Systems and methods for communications using radio and non-radio networks

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments provide a method that is performed for a first radio device in a radio network that includes a plurality of radio devices, wherein the first radio device is communicatively coupled to a first electronic device. The method includes relaying a radio communication of the first radio device to a non-radio network of the first electronic device and, creating a first group that includes the first radio device and a second radio device. The method includes in accordance with a determination that a third electronic device is to be included in the first group, adding the third electronic device to the first group. The method includes in accordance with a determination that the third device is in the first group, automatically transmitting, without user input, audio communications to the third electronic device via the non-radio network.

Description

Systems and Methods for Communications Using Radio and Non-RadioNetworksRELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 568,301, filed March 21, 2024, entitled “System and Method for Communications Using Radio and NonRadio Networks,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] This application is related to U.S. Application No. 18 / 096,581, filed January 13, 2023, entitled “System and Method for External Communications to / from Radios in a Radio Network,” and U.S. Application No. 17 / 153,908, now U.S. Patent No. 11,924,717, filed January 21, 2021, entitled “System and Method for Data Analytics for Communications in Walkie-Talkie Network,” each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] This application relates generally to radio networks, and more particularly to using internet protocols in conjunction with radio frequency for communication.BACKGROUND

[0004] Communications, including audio and textual communications, are commonly sent via one or more messaging applications that use the Internet to send and receive the communication messages. Additionally, use radio frequency to transmit communication messages to receiver devices that share a frequency with the transmitter radio.SUMMARY

[0005] The enclosed embodiments create a system that enables radio communications to be relayed from a radio network to a non-radio network, and for messages to be relayed from a non-radio network to a radio network, including changing the communications from audio to text and text to audio messages based on context. The enclosed embodiments further provide for tasksto be performed, optionally using a virtual assistant, in accordance with parsed information acquired from the communications.

[0006] To that end, in accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed for a first radio device in a radio network that includes a plurality of radio devices, wherein the first radio device is communicatively coupled to a first electronic device. The method includes relaying a radio communication of the first radio device to a non-radio network of the first electronic device. The method includes, in accordance with a determination that the first radio device and a second radio device share a radio frequency, creating a first group that includes the first radio device and the second radio device; and in accordance with a determination that a third electronic device is to be included in the first group, adding the third electronic device to the first group. The method includes detecting audio communications from the first radio device and / or the second radio device using the first electronic device; and in accordance with a determination that the third device is in the first group, transmitting, without user input, the audio communications to the third electronic device via the non-radio network.

[0007] In some embodiments, a method is provided for receiving an audio communication over a radio network. The method includes converting, using a processing device, the audio communication to a message that is sent via a non-radio network that is distinct from the radio network and determining a delivery method for an electronic device that is on the non-radio network based on contextual information of the electronic device. The method includes, in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be text, transcribing the audio communication to a text message; and sending the text message, via the non-radio network, to the electronic device.

[0008] In some embodiments, a method is provided for receiving, at a first radio device via a radio network, an audio message. The method includes recording the audio message at a first electronic device that is communicatively coupled to the first radio device. The method further includes sending, via the non-radio network, the recorded audio message to a remote processing device, wherein the remote processing device parses the recorded audio message to determine a voice command. The method includes forwarding the voice command to a virtual assistant, wherein the virtual assistant performs one or more actions based on the voice command.

[0009] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer system (e.g., a server system and / or a client device), comprising one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs. The one or more programs store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0010] Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system having one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform any of the methods described herein.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] For a better understanding of the various described embodiments, reference should be made to the Detailed Description below, in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the Figures.

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for processing radio communications by relaying messages via a network in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a radio network and a non-radio network that share messages in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a server system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a processing device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a user device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates transmission of an audio signal from a user device to a server and a processing device in accordance with some embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various described embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the variousdescribed embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well- known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

[0019] Many modifications and variations of this disclosure can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The specific embodiments described herein are offered by way of example only, and the disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[0020] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for communicating via radio frequencies and / or via a network. In some embodiments, a respective user device (e.g., user device 112-1 and user device 112-2) is communicatively coupled to a respective two-way radio transceiver (e.g., radio transceiver 114-1 and radio transceiver 114-2, respectively). In some embodiments, a plurality of user devices are coupled to a same two-way radio transceiver. For example, a user device 112-1 runs a radio application 110 that records audio transmitted and / or received by two-way radio transceiver 114-1. In some embodiments, the two-way radio transceiver 114-1 is coupled via a wired or wireless connection to user device 112-1.

