# US 8,751,241 B2 · Method and system for enabling a device function of a vehicle

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- Number: US 8,751,241 B2
- Document ID: US8751241B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 12/100,696
- Filed: 2008-04-10
- Published: 2008-09-04
- Granted: 2014-06-10
- Earliest claimed: 2003-12-17
- Assignees: General Motors Corporation
- Applicants: Christopher L. Oesterling; William E. Mazzara, Jr.; Jeffrey M. Stefan
- Inventors: Christopher L. Oesterling; William E. Mazzara, Jr.; Jeffrey M. Stefan
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8751241B2

## CPC

- G10L 15/26: Speech to text systems (G10L15/08 takes precedence)
- G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING

## Abstract

The current invention provides a method and system for enabling a device function of a vehicle. A speech input stream is received at a telematics unit. A speech input context is determined for the received speech input stream. The received speech input stream is processed based on the determination and the device function of the vehicle is enabled responsive to the processed speech input stream. A vehicle device in control of the enabled device function of the vehicle is directed based on the processed speech input stream. A computer usable medium with suitable computer program code is employed for enabling a device function of a vehicle.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of obtaining information from speech at a vehicle, comprising:
(a) receiving at a telematics unit in a vehicle a first speech input spoken by an occupant of the vehicle;
(b) determining if telephone-related information has been requested based on the inclusion of numerical utterances in the first speech input;
(c) determining if navigation information has been requested based on the inclusion of numerical utterances followed by non-numerical utterances in the first speech input;
(d) enabling a navigation system of the vehicle based on the determination in step (c);
(e) contacting directory assistance in response to the determination in step (b);
(i) receiving at the telematics unit telephone-related information in the form of a second speech input sent to the vehicle from a remote facility via a wireless carrier system;
(ii) obtaining data from the telephone-related information by performing speech recognition on the second speech input;
(iii) querying the vehicle occupant based on the obtained data; and
(iv) sending the obtained data to a vehicle device based on the query.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising carrying out a vehicle function related to the obtained data.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein step (g) further comprises converting the data into a form usable by the vehicle device.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the second speech input at the vehicle.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) further comprises recognizing the data from the second speech input using a selected domain specific actuator.

### Claim 6

A method of obtaining information from speech at a vehicle, comprising:
(a) receiving speech from a vehicle occupant at a vehicle;
(b) identifying one or more words in the received speech;
(c) analyzing the received speech for requests for telephone-related information based on the inclusion of numerical utterances in the received speech and requests for navigation information based on the inclusion of numerical utterances followed by non-numerical utterances; and
(d) when received speech includes the request for telephone related information or the request for navigation information, then carrying out the following steps at the vehicle:
(i) enabling a navigation system of the vehicle when a request for navigation information exists;
(ii) monitoring speech received by the vehicle over a wireless carrier system when a request for telephone-related information exists;
(1) identifying the telephone-related information in the monitored speech; and
(2) storing at least part of the telephone-related information at the vehicle.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of activating a vehicle device based on the inclusion of the request in step (d).

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the activating step further comprises enabling a vehicle function related to the requested information.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein at least part of the requested navigation information in step (d) is an address.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein step (iv) converts data into a form usable by the vehicle device.

### Claim 11

A method of obtaining information from speech at a vehicle, comprising:
(a) receiving from an occupant of a vehicle a spoken request at a vehicle;
(b) identifying navigational assistance in the spoken request based on the inclusion of numerical utterances followed by non-numerical utterances;
(c) identifying telephone-related assistance in the spoken request based on only inclusion of numerical utterances;
(d) identifying a vehicle function associated with the requested navigational assistance or telephone-related assistance;
(e) enabling a navigation system of the vehicle when a request for navigation assistance exists;
(f) wirelessly transmitting the request from the vehicle when identifying telephone-related assistance;
(i) receiving a response to the request for telephone-related assistance from a directory assistance provider;
(ii) performing speech recognition on the response;
(iii) automatically selecting from the recognized speech at least a part of the telephone-related assistance that is usable by a vehicle device to carry out the vehicle function;
(iv) putting the selected telephone--related assistance into a form usable by the vehicle device to carry out the vehicle function; and
(v) carrying out the vehicle function using the vehicle device and selected telephone-related assistance.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the obtained navigational assistance is an address or telephone number.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein step (b) further comprises detecting a predefined keyword uttered by a vehicle occupant.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein step (f) further comprises converting the part of the navigational assistance into a form usable by the vehicle device.