Voice-Based Call Termination in Vehicle Hands-Free Systems

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing hands-free call systems in vehicles often fail to automatically terminate calls when the driver forgets, leading to unintended call durations, potential privacy breaches, and unnecessary charges due to the complexity of manual termination processes.

Innovation Solution

A call termination apparatus and method that monitors the user's voice for pre-registered call termination words, allowing for automatic call termination based on detected phrases, with different waiting times for indirect and intuitive termination cues, and displaying user notifications to prevent errors.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If manual call termination is implemented through steering wheel buttons or display buttons, then the user can terminate calls, but the user may forget to terminate calls due to driving focus, leading to unintended call durations and charges

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecall termination operationVSAvoidcall termination reliability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically terminates calls by monitoring voice patterns and detecting termination keywords, eliminating the need for manual user intervention. The call termination function serves itself by autonomously detecting when the user intends to end a call based on voice analysis, thereby preventing forgotten terminations while maintaining ease of use.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces mechanical button-pressing operations with voice-based automatic detection and termination. Instead of requiring physical interaction with steering wheel buttons or display buttons, the system uses acoustic signal processing to detect termination intent keywords and automatically ends calls, improving both ease of operation and reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Reliability

If the system automatically terminates calls based on voice monitoring, then call termination reliability improves, but the system complexity increases due to voice recognition requirements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecall termination reliabilityVSAvoidcall termination system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential voice termination keywords from complete speech analysis. Instead of implementing a full voice recognition system that processes entire sentences, the system selectively monitors for specific pre-defined termination keywords, significantly reducing computational complexity while maintaining high termination reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs partial voice monitoring by focusing only on detecting specific termination keywords rather than analyzing complete speech content. This selective approach achieves reliable call termination without requiring complex full-sentence recognition capabilities, balancing reliability with manageable system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Measurement precision

If voice monitoring is continuous to detect termination keywords, then call termination accuracy improves, but energy consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetermination keyword detection precisionVSAvoidvoice monitoring energy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system employs periodic voice monitoring instead of continuous monitoring, analyzing voice signals at regular intervals during the call. This periodic approach maintains sufficient precision for detecting termination keywords while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous real-time analysis.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-loads and stores termination keywords in memory before calls begin. During calls, the system only needs to match incoming voice signals against these pre-prepared keywords rather than performing complex real-time language processing, thereby maintaining detection precision with lower energy expenditure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Measurement precision

If the system uses multiple waiting times for different termination cues, then call termination accuracy improves, but the control logic complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetermination intent recognition precisionVSAvoidcontrol logic complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments termination cues into distinct categories (indirect cues requiring longer waiting times and direct cues requiring shorter waiting times). This segmentation allows the system to apply different waiting time protocols to different types of termination indicators, improving accuracy while organizing control logic into manageable discrete segments rather than a single complex decision tree.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS12039977B2Call termination apparatus and method thereof

Publication Date: 2024.07.16 HYUNDAI MOTOR CO LTD

AI summary

An embodiment call termination apparatus includes a call termination word existence determination device configured to determine whether a call termination word exists in a call voice of a user, and a controller configured to compare the call termination word of the user with a call termination example word previously registered in a vehicle to control whether to terminate a call.