[0021] In some embodiments, user device 112-1 is optionally connected via network 122 to another user device 112-2, that optionally also executes an instance of radio application 110 (or a different radio application). As such, user device 112-1 and user device 112-2 are enabled to communicate directly via network 122 and / or via radio frequency shared by two-way radio transceivers 114-1 and 114-2. In some embodiments, user device 112-1 and / or user device 112-2 are connected via network 122 to user device 112-3. In some embodiments, user device 112-3 does not include an instance of radio application 110, and is not communicatively coupled to a two-way radio transceiver. It will be understood that only one transceiver 114 need be connected to a user device 112 that includes a radio application for communications sent over a radio network 222 to be relayed via the network 122.

[0022] In some embodiments, audio received by a radio network 222 (e.g., that includes two-way radio transceiver 114-1 and / or transceiver 114-2) is recorded by user device 112-1 and / or by user device 112-2, and the recorded audio is forwarded or otherwise processed by server 120 and / or processing device 118. For example, server 120 and / or processing devices 118 optionallystore audio recordings from a plurality of user devices 112. Tn some embodiments, the recorded audio is processed by one or more processing device(s) 118. In some embodiments, server 120 and processing device 118 are a same device or different devices of a same server system. In some embodiments, the user device 112-1 and / or user device 112-2 performs at least some of the processing of the audio locally (e.g., based on the capabilities of the respective user device). For example, a user device 112 locally performs automatic speech recognition (ASR) to generate a transcript of the audio received by radio network 222, and relays the transcript and / or received audio to server 120 and / or processing device 118.

[0023] In some embodiments, as described in more detail with respect to FIG. 4, processing device 1 18 is programmed to determine and / or to send instructions to a procurement service (e.g., an electronic device programmed to perform one or more actions, optionally through a third-party service provider, in response to instructions received from processing device 118) or other device to perform one or more operations in accordance with the processed recorded audio. For example, one or more tasks are executed based on the processed audio received from radio transceivers 114.

[0024] FIG. 2 illustrates a radio network 222 of radio transceivers 114-1 through 114-n that communicate via a shared radio frequency and a network of non-radio devices (e.g., user devices 112) that communicate via network 122. In some embodiments, one or more of the radio transceivers 114 are communicatively coupled (e.g., via wired or wireless connection) to one or more user devices 112 that include a radio application 110. In some embodiments, only one transceiver 114 need be tethered or otherwise connected (e.g., wired or wirelessly) to a user device 112-1 in order for the audio communications sent over the radio network 222 to be recorded and processed using the system described with reference to FIG. 1 (e.g., user device 112-2 does not need to execute an instance of radio application 110 and does not need to be tethered to a transceiver 114-2). In some embodiments, more than one transceiver 114 is connected to a respective user device 112, enabling said transceivers to communicate via radio network 222 and / or the user devices 112 to communicate via network 122 (e.g. using the Internet). In some embodiments, audio transmitted and / or received at two-way radio transceiver 112-1 is recorded by user device 112-1 and forwarded processing device(s) 118 for processing.

[0025] In some embodiments, user device 112-1 and user device 112-2 are connected via a non-radio network 122. In some embodiments, an intermediary computing system (e.g., processing device 118) translates audio messages sent using the radio network 222 to text messages to be sent to user devices 112 on the non-radio network 122, and translates text messages sent using user devices 112 to audio messages to be sent using the radio network 222. In some embodiments, processing device 118 also parses, using automatic speech recognition, the audio messages sent using the radio network 222 to determine one or more actions to be taken based on the audio messages (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 6).

