An electronic apparatus and a method of operating the electronic apparatus

Abstract

According to embodiments, an electronic device and a method of operating the same are disclosed. An electronic device according to embodiments includes a first sound receiver that receives a sound input by supplying power for receiving a sound input in a standby state; a trigger word recognition unit that recognizes whether the sound input received from the first sound receiver corresponds to a trigger word; a second sound receiver that receives the sound input by supplying power as the trigger word is recognized by the trigger word recognition unit; and a data transmission and reception unit that outputs a first sound input signal supplied from the first sound receiver and a second sound input signal supplied from the second sound receiver.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] Various embodiments relate to an electronic device and a method of operation thereof, and more specifically, to an electronic device and a method of operation thereof that receives and processes a voice signal used for a voice recognition function. Background Technology

[0002] Recently, various devices supporting voice recognition functions have become widespread. Voice recognition refers to the ability to recognize a user's spoken voice and process data based on that voice to perform specific functions. Furthermore, devices implementing voice recognition functions combined with artificial intelligence can perform various tasks, such as searching for content like video and audio, searching for general knowledge or lifestyle information, or launching specific applications. Such voice recognition functions can be implemented in various computing devices, including speakers, TVs, smartphones, and OTT boxes.

[0003] However, due to the nature of the voice recognition function, a device implementing such voice recognition must be in a state ready to perform the function of recognizing the received speech whenever the user's spoken voice is received. Therefore, since the sensor and voice recognition processing circuit for such voice recognition must always be in a powered-on state, power consumption due to the sensor and circuit for voice recognition can be a problem in portable devices that use batteries as a power source. The problem to be solved

[0004] Various embodiments aim to provide an electronic device and a method of operation thereof, in which a module capable of processing voice signals to reduce battery consumption is implemented. means of solving the problem

[0005] An electronic device according to one embodiment includes a first sound receiver that receives a sound input by supplying power for receiving a sound input in a standby state, a trigger word recognition unit that recognizes whether the sound input received from the first sound receiver corresponds to a trigger word, a second sound receiver that receives the sound input by supplying power as the trigger word is recognized by the trigger word recognition unit, and a data transmission / reception unit that outputs a first sound input signal supplied from the first sound receiver and a second sound input signal supplied from the second sound receiver.

[0006] According to one embodiment, the electronic device may further include a power control unit that controls power to be supplied to the second sound receiver upon receiving a control signal indicating that the trigger word has been recognized from the trigger word recognition unit.

[0007] According to one embodiment, the electronic device may further include a voice signal processing unit that receives a first sound input signal supplied from a first sound receiver and a second sound input signal supplied from a second sound receiver, and processes the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal, by supplying power as the trigger word is recognized by the trigger word recognition unit.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the power control unit may control power to be supplied to the second sound receiving unit upon receiving a control signal indicating that the trigger word has been recognized from the trigger word recognition unit.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the voice signal processing unit may generate a stereo signal by mixing the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal.

[0010] According to one embodiment, the power control unit supplies power to the second sound receiver upon receiving a key input signal requesting a voice recognition function and cuts off the power supply to the first sound receiver, and the data transmission and reception unit can receive and output the second sound input signal from the second sound receiver operating according to the power supply.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the data transmission and reception unit may output the second sound input signal output according to the key input signal by inserting a flag that distinguishes the second sound input signal output according to the key input signal from the first sound input signal output according to the trigger word recognition and the second sound input signal.

[0012] According to one embodiment, based on the flag, the second sound input signal output according to the key input signal may undergo voice processing that is distinguished from the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal output according to the trigger word recognition.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the device further includes a switch connected to the second sound receiver, wherein the switch may transmit the second sound input signal supplied from the second sound receiver to the data transmission / reception unit upon receiving a key input signal requesting the voice recognition function, or transmit the second sound input signal to a voice signal processing unit that performs processing with the first sound input signal according to the trigger word recognition.

[0014] A method of operation of an electronic device according to one embodiment comprises: receiving a sound input by a first sound receiver to which power is supplied for receiving a sound input in a standby state; recognizing whether the sound input received from the first sound receiver corresponds to a trigger word; receiving the sound input by a second sound receiver to which power is supplied as the trigger word is recognized; and outputting a first sound input signal supplied from the first sound receiver and a second sound input signal supplied from the second sound receiver by a data transmission and reception unit. Effects of the invention

[0015] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, in an electronic device having a voice recognition function, power consumption can be reduced because power is supplied to some components performing the voice recognition function when a trigger word is recognized, thereby eliminating the need to always supply power to all components performing the voice recognition function. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0016] FIG. 1 is a reference diagram for explaining the concept of a system to which various embodiments are applied. FIG. 2 shows an example of a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment. FIG. 3a shows another example of a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment. FIG. 3b shows another example of a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an electronic device according to one embodiment. FIG. 5 is a specific flowchart of the voice recognition function operation in an electronic device according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a specific flowchart of the operation of a voice recognition function in an electronic device according to one embodiment. FIG. 7 shows another example of an electronic device according to one embodiment. FIG. 8 shows another example of an electronic device according to one embodiment. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0017] The terms used in this specification will be briefly explained, and the invention will be described in detail.

[0018] The terms used in this invention have been selected based on currently widely used general terms, taking into account their functions within the invention; however, these terms may vary depending on the intent of those skilled in the art, case law, the emergence of new technologies, etc. Additionally, in specific cases, terms have been arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in such cases, their meanings will be described in detail in the relevant description of the invention. Therefore, the terms used in this invention should be defined not merely by their names, but based on their meanings and the overall content of the invention.

[0019] When a part of a specification is described as "including" a certain component, this means that, unless specifically stated otherwise, it does not exclude other components but may include additional components. Furthermore, terms such as "...part" or "module" as used in the specification refer to a unit that processes at least one function or operation, and this may be implemented in hardware or software, or as a combination of hardware and software.

[0020] The following describes embodiments with reference to the attached drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. However, the present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, in order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts unrelated to the explanation have been omitted, and similar parts throughout the specification are denoted by similar reference numerals.

[0021] In the embodiments of this specification, the term "user" refers to a person who controls the function or operation of a computing device or electronic device using a control device, and may include a viewer, an administrator, or an installation technician.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a reference diagram for explaining the concept of a system to which various embodiments are applied.

