermore, when two or more users are in the vehicle, a voice call may be intended for only one user, and this user may desire privacy while making the voice call. Noise from other users may reduce the voice quality during the voice call. Additionally, the in-vehicle infotainment system may not allow multiple users to make and receive voice calls simultaneously, which may reduce user satisfaction. Therefore, there is a desire for a system and method that enables individual users to make and receive voice calls without reducing the voice quality or reducing the user's privacy.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0003] The inventors are aware of the aforementioned problems and have developed systems and methods to address them, at least in part. For example, the method includes responding to a voice call and routing the voice call to at least one of a plurality of telephone zones based on user input and at least one of the source of the voice call, wherein the plurality of telephone zones are located in the cabin of a vehicle.

[0004] In one embodiment, a vehicle may receive voice calls via various sources. For example, a mobile phone may be communicatively coupled to a computing system within the vehicle, and calls received by the mobile phone may be routed to the vehicle. In another embodiment, the computing system within the vehicle may receive voice calls directly via a wireless network. To deliver voice calls to a desired user, the computing system within the vehicle may select at least one phone zone within the vehicle. For example, the vehicle cabin of a car may have multiple phone zones, each phone zone including at least one microphone and at least one speaker, thereby enabling each user of the vehicle to be provided with a personalized media experience, such as a personalized voice call experience. Thus, the computing system within the vehicle may route voice calls to at least one selected phone zone. In one embodiment, the audio of an incoming voice call may be broadcast through a speaker in at least one phone zone, and the audio of an outgoing voice call may be captured via a microphone in at least one phone zone. During a voice call, incoming voice call audio may not be provided to other phone zones (e.g., unselected phone zones), and outgoing voice call audio may not be picked up by microphones in other phone zones. Furthermore, the main system audio may be compressed, and the main system audio gain may be reduced.

[0005] In this method, a voice call may be provided to the vehicle's primary user, while other users may continue to enjoy the main system's audio stream, such as music. Furthermore, providing voice calls to only a subset of the phone zone may improve the privacy of the voice call, thereby allowing the primary user to converse more freely. For example, improving the privacy of voice calls may improve user satisfaction. Additionally, continuing to provide the main system's audio to unselected phone zones may not interfere with the media experience of other users in the vehicle, thereby improving the enjoyment of the vehicle's users. Applying signal processing to incoming and outgoing voice call audio, and adjusting the main system audio, may reduce sound interference with voice calls, thus improving the audio quality of voice calls. As a result, a subset of occupants in the vehicle may engage with voice calls individually, while other occupants may continue to listen to other media, such as music. Furthermore, by applying signal processing techniques and adjusting the microphone and speaker separately to reduce sound interference, the audio quality of voice calls may be improved. Overall, customer satisfaction may improve.

[0006] The advantages described above and other advantages, as well as the features described herein, will be readily apparent from the following detailed description, either alone or in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0007] It should be understood that the above summary is provided in a simplified form to introduce a selection of concepts that will be further described in the detailed description. It is not intended to identify any important or fundamental features of the claimed subject matter, and the scope of the subject matter is uniquely defined by the claims attached to the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to embodiments that address any defects described above or in any part of this disclosure. For example, this application provides the following items (Item 1) A method comprising responding to a voice call and routing the voice call to at least one of a plurality of telephone zones based on user input and at least one of the source of the voice call, wherein the plurality of telephone zones are located in the cabin of a vehicle. (Item 2) Based on the above user input and at least one of the above source of the voice call, routing the voice call to at least one of the above telephone zones is: Based on the above user input and the above source of the above voice call, select at least one of the above telephone zones, To provide the incoming audio from the above voice call to the above at least one telephone zone via the speaker of the above at least one telephone zone, To acquire outgoing audio relating to the voice call from the at least one telephone zone via the microphone of the at least one telephone zone, Based on the location of at least one telephone zone, signal processing is applied to both the incoming and outgoing audio. Methods of the above items, including the methods described above. (Item 3) Based on the above user input and the above source of the above voice call, the selection of at least one of the above multiple telephone zones is made. Depending on the source of the voice call, which is the first mobile device, select at least one phone zone based on the identifier of the first mobile device, Depending on the source of the voice call, which is a second mobile device, select at least one phone zone based on the identifier of the second mobile device, An application of the computing system of the above-mentioned automobile, wherein the above-mentioned voice call includes associated metadata, and depending on the source of the above-mentioned voice call, selects the above-mentioned at least one phone zone based on the associated metadata, In response to the user input corresponding to the first telephone zone of the above multiple telephone zones, the first telephone zone is selected. In response to the user input corresponding to the first and second telephone zones of the above-mentioned multiple telephone zones, both the first and second telephone zones are selected. The method described in any one of the above items, including: (Item 4) The method according to any one of the above items, wherein each of the above-mentioned telephone zones includes at least one microphone and at least one speaker. (Item 5) Providing the incoming audio from the above voice call to the above at least one telephone zone via the above speaker of the above at least one telephone zone, The incoming audio is routed to the mixer in the telephone zone, Broadcasting the incoming audio through the speaker in at least one of the above telephone zones, The method described in any one of the above items, including: (Item 6) To acquire outgoing audio relating to a voice call from at least one of the above telephone zones via the above microphone in at least one of the above telephone zones, The above outgoing audio is routed to the speech processor, The above-mentioned outgoing audio is transmitted via a wireless network, The method described in any one of the above items, including: (Item 7) Based on the above location of at least one telephone zone, signal processing may be applied to the incoming audio and the outgoing audio, respectively. Apply echo cancellation and beamforming to the outgoing audio mentioned above. The method described in any one of the above items, including: (Item 8) Based on the location of the at least one phone zone in the cabin of the above-mentioned vehicle, the audio gain for each of the phone zones of the main system is adjusted to be different with respect to the phone zones of the plurality of phone zones. The method described in any one of the above items, further including the method described in any one of the above items. (Item 9) The method of any one of the above items, which includes ducking and compressing the main system audio while the above adjustment continues to route the above voice call to the above at least one telephone zone. (Item 10) A computing system, A first telephone zone located inside the cabin of an automobile, wherein the first telephone zone includes a first microphone and a first speaker, A second telephone zone located within the cabin of the above-mentioned automobile, wherein the second telephone zone includes a second microphone and a second speaker, User input devices and, A processor connected to the above computing system in a communicative manner, In response to a voice call, the system selects either the first telephone zone or the second telephone zone based on user input from the user input device and at least one of the source of the voice call. In accordance with selecting the first telephone zone described above, incoming voice call audio is routed to the first speaker, outgoing telephone audio is acquired from the first microphone, and outgoing telephone audio is not acquired from the second microphone. In response to selecting the second phone zone, route the incoming voice call audio to the second speaker, obtain the outgoing phone audio from the second microphone, and not obtain the outgoing phone audio from the first microphone, A storage device storing instructions executable by the processor to perform the following: The computing system comprising the same. (Item 11) The storage device Reduces the audio gain related to the audio source of the main system and compresses the audio source of the main system in response to detecting the audio source of the main system, Adjusts the first speaker based on the position of the first speaker relative to the second speaker, Adjusts the second speaker based on the position of the first speaker relative to the second speaker, The computing system according to the above item, storing further instructions executable by the processor to perform the following. (Item 12) For obtaining the outgoing phone audio from the first microphone, the storage device Stores further instructions executable by the processor to apply beamforming and echo cancellation to the outgoing phone audio from the first microphone, The computing system according to any one of the above items. (Item 13) For obtaining the outgoing phone audio from the second microphone, the storage device Stores further instructions executable by the processor to apply beamforming and echo cancellation to the outgoing phone audio from the second microphone, The computing system according to any one of the above items. (Item 14) The computing system according to any one of the above items, wherein the source of the voice call is a mobile phone communicatively coupled to the computing system. (Abstract) Each embodiment is disclosed for providing a voice call to a user of an automobile. As an example, a method includes routing a voice call to at least one of a plurality of phone zones based on at least one of user input and a source of the voice call in response to the voice call, wherein the plurality of phone zones are included in a cabin of the automobile. In this method, interference of sound with the voice call can be reduced, and the voice of the main system may continue to be played regarding the unselected phone zones.

