Cordless Phone Text-to-Speech Caller Name Pronunciation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing phone devices cannot immediately identify a caller's name without viewing the display, especially when the caller is from a foreign country, due to language limitations in vocal output.
Innovation Solution
A phone device configuration that includes a cordless phone base unit and handset unit with a text-to-speech processing unit, which references preregistered phone number and language information to vocally output the caller's name in the appropriate pronunciation, allowing accurate recognition without needing to view the display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single language is used for vocal output, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability to different callers' languages deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multiple language support within the text-to-speech processing unit, enabling the phone device to adapt to different callers' languages (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, English, etc.). The system determines the appropriate language based on the caller's information and outputs the name in that language, making the device universally applicable to international callers without requiring separate devices for each language.
2Measurement precision
If the caller's name is displayed on the display unit, then the caller identification accuracy is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates because the user must view the display
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the visual display mechanism with an acoustic output mechanism. Instead of requiring the user to visually check the display unit to identify the caller, the text-to-speech processing unit converts the caller's name into spoken language and outputs it through the speaker. This substitution allows users to identify callers by sound alone, improving ease of operation especially when the phone is placed on a surface away from the user.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the phone device supports multiple languages, then the adaptability to foreign callers is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a language determination mechanism that acts as an intermediary between the caller identification system and the text-to-speech output. The system determines the appropriate language based on the caller's information (such as phone number patterns or registered information) and selects the corresponding language for vocal output. This intermediary approach enables multi-language support without requiring manual configuration or complex real-time translation, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A cordless phone base unit includes a storage unit that stores a phone number of other party in association with a name of the other party in a registration table, a reading unit that reads the name of the other party from the storage unit based on a received phone number of the other party, a language selection unit that selects a language corresponding to the read name of the other party, and a voice data generating unit that converts the read name of the other party into voice data in the selected language and outputs the voice data.