[0023] Components for a voice recognition function according to various embodiments can be applied to various electronic devices. Referring to FIG. 1, components for a voice recognition function according to various embodiments can be applied to electronic devices such as, for example, a display device 10 such as a television, a smartphone 20, an OTT box 30, a speaker 40, and a remote controller 50.

[0024] The voice recognition function can be applied, for example, to a remote controller 50 and used to control a display device 10. For example, a user can control the display device 10 by simply starting to speak into the remote controller 50, or can trigger the microphone to operate to receive the voice speech by pressing a microphone button 51 provided on the remote controller 50.

[0025] Voice recognition functions can be combined with artificial intelligence technology to provide voice assistant services. An artificial intelligence system is a computer system that implements human-level intelligence, where the machine learns and makes judgments autonomously, and the recognition rate improves with use. Artificial intelligence technology consists of machine learning (deep learning) technology, which utilizes algorithms to classify and learn the characteristics of input data autonomously, and component technologies that mimic the cognitive and judgmental functions of the human brain by utilizing machine learning algorithms. The component technologies may include, for example, at least one of linguistic understanding technology that recognizes human language / characters; visual understanding technology that perceives objects like human vision; reasoning / prediction technology that judges information to logically infer and predict; knowledge representation technology that processes human experience information into knowledge data; and motion control technology that controls autonomous driving of vehicles and the movement of robots.

[0026] Generally, each voice recognition module recognizes a unique trigger word or wake-up word upon receiving it and enters a state of listening for the next utterance from the user. For example, a voice recognition module can be woken up by the trigger word "Hi Bixby."

[0027] Typically, a speech recognition function module is trained to recognize its own unique trigger word that refers to itself, but it is not necessarily limited to this, and the speech recognition function module may be trained to recognize multiple trigger words.

[0028] Voice recognition functions that control various devices using user speech can be classified into near-field voice recognition, which uses button input as a trigger, and far-field voice recognition, which uses specific spoken words as a trigger. Near-field voice recognition may have limitations in interaction because it requires holding a specific device, pressing a button, and then speaking. In other words, since users wishing to use the voice recognition function must press a button provided on the electronic device to start the function, there is a limitation in that the electronic device must always be carried to use such voice recognition functions. On the other hand, far-field voice recognition, which recognizes speech using specific spoken words, allows users to control devices within a certain distance simply by speaking a trigger word whenever they want, making the voice recognition function more convenient and thus creating a need for it.

[0029] In the case of conventional remote voice recognition devices, power had to be supplied to the microphone at all times to perform voice recognition because it was not known when a person would speak. Consequently, there were limitations such as the need to install the device in a location where a power plug could be connected, or, in the case of devices with built-in batteries, the usage time was less than one day, resulting in the inconvenience of having to charge it frequently.

[0030] In other words, in the case of conventional long-range voice recognition, sound had to be recorded and analyzed constantly because it was impossible to know when the user would utter a trigger word. For this reason, since current consumption in the microphone-related block was constant, the long-range voice recognition module had to be applied to a device capable of supplying a stable power supply. For devices such as TV remote controllers, low-power technology is essential to allow for about a year of operation without battery replacement using standard alkaline batteries (e.g., two AA or two AAA batteries); therefore, they were designed using a button-type Push-to-Talk method. When applying long-range voice recognition to such remote controllers, a problem arises in that the microphone block must always be enabled because it is impossible to know when the user will speak. Consequently, since a large amount of standby power is consumed, user inconvenience is inevitable, requiring the use of a large battery capacity or frequent battery replacement.

[0031] Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in this disclosure aim to provide an electronic device that enables the use of a long-distance voice recognition function for an extended period without a constant power connection.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows an example of a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device 100 may include a sound receiver 110, a voice processing unit 120, a power control unit 130, a data transmission and reception unit 140, and a control unit 180. It may include a sound receiver 110, a voice processing unit 120, a power control unit 130, a data transmission and reception unit 140, and a control unit 180. At least some components of the electronic device 100, for example, the sound receiver 110, the voice processing unit 120, the power control unit 130, the data transmission and reception unit 140, and the control unit 180 may be electrically connected. In various embodiments, the electronic device 100 may be named as a computing device or a remote control device, and may include additional components in addition to the components shown in FIG. 2, or some components may be omitted. For example, the electronic device 100 may further include a display, memory, a speaker, etc.

[0034] The control unit 180 can control the sound receiver 110, voice processing unit 120, power control unit 130, data transmission and reception unit 140, etc., including the processor.

[0035] The sound receiver 110 may include a first sound receiver 111 and a second sound receiver 112 for receiving sound input.

[0036] The first sound receiver 111 and the second sound receiver 112 are equipped with a microphone or the like to receive or store sound input from an external source. The first sound receiver 111 and the second sound receiver 112 can be implemented as an integrated unit with the electronic device 100, as well as as a separate unit. The separated sound receivers can be connected to the electronic device 100 via a wired or wireless network.

[0037] According to one embodiment, the first sound receiver 111 can always receive power supply to detect whether a sound input is received from outside the electronic device 100. That is, the first sound receiver 111 can maintain a state in which power is supplied for receiving a sound input while the electronic device 100 is in standby mode. At this time, the sound receiver 111 can receive not only the user's voice but also various audio signals, such as noise like indoor noise. The first sound receiver 111 can detect that the user's voice has been input if the volume of the received sound increases by more than a preset value compared to the volume of the previously input sound. This is because in a typical home or office environment, various audio other than the user's voice is input through the sound receiver. At this time, since the noise input in a typical home or office environment has a constant volume, the sound receiver can detect that the user's voice has been input if the volume of the currently input sound increases by more than a preset value compared to the volume of the sound input normally. For example, if the normal input sound level is 20dB, the sound receiver can determine that only audio that is greater than or equal to a preset value (e.g., 12dB) than the normal input sound level is the user's voice.

[0038] Alternatively, for example, the first sound receiver 111 may always record sound input received from the outside and detect whether the recorded sound input exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the first sound receiver 111 determines that the recorded sound input does not exceed the predetermined threshold as a result of detection, it may determine that the sound input is not a valid sound but is noise or ambient noise, and may not take any action regarding it. If the first sound receiver 111 determines that the recorded sound input exceeds the predetermined threshold as a result of detection, it may determine that the sound input is a sound containing valid information. If the first sound receiver 111 determines that the recorded sound input is a valid sound, it may transmit the recorded sound input to a trigger word recognition unit 121 so that it can determine whether such a valid sound corresponds to a trigger word.

