Out-of-domain monitoring in parked vehicles
AssigneeCerence Operating Company
InventorsNavjot Singh, Vasu Jain
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a parked vehicle, a head unit operating in low-power mode draws attention to a living being in a cabin of a parked vehicle. It does so by using a microphone to monitor said cabin for out-of-domain sounds, detecting a signal originating within said cabin, said signal being an acoustic signal that is representative of an out-of-domain sound, classifying said acoustic signal as being indicative of the existence of the living being within said cabin of said vehicle, and sending an alert to a first person.
Claims20
A method that is carried out using a head unit in a vehicle, said head unit comprising a monitor, wherein said method comprises said monitor:
- transitioning into a monitoring mode thereof, wherein, in said monitoring mode, said monitor uses at least one microphone of said vehicle to listen for out-of-domain sounds indicative of a living being that has been left alone in a cabin of said vehicle after said vehicle has been parked and after said monitor has transitioned into said monitoring mode,
- wherein, after said monitor has transitioned into said monitoring mode, said monitor executes the steps of:
- using at least one microphone to monitor said cabin for out-of-domain sounds,
- detecting a signal originating within said cabin, said signal being an acoustic signal that is representative of an out-of-domain sound,
- determining that said out-of-domain sound comprises an acoustic signal,
- classifying said acoustic signal as being indicative of a living being within said cabin of said vehicle, and
- instructing said head unit to send an alert to a first person, said first person being said vehicle's last known operator,
- wherein an in-domain sound is a sound directed to a speech interface and an out-of-domain sound is a sound that is not an in-domain sound, wherein said monitor comprises a multiplexer that selects a proper subset of microphones in said vehicle based on a selection signal provided by a microphone selector.
An apparatus comprising a head unit for installation in a passenger vehicle,
- said head unit being connected to microphones within said passenger vehicle,
- wherein said head unit comprises a monitor that is configured to transition into a monitoring mode in which said monitor is configured to use at least one microphone of said vehicle to listen for occurrence of out-of-domain sounds indicative of a living being in a cabin of said passenger vehicle while said passenger vehicle is parked and said monitor is in said monitoring mode, wherein said monitor comprises a multiplexer that selects a proper subset of microphones in said vehicle based on a selection signal provided by a microphone selector,
- said monitor being configured
- to use at least one of said microphones to monitor said cabin of said vehicle for said out-of-domain sounds while said vehicle is parked,
- to detect a signal originating within said cabin, said signal being an acoustic signal that is representative of an out-of-domain sound,
- to classify said out-of-domain sound as being indicative of existence of said living being within said cabin of said vehicle by comparing said acoustic signal with stored acoustic signatures, and
- to cause a signal to be sent to a person, said person being said vehicle's last known operator.
A method that is carried out using a head unit in a vehicle, wherein said method comprises said head unit transitioning into a low-power mode thereof and drawing attention to a living being in a cabin of said vehicle after said vehicle has been parked and after said head unit has transitioned into said low-power mode and a monitor in said head unit has transitioned into a monitoring mode in which said monitor is configured to use at least one microphone of said vehicle to listen for out-of-domain sounds indicative of said living being, wherein drawing said attention comprises, while said head unit is in said low-power mode and said monitor is in said monitoring mode, using, causing said monitor to use only a proper subset of available microphones to monitor said cabin for out-of-domain sounds, detecting a signal originating within said cabin, said signal being an acoustic signal that is representative of an out-of-domain sound, classifying said acoustic signal as being indicative of the existence of said living being within said cabin of said vehicle, and sending an alert to a first person, said first person being said vehicle's last known operator, wherein said monitor comprises a multiplexer that selects said proper subset of microphones in said vehicle based on a selection signal provided by a microphone selector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.