[0026] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a server system 120, in accordance with some embodiments. Server system 120 may include one or more computer systems (e.g., computing devices), such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and a tablet computer. In some embodiments, the server system 120 is a data server that hosts one or more databases (e.g., databases of images or videos), models, or modules or may provide various executable applications or modules. The server system 120 includes one or more processing units (processors or cores, CPU(s)) 302, one or more network or other communications network interfaces 310, memory 320, and one or more communication buses 312 for interconnecting these components. The communication buses 312 optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communications between system components. The server system 120 typically includes a voice interface 300 and / or a user interface 304. The voice interface 300 may include a speaker, microphone, and / or an audio jack. The user interface 304 may include a display device 306 (e.g., a screen or monitor). In some embodiments, the server system 120 includes one or more input devices 308 such as a keyboard, mouse, and / or other input buttons. Alternatively or in addition, in some embodiments, the display device 306 includes a touch-sensitive surface, in which case the display device 306 is a touch-sensitive display.

[0027] The memory 320 includes high-speed random-access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random-access solid-state memory devices; and may include nonvolatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. In some embodiments, the memory 320 includes one or more storage devices remotely located from the processors 302. The memory 320, or alternatively the non-volatile memory devices within the memory 320, includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, the memory 320 or thecomputer-readable storage medium of the memory 320 stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subset or superset thereof:• an operating system 322, which includes procedures for handling various basic system services and for performing hardware dependent tasks;• a communications module 324, which is used for connecting the server system 120 to other computers and devices via the one or more communication network interfaces 310 (wired or wireless), such as the internet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and so on;• a web browser 326 (or other application capable of displaying web pages), which enables a user to communicate over a network with remote computers or devices;• a radio application module 334 for communicating with the radio applications that are locally executed by user devices;• database 338, including data structures corresponding to one or more of: o user profile database 340 for storing information about a user, such a profile information, device information, and historical information related to communication groups; and o voice print database 342 for storing one or more voice prints associated with user identifiers, and optionally authenticating one or more users using the stored voice prints.

[0028] Each of the above identified executable modules, applications, or sets of procedures may be stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a function described above. The above identified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, the memory 320 stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, the memory 320 may store additional modules or data structures not described above. For example, the memory 320 may store any of the modules described with reference to FIG. 4 as being stored in memory 420 of processing device 118.

[0029] Although FIG. 3 shows a server system 120, FIG. 3 is intended more as a functional description of the various features that may be present rather than as a structural schematic of the embodiments described herein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art, items shown separately could be combined and some items could be separated.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a processing device 118, in accordance with some embodiments. Processing device 118 may include one or more computer systems (e.g., computing devices), such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and a tablet computer. In some embodiments, the processing device 118 is a data server that hosts one or more databases (e.g., databases of images or videos), models, or modules or may provide various executable applications or modules. The processing device 118 includes one or more processing units (processors or cores, CPU(s)) 404, one or more network or other communications network interfaces 414, memory 420, and one or more communication buses 416 for interconnecting these components. The communication buses 416 optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communications between system components. The processing device 118 typically includes wireless transmitters and / or receivers 412 and additional peripherals 406 (e.g., for performing or providing instructions to perform one or more actions).

[0031] The memory 420 includes high-speed random-access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random-access solid-state memory devices; and may include nonvolatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. In some embodiments, the memory 420 includes one or more storage devices remotely located from the processors 404. The memory 420, or alternatively the non-volatile memory devices within the memory 420, includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, the memory 420 or the computer-readable storage medium of the memory 420 stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subset or superset thereof• an operating system 422, which includes procedures for handling various basic system services and for performing hardware dependent tasks;• an automated tasks module 423, which is used for generating instructions for performing one or more tasks automatically based on information determined by parsing audio and / or textual communications;• a text-to-speech (TTS) module 424 for outputting an audio signal corresponding to a transcript and / or text message, optionally output in a voice that matches the voice print of one or more users;• an automatic speech recognition (ASR) module 432 or other speech-to-text module for processing audio communications and generating text representing the audio communications;• a natural language processing (NLP) module for parsing text (e.g., the transcript and / or text message, and / or the generated text generated by ASR module 432) to identify one or more actions to be taken based on the text inputs;• a virtual assistant module 426 for executing one or more tasks based on audio and / or textual communications, or for communicating with a local virtual assistant executing on a user device;• a group recognizer module 432 for automatically determining and / or generating logical groups of radio and non-radio devices, including: o identifier module 434 for confirming identities of users participating in a group and / or detecting an intruder within a group.