[0039] In addition, when the first sound receiver 111 receives a control signal indicating that it is a trigger word recognition signal from the trigger word recognition unit 121, it can transmit the received sound input to the voice signal processing unit 122 for voice signal processing of the sound input. That is, when the sound input is recognized by the trigger word recognition unit 121 as corresponding to the trigger word, the first sound receiver 111 can transmit the sound input to the voice signal processing unit 122 so that the received sound input can be processed as a voice signal.

[0040] The second sound receiver 112 may normally be in an off state as power is not supplied. When the second sound receiver 112 receives a power control signal from the power control unit 130, power is supplied and the unit is powered on to operate. When power is supplied, the second sound receiver 112 receives a sound input and can transmit the received sound input signal to the voice processing unit 122. The power control signal from the power control unit 130 can be transmitted by the power control unit 130 to the second sound receiver 112 when the trigger word recognition unit 121 determines that the sound input corresponds to a trigger word. In this way, when the received sound input corresponds to a trigger word, power is supplied to the second sound receiver 112, and the second sound receiver 112 performs the operation of receiving the sound input, and normally, the second sound receiver 112 maintains a state where power is not supplied, so power consumption can be prevented.

[0041] The voice processing unit 120 is a block that processes a sound input signal received from the sound receiving unit 110, and may include a trigger word recognition unit 121 and a voice signal processing unit 122.

[0042] When the trigger word recognition unit 121 receives a sound input from the first sound receiving unit 111, it can detect whether the received sound input corresponds to a predetermined trigger word.

[0043] According to one embodiment, the trigger word recognition unit 121 can recognize a trigger word by pre-training one or more trigger words using an acoustic model, phonetic symbols, etc. According to one embodiment, the trigger word recognition unit 121 can use a threshold of a recognition score to determine that the corresponding trigger word is recognized when the recognition score of a certain trigger word exceeds the threshold, and determine that the corresponding trigger word is not recognized when it does not exceed the threshold.

[0044] If the trigger word recognition unit 121 determines, based on the detection result, that the received sound input does not correspond to a predetermined trigger word, it may not take any action. If the trigger word recognition unit 121 determines, based on the detection result, that the received sound input corresponds to a predetermined trigger word, it may transmit a control signal indicating that the trigger word has been recognized to the power control unit 130 and the first sound receiving unit 111 so that a subsequent operation can be performed after the trigger word is recognized.

[0045] The voice signal processing unit 122 may be in an off state because power is not supplied during normal operation, that is, in the standby mode of the electronic device 100. When the voice signal processing unit 122 receives a power control signal from the power control unit 130, power is supplied and the unit is powered on to operate. When power is supplied, the voice signal processing unit 122 receives a first sound input from the first sound receiver and a second sound input from the second sound receiver 112, and can mix the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal to transmit the mixed signal to the data transmission / reception unit 140. By mixing the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal in this way, the voice signal processing unit 122 can generate a stereo signal. In addition, since the voice signal processing unit 122 receives a sound input signal for long-distance voice recognition, there is a high possibility that noise will be mixed in, so processing such as noise removal may be performed. When the trigger word recognition unit 121 determines that the sound input corresponds to the trigger word, the power control signal from the power control unit 130 can be transmitted to the voice signal processing unit 122. In this way, when the received sound input corresponds to the trigger word, power is supplied to the voice signal processing unit 122, and the voice signal processing unit 122 performs voice processing on the received sound input signal. Normally, the voice signal processing unit 122 maintains a state where power is not supplied, thereby preventing power consumption.

[0046] When the power control unit 130 receives a trigger word recognition signal from the trigger word recognition unit 121, it can transmit a power control signal to the second sound receiver 112 and the voice signal processing unit 122 to control the power supply to the second sound receiver 112 and the voice signal processing unit 122. Upon transmission of the power control signal, power is supplied to the corresponding component, and the component can be put into a power-on state where it can perform operations.

[0047] The data transmission / reception unit 140 is a block that performs the role of transmitting received data and may include a data reception unit 141 and a data transmission unit 142. The data transmission / reception unit 140 can transmit and receive data externally using a wireless internet module or a short-range communication module. For example, a wireless internet module refers to a module for wireless internet access, and wireless internet technologies such as WLAN (Wireless LAN) (WiFi), Wibro (Wireless broadband), WiMAX (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), and HSDPA (High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access) may be used. A short-range communication module refers to a module for short-range communication. Short-range communication technologies such as Bluetooth, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), infrared communication (IrDA, infrared Data Association), UWB (Ultra Wideband), and ZigBee may be used.

[0048] The data receiving unit 141 receives signal-processed data from the voice signal processing unit 122 and can transmit it to the data transmitting unit 142.

[0049] The data transmitting unit 142 can transmit data received from the data receiving unit 141 to an external device. For example, the data transmitting unit 142 can transmit the received data to an external device through a communication interface.

[0050] Voice recognition can be classified according to the form of the input speech into isolated word recognition, which recognizes spoken speech by distinguishing individual words; continuous speech recognition, which recognizes continuous words, sentences, and conversational speech; and keyword spotting, an intermediate form between isolated and continuous speech recognition that recognizes speech by detecting predefined keywords. When user voice is input, the start and end of the speech spoken by the user within the input voice signal are detected to determine the speech segment. Furthermore, the energy of the input voice signal is calculated, and the energy levels of the voice signal are classified according to the calculated energy to detect the speech segment through dynamic programming. Additionally, phonemes, the smallest units of speech, are detected from the voice signals within the detected speech segments based on an acoustic model to generate phoneme data. Subsequently, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) probabilistic model is applied to the generated phoneme data to produce text information. One or more modules that perform such voice recognition operations may be included inside the electronic device 100. In this case, the voice recognition module may receive a signal output from the voice processing unit 120 and perform voice recognition processing. According to another example, the electronic device 100 may only acquire sound data used for voice recognition and transmit the acquired sound data to another device through a communication interface, etc. For example, if the electronic device 100 is implemented as a remote controller, the data transmission unit 142 of the electronic device 100 may transmit the received data to a display device such as a television using various communication methods.

[0051] According to the electronic device 100 illustrated in FIG. 2, the second sound receiver 112 and the voice signal processing unit 122 are normally in a power-off state without power supply, but when a trigger word is recognized by the trigger word recognition unit 121, power is supplied and operation can be performed. Therefore, since the second sound receiver 112 and the voice signal processing unit 122 are powered on and operate when operation is required, there is no need to always supply power, so power consumption can be reduced.