[0008] This disclosure may be better understood by reading the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009] [Figure 1] An exemplary partial view of a vehicle cabin according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. [Figure 2] A block diagram of an exemplary in-vehicle computing system of a vehicle according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. [Figure 3] A schematic diagram of an exemplary vehicle cabin including a plurality of phone zones with a plurality of speakers and microphones is shown. [Figure 4] A schematic diagram of signal processing related to a voice call according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. [Figure 5] A high-level flowchart showing an exemplary method for adjusting an in-vehicle audio system to prompt a voice call is shown.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] [[ID=As described above, the in-vehicle entertainment system may route voice calls to one or more of the vehicle's individual phone zones and may adjust the vehicle's audio system to reduce sound interference. For example, the vehicle may include a computing system and multiple phone zones, each phone zone including its own speaker and microphone. In some embodiments, the computing system and audio system may be included in the vehicle system, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, so that multiple vehicle occupants may receive voice calls and interact with media via the audio system. Furthermore, the phone zones may be located within the vehicle cabin, as shown in Figure 3. Incoming and outgoing voice call audio may be processed according to the signal flow shown in Figure 4. Furthermore, as shown in the method in Figure 5, the vehicle's computing system may direct voice calls to selected phone zones while adjusting media already playing (e.g., music) so as not to disrupt the user experience and not to increase sound interference with the voice calls. In this way, voice calls may be delivered to selected phone zones.

[0011] Figure 1 shows an exemplary partial view of one type of environment for a voice customization system, which is the interior of the cabin 100 of a vehicle 102, in which a driver and / or one or more occupants may be seated. The vehicle 102 in Figure 1 may be an automobile, including drive wheels (not shown) and an internal combustion engine 104. The internal combustion engine 104 may include one or more combustion chambers, which may receive intake air through intake passages and exhaust combustion gases through exhaust passages. The vehicle 102 may be a road vehicle, among other types of vehicles. In some embodiments, the vehicle 102 may include a hybrid propulsion system that includes an energy conversion device capable of operating to absorb energy from the vehicle's operation and / or engine and convert the absorbed energy into an energy form suitable for storage by an energy storage device. The vehicle 102 may include a fully electric vehicle incorporating a fuel cell, a solar energy acquisition element, and / or other energy storage system for powering the vehicle.

[0012] As illustrated, the instrument panel 106 may include various displays and controls accessible to the human driver (also referred to as the user) of the vehicle 102. For example, the instrument panel 106 may include user input devices such as a touchscreen 108 for the in-vehicle computing system 109 (e.g., an information and entertainment system), an audio system control panel, and a composite instrument 110. The touchscreen 108 may receive user input to the in-vehicle computing system 109 to control audio output, visual display output, user preferences, selection of control parameters, etc. Furthermore, additional user interfaces, not illustrated, may be located in other parts of the vehicle, such as proximal to at least one passenger seat. For example, the vehicle may include a row of back seats having at least one touchscreen for controlling the in-vehicle computing system 109. The exemplary system shown in Figure 1 includes voice system control, which may be implemented via a user interface of the in-vehicle computing system 109, such as a touchscreen 108 without a separate voice system control panel. In other embodiments, the vehicle may include a voice system control panel, which may include controls for conventional in-vehicle voice systems such as a radio, compact disc player, and MP3 player. The voice system control may include features for controlling one or more aspects of the audio output via the speaker 112 of the vehicle's speaker system. For example, the in-vehicle computing system or voice system control may control the volume of the audio output, the distribution of sound between each individual speaker of the vehicle's speaker system, the equalization of the audio signal, and / or any other aspects of the audio output.In further embodiments, the in-vehicle computing system 109 may adjust the selection of radio stations, playlists, and the source of voice input (e.g., from radio, CD, or MP3) based on user input received directly via the touchscreen 108 or on data about the user (such as the user's physical condition and / or environment) received via an external device 150 and / or mobile device 128.

[0013] Furthermore, the in-vehicle computing system 109 may adjust the signal for generating sound in the speaker in response to the audio output volume or power output level at which the speaker is activated, and the output from the sound processor regarding external sounds 113.

[0014] In some embodiments, one or more hardware elements of the in-vehicle computing system 109, such as a touchscreen 108, a display screen 111, various control dials, knobs, and buttons, memory, processors, and optional interface elements (e.g., connectors or ports), may form an integrated head unit incorporated into the vehicle's instrument panel 106. The head unit may be fixed or removable and mounted within the instrument panel 106. In additional or alternative embodiments, one or more hardware elements of the in-vehicle computing system 109 may be modular and installed in multiple locations within the vehicle.

[0015] Cabin 100 may include one or more sensors for monitoring the vehicle, user, and / or environment. For example, Cabin 100 may include one or more seat-mounted pressure sensors configured to measure the pressure applied to the seat in order to determine the presence of a user, a door sensor configured to monitor door operation, a humidity sensor for measuring the humidity capacity of the cabin, and a microphone for receiving user input in the form of voice commands to enable the user to make voice calls and / or to measure environmental noise within Cabin 100. It should be understood that the above-mentioned sensors and / or one or more additional or alternative sensors may be placed in any suitable location on the vehicle. For example, sensors may be placed in the engine compartment, on the exterior surface of the vehicle, and / or in other suitable locations to provide information about the vehicle's operation, the conditions around the vehicle, the vehicle's user, etc. Information about the conditions around the vehicle, the vehicle's status, or the vehicle's driver may also be received from sensors outside / separate from the vehicle (i.e., not part of the vehicle system), such as sensors coupled to external device 150 and / or mobile device 128.

[0016] The cabin 100 may also include one or more user objects, such as a mobile device 128, which are placed inside the vehicle before, during, and / or after the vehicle moves. The mobile device 128 may include a smartphone, tablet, laptop computer, portable media player, and / or any suitable mobile computer device. The mobile device 128 may be connected to the vehicle's computing system via a communication link 130. The communication link 130 may be wired (e.g., via Universal Serial Bus (USB), Mobile High Definition Link (MHL), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI®), Ethernet®, etc.) or wireless (e.g., via Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Near Field Communication (NFC), Cellular Connectivity, etc.) and may be configured to provide two-way communication between the mobile device and the vehicle's computing system. The mobile device 128 may include one or more wireless communication interfaces for connecting to one or more communication links (e.g., one or more of the exemplary communication links described above). The wireless communication interface may include one or more physical devices, such as antennas or ports, coupled to data lines for carrying transmitted or received data, and one or more modules / drivers for operating the physical devices in accordance with other devices within the mobile device. For example, communication link 130 may provide sensor and / or control signals from various vehicle systems (such as a vehicle voice system and climate control system) and touchscreen 108 to the mobile device 128, and may provide control and / or display signals from the mobile device 128 to the systems and touchscreen 108 within the vehicle. Communication link 130 may also provide power to the mobile device 128 from an output source within the vehicle to charge the mobile device's internal battery.

[0017] The in-vehicle computing system 109 may be operated and / or accessed by the user but may be communicatively coupled to additional devices, such as one or more external devices 150, located outside the vehicle 102. It should be understood that in the illustrated embodiment, the external devices are located outside the vehicle 102, but in alternative embodiments, the external devices may be located inside the cabin 100. The external devices may include server computing systems, personal computing systems, portable electronic devices, electronic wristbands, electronic headbands, portable music players, electronic activity tracking devices, pedometers®, smartwatches, GPS systems, and the like. The external device 150 may be connected to the in-vehicle computing system via a communication link 136, which may be wired or wireless, as discussed with reference to communication link 130, and may be configured to provide bidirectional communication between the external device and the in-vehicle computing system. For example, the external device 150 may include one or more sensors, and the communication link 136 may transmit sensor outputs from the external device 150 to the in-vehicle computing system 109 and touchscreen 108. The external device 150 may also store and / or receive information such as contextual data, user behavior / preferences, and operating rules, and may transmit such information from the external device 150 to the in-vehicle computing system 109 and touchscreen 108.

[0018] The in-vehicle computing system 109 analyzes inputs received from external devices 150, mobile devices 128, a sound processor 113 for external sounds, and / or other input sources, selects settings for various in-vehicle systems (such as a climate control system or a voice system), provides output via the touchscreen 108 and / or speaker 112, communicates with the mobile device 128 and / or external devices 150, and / or may perform other actions based on the evaluation. In some embodiments, all or part of the evaluation may be performed by the mobile device 128 and / or external devices 150.

[0019] In some embodiments, one or more of the external devices 150 may be indirectly and communicably coupled to the in-vehicle computing system 109 via the mobile device 128 and / or another of the external devices 150. For example, a communication link 136 may communicably couple the external devices 150 to the mobile device 128 so that the output from the external devices 150 is relayed to the mobile device 128. Data received from the external devices 150 may then be aggregated on the mobile device 128 along with data collected by the mobile device 128, and this aggregated data is then transmitted via the communication link 130 to the in-vehicle computing system 109 and touchscreen 108. Similar data aggregation may be performed on a server system and then transmitted via the communication links 136 / 130 to the in-vehicle computing system 109 and touchscreen 108.

[0020] Figure 2 shows a block diagram of an in-vehicle computing system 109 configured and / or embedded within the vehicle 102. The in-vehicle computing system 109 may implement one or more of the methods described herein in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the in-vehicle computing system 109 may be an in-vehicle information and entertainment system configured to enhance the operator's in-vehicle experience by providing information-based media content (including audio and / or visual media content, such as entertainment content and navigation services) to the vehicle user. The in-vehicle information and entertainment system may include, or be combined with, various vehicle systems, subsystems, hardware components, and software applications and systems that are embedded in or can be embedded in the vehicle 102 to enhance the in-vehicle experience for the driver and / or passengers.