[0032] Each of the above identified executable modules, applications, or sets of procedures may be stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to a set of instructions for performing a function described above. The above identified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, the memory 420 stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, the memory 420 may store additional modules or data structures not described above. For example, the memory 420 may store any of the modules described with reference to FIG. 3 as being stored in memory 320 of server system 120.

[0033] Although FIG. 4 shows a processing device 118, FIG. 4 is intended more as a functional description of the various features that may be present rather than as a structuralschematic of the embodiments described herein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art, items shown separately could be combined and some items could be separated.

[0034] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a user device 112 of a user in accordance with some embodiments. Various examples of the computing device 112 include a cellular-capable or WiFi- capable smart device such as a smartphone, a smart watch, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and other computing devices that have a processor capable of connecting to other user devices 112 on the network 122 and optionally capable of connecting a two-way radio transceiver 114 (e.g., using a radio application 110).

[0035] The user device 112 typically includes one or more processing units (processors or cores) 502, one or more network or other communications network interfaces 520, memory 530, and one or more communication buses 504 for interconnecting these components. The communication buses 504 optionally include circuitry (sometimes called a chipset) that interconnects and controls communications between system components. The user device 112 typically includes a user interface 510. The user interface 510 typically includes a display (e.g., a screen or monitor) and a voice interface that includes a speaker and / or microphone. In some embodiments, the user device 112 includes input devices 518 such as a walkie talkie or other radio, a keyboard, mouse, and / or other input buttons. Alternatively or in addition, in some embodiments, the user device 112 includes a touch-sensitive surface, in which case the display is a touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments, the touch -sensitive surface is configured to detect various swipe gestures (e.g., continuous gestures in vertical and / or horizontal directions) and / or other gestures (e.g., single / double tap). In computing devices that have a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch- sensitive display), a physical keyboard is optional (e.g., a soft keyboard may be displayed when keyboard entry is needed). Furthermore, user device 112 may also include a microphone and voice recognition software to supplement or replace the keyboard. The user interface 510 also includes one or more output devices 512 such as an audio output device, such as speakers 516 or an audio output connection 514 (e.g., audio jack) for connecting to radio transceiver 114, speakers, earphones, or headphones.

[0036] The memory 530 includes high-speed random-access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random-access solid-state memory devices; and may include nonvolatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices,flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. In some embodiments, the memory 530 includes one or more storage devices remotely located from the processors 502. The memory 530, or alternatively the non-volatile memory devices within the memory 530, includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In some embodiments, the memory 530 or the computer-readable storage medium of the memory 530 stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subset or superset thereof• an operating system 532, which includes procedures for handling various basic system services and for performing hardware dependent tasks;• a network communication module 534, which is used for connecting the user device 112 to other computers and devices via the one or more communication network interfaces 520 (wired or wireless), such as the internet, other wide area networks, local area networks, metropolitan area networks, and so on;• user interface module 536 for providing user interfaces for the user to interact with the user device 112 via applications on the user device 112 and the operating system 532 of the user device 112;• Radio application 538 for receiving audio data from a radio device (e.g., radio transceiver 114), optionally including: o Audio recording module 540 for storing and / or relaying audio to be stored; o Transcription module 542 for transcribing audio received via a radio network to a textual communication; and o User profile module 544 for storing a user identity associated with the user device 112;• a web browser application 546 for accessing the internet and accessing websites on the internet;• other applications 548 that the user may have installed on the user device 112 or that may have been included as default applications on the user device 112.

[0037] Each of the above identified executable modules, applications, or sets of procedures may be stored in one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to aset of instructions for performing a function described above. The above identified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, the memory 530 stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, the memory 530 may store additional modules or data structures not described above.

[0038] Although FIG. 5 shows a user device 112, FIG. 5 is intended more as a functional description of the various features that may be present rather than as a structural schematic of the embodiments described herein. In practice, and as recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art, items shown separately could be combined and some items could be separated.

[0039] FIG. 6 illustrates a method of determining one or more actions to be performed based on communications recorded by user device 112-1 and / or user device 112-2.