[0052] Since the second sound receiver 112 and the voice signal processing unit 122 operate when there is data to process by receiving a sound input, even if power is supplied and the unit is turned on, it can transition to a power-off state if there is no longer any reception of sound input. For example, the second sound receiver 112 can proceed to a power-off state if the time during which no sound input is received from the outside exceeds a certain threshold. Also, for example, the voice signal processing unit 122 can proceed to a power-off state if the time during which there is no data to process because no sound input signal is received from the first sound receiver or the second sound receiver exceeds a certain threshold.

[0053] According to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, battery life can be secured by supplying power to one sound receiver, for example, a first sound receiver, rather than supplying power to both sound receivers in the standby state of the electronic device 100, and determining a trigger word based on the sound input received from the first sound receiver.

[0054] And when the sound input received from the first sound receiver is recognized as a trigger word, power is supplied to the second sound receiver, thereby utilizing the sound input received from the second sound receiver along with the first sound input signal received from the first sound receiver for voice processing, so that signal collection for long-distance voice recognition can be performed efficiently.

[0055] In addition, by separating the power supply for the trigger word recognition unit and the voice signal processing unit, power can be supplied to the voice signal processing unit only when operation of the voice signal processing unit is actually required, thereby further optimizing power consumption.

[0056] FIG. 3a shows another example 100a of a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0057] In the example of the electronic device 100a shown in FIG. 3a, a configuration in which a voice recognition function is performed by receiving a key input signal may be additionally included. As previously explained, in long-range voice recognition, the electronic device is triggered to perform the voice recognition function only by the user speaking, but in short-range voice recognition, the electronic device can be triggered to perform the voice recognition function by pressing a button provided in the electronic device 100.

[0058] Referring to FIG. 3a, the electronic device 100a may further include a switch 150 and a user input unit 160 in addition to the sound receiver 110, voice processing unit 120, power control unit 130, and data transmission / reception unit 140 shown in FIG. 2.

[0059] A component corresponding to the same reference number as the component shown in FIG. 2 can perform substantially the same function as the component shown in FIG. 2. However, the electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 3a may further include a switch 150 for a flow for a voice recognition function triggered by a button press.

[0060] The user input unit 160 can receive user input for controlling the electronic device 100a. For example, the user input unit 160 may include one or more physical buttons arranged on the outside of the electronic device 100a, or may include a touch input interface, etc. When the user input unit 160 receives a user input signal indicating a voice recognition function, it may transmit a control signal corresponding to such user input signal to the switch 150 and the power control unit 130. A control signal corresponding to a user input signal indicating a voice recognition function in this manner may simply be referred to as a "key input signal."

[0061] Switch 150 can be triggered by a key input signal. For example, Switch 150 can receive a control signal according to a key input signal generated by pressing a voice recognition function button provided in electronic device 100. When Switch 150 receives a control signal according to a key input signal, it can immediately transmit a sound input signal received from the second sound receiver 112 to the data receiver 141. That is, the reception of a key input signal means that the user holds electronic device 100a and triggers the voice recognition function by pressing a button provided in electronic device 100, so it can indicate that electronic device 100a is located very close to the user. Therefore, since it is considered that sufficient data for voice recognition can be collected by receiving sound input using only one sound receiver 112 without the need to receive sound input using both sound receivers 111 and 112 included in the sound receiver 110, the switch 150 can operate to transmit the second sound input signal received from the second sound receiver 112 as is to the data receiver 141.

[0062] When the power control unit 130 receives a control signal corresponding to a key input signal, it can transmit a power control signal to supply power to the second sound receiver 112. Accordingly, the second sound receiver that receives this power control signal is powered on and receives a sound input, and can transmit the received sound input to the switch 150.

[0063] According to one embodiment, the power control unit 130 can control the power supply to the first sound receiver 111 to stop supplying power when the near-field voice recognition function (near-field voice recognition function) is performed by receiving a key input signal, since the trigger word recognition operation is unnecessary when near-field voice recognition is started by the key input, and to supply power to the first sound receiver 111 again after the near-field voice recognition is terminated.

[0064] According to one embodiment, the power control unit 130 can control the first sound receiver 111 to always be supplied with power for long-distance voice recognition, which performs a voice recognition function targeting a user's speech in a normal usage state, and the second sound receiver 112 to be supplied with power for voice processing when a trigger word is recognized.

[0065] According to one embodiment, the power control unit 130 ensures that power is always supplied to the first sound receiver 111 for long-range voice recognition in normal usage conditions as described above, but when performing short-range voice recognition by receiving a key input signal, it can perform the operation by receiving a sound input from the second sound receiver 112, thereby enabling additional low power consumption by stopping the power supply to the first sound receiver 111. And when the short-range voice recognition operation through the second sound receiver 112 is terminated, the power control unit 130 can resume power supply to the first sound receiver 111 to prepare for long-range voice recognition, while stopping the power supply to the second sound receiver 112.

[0066] In the example illustrated in FIG. 3a, when performing a long-distance voice recognition function, the same operation as described in FIG. 2 may be performed. However, in this case, the switch 150 may not transmit the second sound input received from the second sound receiver 112 directly to the data receiver 141, but rather transmit it to the voice signal processing unit 122 of the voice processing unit 120.

[0067] That is, when performing a short-range voice recognition function by such a switch 150, the switch 150 transmits the second sound input signal received by the second sound receiver 112 as is to the data receiver 141, and when performing a long-range voice recognition function, the switch 150 can transmit the second sound input signal received by the second sound receiver 112 to the voice signal processing unit 122 for mixing with the first sound input signal.

[0068] FIG. 3b shows another example 100b of a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0069] In the example of the electronic device illustrated in FIG. 3b, a configuration in which a voice recognition function is performed by receiving a key input signal may be additionally included. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3a, for the near-field voice recognition function, a switch is provided to receive a sound input using one of the sound receivers included in the sound receiver and transmit it as is to the data transmission unit; however, in the example illustrated in FIG. 3b, an example is described in which a voice signal is processed using both of the two sound receivers included in the sound receiver even in the case of the near-field voice recognition function.

[0070] Accordingly, the control signal based on the key input signal can be transmitted to the power control unit 130 and the first sound receiver 111.

[0071] When the first sound receiver 111 receives a control signal according to a key input signal, the first sound receiver can transmit the received first sound input signal to the voice signal processing unit 122.