[0021] The in-vehicle computing system 109 may include one or more processors, including an operating system processor 214 and an interface processor 220. The operating system processor 214 may run an operating system on the in-vehicle computing system and control input / output, display, playback, and other operations of the in-vehicle computing system. The interface processor 220 may interface with the vehicle's control system 230 via an inter-vehicle system communication module 222.

[0022] The vehicle system communication module 222 may output data to other vehicle systems 231 and vehicle control elements 261, and conversely, may also receive data input from other vehicle components and systems 231 and 261, for example, by the vehicle control system 230. When outputting data, the vehicle system communication module 222 may provide signals via the bus that correspond to the output of any vehicle status, the vehicle's surroundings, or any other information source connected to the vehicle. Vehicle data outputs may include, for example, analog signals (such as current speed), digital signals provided by individual information sources (such as a clock, thermometer, or position sensors such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor), and digital signals propagated through the vehicle's data network (such as the engine's Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, which may transmit information about the engine; the environmental control CAN bus, which may transmit information about environmental control; and the multimedia data network, which transmits multimedia data between multimedia components within the vehicle). For example, the in-vehicle computing system 109 may retrieve from the engine CAN bus the current vehicle speed estimated by the wheel sensors, the vehicle's power status via the vehicle's battery and / or power distribution system, the vehicle's combustion status, and so on. Furthermore, other interface means such as Ethernet® may be used in a similar manner without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0023] The non-volatile memory 208 may be included in the vehicle's computing system 109 to store data such as instructions that can be executed by processors 214 and 220 in a non-volatile form. The memory 208 may store application data, including pre-recorded sounds, to enable the vehicle's computing system 109 to run applications in order to connect to and / or collect information for transmission to cloud-based servers. The applications may retrieve data stored in vehicle systems / sensors, information generated by input devices (e.g., user interface 218), volatile memory 219A or non-volatile memory (e.g., memory) 219B, devices communicating with the vehicle's computing system (e.g., mobile devices connected via Bluetooth® link), etc. The vehicle's computing system 109 may further include volatile memory 219A, which may be random access memory (RAM). Non-transient storage devices, such as the non-volatile storage device 208 and / or non-volatile memory 219B, may store instructions and / or code that control the in-vehicle computing system 109 to perform one or more of the operations described herein when executed by a processor (e.g., the operating system processor 214 and / or interface processor 220).

[0024] Multiple microphones 202 may be included in the vehicle's computing system 109 for purposes such as receiving voice commands from the user, measuring ambient noise within the vehicle, and determining whether the sound from the vehicle's speakers is tuned according to the vehicle's acoustic environment. Furthermore, multiple microphones 202 may be used to make voice calls. A speech processing unit 204 may process voice commands, such as voice commands received from the multiple microphones 202. In some embodiments, the vehicle's computing system 109 may also use microphones included in the vehicle's voice system 232 to receive voice commands and sample ambient vehicle noise.

[0025] One or more additional sensors may be included in the sensor subsystem 210 of the vehicle's computing system 109. For example, the sensor subsystem 210 may include cameras such as a rear-view camera to assist the user when parking the vehicle, and / or a cabin camera to identify the user (for example, using facial recognition and / or user gestures). The sensor subsystem 210 of the vehicle's computing system 109 may communicate with and receive input from various vehicle sensors, and may also receive user input. For example, inputs received by the sensor subsystem 210 may include transmission gear position, transmission clutch position, gas pedal input, brake input, transmission selector position, vehicle speed, engine speed, mass airflow through the engine, ambient temperature, intake air temperature, and climate control system sensors (heat transfer fluid temperature, antifreeze temperature, fan speed, occupant compartment temperature, desired occupant compartment temperature, ambient humidity, etc.), audio sensors that detect voice commands issued by the user, and inputs from fob sensors that receive commands from the geographic location / proximity of vehicle fobs and optionally track them. Certain vehicle system sensors may communicate with the sensor subsystem 210 independently, while other sensors may communicate with both the sensor subsystem 210 and the vehicle control system 230, or indirectly with the sensor subsystem 210 via the vehicle control system 230.

[0026] The navigation subsystem 211 of the in-vehicle computing system 109 may generate and / or receive navigation information such as location information (e.g., via GPS sensors and / or other sensors from the sensor subsystem 210), route guidance, traffic information, and identification of points of interest (POIs), and / or provide other navigation services for the driver. The navigation subsystem 211 may include inputs / outputs 280, including analog-to-digital converters, digital inputs, digital outputs, network outputs, and radio frequency transmitting devices.

[0027] The external device interface 212 of the in-vehicle computing system 109 may be coupled to and / or communicate with one or more external devices 150 located outside the vehicle 102. Although the external devices are shown as located outside the vehicle 102, it should be understood that these devices may be temporarily housed inside the vehicle 102, such as when a user is operating an external device while operating the vehicle 102. In other words, the external devices 150 are not integrated into the vehicle 102. The external devices 150 may include a mobile device 128 (for example, connected via Bluetooth®, NFC, Wi-Fi Direct, or other wireless connection), or an alternative Bluetooth®-enabled device 252. The mobile device 128 may be a mobile phone, smartphone, wearable device / sensor, or other portable electronic device(s) that can communicate with the in-vehicle computing system via wired and / or wireless communication. Other external devices include external services 246. For example, external devices may include devices located outside the vehicle, separate from the vehicle and situated outside the vehicle. Further examples of external devices include external storage devices 254 such as solid-state drives, pen drives, and USB drives. External devices 150 may communicate with the in-vehicle computing system 109 wirelessly or via connectors, without departing from the scope of this disclosure. For example, external devices 150 may communicate with the in-vehicle computing system 109 through an external device interface 212 over a network 260, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection, a direct wired connection, a direct wireless connection, and / or other communication links.

[0028] The external device interface 212 may provide a communication interface to enable the in-vehicle computing system to communicate with a mobile device in relation to driver contact. For example, the external device interface 212 may enable the establishment of a voice call and / or the transmission of text messages (e.g., SMS, MMS, etc.) to a mobile device related to driver contact (e.g., via a cellular communication network). The external device interface 212 may additionally or alternatively provide a wireless communication interface to enable the in-vehicle computing system to synchronize data with one or more devices in the vehicle (e.g., the driver's mobile device) via Wi-Fi Direct.

[0029] One or more applications 244 may be operable on the mobile device 128. For example, a mobile device application 244 may operate to aggregate user data regarding the user's interaction with the mobile device. For instance, the mobile device application 244 may aggregate data such as playlists of music listened to by the user on the mobile device, voice call logs (including the frequency and duration of voice calls received by the user), locations the user frequently visits, and location information including the amount of time spent at each location. The collected data may be transmitted by the application 244 to an external device interface 212 across the network 260. Furthermore, specific user data requests may be received by the mobile device 128 from the vehicle's computing system 109 via the external device interface 212. These specific data requests may include requests to determine the user's geographical location, environmental noise levels, and / or the genre of music at the user's location, and ambient weather conditions at the user's location (temperature, humidity, etc.). The mobile device application 244 may send control commands to components of the mobile device 128 (e.g., a microphone, an amplifier, etc.) or other applications (e.g., a navigation application) to enable the collection of data requested to be collected on the mobile device or to make requested adjustments to those components. The mobile device application 244 may then relay the collected information back to the vehicle's computing system 109.

[0030] Similarly, one or more applications 248 may be able to operate on an external service 246. In one embodiment, an external service application 248 may be operated to aggregate and / or analyze data from multiple data sources. For example, an external service application 248 may aggregate data from one or more of a user's social media accounts, data from a computing system in the vehicle (e.g., sensor data, log files, user input, etc.), data from internet queries (e.g., weather data, POI data), etc. The collected data may be transmitted to another device and / or analyzed by the application to determine the status of the driver, vehicle, and environment, and to perform actions based on this status (e.g., requesting / sending data to other devices).

[0031] The vehicle control system 230 may include controls for controlling various aspects of vehicle systems 231 related to different functions within the vehicle. These may include, for example, controlling aspects of the vehicle's audio system 232 for providing audio entertainment to the vehicle's occupants, aspects of the climate control system 234 for meeting the vehicle's occupants' requests for cooling or heating the cabin, and aspects of the telecommunications system 236 for enabling the vehicle's occupants to establish telecommunication linkages with others.