[0040] In some embodiments, an audio signal 602 is recorded by user device 112-1 using radio application 110. For example, audio signal 602 is transmitted and / or received by radio transceiver 114-1 that is coupled to user device 112-1. As such, audio signal 602 includes audio communications from one or more other radio transceivers that are on a same radio frequency as transceiver 114-1. For example, audio communications from transceiver 114-3 (e.g., that is optionally not connected to its own user device) are received at transceiver 114-1 and recorded by user device 112-1.

[0041] In some embodiments, server 120 includes a voice print database 342 for detecting one or more users of the two-way radio transceiver(s) 114. For example, the system uses the voice print database 342 to determine the identity of a user of transceiver 114-1 based on audio properties of audio signal 602. For example, a particular ID is assigned to a respective voice print. In some embodiments, if a user device 112-1 is associated with a recognized voice profde based on the audio signal 602, an authentication signal 603 is sent to user device 112-1 (e.g., and subsequent communications made from user device 112-1 and / or coupled transceiver 14-1 are associated with the authenticated user). For example, one or more factors are extracted from the received audio signal to generate a voice print. In some embodiments, the voice print database 342 may compare the generated voice print (e.g., a Gaussian mixture model) associated with received audio signal to a stored voice print associated with the voice profile stored by voice print database 342. In someembodiments, the voice prints are based on a pitch, frequency, a volume of the user speech, grammar or choice of words, or other factors.

[0042] In some embodiments, the voice print database 342 is used to detect one or more intruders on the network. For example, a user that is not acknowledged and / or recognized by voice print database 342 is flagged as an intruder and an alert is optionally sent to one or more already authenticated user devices. As such, communications using the radio transceivers 114 is more secure.

[0043] In some embodiments, server 120 determines the identity of a user associated with a respective transceiver based on processed audio content. For example, if an audio recording states, “let’s get John on the line,” and the server 120 determines (e.g., within a threshold time of receiving the audio message that indicates John is to be added) that an added two-way radio transceiver 114-3 is associated with the user John. Similarly, if an audio recording that was output from transceiver 114-1 states “This is User ABC with authentication code 123,” the server 120 assigns transceiver 114-1 to the User ABC.

[0044] In some embodiments, the audio data recorded by the user device 112-1 (e.g., audio signal(s) 602) are sent to processing device 118 (e.g., directly, or via server 120, optionally after authentication). In some embodiments, processing device 118 includes an Automatic Speech Recognition module that parses the audio content and, optionally using machine learning, sends a command for one or more actions to be taken based on the audio content.

[0045] For example, audio communications shared over the radio network 222 of transceiver 114-2 are recorded by radio application 110, processed by processing device 118, transcribed by the ASR module, and the text is relayed to one or more user devices 112. The transcription is sent to the user devices 112 as a text communication (e.g., a text message, an email message, a notification, or other alert). In some embodiments, audio communications shared over the radio network 222 are processed by processing device 118 and relayed, as an audio message, to the user devices 112 via the network 122. For example, user device 112-3 does not include a radio application and is not connected to a radio transceiver, but receives communications shared over the radio network 222 by the processing device 118 forwarding the communications (e.g., in text or audio format).

[0046] In some embodiments, the transcription produced by the ASR module contains one or more errors identified by a recipient user of the transcript. In some embodiments, the recipient user of the text communication sends a correction of one or more errors. For example, the recipient user identifies that a respective word was mis-transcribed by the ASR module and transmits a message back to processing device 118 that includes a prefix character and the correct respective word (e.g., “! Corrected_word”). In some embodiments, processing device 118 associates the corrected respective word with the transcription (e.g., stores the corrected word with the original message that was transcribed by the ASR module) to be used as retraining data. In some embodiments, the ASR module is re-trained using the stored corrected data. As such, the ASR module improves its transcription ability over time.