[0072] When the power control unit 130 receives a control signal corresponding to a key input signal, it can transmit a power control signal to supply power to the second sound receiver 112 and the voice signal processing unit 122. Accordingly, the second sound receiver 112, upon receiving such a power control signal, is powered on by supplying power and receives the second sound input, and can transmit the received second sound input to the voice signal processing unit 122. In addition, the voice signal processing unit 122, upon receiving the power control signal, is powered on by supplying power and receives the first sound input signal from the first sound receiver 111 and the second sound input signal from the second sound receiver 112, and can mix the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal and output them to the data transmission / reception unit 140.

[0073] That is, even if the voice recognition function in the electronic device 100b is started by pressing a button, the distance between the user and the electronic device 100b may increase after the voice recognition function is started, so the electronic device 100 can be implemented to receive sound input and operate by both of the two sound receivers, the first sound receiver 111 and the second sound receiver 112, rather than by only one sound receiver.

[0074] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0075] Referring to FIG. 4, in operation 410, the electronic device 100 can recognize whether the sound input received from the first sound receiver corresponds to a trigger word.

[0076] For example, an electronic device 100 can record sound continuously received from the outside using a microphone, etc., and when it is determined that there is a valid sound among the recorded sounds, it can determine whether the recorded sound corresponds to a trigger word. The electronic device 100 can compare the recorded sound with a predetermined or pre-stored trigger word, and if the comparison result exceeds a threshold that serves as a criterion for determining that it corresponds to a trigger word, it can recognize it as a trigger word, and if the comparison result does not exceed a threshold that serves as a criterion for determining that it corresponds to a trigger word, it can recognize it as not being a trigger word.

[0077] In operation 420, the electronic device 100 can output a power control signal so that power is supplied to the second sound receiver and the voice signal processing unit as the trigger word is recognized. When the power control signal is received by the second sound receiver in this manner, the second sound receiver is powered on by supplying power, thereby enabling it to receive a sound input from the outside and transmit the received sound input signal to the voice signal processing unit. When the power control signal is received by the voice signal processing unit, the voice signal processing unit is powered on by supplying power, thereby enabling it to process the sound input signal received by the voice signal processing unit.

[0078] In operation 430, the electronic device 100 receives a first sound input signal supplied from a first sound receiver and a second sound input signal supplied from a second sound receiver by a powered voice signal processing unit, mixes the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal to generate a stereo sound, and outputs the generated stereo sound.

[0079] FIG. 5 is a specific flowchart of the voice recognition function operation in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0080] Referring to FIG. 5, in operation 501, the first sound receiver 111 can continuously receive sound input from the outside. For example, the first sound receiver 111 can continuously store sound input received from the outside.

[0081] In operation 502, the first sound receiver 111 can determine whether the stored sound input has valid sound information. For example, the first sound receiver 111 can determine whether a predetermined characteristic of the stored sound input exceeds a predetermined threshold to determine whether the stored sound input has valid sound information or only ordinary noise signals. If the first sound receiver 111 determines that the predetermined characteristic of the stored sound input does not exceed the predetermined threshold, the first sound receiver 111 does not perform any particular operation, as there is no need to take a specific action.

[0082] In operation 503, if the first sound receiver 111 determines that a predetermined characteristic of the stored sound input exceeds a predetermined threshold, it may transmit the stored sound input to the trigger word recognition unit 121 to determine whether the sound input corresponds to a trigger word.

[0083] In operation 504, the trigger word recognition unit 121, which receives an input sound from the first sound receiver 111, can determine whether the received input sound corresponds to a trigger word.

[0084] In operation 505, if the trigger word recognition unit 121 determines that it has recognized a trigger word in the input sound as a result of the trigger word recognition, the trigger word recognition unit 121 can transmit a trigger word recognition signal indicating that the trigger word has been recognized to the first sound receiver 111.

[0085] In operation 506, the trigger word recognition unit 121 can transmit the trigger word recognition signal to the power control unit 130.

[0086] The power control unit 130, upon receiving the trigger word recognition signal, can transmit the power control signal to the voice signal processing unit 122 (operation 507) and transmit the power control signal to the second sound receiver 112 (operation 508). The voice signal processing unit 122 is normally in a power-off state as power is not supplied, but upon receiving the power control signal from the power control unit 130, the voice signal processing unit 122 is supplied with power by this power control signal and becomes power-on, and can enter a state ready to perform an operation. The second sound receiver 112 is also normally in a power-off state as power is not supplied, but upon receiving the power control signal from the power control unit 130, the second sound receiver 112 is supplied with power by this power control signal and becomes power-on, and can enter a state ready to perform an operation.

[0087] In operation 509, the second sound receiver 112, which is powered, can receive a sound input from the outside and transmit the received sound input signal to the voice signal processing unit 122. That is, until the trigger word is recognized in the electronic device 100, only the first sound receiver 111 operates and monitors the sound input until it receives a sound input containing the trigger word, but after the trigger word is recognized, the second sound receiver 112 also wakes up and operates, so both the first sound receiver and the second sound receiver can receive the sound input and transmit it to the voice signal processing unit.

[0088] In operation 510, the first sound receiver 111, which received the trigger word recognition signal in the preceding operation 505, can transmit the input sound to the voice signal processing unit 122. That is, before the trigger word recognition, the first sound receiver 111 had the role of transmitting the input sound to the trigger word recognition unit 121 to detect whether the trigger word was included in the input sound, but after the trigger word recognition, the first sound receiver 111 can transmit the input sound to the voice signal processing unit 122 for voice processing of the received input sound.

[0089] In operation 511, the voice signal processing unit 122 can process the voice signal by mixing the first sound input signal received from the first sound receiver 111 and the second sound input signal received from the second sound receiver 112.

[0090] In operation 512, the voice signal processing unit 122 can transmit the processed voice signal to the data transmission and reception unit 140.

[0091] FIG. 6 is a specific flowchart of the operation of a voice recognition function in an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0092] Referring to FIG. 6, in operation 601, the user input unit 160 can receive user input indicating a voice recognition function. For example, the user input indicating a voice recognition function may include a voice recognition function button press signal by a user, etc.

[0093] In operation 602, the user input unit 160 can transmit a key input signal generated in response to a user input indicating a voice recognition function to the power control unit 130.

[0094] In operation 603, the power control unit 130 can transmit a power control signal to the second sound receiver 112 for a voice recognition function based on the key input upon receiving a key input signal.

