Whispered Speech Routing for Mobile Emergency Communications
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Solution Overview
Problem
In emergency situations, communication devices struggle to differentiate between whispered and non-whispered speech, which is crucial for determining user safety and routing communications appropriately to target devices in public safety communication systems.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize speech characteristics to distinguish between whispered and non-whispered speech, routing communications to different sets of target devices based on these distinctions, ensuring appropriate escalation responses and maintaining covert status.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the system routes all communications to the same target devices regardless of speech type, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but the ability to detect and respond to emergency situations is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual speech analysis with an automated acoustic analysis system that uses signal processing algorithms to detect whispered speech characteristics. The system automatically analyzes acoustic features such as amplitude, frequency spectrum, and temporal patterns to distinguish whispered from normal speech, eliminating the need for manual assessment and enabling rapid emergency response routing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary acoustic analysis module between the speech input and routing decision. This intermediary component processes the raw speech signal to extract whispered speech indicators and provides structured information to the routing system, enabling intelligent differentiation without complicating the overall routing architecture.
2Reliability
If the system implements speech characteristic analysis to distinguish whispered speech, then the reliability of emergency detection is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication system into distinct functional modules: speech input acquisition, acoustic characteristic analysis, whispered speech detection, and routing decision-making. Each module performs a specific function with well-defined interfaces, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high reliability through specialized processing at each stage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary acoustic analysis of speech characteristics before making routing decisions. By pre-processing the speech signal to extract and evaluate whispered speech indicators in advance, the system prepares structured information that simplifies the subsequent routing decision, improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system routes whispered speech to different target devices than non-whispered speech, then the adaptability of the communication system is improved, but the loss of time in routing decisions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic sampling and analysis of speech characteristics at defined intervals during the communication process. By analyzing acoustic features at regular periods rather than continuously, the system maintains adaptability to detect whispered speech while reducing computational overhead and decision time, achieving a balance between versatility and speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of routing communications from a mobile device to a target device. A non-whispered speech target device routing list and a whispered speech target device routing list are stored at a memory that is accessible by the mobile device. The mobile device identifies speech characteristics associated with a speech input and further determines whether the speech input corresponds to a whispered speech based on the speech characteristics. When it is determined that the speech input corresponds to a whispered speech, the mobile device routes communications corresponding to the speech input to each target device included in the whispered speech target device routing list. When it is determined that the speech input does not correspond to a whispered speech, the mobile device either routes or refrains from routing communications corresponding to the speech input to each target device included in the non-whispered speech target device routing list.