[0047] In some embodiments, the audio signal 602 includes a voice command for causing a virtual assistant 608 to process the voice command. For example, a virtual assistant 608 is invoked by audio transmitted by transceiver 114-1 or by user device 112-1. For example, a voice command sent via the radio network is converted to be sent via the non-radio network in order to provide a virtual assistant 608 with the voice command that was sent via the radio network. As such, a virtual assistant 608 is made available to radio transceivers, including radio transceiver 114-3 that is not directly connected to its own respective user device. In some embodiments, virtual assistant 608 processes the command and performs one or more actions (e.g., and / or instructs a virtual assistant of user device 112-1 to perform the actions) in accordance with the voice command. For example, a user provides a voice command (by transmitting an audio message using transceiver 114-1) such as “remind me to complete the form this afternoon” via the radio network 222 that also includes transceivers 114-2 and 114-3. In response to receiving the recorded audio, virtual assistant 608 creates a reminder “complete the form” and sets a reminder time for 2 PM. In some embodiments, virtual assistant 608 sends the reminder (e.g., as a calendar hold, notification, text message, or access a local reminder application) to user device 112-1. In some embodiments, at the time the reminder is set to occur (e.g., 2 PM), the virtual assistant 608 generates an audio message to be sent via radio network 222 to each radio on the radio network to hear the reminder at 2 PM. Other examples of tasks a virtual assistant can perform include responding to inquiries (e.g., “what’s the weather like today?”; “what’s the definition of X?” or other inquiries), or performing other tasks such as “call my boss” or “give me directions to the work site”. In some embodiments, the voice command indicates that a task is to be performed by the virtual assistant.For example, “Assistant, unlock this door,” or “Assistant, hail the floor manager,” or “Assistant, where is the forklift?”

[0048] In some embodiments, processing device 118 determines a context 604 of one or more user devices 112. For example, a context 604 indicates whether a respective user device is in a mode to receive audio communication or a mode to receive text communications (e.g., if the user device is in a scheduled meeting, if the device is set to silence mode, at certain times of day and / or days of the week (e.g., after 10 PM on weeknights), the context 604 indicates that the user device 112-2 is in text communication mode as opposed to audio communication mode). In some embodiments, based on the context 604 of the user device 112-2, the processing device 118 relays messages 605 in the preferred format. For example, audio messages received via radio network 222 are converted to text messages by processing device 118 (using a text-to-speech (TTS) module 610) and sent, as text, to user device 112-2. Similarly, if user device 112-2 is set to audio communication mode, certain text communications that are received (e.g., via SMS, a messaging application, etc.) are broadcast via the radio network 222 (such that transceiver 114-2 hears the text message in audio format). As such, user device 112-2 can seamlessly switch between receiving radio communications and other network communications (e.g., via the Internet or other wireless connection) in the preferred format.

[0049] In some embodiments, the system reads a text message over the radio frequency channel. For example, user device 1 12-1 inputs a text message and processing device 118 (TTS module 610) broadcasts the audio version of the text message over the radio network (e.g., such that other radios hear an audio version of the text message). In some embodiments, the TTS module 610 clones a voice of a user associated with user device 112-1, optionally by using voice data available in voice print database 342.

[0050] In some embodiments, processing device 118 includes noise reduction module 612. In some embodiments, noise reduction module 612 includes an automatic speech recognition model that provides timestamps at a word -level. In some embodiments, the word-level timestamps are used to subtract segments with speech from the overall audio stream, leaving mostly nonspeech segments to use to create a noise profile.

[0051] In some embodiments, processing device 118 includes group recognizer 614 for creating logical groups of user devices and / or transceivers. For example, group recognizer 614builds talk groups for multimodal communications that include both user devices 112 that are connected via network 122, and transceivers that communicate via RF. As such, rather than limiting a group to radios on a same radio frequency, user devices (including user devices that are and are not coupled to a respective radio transceiver) are optionally included in a same group that includes radio transceivers. For example, a user device 112-3 (e.g., a non-radio device that is not coupled to a radio transceiver) is added to a group that also includes transceivers 114-1, 114-2 and 114-3. In some embodiments, user device 112-3 is authenticated by server 120 such that user device 112-3 is associated with a user identifier. In some embodiments, in response to a voice command recorded from the radio network 222 that indicates the user identifier associated with user device 112-3 should be added to the group, a notification or alert is automatically sent to user device 112-3; and further communications that occur in the group via radio network 222 are relayed to user device 112-3.