[0095] In operation 604, the power control unit 130 receives a key input signal, and a voice recognition function based on the key input is performed. Since the first sound receiver 111, which is supplied with power for long-distance voice recognition, may not need to operate while the second sound receiver 112 is operating to perform the voice recognition function based on the key input, a control signal for cutting off power supply can be transmitted to the first sound receiver 111. In operation 605, the second sound receiver 112, which is normally in a power-off state because power is not supplied, can receive input sound by being powered on by a power control signal received from the power control unit 130.

[0096] In operation 606, the second sound receiver 112 can transmit the received input sound to the data transmission and reception unit 140.

[0097] When sound input for performing voice recognition functions according to key input is no longer received by the second sound receiver 112, the power control unit 130 can transmit a power control signal to supply power to the first sound receiver 111 and a power control signal to cut off power supply to the second sound receiver 112 in order to put the electronic device 100 back into standby mode.

[0098] FIG. 7 shows another example of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0099] Referring to FIG. 7, a system to which an electronic device 100c according to another example is applied may include a display device 10, an electronic device 100c, and a network 70 through which the display device 10 and the electronic device 100c communicate.

[0100] According to one embodiment, the electronic device 100c may include a sound receiver 110, a trigger word recognition unit 121, a power control unit 130, a data transmission and reception unit 140, a user input unit 160, and a control unit 180. At least some components of the electronic device 100c, for example, the sound receiver 110, the trigger word recognition unit 121, the power control unit 130, the data transmission and reception unit 140, and the user input unit 160 may be electrically connected to the control unit 180.

[0101] The electronic device 100c shown in Fig. 7 is similar to the electronic device 100 shown in Fig. 2, but differs in that it does not include a voice signal processing unit 122.

[0102] In the electronic device 100 illustrated in FIG. 2, a voice signal processing unit 122 performs processing such as mixing or filtering the first sound input signal from the first sound receiver 111 and the second sound input signal from the second sound receiver 112, and outputs the mixed signal externally. However, in the electronic device 100c illustrated in FIG. 7, such a voice signal processing unit is not included in the electronic device 100c, and the display device 10 includes a voice signal processing module 16 that acts as the voice signal processing unit. Therefore, when the electronic device 100c illustrated in FIG. 7 transmits the received first sound input signal and the second sound input signal to the display device 10 without voice signal processing, the display device 10 can perform mixing or filtering processing of the received first sound input signal and the second sound input signal.

[0103] Since the component of the electronic device 100c shown in FIG. 7 performs the same function as the component of the electronic device 100c shown in FIG. 2 with the same number reference, a redundant description is omitted, and an operation that differs from the operation of the component of the electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 2 is described.

[0104] According to one embodiment, a trigger word recognition unit 121, which receives a sound input signal from a first sound receiver 111 that is powered on in a standby state, recognizes whether the received sound input signal corresponds to a trigger word, and if it is determined that it corresponds to a trigger word, can transmit a trigger word recognition signal to a power control unit 130. The power control unit 130, upon receiving the trigger word recognition signal, can control the second sound receiver 112 to receive a sound input by controlling the supply of power to the second sound receiver 112. The first sound input signal received by the first sound receiver 111 and the second sound input signal received by the second sound receiver 112 are transmitted directly to a data transmission / reception unit 140 without voice signal processing, and the data transmission / reception unit 140 can transmit the received first sound input signal and the second sound input signal to a display device 10 through a network 70.

[0105] According to one embodiment, a power control unit 130 that receives a key input signal from a user input unit 160 can control power to be supplied to a second sound receiver unit 112 so that the second sound receiver unit 112 receives a sound input. The second sound input signal received by the second sound receiver unit 112 is immediately transmitted to a data transmission and reception unit 140, and the data transmission and reception unit 140 can transmit the received second sound input signal to a display device 10.

[0106] According to one embodiment, when a power control unit 130 receives a key input signal from a user input unit 160 and controls power to be supplied to a second sound receiver unit 112, the power control unit 130 may control the power so that the power supply to the first sound receiver unit 111 is cut off. In this way, when only the second sound input signal from the second sound receiver unit 112 is transmitted to the display device 10 according to the key input signal, additional low power consumption can be enabled by cutting off the power supply from the first sound receiver unit 112. In addition, according to one embodiment, when voice reception according to the key input signal is terminated, that is, when sound input is no longer received through the second sound receiver unit 112, the power control unit 130 may control the power to stop the power supply to the second sound receiver unit 112 and resume the power supply to the first sound receiver unit 111 in order to switch the electronic device 100c to a standby state.

[0107] According to one embodiment, a display device 10 may include a display 11, a communication interface 12, a processor 13, a memory 14, and a voice recognition module 15. At least some components of the display device 10, for example, the display 11, the communication interface 12, the memory 14, and the voice recognition module 15, may be electrically connected to the processor 13. In various embodiments, the display device 10 may also be referred to as an electronic device or a computing device. The display device 10 may include additional components in addition to the components shown in FIG. 7, or some components may be omitted.

[0108] According to one embodiment, the display 11 may display an image or video and / or an application execution screen.

[0109] A communication interface 12 according to one embodiment can establish wired or wireless communication with an electronic device 100c according to a defined protocol. Based on the wired or wireless communication, the communication interface 12 can receive a sound input signal to be used for voice recognition from the electronic device 100c.

[0110] The communication interface 12 may include one or more modules that enable wireless communication between the display device 10 and a wireless communication system or between the display device 10 and a network where other electronic devices are located. For example, the communication interface 12 may include a broadcast reception module, a mobile communication module, a wireless internet module, and a short-range communication module. The communication interface 12 may be referred to as a transceiver.

[0111] A broadcast receiving module receives broadcast signals and / or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management server via a broadcast channel. A mobile communication module transmits and receives wireless signals with at least one of a base station, an external terminal, or a server on a mobile communication network. A wireless internet module refers to a module for wireless internet access, and wireless internet technologies such as WLAN (Wireless LAN) (WiFi), Wibro (Wireless broadband), WiMAX (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), and HSDPA (High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access) may be used. A short-range communication module refers to a module for short-range communication. Short-range communication technologies such as Bluetooth, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), infrared communication (IrDA, infrared Data Association), UWB (Ultra Wideband), and ZigBee may be used.