[0032] The audio system 232 may include one or more sound reproduction devices, including an electromagnetic transducer such as a speaker 235. The vehicle audio system 232 may be passive or active, for example, by including an output amplifier. In some embodiments, the in-vehicle computing system 109 may be the sole sound source for the sound reproduction devices, or there may be other sound sources connected to the sound reproduction system (e.g., external devices such as a mobile phone). Any connection of such external devices to the sound reproduction devices may be analog, digital, or any combination of analog and digital technologies.

[0033] The climate control system 234 may be configured to provide a comfortable environment within the cabin or passenger compartment of the vehicle 102. The climate control system 234 includes components that enable controlled ventilation, such as air vents, heaters, air conditioners, and integrated heater and air conditioner systems. Other components that lead to the heating and air conditioning setup may include a windshield defrosting and anti-fog system that can clean the windshield and ventilation air filter to clean the outside air entering the passenger compartment through the fresh air inlet.

[0034] The vehicle control system 230 may also include controls for adjusting the settings of various vehicle controls 261 (or vehicle system control elements) relating to the engine and / or auxiliary elements in the vehicle's cabin, such as steering wheel controls 262 (e.g., voice system controls, cruising controls, wiper controls, headlight controls, turn signal controls, etc. mounted on the steering wheel), instrument panel controls, microphones, microphones, accelerator / brake / clutch pedals, gear shift, door / window controls located on the driver's or passenger's doors, seat controls, cabin light controls, voice system controls, and cabin temperature controls. The vehicle controls 261 may also include controls for the operation of internal engines and vehicles (e.g., engine controller modules, actuators, valves, etc.) configured to receive commands via the vehicle's CAN bus to change the operation of one or more of the engine, exhaust systems, transmissions, and / or other vehicle systems. Control signals may also control the audio output in one or more speakers 235 of the vehicle's voice system 232. For example, control signals may adjust audio output characteristics such as volume, uniformity, audio image (e.g., the configuration of an audio signal that produces an audio output that appears to the user to originate from one or more predetermined locations), and the distribution of audio across multiple speakers. Similarly, control signals may control the vents, air conditioners, and / or heaters of the climate control system 234. For example, control signals may increase the delivery of cooling air to a particular section of the cabin.

[0035] Control elements located outside the vehicle (for example, controls related to the security system) may be connected to the computing system 109, for example, via a communication module 222. Control elements of the vehicle control system may be physically and permanently located on and / or inside the vehicle to receive user input. In addition to receiving control commands from the computing system 109 inside the vehicle, the vehicle control system 230 may also receive input from one or more external devices 150 operated by the user, such as a mobile device 128. This makes it possible to control the vehicle system 231 and the vehicle control 261 based on user input received from the external devices 150.

[0036] The in-vehicle computing system 109 may further include an antenna 206. Although the antenna 206 is illustrated as a single antenna, in some embodiments it may comprise one or more antennas. The in-vehicle computing system may obtain broadband wireless internet access via the antenna 206 and may also receive broadcast signals such as radio, television, weather, and traffic. The in-vehicle computing system may receive positioning signals such as GPS signals via one or more antennas 206. The in-vehicle computing system may also receive wireless commands via the antenna(s) 206 or via infrared or other means through a suitable receiving device. In some embodiments, the antenna 206 may be included as part of a voice system 232 or a telecommunications system 236. For example, the antenna 206 may receive voice calls (e.g., telephone calls). Furthermore, the antenna 206 may provide AM / FM radio signals to an external device 150 (such as a mobile device 128) via an external device interface 212.

[0037] One or more elements of the in-vehicle computing system 109 may be controlled by the user via a user interface 218. The user interface 218 may include a graphic user interface provided on a touchscreen, such as the touchscreen 108 in Figure 1, and / or buttons, switches, knobs, dials, sliders, etc., that the user can operate. For example, user-operated elements may include steering wheel controls, door and / or window controls, instrument panel controls, voice system settings, climate control system settings, etc. The user may also interact with one or more applications of the in-vehicle computing system 109 and mobile device 128 via the user interface 218. In addition to receiving the user's vehicle setting preferences on the user interface 218, vehicle settings selected by the in-vehicle control system may be displayed to the user on the user interface 218. Notifications and other messages (e.g., received messages), as well as navigation assistance, may be displayed to the user on the user interface display. The user's preferences / information and / or responses to provided messages may be performed via user input to the user interface.

[0038] As discussed in detail above, the computing system may be included in the vehicle system, such as the in-vehicle computing system 200 in vehicle 102 in Figure 1. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the in-vehicle computing system 200 may be used to route voice calls, such as voice calls from a cellular network, to the user via the vehicle system's speakers and microphone. Specifically, incoming phone audio may be broadcast through the vehicle's speakers, and outgoing phone audio may be captured by the vehicle's microphone. Incoming voice calls may be detected by the in-vehicle computing system from several sources. In one embodiment, the voice call may be received by a mobile device (e.g., mobile device 128 in Figures 1 and 2), which is communicatively coupled to the in-vehicle computing system via a wireless and / or wired connection. For example, the mobile device may be paired with the in-vehicle computing system via a Bluetooth® connection. Thus, the vehicle system's speakers and microphone may be used during the voice call to enable hands-free phone calls while the vehicle is being operated. In another embodiment, the in-vehicle computing system may receive voice calls directly via a mobile communication network. In yet another embodiment, the in-vehicle computing system may receive voice calls, such as voice-over-internet (VoIP) telephone calls, over a wireless network such as a Wi-Fi network or an ultra-wide wideband (UWB) network. Furthermore, the user may initiate a voice call (for example, start one) via the control of the in-vehicle computing system. In one embodiment, the user may enter a command via a touchscreen (for example, touchscreen 108 in Figures 1 and 2) to initiate a voice call. In another embodiment, the user may give a voice command to initiate a voice call.When a voice call is detected, incoming telephone audio may be played back through one or more speakers of the voice system 232, and outgoing telephone audio may be acquired through one or more microphones of the voice system 232.

[0039] There may be two or more occupants in the vehicle, but the voice call may be intended only for a subset of the occupants present. For example, there may be four occupants in the vehicle when an incoming voice call is detected, but the voice call may be intended for only one occupant in the vehicle. In another embodiment, there may be three occupants in the vehicle when a voice call is initiated, but the voice call may be intended only for two occupants in the vehicle. In such embodiments, the voice call in the vehicle may interfere with other media being played by the voice system 232. For example, a music stream may be stopped or muted during a voice call, which may reduce the enjoyment and satisfaction of occupants in the vehicle who are not included in the voice call. Furthermore, in existing vehicle systems, all occupants in the vehicle may hear the voice call, which may reduce the privacy of the user directly involved in the voice call. Moreover, speech from other users may reduce the audio quality during the voice call. The above issues may be addressed by providing multiple phone zones in the vehicle, which may provide a certain degree of audio isolation for each user during a voice call. As an example, a vehicle system may have multiple phone zones for providing voice calls to multiple users in order to reduce sound interference between users. For example, each phone zone may include at least one speaker and at least one microphone, and signal processing techniques may be used to reduce sound interference between phone zones. Thus, voice call audio may be routed to at least one selected phone zone, while occupants in unselected phone zones may continue to hear other audio. In this way, the benefits of hands-free in-vehicle voice calling may be provided without reducing user privacy or the audio quality of the voice call.

[0040] Accordingly, Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a vehicle 300, which may be the vehicle 102 shown in Figure 1, and includes multiple telephone zones and a vehicle-mounted computing system 340. For example, the vehicle-mounted computing system 109 in Figure 2 may be used as the vehicle-mounted computing system 340. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the vehicle 300 includes a first telephone zone 310, a second telephone zone 312, a third telephone zone 314, and a fourth telephone zone 316. The vehicle 300 further includes a front section 338 and a rear section 336. The vehicle 300 may be an automobile, a truck, a boat, etc. Furthermore, although a vehicle with four seats is shown, other configurations with more or fewer seats may be used.

