Softphone Voice Command Integration via Bluetooth Headset
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing telecommunications systems lack seamless integration and hands-free voice command functionality across cellular phones, softphones, and wireless headsets, limiting efficient call management and access to call logs and phone books.
Innovation Solution
A system that enables voice commands through a Bluetooth headset to control a cellular phone and softphone application on a personal computer, using a speech-recognition engine and personal area network interface to interpret control signals and execute voice commands, allowing hands-free call interactions and access to call logs and phone books.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a cellular telephone is used for mobile communication, then the user can be reached anywhere and at any time, but the user cannot perform hands-free call management or access call logs and phone books efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a personal computer as an intermediary device between the cellular telephone and the user. The PC runs a softphone application that receives voice commands from the user via a wireless headset, processes these commands through a speech recognition engine, and executes them by interfacing with the cellular telephone's call management functions, call log database, and phone book database. This intermediary approach enables hands-free operation while maintaining efficient call management capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical interaction (manual dialing, button pressing on the cell phone) with a voice-based acoustic system. The user speaks commands into a wireless headset, which are converted to text through speech recognition, and then executed as control signals to the cellular telephone. This substitution eliminates the need for manual manipulation of the cell phone device during calls.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a softphone application is installed on a personal computer, then the computer can act as a telephone with data communication capabilities, but the system lacks integrated voice command control and hands-free operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal communication system where the personal computer's softphone application can handle multiple functions: it can make and receive calls, manage call logs, access phone books, and interpret voice commands. The system integrates these diverse functions into a single platform that works with both the cellular telephone and wireless headset, providing multi-functional communication capabilities through one versatile system.
Solution Approach 2:
The softphone application on the personal computer serves as an intermediary that bridges the wireless headset's voice commands and the cellular telephone's telephony functions. It receives audio signals from the headset, processes them through speech recognition to generate control signals, and transmits these signals to control the cell phone's call management operations, thereby enabling voice command control for the softphone system.
3Ease of operation
If a wireless headset is paired with a cellular telephone, then the user can converse hands-free, but the system cannot recognize voice commands or access call logs and phone books
Solution Approach 1:
The personal computer acts as an intermediary that the wireless headset is paired with, rather than pairing directly with the cellular telephone. The PC's softphone application receives the headset's control signals, invokes a speech recognition engine to interpret voice commands as text, and then generates appropriate control signals to execute commands and access databases. This intermediary architecture enables both hands-free conversation and advanced voice command recognition with database access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the limited mechanical button-pressing capability of the headset with an acoustic voice recognition system. Instead of the headset directly controlling the cell phone through basic buttons, the headset's microphone captures voice commands, which are then processed by the PC's speech recognition engine to generate complex control signals for call management and database operations, thereby substituting mechanical control with acoustic recognition.
4Ease of operation
If speech recognition is continuously active on a personal computer, then voice commands can be recognized immediately, but the system consumes excessive energy and processing resources
Solution Approach 1:
The speech recognition engine operates periodically rather than continuously. It is invoked on-demand only when the softphone application receives a control signal from the wireless headset indicating that a voice command has been given. This periodic activation pattern allows the system to conserve processing resources and energy by keeping the speech recognition engine inactive during periods when no voice commands are being input, while still providing immediate recognition when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed that enables access to the paired combination of a personal computer and cellular telephone, the access being provided through voice commands from a Bluetooth headset or other type of wireless headset. Through the headset, a user is able to invoke a speech-recognition engine during a call in progress that involves the cell phone with which the personal computer has been paired. The set of phrases that can be recognized by the engine, which is resident at the personal computer, are based on the current call-processing state of the call that is being handled by the paired cell phone. Some of the phrases correspond to commands to retrieve one or more entries from a database, such as one stored at the cell phone. One or more of the commands can be for controlling the cell phone or a softphone application that executes at the personal computer.