[0112] According to one embodiment, memory 14 may include at least one type of storage medium among flash memory type, hard disk type, multimedia card micro type, card type memory (e.g., SD or XD memory, etc.), RAM (Random Access Memory), SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), magnetic memory, magnetic disk, and optical disk.

[0113] According to one embodiment, memory 14 may store multiple applications. Multiple applications stored in memory 14 may be selected, executed, and operated according to user input. According to one embodiment, memory 14 may store multiple applications, and multiple applications may be loaded into processor 13 and operated.

[0114] According to one embodiment, the processor 13 can control the overall operation of the display device 10. For example, the processor 13 can control the memory 14 to retrieve or store necessary information.

[0115] In one embodiment, the processor 13 can run a content sharing application by executing instructions stored in memory 14. Various modules mentioned in various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0116] According to one embodiment, the voice recognition module 15 can perform a voice recognition function based on a sound input signal received from an electronic device 100c. Additionally, the voice recognition module 15 may include a voice signal processing module 16. When the voice signal processing module 16 receives a first sound input signal and a second sound input signal from the electronic device 100c according to a long-range voice recognition function, it may mix the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal or perform noise removal filter processing, etc. Such a voice recognition module 15 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. When the voice signal processing module 16 receives a second sound input signal from the electronic device 100c according to a near-range voice recognition function, it may perform noise removal filter processing, etc. on the second sound input signal. The noise removal filter processing used for the sound input signal for long-range voice recognition may be implemented differently from the noise removal filter processing used for the sound input signal for near-range voice recognition.

[0117] FIG. 8 shows another example of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0118] Referring to FIG. 8, the system to which the electronic device 100d according to another example is applied is the same as the system shown in FIG. 7. However, unlike the electronic device 100c, the electronic device 100d may further include a flag insertion part 170.

[0119] Since the electronic device 100d illustrated in FIG. 8 does not include a voice signal processing unit, the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal received according to trigger word recognition may be transmitted directly to the display device 10 without voice signal processing, or the second sound input signal may be transmitted directly to the display device 10 according to the key input signal. In this case, the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal transmitted according to trigger word recognition may require mixing into a single signal at the display device 10. Alternatively, the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal transmitted according to trigger word recognition may require a noise removal filter different from the noise removal filter used for the second sound input signal transmitted according to the key input signal. To achieve this, it may be desirable to add flag information to distinguish whether the sound signal sent from the electronic device to the display device is a signal transmitted for far-range voice recognition based on trigger word recognition or a signal transmitted for near-range voice recognition based on key input signal, thereby allowing the display device to know which signal it is about. Accordingly, the electronic device 100d shown in FIG. 8 may further include a flag insertion part 170 for adding flag information.

[0120] According to one embodiment, a trigger word recognition unit 121, which receives a sound input signal from a first sound receiver 111 that is powered on in a standby state, recognizes whether the received sound input signal corresponds to a trigger word, and if it is determined that it corresponds to a trigger word, can transmit a trigger word recognition signal to a power control unit 130 and a flag insertion unit 170. The power control unit 130, which receives the trigger word recognition signal, can control the second sound receiver 112 to receive a sound input by controlling the supply of power to the second sound receiver 112. The flag insertion unit 170 receives the first sound input signal received by the first sound receiver 111 and the second sound input signal received by the second sound receiver 112, and before transmitting the signals to the data transmission / reception unit 140, inserts a flag indicating that the signal is a signal based on trigger word recognition, and can transmit the signal with the inserted flag to the data transmission / reception unit 140. A voice signal processing module 16 of a display device 10 that receives a signal with such a flag inserted can obtain the flag by parsing the received signal, and based on the flag, confirm that the received signals, namely the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal, are signals for long-distance voice recognition, and accordingly, can perform a processing of mixing the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal or a noise removal filter processing suitable for long-distance voice recognition.

[0121] According to one embodiment, when the user input unit 160 receives a key input, the user input interface 150 can transmit the key input signal to the power control unit 130 as well as to the flag insertion unit 170. The power control unit 130, upon receiving the key input signal, can control the supply of power to the second sound receiver 112 so that the second sound receiver 112 receives a sound input. The second sound input signal received by the second sound receiver 112 is transmitted to the flag insertion unit 160, and the flag insertion unit 170 inserts a flag indicating that it is a signal for near-field voice recognition based on the key input signal received from the user input unit 160, and can transmit the signal with the inserted flag to the data transmission / reception unit 140. A voice signal processing module 16 of a display device 10 that receives a signal with such a flag inserted can obtain the flag by parsing the received signal and perform noise removal filter processing suitable for near-field voice recognition according to the flag.

[0122] Although the above description describes a method of inserting separate flags into sound input signals sent according to trigger word recognition and sound input signals sent according to key input signals, the embodiments are not limited thereto. It is sufficient to insert a flag that can distinguish between a signal sent for long-range voice recognition and a signal sent for near-range voice recognition.

[0123] To distinguish between a signal sent for long-range voice recognition and a signal sent for short-range voice recognition, for example, a method of inserting a flag into the first sound input signal may also be considered. In the example described above, the first sound input signal and the second sound input signal are transmitted together depending on the trigger word recognition, and the second sound input signal is transmitted depending on the key input signal. Therefore, if a flag is inserted only into the first sound input signal, the display device 10 can determine that voice processing according to long-range voice recognition is required by referring to the flag inserted into the first sound input signal.

[0124] Some embodiments may also be implemented in the form of a recording medium containing computer-executable instructions, such as program modules executed by a computer. A computer-readable medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, and both removable and non-removable media. Additionally, a computer-readable medium may include a computer storage medium. A computer storage medium includes both volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented by any method or technique for storing information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.

[0125] The disclosed embodiments may be implemented as a software program comprising instructions stored on a computer-readable storage media.

[0126] A computer is a device capable of calling instructions stored from a storage medium and performing operations according to the disclosed embodiments according to the called instructions, and may include an electronic device according to the disclosed embodiments.

[0127] Computer-readable storage media may be provided in the form of non-transitory storage media. Here, 'non-transitory' means merely that the storage medium does not contain a signal and is tangible, without distinguishing whether data is stored semi-permanently or temporarily on the storage medium.

[0128] In addition, the control method according to the disclosed embodiments may be provided by being included in a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between a seller and a buyer as a product.