[0041] Furthermore, each of the first telephone zone 310, the second telephone zone 312, the third telephone zone 314, and the fourth telephone zone 316 may include at least two microphones and at least two speakers. As shown in the figure, the first telephone zone 310 includes a first microphone 318, a second microphone 319, a first speaker 320, and a second speaker 321. Furthermore, the second telephone zone 312 includes a third microphone 323, a fourth microphone 322, a third speaker 325, and a fourth speaker 324. Furthermore, the third telephone zone 314 includes a fifth microphone 326, a sixth microphone 327, a fifth speaker 328, and a sixth speaker 329. Furthermore, the fourth telephone zone 316 includes a seventh microphone 331, an eighth microphone 333, a seventh speaker 334, and an eighth speaker 332. Additionally, the first seat 302 of the vehicle 300 may be located in the first telephone zone 310, the second seat 304 may be located in the second telephone zone 312, the third seat 306 may be located in the third telephone zone 314, and the fourth seat 308 may be located in the fourth telephone zone 316. Specifically, each telephone zone includes two microphones positioned to acquire the user's voice and two speakers positioned to provide sound to the user. For example, the microphones may be positioned to acquire the user's voice from a user located in a telephone zone without significant interference from users located in other telephone zones. Furthermore, the speakers may be positioned to provide sound (e.g., from an in-vehicle computing system such as media) without interfering with the sound in another telephone zone. In one embodiment, the two speakers in each telephone zone may be coupled to the seat of the telephone zone. For example, the first speaker 320 and the second speaker 321 may be firmly coupled to the first seat 302 of the first telephone zone 310. Specifically, the first speaker 320 and the second speaker 321 may be positioned on the headrest of the first seat 302, or similar, so that they are close to the user's head when the user is seated in the first seat 302.In another embodiment, the first microphone 318 and the second microphone 319 may be configured with beamforming. This beamforming may reduce interference from other users' speech and sounds from media. Figure 3 shows each telephone zone containing two microphones and two speakers, but in some embodiments, each telephone zone may contain more or fewer microphones and more or fewer speakers. For example, multiple speakers may be placed in each telephone zone to improve voice quality, and multiple microphones may be placed to reduce voice interference while the microphones are in use.

[0042] In some embodiments, at least one user may be located in a seat in each phone zone. For example, a first user may be located in the first seat 302 of the first phone zone 310, a second user may be located in the second seat 304 of the second phone zone 312, a third user may be located in the third seat 306 of the third phone zone 314, and a fourth user may be located in the fourth seat 308 of the fourth phone zone 316. However, in other embodiments, no users may be located in each phone zone. In one embodiment, a first user may be located in the first seat 302 of the first phone zone 310, and a third user may be located in the third seat 306 of the third phone zone 314, but no users may be located in the second seat 304 or the fourth seat 308. In other embodiments, there may be only one user in the vehicle. In yet another embodiment, two or more users may be located in each phone zone.

[0043] Therefore, the vehicle 300 shown in Figure 3 includes a computing system and four telephone zones, each telephone zone including at least two microphones and at least two speakers. Each speaker and each microphone may be communicatively coupled to the computing system. Furthermore, each telephone zone may be independently supplied with audio. Specifically, each telephone zone may be independently supplied with voice call audio (e.g., audio coming from a voice call). For example, audio coming from a voice call may be supplied to a selected telephone zone via at least two speakers in the telephone zone, and audio going out for a voice call may be acquired from the selected telephone zone via the microphone in the telephone zone. Furthermore, the operation of each speaker and each microphone may be adjusted based on the operating conditions of the vehicle in order to compensate for vehicle noise. For example, speaker volume may be adjusted for each speaker of the vehicle based on the vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration, and detected ambient noise. Furthermore, each speaker may be adjusted differently based on the ambient noise of each telephone zone and the audio signal to the other telephone zones. For example, based on the volume and type of media played by the fifth speaker 328 and sixth speaker 329 of the third telephone zone 314, each of the seventh speaker 334 and eighth speaker 332 may be adjusted differently to reduce interference and increase customer satisfaction. For example, each speaker in a telephone zone may be adjusted differently based on its position relative to other speakers in the vehicle. For example, the operation of the speakers and microphones in each telephone zone may be adjusted during a voice call, as detailed below.

[0044] Furthermore, in some embodiments, two or more phone zones may be merged into a single phone zone in response to user input. For example, a user may input a request to merge two adjacent phone zones so that the user can interact with an additional speaker and microphone. In another embodiment, a user may input a request to merge two phone zones so that multiple users can participate in a voice call.

[0045] It should be noted that the telephone zone configuration shown in Figure 3 is a non-limiting embodiment of the telephone zone configuration. In other embodiments of this disclosure, a vehicle may have more or fewer telephone zones, and the telephone zones may be arranged differently. In one embodiment, a vehicle may have two telephone zones, three telephone zones, five telephone zones, and so on. In another embodiment, the number of speakers and microphones in each telephone zone may vary. In one embodiment, a first telephone zone may have three speakers and three microphones, while a second telephone zone may have one speaker and two microphones. In yet another embodiment, a telephone zone may include a single microphone equipped with beamforming to acquire telephone audio without significant interference.

[0046] For example, a vehicle computing system (e.g., vehicle computing system 109) may route a voice call directly to at least one selected phone zone, so that incoming phone audio (e.g., audio coming from a voice call) is played only through the speakers of that at least one selected phone zone, and outgoing phone audio (e.g., outgoing audio related to a voice call) is captured only through the microphones of that at least one selected phone zone. Thus, the voice call is not routed to other phone zones in the vehicle (e.g., unselected phone zones), so that incoming phone audio is not played through the speakers of the unselected phone zones, and outgoing phone audio is not captured by the microphones of the unselected phone zones. For example, a user may select at least one phone zone for a voice call via a user input device such as a touchscreen (e.g., the touchscreen of user interface 218 in Figure 2). By routing the voice call to at least one selected phone zone and not routing this voice call to the unselected phone zones, other media may continue to be played in the unselected phone zones. In one embodiment, the main system's audio (e.g., music) may be provided to an unselected telephone zone, while voice calls are routed to at least one selected telephone zone.

[0047] Signal processing may be applied to avoid sound interference between phone zones. For example, during a voice call, the main system audio may be ducked (for example, the volume of the main system audio may be reduced proportionally to the volume of the voice call), and the main system audio signal may be compressed to reduce transient responses. Furthermore, certain processing techniques such as echo cancellation and beamforming may be applied to the microphones of at least one selected phone zone to capture only audio from the selected phone zone, while canceling out audio interference from other areas of the vehicle. For example, microphones in unselected phone zones may be muted, and audio may not be captured from the microphones of unselected phone zones. Because the frequency range for voice calls is limited to a set range, additional filtering may not be necessary to reduce sound interference. In another embodiment, microphones in unselected phone zones may not be muted, and audio from the microphones of unselected phone zones may be captured to be used as a canceling signal. For example, the canceling signal may be used to cancel out audio from unselected phone zones that may be inadvertently picked up by the microphones of selected phone zones via propagation within the vehicle. Specifically, the canceling signal can be used in signal processing related to outgoing audio.

[0048] In a first non-limiting embodiment, a first voice call may be detected by a computing system 340 in the vehicle 300 of Figure 3, while the main system's audio is playing music. Specifically, the first voice call may be an incoming voice call targeting a mobile phone connected to the in-vehicle computing system via a Bluetooth® connection, and the in-vehicle computing system may prompt the user to select a phone zone for the voice call. The user may select a second phone zone, thereby routing the first voice call to the second phone zone 312. For example, the user may select the second phone zone 312 via either touchscreen input or voice command. Thus, the incoming audio from the first voice call may be played through the third speaker 325 and fourth speaker 324 of the second phone zone 312, and the outgoing audio relating to the first voice call may be captured by the third microphone 323 and fourth microphone 322 of the second phone zone 312. During the first voice call, signal processing may reduce sound interference with outgoing telephone audio from other areas of the vehicle. For example, techniques such as beamforming and echo cancellation may be applied to outgoing telephone audio acquired by the third microphone 323 and the fourth microphone 322. The audio may not be acquired by other microphones in the vehicle. Furthermore, the main system audio (e.g., music) continues to be played through the speakers of the unselected telephone zones (e.g., the first telephone zone 310, the third telephone zone 314, and the fourth telephone zone 316), but the audio gain for the main system audio is reduced (e.g., ducked), and the main system audio is compressed. In some embodiments, the main system audio is ducked differently with respect to each speaker in the unselected telephone zones, based on the speaker closest to the second telephone zone 312. For example, the audio gain may be reduced more with respect to the second speaker 321 than with respect to the fifth speaker 328.In this manner, a user in the second telephone zone 312 may engage in a voice call without interfering with the main system audio for other users of the vehicle, and without interference from the main system audio and / or from other users of the vehicle.

[0049] In a second, non-limiting embodiment, the user may initiate a second voice call via a touchscreen interface of the in-vehicle computing system, such as a VoIP voice call. Furthermore, the user may select a first phone zone 310 and a third phone zone 314 for the voice call. Thus, the in-vehicle computing system 340 routes the second voice call to the first phone zone 310 and the third phone zone 314. For example, incoming phone audio from the second voice call is played back through the first speaker 320, the second speaker 321, the fifth speaker 328, and the sixth speaker 329. Furthermore, outgoing phone audio is captured through the first microphone 318, the second microphone 319, the fifth microphone 326, and the sixth microphone 327. As with the first voice call, signal processing techniques may be applied to reduce sonic interference with the second voice call. In some embodiments, the main system voice may be ducked differently during a second voice call compared to during a second voice call due to the relative arrangement of the telephone zones. For example, the main system voice may be more ducked in telephone zones closer to the first and second telephone zones, and may be tuned differently with respect to each speaker in each telephone zone. Tuning each speaker differently may reduce sound interference while maintaining voice quality for each user.