[0052] In some embodiments, audio that is transmitted via the group is shared with each member of the group. For example, a radio message received at transceiver 114-1 is transcribed or forwarded to user device 112-3 (e.g., using processing device 118) in accordance with a determination that user device 112-3 is included in the same group as transceiver 114-1. Further, the groups are dynamically determined, optionally in accordance with parsing the audio content of messages (e.g., “let’s add John to the chat”).

[0053] In some embodiments, a radio transceiver and / or user device may be included in more than one group at a time. For example, a user device may want to receive the communications that are sent from more than one group.

[0054] It will be understood that the modules presented at processing device 118 are optionally also, or alternatively, provided locally at user device 112. For example, user device 112 optionally locally transcribes audio communications received via the radio network 222 and displays the transcription as text locally at device 112.

[0055] It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc., are, in some instances, used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first beacon signal could be termed a second beacon signal, and, similarly, a second beacon signal could be termed a first beacon signal, without departing from the scope of the various describedembodiments. The first beacon signal and the second beacon signal are both beacon signals, but they are not the same condition unless explicitly stated as such.

[0056] The terminology used in the description of the various described embodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and / or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0057] The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the claims to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles underlying the claims and their practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best use the embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular uses contemplated.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising: for a first radio device in a radio network that includes a plurality of radio devices, wherein the first radio device is communicatively coupled to a first electronic device: relaying a radio communication of the first radio device to a non-radio network of the first electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the first radio device and a second radio device share a radio frequency, creating a first group that includes the first radio device and the second radio device; in accordance with a determination that a third electronic device is to be included in the first group, adding the third electronic device to the first group; detecting audio communications from the first radio device and / or the second radio device using the first electronic device; and in accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is in the first group, automatically transmitting, without user input, the audio communications to the third electronic device via the non-radio network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio communications are transmitted by the first electronic device to the non-radio network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio communications are transmitted by a processing device to the non-radio network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the third electronic device is not a radio device.

5. The method of claim 1, further including determining that the third electronic device is to be included in the first group by parsing an audio message from the first radio device, the audio message including a request to add a user to the first group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring the radio communication of the first radio device to the non-radio network includes: recording the radio communication at the first electronic device; andsending the recorded radio communication to a processing device, wherein the processing device converts the radio communication to a text and / or audio message that is sent via the nonradio network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein subsequent communications on the radio network from a radio device in the first group are broadcast to each radio device that is in the first group and relayed to each electronic device that is in the first group.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the subsequent communications on the radio network are converted from audio format to text format.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein subsequent communications on the non-radio network from an electronic device in the first group are relayed to each radio device that is in the first group and sent to each electronic device that is in the first group.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the subsequent communications on the non-radio network are converted from text format to audio format.

11. A system comprising one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations including: for a first radio device in a radio network that includes a plurality of radio devices, wherein the first radio device is communicatively coupled to a first electronic device: relaying a radio communication of the first radio device to a non-radio network of the first electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the first radio device and a second radio device share a radio frequency, creating a first group that includes the first radio device and the second radio device; in accordance with a determination that a third electronic device is to be included in the first group, adding the third electronic device to the first group; detecting audio communications from the first radio device and / or the second radio device using the first electronic device; andin accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is in the first group, automatically transmitting, without user input, the audio communications to the third electronic device via the non-radio network.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions that cause the system to perform the method of any of claims 2-10.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system having one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform operations including: for a first radio device in a radio network that includes a plurality of radio devices, wherein the first radio device is communicatively coupled to a first electronic device: relaying a radio communication of the first radio device to a non-radio network of the first electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the first radio device and a second radio device share a radio frequency, creating a first group that includes the first radio device and the second radio device; in accordance with a determination that a third electronic device is to be included in the first group, adding the third electronic device to the first group; detecting audio communications from the first radio device and / or the second radio device using the first electronic device; and in accordance with a determination that the third electronic device is in the first group, automatically transmitting, without user input, the audio communications to the third electronic device via the non-radio network.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further include instructions for performing the method of any of claims 2-10.