[0129] A computer program product may include a software program and a computer-readable storage medium on which the software program is stored. For example, a computer program product may include a product in the form of a software program (e.g., a downloadable app) that is electronically distributed through a device manufacturer or an electronic market (e.g., Google Play Store, App Store). For electronic distribution, at least a portion of the software program may be stored on a storage medium or temporarily created. In this case, the storage medium may be a server of the manufacturer, a server of the electronic market, or a storage medium of a relay server that temporarily stores the software program.

[0130] A computer program product may include a storage medium of a server or a storage medium of a device in a system composed of a server and a device. Alternatively, if there is a third device (e.g., a smartphone) that is connected to the server or device in communication, the computer program product may include a storage medium of the third device. Alternatively, the computer program product may include the S / W program itself that is transmitted from the server to the device or the third device, or transmitted from the third device to the device.

[0131] In this case, one of the server, the device, and the third device may execute the computer program product to perform the method according to the disclosed embodiments. Alternatively, two or more of the server, the device, and the third device may execute the computer program product to perform the method according to the disclosed embodiments in a distributed manner.

[0132] For example, a server (e.g., a cloud server or an artificial intelligence server, etc.) can execute a computer program product stored on the server to control a device connected to the server in communication to perform a method according to the disclosed embodiments.

[0133] As another example, the third device may execute a computer program product to control a device connected to the third device in communication to perform a method according to the disclosed embodiment. When the third device executes the computer program product, the third device may download the computer program product from a server and execute the downloaded computer program product. Alternatively, the third device may execute a computer program product provided in a preloaded state to perform a method according to the disclosed embodiments.

[0134] Additionally, in this specification, "part" may be a hardware component, such as a processor or circuit, and / or a software component executed by a hardware component, such as a processor.

[0135] The foregoing description of the present disclosure is for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will understand that other specific forms can be easily modified without altering the technical spirit or essential features of the present disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single unit may be implemented in a distributed manner, and components described as distributed may likewise be implemented in a combined form.

[0136] The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims set forth below rather than by the detailed description above, and all modifications or variations derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and equivalent concepts thereof should be interpreted as being included within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

Claim 1 In an electronic device, a first sound receiver; a second sound receiver; a trigger word recognition unit; a transmitting and receiving unit; An electronic device comprising a control unit, wherein the control unit controls the first sound receiver to receive a first voice input by supplying power to the first sound receiver in a standby state where power is not supplied, and when the received first voice input is identified by the trigger word recognition unit as corresponding to a trigger word, controls the second sound receiver to receive a second voice input by supplying power to the second sound receiver, changes the standby state where power is not supplied to a state where power is supplied, controls a signal processing unit to generate a stereo signal by mixing a first voice input signal corresponding to the first voice input received from the first sound receiver and a second voice input signal corresponding to the second voice input received from the second sound receiver, and controls the transceiver to output the stereo signal. Claim 2 An electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a power control unit that controls power to be supplied to the second sound receiving unit upon receiving a control signal indicating that the trigger word has been recognized from the trigger word recognition unit. Claim 3 delete Claim 4 An electronic device according to paragraph 2, wherein the power control unit controls the supply of power to the second sound receiving unit upon receiving a control signal indicating that the trigger word has been recognized from the trigger word recognition unit. Claim 5 delete Claim 6 An electronic device according to paragraph 2, wherein the power control unit supplies power to the second sound receiver and cuts off power supply to the first sound receiver upon receiving a key input signal requesting a voice recognition function, and the transceiver receives and outputs the second voice input signal from the second sound receiver which operates according to the power supply of the second sound receiver. Claim 7 An electronic device according to claim 6, wherein the transmitting and receiving unit outputs the second voice input signal output according to the key input signal by inserting a flag that distinguishes the second voice input signal output according to the key input signal from the first voice input signal output according to the trigger word recognition and the second voice input signal. Claim 8 An electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the second voice input signal output according to the key input signal based on the flag is subjected to voice processing that is distinguished from the first voice input signal output according to the trigger word recognition and the second voice input signal. Claim 9 An electronic device according to claim 6, further comprising a switch connected to the second sound receiver, wherein the switch transmits the second voice input signal supplied from the second sound receiver to the transmitting / receiving unit upon receiving a key input signal requesting the voice recognition function, or transmits the second voice input signal to the signal processing unit that performs processing with the first voice input signal according to the trigger word recognition. Claim 10 First sound receiver; second sound receiver; trigger word recognition unit; transceiver; A method of operation of an electronic device including a control unit, comprising: an operation of controlling the first sound receiver to receive a first voice input by supplying power to the first sound receiver in a standby state where power is not supplied; an operation of controlling the second sound receiver to receive a second voice input by supplying power to the second sound receiver when the received first voice input is identified by the trigger word recognition unit as corresponding to a trigger word; an operation of changing the standby state where power is not supplied to a state where power is supplied; an operation of controlling a signal processing unit to generate a stereo signal by mixing a first voice input signal corresponding to the first voice input received from the first sound receiver and a second voice input signal corresponding to the second voice input received from the second sound receiver; and an operation of controlling the transceiver to output the stereo signal. Claim 11 A method of operation of an electronic device according to claim 10, further comprising the operation of controlling power to be supplied to the second sound receiver upon receiving a control signal indicating that the trigger word has been recognized by the power control unit. Claim 12 delete Claim 13 delete Claim 14 A method of operation of an electronic device according to claim 11, further comprising: an operation of supplying power to the second sound receiver and cutting off the power supply to the first sound receiver upon receiving a key input signal requesting a voice recognition function by the power control unit; and an operation of receiving and outputting the second voice input signal from the second sound receiver, which operates according to the power supply, by the transmitting and receiving unit. Claim 15 A method of operation of an electronic device according to claim 14, further comprising the operation of inserting a flag into the second voice input signal output according to the key input signal by the transceiver and outputting the second voice input signal output according to the key input signal to distinguish the second voice input signal output according to the key input signal from the first voice input signal output according to the trigger word recognition and the second voice input signal. Claim 16 A method of operation of an electronic device according to claim 15, wherein, based on the above flag, the second voice input signal output according to the above key input signal undergoes voice processing that is distinct from the first voice input signal output according to the above trigger word recognition and the second voice input signal. Claim 17 A method of operation of an electronic device according to claim 14, further comprising the operation of transmitting the second voice input signal supplied from the second sound receiver to the transmitting / receiving unit upon receiving a key input signal requesting the voice recognition function by means of a switch, or transmitting the second voice input signal to the signal processing unit that performs processing with the first voice input signal according to the trigger word recognition.

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