[0050] Furthermore, the first voice call and the second voice call may overlap, so that at least a portion of each of the first and second voice calls occurs substantially simultaneously. For example, during the overlap between the first and second voice calls, the first voice call may be routed to the second telephone zone 312, the second voice call may be routed to the first telephone zone 310 and the third telephone zone 314, and the main system voice (e.g., music) may continue to be played in the fourth telephone zone 316. For example, the main system voice may be ducked differently to reduce interference between the main system voice and each of the first and second voice calls.

[0051] In yet another embodiment, additional phone zones may be added to a voice call during the call. In one embodiment, a user may decide to add additional users (for example, users in an unselected phone zone) to a voice call and may add additional phone zones to the voice call by entering a command via touchscreen input and at least one of voice commands. For example, in response to such a command, the in-vehicle computing system may route the voice call to the additional phone zone.

[0052] To better illustrate the signal processing and routing described above, Figure 4 shows a high-level block diagram 400 for providing main system voice and voice calls to a telephone zone in a vehicle. For example, Figure 4 shows signal processing for routing a phone to a selected telephone zone, including transmitting outgoing phone voice and receiving ingoing phone voice. As shown, the selected telephone zone includes a telephone zone microphone 402 for acquiring voice from the user during a voice call. In one embodiment, the selected telephone zone may be a second telephone zone 312 in Figure 4, and the telephone zone microphone 402 may include a third microphone 323 and a fourth microphone 322. As shown, the voice signal from the telephone zone microphone 402 may be passed to a speech processor 404. For example, the speech processor 404 may be a component of an in-vehicle computing system, such as the in-vehicle computing system 109 in Figure 2, and may be configured to process the voice signal from the telephone zone microphone 402 before outputting the phone voice. Specifically, signal processing may be applied to reduce sound interference from other users and / or other media being played in the vehicle. In one embodiment, echo cancellation may be applied to the audio signal from microphone 402 in the telephone zone. In another embodiment, beamforming may be applied to the audio signal from microphone 402 in the telephone zone. In yet another embodiment, equalization (EQ) may be used to reduce undesirable noise outside the frequency range of the human voice.

[0053] After the audio signal from the microphone 402 in the telephone zone is processed via the speech processor 404, the audio signal may be output as outgoing telephone audio 406. For example, the outgoing telephone audio may be transmitted wirelessly via the wireless network 416. In one embodiment, the outgoing telephone audio may be transmitted via the cellular network of a mobile device communicatively coupled to the in-vehicle computing system. In another embodiment, a vehicle communication module (e.g., an inter-vehicle system communication module 222) may transmit the outgoing telephone audio 406 to a desired recipient.

[0054] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4, incoming telephone audio 408 received from the wireless network 416 may be passed to a telephone zone mixer 410. For example, the telephone zone mixer 410 may control the speaker level for each of the selected telephone zones. In addition, the telephone zone mixer may include a seat tuner for adjusting the speaker settings for each speaker in each selected telephone zone for a voice call. For example, the telephone zone mixer may route a voice call to a speaker in a selected telephone zone and may not route a voice call to a speaker in a non-selected telephone zone. Furthermore, the incoming telephone audio may be adjusted for each speaker in the selected telephone zones via the seat tuner based on the relative position of other speakers. For example, the speaker volume may be increased or decreased to reduce sound interference with other users. The incoming telephone audio is then passed to the telephone zone speaker 414 at a predetermined setting and provided to the user. For example, incoming telephone audio may be played through the speaker of at least one selected telephone zone, but not through the speaker of an unselected telephone zone. In some embodiments, the speech processor 404 and the telephone zone mixer 410 may be communicatively coupled to synchronize the incoming and outgoing telephone audio and to reduce the impact of any echo from either the incoming or outgoing telephone audio.

[0055] In some embodiments, multiple voice calls may be routed to telephone zones. In a non-limiting embodiment, a first voice call may be routed to the first telephone zone 310 in Figure 3, and a second voice call may be routed to the fourth telephone zone 316.

[0056] Next, a high-level flowchart of an exemplary method 500 for coordinating audio to multiple telephone zones during a voice call is shown in Figure 5. Specifically, method 500 includes a vehicle-mounted computing system 200 and is described in relation to the vehicle-mounted entertainment system in Figures 1 and 2. However, in other embodiments, method 500 may be implemented by other computing systems. Furthermore, method 500 is described in relation to the telephone zone of the vehicle system in Figure 3 and the signal processing technique in Figure 4. Instructions for implementing method 500 may be stored in the non-temporary memory of the vehicle-mounted computing system (for example, the storage device 208 shown in Figure 2). Thus, method 500 may be executed by a processor (for example, the processor 214 of the operating system in Figure 2) based on the stored instructions and in relation to signals received from sensors of the vehicle system, such as the sensors described above with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

[0057] Step 502 includes Method 500 monitoring incoming voice calls. For example, Method 500 may monitor incoming voice calls from multiple sources. In one embodiment, an incoming voice call may originate from a user's mobile device, such as a mobile phone, and may be routed to a computing system in the vehicle. Note that in some embodiments, two or more mobile phones may be communicatively coupled to the computing system in the vehicle. In another embodiment, the computing system in the vehicle may receive voice calls directly via a network connection or via a Bluetooth® connection with a mobile phone. Furthermore, Method 500 may monitor the user initiating a voice call. In one embodiment, a user may initiate a voice call via a mobile device connected to the computing system in the vehicle via a Bluetooth® connection, or may use an input device of the computing system in the vehicle (e.g., one of touchscreen input and one of voice commands) to initiate a voice call.

[0058] Step 504 includes method 500 determining whether a voice call has been detected. For example, if the controller determines that a user has initiated a voice call, method 500 may determine that a voice call has been detected. Furthermore, if the controller detects an incoming voice call, method 500 may determine that a voice call has been detected. If the controller determines that a user has not initiated a voice call and no voice calls are coming in, the controller may determine that no voice call has been detected.

[0059] If method 500 determines in 504 that no voice call has been detected ("NO"), method 500 proceeds to step 506, which includes not adjusting the system voice. For example, if no voice call is detected, no adjustment to the system voice may be indicated. For example, the controller may not prompt the user to select a phone zone, may not route telephone audio to the selected phone zone, and may not adjust the system voice to reduce sonic interference with voice calls.

[0060] If method 500 determines in 504 that a voice call has been detected ("YES"), method 500 proceeds to step 508, which includes selecting at least one desired phone zone. For example, method 500 may select at least one desired phone zone based on user input. In one embodiment, the user may input the desired phone zone via an input device such as one of the following: a touchscreen, a button, and a voice command. For example, one or both of a display device and / or a voice alert may prompt the user to input a desired phone zone, and the controller may monitor the user's response. In one embodiment, the user may select one or more phone zones for a voice call. If the user selects multiple phone zones, the selected phone zones may be combined, as discussed in detail with respect to Figure 3. Furthermore, in some embodiments, if the user does not respond to being prompted for input, a default phone zone may be selected as the desired phone zone. In another embodiment, the controller may select a desired phone zone(s) based on the source of the voice call. For example, the controller may determine at least one desired phone zone based on the mobile device that received the voice call. In one embodiment, the controller may consult a predetermined lookup table that correlates mobile devices to phone zones. In another embodiment, the controller may determine the location of a mobile device receiving a voice call and select the phone zone closest to the determined location. For example, the controller may determine the location of a mobile device via a Bluetooth® connection, an NFC connection, or another method for locating the mobile device. In yet another embodiment, an incoming voice call may include relevant metadata, and the controller may select a desired phone zone based on that metadata. In one embodiment, the relevant metadata may include the intended recipient of the voice call, and the controller may determine the phone zone associated with the intended recipient of the voice call.Please note that more than one phone zone may be selected.

[0061] Step 510 includes routing a voice call to at least one selected telephone zone. For example, routing a voice call to at least one selected telephone zone may include passing incoming telephone audio to the speaker of at least one selected telephone zone and capturing outgoing telephone audio from the microphone of at least one selected telephone zone. In the embodiment, incoming telephone audio may be routed only to the selected zone and not to any other zones. Furthermore, the method may capture only outgoing telephone audio from the selected telephone zone and not from any other zones.

