# US 12,759,491 B2 · Voice assistant optimization dependent on vehicle occupancy > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,759,491 B2 - Document ID: US12759491B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/721,972 - Filed: 2022-12-22 - Published: 2025-02-20 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2021-12-23 - Assignees: Cerence Operating Company - Applicants: Cerence Operating Company - Inventors: Holger Quast; Markus Funk; Christophe Couvreur - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12759491B2 ## CPC - B60R 16/0373: {Voice control (in general G10L)} - G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue - B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING ## Abstract A vehicle system for classifying spoken utterance within a vehicle cabin as one of system-directed and non-system directed, the system may include at least one microphone configured to detect at least one audio signal from at least one occupant of a vehicle, and a processor programmed to receive the at least one audio signal including at least one acoustic utterance, determine a number of vehicle occupants based at least in part on the at least one signal, determine a probability that the utterance is system directed based at least in part one the utterance and the number of vehicle occupants, determine a classification threshold based at least in part on the number of vehicle occupants, compare the classification threshold to the probability to determine whether the at least one acoustic utterance is one of a system directed utterance and a non-system directed utterance. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle system for classifying spoken utterance within a vehicle cabin as one of system-directed and non-system directed, the system comprising: at least one microphone configured to detect at least one audio signal from at least one occupant of a vehicle; and a processor programmed to: receive the at least one audio signal including at least one acoustic utterance, determine a number of vehicle occupants based at least in part on the at least one audio signal, determine a probability that the at least one acoustic utterance is system directed based at least in part one the at least one acoustic utterance and the number of vehicle occupants, determine a classification threshold based at least in part on the number of vehicle occupants, and compare the classification threshold to the probability to determine whether the at least one acoustic utterance is one of a system directed utterance and a non-system directed utterance. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to receive occupant data from at least one sensor, the occupant data indicative of a presence of an occupant. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further programmed to determine the number of occupants based at least in part on the occupant data. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the classification threshold increases as the number of occupants increases and decreases as the number of occupants decreases. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the classification threshold and probability is based at least in part on the number of vehicle occupants and at least one occupant-specific factor. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to determine that the at least one acoustic utterance is system directed in response to the probability exceeding the classification threshold. ### Claim 7 A vehicle system for classifying spoken utterance within a vehicle cabin as one of system-directed and non-system directed, the system comprising: at least one sensor configured to detect at least one occupancy signal from at least one occupant of a vehicle, wherein the occupancy signal is indicative of a presence of an occupant; and a processor programmed to: receive at least one audio signal from a vehicle microphone, and determine a number of occupants based at least in part on the occupancy signal; determine a classification threshold based at least in part on the number of occupants to apply to a probability that acoustic utterances spoken by at least one of the vehicle occupants is a system directed utterance. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the classification threshold is based at least in part on at least one occupant-specific factor. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein at least one occupant-specific factor includes a personal preference associated with the at least one occupant. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the classification threshold increases as the number of occupants increases and decreases as the number of occupants decreases. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further programmed to compare the classification threshold to the probability to determine whether the at least one acoustic utterance is one of a system directed utterance and a non-system directed utterance. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is programmed to determine that the utterance is system directed in response to the probability exceeding the classification threshold. ### Claim 13 A method for classifying spoken utterance as one of system-directed and non-system directed, the method comprising: receiving at least one signal indicative of a number of vehicle occupants, receiving at least one utterance from one of the vehicle occupants; identifying the one of the vehicle occupants; determining a probability that the at least one utterance is system directed; and determining a classification threshold based at least in part on the number of vehicle occupants and occupant-specific factors associated with the one of the vehicle occupants; and comparing the classification threshold to the probability to determine whether the at least one utterance is one of a system directed utterance and a non-system directed utterance. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the classification threshold increases as the number of occupants increases and decreases as the number of occupants decreases. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the utterance is system directed in response to the probability exceeding the classification threshold. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the utterance is received as part of an audio signal detected by at least one vehicle microphone. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one signal indicative of a number of vehicle occupants is received from at least one sensor configured to detect at least one occupancy signal from the at least one occupant of a vehicle. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the classification threshold is determined based at least on part on additional factors, including at least one of a personal preference associated with the at least one occupant.