15. A method comprising: receiving an audio communication over a radio network; converting, using a processing device, the audio communication to a message that is sent via a non-radio network that is distinct from the radio network;determining a delivery method for an electronic device that is on the non-radio network based on contextual information of the electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be text, automatically transcribing the audio communication to a text communication; and sending the text communication, via the non-radio network, to the electronic device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the electronic device on the non-radio network does not include a radio on the radio network.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the processing device transcribes the audio communication to the text communication using automatic speech recognition.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the contextual information of the electronic device indicates a location, setting, and / or time of the electronic device.

19. The method of claim 15, including, in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be audio, relaying the audio communication as audio data, via the non-radio network, to the electronic device.

20. The method of claim 15, further including: receiving a second text communication over the non-radio network; determining a delivery method for a second electronic device that is on the non-radio network based on contextual information of the second electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be audio, automatically converting, using text-to-speech (TTS) the second text communication to audio data; and sending the audio data, via the non-radio network, to the second electronic device.

21. The method of claim 20, further including, broadcasting the audio data, via the radio network, to one or more radio devices on the radio network.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein broadcasting the audio data includes cloning a voice of a user associated with the second text communication and broadcasting the audio data using the cloned voice.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein the text communication comprises an SMS message or a text message of another type of text format.

24. A system comprising one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations including: receiving an audio communication over a radio network; converting, using a processing device, the audio communication to a message that is sent via a non-radio network that is distinct from the radio network; determining a delivery method for an electronic device that is on the non-radio network based on contextual information of the electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be text, automatically transcribing the audio communication to a text communication; and sending the text communication, via the non-radio network, to the electronic device.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions that cause the system to perform the method of any of claims 16-23.

26. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system having one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform operations including: receiving an audio communication over a radio network; converting, using a processing device, the audio communication to a message that is sent via a non-radio network that is distinct from the radio network; determining a delivery method for an electronic device that is on the non-radio network based on contextual information of the electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be text, automatically transcribing the audio communication to a text communication; and sending the text communication, via the non-radio network, to the electronic device.

27. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the instructions further include instructions for performing the method of any of claims 16-23.

28. A method, comprising: receiving, at a first radio device via a radio network, an audio message; recording the audio message at a first electronic device, that is communicatively coupled to the first radio device; sending, via a non-radio network, the recorded audio message to a remote processing device, wherein the remote processing device parses the recorded audio message to determine a voice command; and forwarding the voice command to a virtual assistant, wherein the virtual assistant performs one or more actions based on the voice command.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein parsing the recorded audio message to determine the voice command includes detecting an invocation of the virtual assistant.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the virtual assistant is hosted at a remote device distinct from the first electronic device.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the virtual assistant is executed at the first electronic device.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the one or more actions include providing, by the virtual assistant, an audio response that is broadcast to the first radio device via the radio network.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein the one or more actions include providing instructions for one or more remote devices to perform a task.

34. The method of claim 28, including, identifying a user of the first electronic device based on a voice print of the audio message, wherein the virtual assistant performs the one or more actions in accordance with a determination that the user has been authenticated.

35. The method of claim 28, wherein the remote processing device parses the recorded audio message using automatic speech recognition (ASR).

36. The method of claim 28, wherein the first electronic device communicates via the nonradio network, and the recorded audio message is sent from the first electronic device to the remote processing device.

37. A system comprising one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations including: receiving an audio communication over a radio network; converting, using a processing device, the audio communication to a message that is sent via a non-radio network that is distinct from the radio network; determining a delivery method for an electronic device that is on the non-radio network based on contextual information of the electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be text, automatically transcribing the audio communication to a text communication; and sending the text communication, via the non-radio network, to the electronic device.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions that cause the system to perform the method of any of claims 29-36.

39. A non-transitoiy computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system having one or more processors, cause the computer system to perform operations including: receiving an audio communication over a radio network; converting, using a processing device, the audio communication to a message that is sent via a non-radio network that is distinct from the radio network; determining a delivery method for an electronic device that is on the non-radio network based on contextual information of the electronic device; in accordance with a determination that the delivery method is to be text, automatically transcribing the audio communication to a text communication; and sending the text communication, via the non-radio network, to the electronic device.

40. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions further include instructions for performing the method of any of claims 29-36.

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