[0062] Step 512 of Method 500 includes applying signal processing to the microphones and speakers of the selected telephone zones. For example, speaker settings in the selected telephone zone(s) may be adjusted to reduce sound interference with other users and to improve privacy for the user receiving the voice call. In addition, previously played audio in the telephone zone may be muted or reduced to reduce sound interference. In another embodiment, microphone settings for at least one selected telephone zone may be adjusted to reduce sound interference. For example, microphones from at least one selected telephone zone may be activated to capture outgoing telephone audio, and microphones from unselected telephone zones may be muted to reduce interference. In embodiments, rather than completely muting the microphones in the unselected zones, any inputs acquired from those unselected zones may be subtracted from the corresponding audio data from the microphones in the selected zones to dynamically cancel out unwanted inputs. In one embodiment, dynamic noise cancellation may be used in the speakers of a selected zone based on audio content played by the speakers of an unselected zone from the vehicle's entertainment system. This is because such audio content is known in advance, allowing the inverse of the aforementioned audio to be played by the speakers of the selected zone, thereby dynamically canceling the output of the speakers of the unselected zone. Known phase delays and amplitude gains within that zone, such as those based on pre-mapping of cabin acoustics, may be used by the system for such dynamic cancellation.

[0063] Step 514 of Method 500 includes determining whether audio is already being played through the audio system. For example, the controller may determine whether audio from the main system is being played through the vehicle's audio system. In an embodiment, the audio from the main system may be one of the following: music, talk radio, video audio, etc.

[0064] If method 500 determines in 514 that audio is already being played in the audio system ("YES"), method 500 proceeds to 516, which includes adjusting the main system audio. For example, if the controller determines that audio is being played in the audio system, the main system gain may be adjusted to reduce sonic interference with voice calls. For example, audio being played in other phone zones may interfere with outgoing phone audio relating to voice calls. Therefore, the main system audio may be ducked (e.g., the volume may be reduced) and compressed to reduce interference. The main system audio may be adjusted differently with respect to each speaker in each of the unselected phone zones, based on proximity to other speakers and microphones in the vehicle and due to vehicle noise. In some embodiments, the main system audio may be muted in selected phone zones (e.g., phone zones receiving voice calls). Method 500 may proceed to step 518.

[0065] If method 500 determines in 514 that the voice has not already been played back by the voice system ("NO"), method 500 continues to step 518, which includes determining whether an additional phone zone has been added. For example, during a voice call, the user may decide to add an additional phone zone to the call during the voice call, or to enter commands via an input device such as a touchscreen.

[0066] If method 500 determines that an additional telephone zone was added in 518 ("YES"), method 500 continues to 520, which includes routing the voice call to the additional telephone zone. For example, the signal processing described in step 512 may be applied to the speaker and microphone of the additional telephone zone. Method 500 may then continue to step 522.

[0067] Alternatively, if method 500 determines that no further phone zones were added in step 518 ("NO"), method 500 proceeds to step 522, which includes determining whether the voice call is still in progress. For example, a controller might check to determine whether the voice call is continuing.

[0068] If method 500 determines in step 522 that the voice call is still in progress ("YES"), method 500 proceeds to step 526, which includes maintaining the voice system settings for the voice call. For example, the controller may continue ducking and compressing the main system voice and may continue routing the voice call to at least one selected telephone zone. Method 500 may then return to step 518.

[0069] If method 500 determines in step 522 that the voice call is no longer in progress, method 500 proceeds to step 524, which includes returning to the specified audio system setting. For example, incoming telephone audio may not be broadcast to the user, and outgoing telephone audio may not be picked up by the microphone in the selected telephone zone(s). In one embodiment, the voice call may have been terminated by the user. In this case, method 500 may resume playback of the main system audio with respect to the selected telephone zone(s), and may also stop ducking and compressing the main system audio. Method 500 may then terminate.

[0070] In this method, voice calls may be routed to one or more selected phone zones of the vehicle system, thereby allowing the user to receive calls without interference from other media in other phone zones. For example, when an incoming call is detected or an outgoing call is initiated, the vehicle's in-vehicle computing system may select at least one of the vehicle's multiple phone zones. The incoming audio from the voice call may be routed to the speaker in at least one selected phone zone, and the outgoing audio for the voice call may be captured by the microphone in at least one selected phone zone. Thus, the vehicle system may provide the user with hands-free voice calls. Furthermore, the main system audio may continue to play with respect to unselected phone zones (e.g., phone zones not selected for the voice call). However, the main system audio may be ducked and compressed to reduce sonic interference with the voice call. Furthermore, beamforming and echo cancellation may be used to further reduce sonic interference with the outgoing phone audio. Thus, a subset of occupants in the vehicle may engage with the voice call individually, while other occupants may continue listening to other media such as music. Furthermore, by applying signal processing techniques to reduce sound interference, and by individually tuning the microphone and speaker, the audio quality of voice calls may be improved. Overall, customer satisfaction with the in-vehicle information and entertainment system may be enhanced.

[0071] The technical effects of this disclosure are that incoming audio from a voice call can be provided to a selected telephone zone, outgoing audio from a voice call can be acquired from a selected telephone zone, and audio from the main system can be ducked and compressed to reduce sonic interference with the voice call.

[0072] As one embodiment, the method includes routing a voice call to at least one of a plurality of telephone zones based on user input and at least one of the source of the voice call, wherein the plurality of telephone zones are located in the cabin of a vehicle. In the above embodiment, additionally or optionally, routing a voice call to at least one of a plurality of telephone zones based on user input and at least one of the source of the voice call includes selecting at least one of a plurality of telephone zones based on user input and at least one of the source of the voice call; providing incoming audio from the voice call to at least one telephone zone via the speaker of at least one telephone zone; acquiring outgoing audio relating to the voice call from at least one telephone zone via the microphone of at least one telephone zone; and applying signal processing to the incoming audio and outgoing audio, respectively, based on the location of at least one telephone zone. In one or both of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, selecting at least one phone zone of a plurality of phone zones based on at least one of user input and the source of a voice call includes: selecting at least one phone zone based on the identifier of a first mobile device depending on the source of a voice call which is a first mobile device; selecting at least one phone zone based on the identifier of a second mobile device depending on the source of a voice call which is a second mobile device; selecting at least one phone zone based on relevant metadata depending on the source of a voice call which is an application of an automotive computing system and the voice call includes relevant metadata; selecting a first phone zone depending on user input corresponding to a first phone zone of a plurality of phone zones; and selecting both a first phone zone and a second phone zone depending on user input corresponding to a first phone zone and a second phone zone of a plurality of phone zones.In any or all of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, each telephone zone of a plurality of telephone zones includes at least one microphone and at least one speaker. In any or all of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, providing incoming audio from a voice call to at least one telephone zone via the speaker of at least one telephone zone includes routing the incoming audio to a mixer in the telephone zone and broadcasting the incoming audio via the speaker of at least one telephone zone. In any or all of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, acquiring outgoing audio relating to a voice call from at least one telephone zone via the microphone of at least one telephone zone includes routing the outgoing audio to a speech processor and transmitting the outgoing audio over a wireless network. In any or all of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, applying signal processing to the incoming and outgoing audio, respectively, based on the location of at least one telephone zone, includes applying echo cancellation and beamforming to the outgoing audio. In any or all of the embodiments described above, the method further includes, additionally or optionally, adjusting each of the audio gains with respect to the main system's audio source, differently with respect to the telephone zones of a plurality of telephone zones, based on the location of at least one telephone zone in the cabin of the automobile.

[0073] In another embodiment, the method includes, in response to a first voice call, selecting each of the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones, each telephone zone in the first group of telephone zones, and each telephone zone in the second group of telephone zones within the cabin of a vehicle; routing the first voice call to the first group of telephone zones and not routing the first voice call to the second group of telephone zones of the vehicle, wherein each telephone zone in the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones includes at least one speaker and at least one microphone; and differently adjusting the audio of the main system with respect to each of the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones. In the embodiments described above, routing a first voice call to a first group of telephone zones additionally or optionally includes broadcasting the voice of the voice call coming in through the speakers of the first group of telephone zones, acquiring the voice of the voice call going out through the microphones of the first group of telephone zones, and applying echo cancellation and beamforming to the voice of the voice call going out. In one or both of the embodiments described above, not routing a first voice call to a second group of telephone zones additionally or optionally includes not broadcasting the voice of the voice call coming in through the speakers of the second group of telephone zones, and not acquiring the voice through the microphones of the second group of telephone zones. In any or all of the embodiments described above, adjusting the main system audio differently for each of the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones additionally or optionally includes compressing the main system audio, muting the main system audio for the first group of telephone zones, and reducing the main system audio gain for the second group of telephone zones.In any or all of the embodiments described above, the selection of each of the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones is additionally or optionally based on user input and at least one of the sources of the first voice call. In any or all of the embodiments described above, the method further includes, additionally or optionally, selecting each of the telephone zones in the third group of telephone zones and the third group of telephone zones in a car cabin in response to a second voice call; routing the second voice call to the third group of telephone zones and not routing the second voice call to each of the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones, wherein the third group of telephone zones includes at least one microphone and at least one speaker; and differently adjusting the audio of the main system with respect to each of the first group of telephone zones, the second group of telephone zones and the third group of telephone zones. In any or all of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, differently adjusting the main system audio for each of the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones further includes adjusting the main system audio gain for each of the first group of telephone zones and the second group of telephone zones based on at least one of the telephone zone location and the vehicle speed.

[0074] In yet another embodiment, the computing system comprises a first telephone zone located in the cabin of an automobile, the first telephone zone including a first microphone and a first speaker; a second telephone zone located in the cabin of an automobile, the second telephone zone including a second microphone and a second speaker; a user input device; a processor communicatively coupled to the computing system; and, in response to a voice call, the first telephone zone and the second telephone zone, based on at least one of user input from the user input device and the source of the voice call. The system includes a storage device that stores instructions executable by the processor to select one of the telephone zones, route incoming voice call audio to the first speaker and acquire outgoing telephone audio from the first microphone, and not acquire outgoing telephone audio from the second microphone, depending on the selection of the first telephone zone, and route incoming voice call audio to the second speaker and acquire outgoing telephone audio from the second microphone, and not acquire outgoing telephone audio from the first microphone, depending on the selection of the second telephone zone. In the above embodiment, additionally or optionally, the storage device also stores further instructions executable by the processor to detect the audio source of the main system, reduce the audio gain with respect to the audio source of the main system and compress the audio source of the main system, adjust the first speaker based on the position of the first speaker relative to the second speaker, and adjust the second speaker based on the position of the first speaker relative to the second speaker. In one or both of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, in order to acquire telephone audio emanating from the first microphone, the memory device stores further instructions that can be executed by the processor to apply beamforming and echo cancellation to the telephone audio emanating from the first microphone.In any or all of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, in order to acquire telephone audio emanating from a second microphone, the storage device stores further instructions that can be executed by the processor to apply beamforming and echo cancellation to the telephone audio emanating from the second microphone. In any or all of the embodiments described above, additionally or optionally, the source of the voice call is a mobile phone communicatively coupled to a computing system.

[0075] The descriptions of each embodiment are provided for illustrative and descriptive purposes only. Appropriate modifications and variations to each embodiment may be made in view of the foregoing description or may be obtained from the implementation of the Method. For example, unless otherwise stated, one or more of the methods described may be implemented by appropriate devices and / or combinations of devices, such as the telematics unit 30 described with reference to Figure 1. The Method may be implemented by executing stored instructions in one or more logic devices (e.g., processors) in combination with one or more additional hardware elements, such as storage devices, memory, hardware network interfaces / antennas, switches, actuators, and clock circuits. The methods described and associated operations may be implemented in various orders, in parallel and / or simultaneously, in addition to the order described herein. The systems described above are illustrative in nature and may include and / or omit additional elements. The subject matter of this disclosure is entirely novel and includes various systems and configurations, as well as combinations and subcombinations of other features, functions, and / or characteristics of the disclosure that are not apparent.

[0076] Where used in this application, any element or step stated in the singular and followed by the word “a” or “an” shall be understood not to exclude any multiple aforementioned elements or steps unless such exclusion is stated. Furthermore, any reference in this disclosure to “one embodiment” or “one example” is not intended to be construed as excluding the existence of further embodiments that also incorporate the described features. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and “third” are used merely as labels and are not intended to impose any numerical requirements or any particular positional order on the subject matter. The appended claims specifically point to subject matter from the foregoing disclosures that are considered novel and not evident.

Claims

1. Responding to a voice call, routing the voice call to at least one of a plurality of telephone zones based on user input and at least one of the source of the voice call, wherein the plurality of telephone zones are included in the cabin of a vehicle. Adjusting each of the audio gains for the main system's audio source so that they differ with respect to the telephone zones of the plurality of telephone zones, based on the location of the at least one telephone zone within the cabin of the vehicle, wherein the adjustment includes ducking and compressing the audio of the main system while continuing to route the voice call to the at least one telephone zone. Adjusting the speaker settings for each speaker in each of the plurality of telephone zones, wherein adjusting the speaker settings for each speaker in each of the plurality of telephone zones includes adjusting the speaker settings for each speaker in at least one telephone zone based on the relative positions of other speakers in the cabin of the automobile. Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of telephone zones is equipped with a microphone, and the microphone of at least one telephone zone to which the voice call is routed is activated, and the microphones of the other telephone zones among the plurality of telephone zones are deactivated.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of telephone zones is equipped with a microphone, and the input acquired from the microphone of each of the plurality of telephone zones other than the at least one telephone zone to which the voice call is routed is subtracted from the sound output by the speaker in the at least one telephone zone to which the voice call is routed.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising outputting the reverse of the audio from the audio source of the main system to a speaker in the at least one telephone zone to which the voice call is routed.

5. Based on the user input and the source of the voice call, routing the voice call to at least one of the plurality of telephone zones is: Selecting at least one of the plurality of telephone zones based on the user input and the source of the voice call, To provide the incoming audio from the voice call to the at least one telephone zone via the speaker of the at least one telephone zone, To acquire outgoing audio relating to the voice call from the at least one telephone zone via the microphone of the at least one telephone zone, Based on the location of the at least one telephone zone, signal processing is applied to the incoming audio and the outgoing audio, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, including the method described in any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. Based on the user input and the source of the voice call, at least one of the plurality of telephone zones is selected. Depending on the source of the voice call, which is the first mobile device, the at least one phone zone is selected based on the identifier of the first mobile device, Depending on the source of the voice call, which is a second mobile device, the system selects at least one phone zone based on the identifier of the second mobile device, An application of the automobile's computing system, wherein the voice call includes metadata related to the voice call, and the selection of at least one telephone zone based on the related metadata depending on the source of the voice call, Select the first telephone zone in accordance with the user input corresponding to the first telephone zone of the plurality of telephone zones, In response to the user input corresponding to the first and second telephone zones of the plurality of telephone zones, both the first and second telephone zones are selected. The method according to claim 5, including the method described in claim 5.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of telephone zones includes at least one microphone and at least one speaker.

8. Providing the incoming audio from the voice call to the at least one telephone zone via the speaker of the at least one telephone zone is to The incoming audio is routed to the mixer in the telephone zone, Broadcasting the incoming audio through the speaker in at least one of the telephone zones, The method according to claim 5, including the method described in claim 5.

9. To acquire the outgoing audio relating to the voice call from the at least one telephone zone via the microphone of the at least one telephone zone, The aforementioned outgoing audio is routed to a speech processor, The aforementioned outgoing audio is transmitted via a wireless network, The method according to claim 5, including the method described in claim 5.

10. Based on the location of the at least one telephone zone, signal processing is applied to the incoming audio and the outgoing audio, Applying echo cancellation and beamforming to the aforementioned outgoing sound The method according to claim 5, including the method described in claim 5.

11. A computing system, A first telephone zone located inside the cabin of an automobile, wherein the first telephone zone includes a first microphone and a first speaker, A second telephone zone located within the cabin of the automobile, wherein the second telephone zone includes a second microphone and a second speaker, User input devices and, A processor connected to the aforementioned computing system in a communicative manner, In response to a voice call, the system selects one of the first telephone zone and the second telephone zone based on user input from the user input device and the source of the voice call. In accordance with the selection of the first telephone zone, incoming voice call audio is routed to the first speaker, outgoing telephone audio is acquired from the first microphone, and outgoing telephone audio is not acquired from the second microphone. Depending on the selection of the second telephone zone, the incoming voice call audio is routed to the second speaker, the outgoing telephone audio is acquired from the second microphone, and the outgoing telephone audio is not acquired from the first microphone. In response to detecting the audio source of the main system, the audio gain related to the audio source of the main system is reduced and the audio source of the main system is compressed. Based on the position of the first speaker relative to the second speaker, the first speaker is adjusted, Based on the position of the first speaker relative to the second speaker, the second speaker is adjusted, Adjusting the speaker settings of the first speaker and the second speaker, A storage device that stores instructions executable by the processor to perform the following: A computing system equipped with [a specific feature / equipment].

12. The aforementioned storage device In response to detecting the audio source of the main system and selecting the first telephone zone, the reverse of the audio from the audio source of the main system is output to the first speaker. In response to detecting the audio source of the main system and selecting the second telephone zone, the reverse of the audio from the audio source of the main system is output to the second speaker. To execute, The computing system according to claim 11, which stores further instructions that can be executed by the processor.

13. In order to acquire the outgoing telephone audio from the first microphone, the storage device, To apply beamforming and echo cancellation to the telephone audio output from the first microphone, The computing system according to claim 11 or 12, which stores further instructions that can be executed by the processor.

14. In order to acquire the outgoing telephone audio from the second microphone, the storage device, To apply beamforming and echo cancellation to the outgoing telephone audio from the second microphone, The computing system according to claim 11 or 12, which stores further instructions that can be executed by the processor.

15. The computing system according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the source of the voice call is a mobile phone communicatively coupled to the computing system.

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