| Apparatus for communicating with a vehicle during remote vehicle operations, program product, and associated methods -> Monitor Keywords |
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  Apparatus for communicating with a vehicle during remote vehicle operations, program product, and associated methodsUSPTO Application #: 20060190097Title: Apparatus for communicating with a vehicle during remote vehicle operations, program product, and associated methods Abstract: An apparatus to enhance command communication in a high-noise environment between a user and user vehicle mobile data computer system, program product, and associated methods are provided. The apparatus includes a vehicle computer adapted to be positioned within a user vehicle and a vehicle computer application program stored in memory of the vehicle computer adapted to communicate with a remote host computer. A voice command interface program product is also stored in the memory and is in communication with the mobile data communications application program. The voice command interface program product is adapted to receive as audio input, through an audio input device, a voice command from the user representing a command input, identify the voice command by analyzing the received audio input, echo the identified voice command through an audio speaker, and transmit the command input to the vehicle computer application program, the echo including a preselected audio message verbally representing the identified voice command. (end of abstract) Agent: Bracewell & Giuliani LLP - Houston, TX, US Inventor: Jeffrey D. Rubenstein USPTO Applicaton #: 20060190097 - Class: 700017000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Data Processing: Generic Control Systems Or Specific Applications, Generic Control System, Apparatus Or Process, Sequential Or Selective, Operator Interface (e.g., Display With Control) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060190097. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional application which claims priority to and the benefit of continuation-in-part U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/656,487, filed on Sep. 5, 2003, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/968,633, filed on Oct. 1, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,422, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field Of The Invention [0003] The present invention relates to the field of communications generally and, more particularly, to vehicle communication systems, program products, and associated methods. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Law enforcement officers and other civil servants have long needed a cost-effective system which delivers data quickly, helps e.g., police officers save time in the performance of their duties, and accomplishes these goals without interfering with other officer duties or endangering the officer. Early officer data systems included human dispatchers in radio frequency ("RF") communication with officers in vehicles. In these early systems, data requested by the officer was typically searched for by hand and read back to the officer over the radio and, therefore, suffered from slow delivery of data, costs associated with employing dispatchers, and a very limited database of available data. [0006] These early systems were gradually replaced by police department computer systems, typically including a main computer in a police department headquarters or control center in communication with a police vehicle mobile data computer and at least one law enforcement database, such as the system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,188,939, by Morgan et al. titled "Advanced Law Enforcement and Response Technology." Systems of this type use a handheld input device having a magnet stripe reader for filling in forms with data held on a magnet stripe located on cards such as driver's licenses, transmitting these forms to the vehicle mobile data computer, and printing out these forms on a printer positioned in the vehicle. The magnet stripe reader for reading driver's licenses poses an additional problem because the data obtained from the magnet stripe is often out of date, especially in states where licenses need not be renewed, and hence bar codes not being updated for many years. Further, the handheld unit required by such systems prevents the officer's hands from being free for other activities and can place the officer in dangerous situations such as when the officer's attention is devoted to the handheld unit instead of the officer's surroundings. [0007] Some systems such as the Premiere MDC system sold by Motorola Corporation of Straumberg, Ill. have a police department computer in communication with a police vehicle mobile data computer and a database of law enforcement data. These systems offer computer aided dispatching, computer generated reports to be filled out by the officer, and can transmit responses to officer requests for law enforcement data such as data associated with license plate numbers or driver's licenses. The vehicle mobile data computer software in the Premiere MDC system has a limited text-to-voice program for presenting data in audio rather than video format and is also capable of displaying maps using a global positioning system ("GPS") unit to define the area to be displayed. The presentation of this data, however, is often poorly organized and poorly prioritized, thereby requiring the officer to spend a long time finding the desired data and distracting the officer from other work. The text-to-voice software from the Motorola system allows the officer to be somewhat more aware of the surroundings but still endangers the officer as critical data, such as whether a suspect is believed to be dangerous, may not come until the middle or end of the audio transmission. [0008] Such systems conventionally transfer each element of written data or text-to-voice, e.g., including zip codes, extraneous information. Much of this information, however, is not needed by the officer and can be information overload for an officer. Further, because text-to-voice is typically monotone or lacking intonation, the officer must concentrate more attention on the transmission and may misunderstand portions of the transmission. Systems such as the Motorola system pose a still further problem because the officer must frequently focus attention on the computer screen while filling in forms and checking responses to queries. This substantially increases the danger to the officer as the officer cannot be aware of the surroundings at the same time. [0009] Applicant recognized as beneficial in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/656,487 by Rubenstein titled "Apparatus for Communicating with Law Enforcement During Vehicle Travel and Associated Methods" and U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,422 by Rubenstein titled "Apparatus for Communicating with Law Enforcement During Vehicle Travel and Associated Methods," an apparatus and software for communicating with law enforcement during vehicle travel which: prioritizes pre-recorded human voice responses to officer queries that delivers rapid, easily comprehended responses that allow the officer to maintain visual awareness of the surroundings at all times; transmits audio alarms to the officer to give the officer immediate warning of degrees of law violation associated with a suspect; and provides cost effective quick mapping of incident locations. Such apparatus and software previously have been beneficially implemented in many vehicles. [0010] Also with recent advances in computer technology, microphone technology, and speech recognition algorithms, there has been an emergence of speech recognition software capable of providing discrete word and phrase recognition. Speech recognition software generally receives a speech signal, determines which words constitute the speech signal, and apply the determined words to an application program either in the form of a command or in the form of text. Speech recognition systems generally compare an acoustic description of text stored in a vocabulary database against an acoustic signal generated by the utterance of the text to be recognized. The speech recognition system then determines if the words or text are commands vs. dictation, applying the words or text as commands if recognized as a command. [0011] There are numerous problems encountered in the attempt to perfect speech recognition. For example, problems can include difficulty in determining when an utterance has begun. This problem is significantly exacerbated in a high-background noise environment. Some systems use a statistically derived acoustic model of background noise to filter the incoming acoustic signal. These systems have met some success where the non-speech sounds consist mostly of background noise having a fairly constant frequency and amplitude not matching the spectral characteristics of the text stored in the vocabulary database. [0012] Nevertheless, non-speech sounds, including background noise, are frequently detected as speech. This condition is problematic because the speech recognition systems examine a very large database of words or text, attempting to match a detected sound to each word or text. As such, speech recognition systems are likely to be falsely triggered into interpreting non-speech sounds as speech. Even if the speech recognition system is able to differentiate between the non-speech sounds and desired speech, resources of the associated computer system can be heavily taxed during such determination, thus causing a significant delay to the user. This can cause the user to lose track of what speech was provided to the speech recognition system, distracting the user, and negating the benefit of using a speech recognition system. [0013] Various vehicles, e.g., law enforcement or other public service vehicles, present an extremely high-background noise environment from multiple sources, such as, for example, the road, the engine, the wind, the vehicle fan, and the vehicle radio and/or passengers. Due to the level of such noise, the typical voice recognition system would be overwhelmed, causing extended delays as high as 20 seconds or more attempting to match the speech to be recognized with the vocabulary database. During a critical event such as, for example, a high-speed chase, distraction caused by either having to change focus to the computer screen to verify correct data entry or determining if the system received a command provided in the officer's speech, can significantly increase the likelihood of a traffic accident. Nevertheless, attempts have been made to implement a vehicle voice recognition system. Such a system is known as "Project 54." [0014] Project 54, however, requires its own specialized hardware, hardware interface, and software package, which must be shipped or otherwise physically delivered to the vehicle. A vehicle electrician must then install the hardware interface and additional hardware, such as, for example, a press-to-talk switch that must be both connected to a vehicle structure and electrically interfaced with one of the ports of the vehicle computer. The vehicles mobile client software application must then be replaced with that of Project 54. The operator of the vehicle must then be trained to use the Project 54 mobile client and must memorize the voice commands utilized by the Project 54 software package. [0015] The Applicant has recognized, however, that the various law-enforcement and other public service departments throughout the country have varying requirements, and prefer to utilize different mobile client software applications, generally having similar functionality, but controlled by different function keys. Such public service departments generally do not have the time or resources to perform vehicle modifications. Further, requiring the different departments to re-train their personnel in use of software having unfamiliar characteristics would require additional training expenditures, interrupt scheduling, and may cause operating difficulties, especially during initial implementation, which could result in an inability to receive critical information. [0016] Also recognized by the Applicant is that Project 54, similar to the various speech recognition applications described previously, is extremely susceptible to noise signals encountered when the push-to-talk switch is engaged to allow the microphone to receive an audio signal, such as during delivery of a voice command. In such situations, the vehicle computer system resources can be heavily taxed while attempting to recognize the voice command, causing a significant delay in either recognizing the voice command or failing to do so. This can result in a severe distraction to the user. Further, the user is not provided a system ready status, and thus, may lose track of which voice command is being processed. As stated, such distractions negate the benefit of using voice recognition systems. Recognized by the Applicant is that such a system is wholly inadequate system for suppressing the effects of noise. The user must divert attention to the push-to-talk switch, provide voice commands during a relatively low-noise situation, and quickly release the switch to prevent extraneous noise from being received. Also recognized by the Applicant is that this limitation prevents the software from being operated in an entirely hands-free mode. [0017] Thus, recognized by the Applicant is the need for a voice command interface program product or software compatible with a multitude of law-enforcement or other vehicle based mobile data systems that enables a user to utilize voice commands to operate the vehicle mobile data system, that requires little or no user training, and that has a very high accuracy under the most arduous conditions. Also recognized is that any voice command interface related system to be used for in-vehicle applications should be capable of not only enhancing the user's voice, but also eliminating background noise and minimizing the effect of other non-speech sounds. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0018] With the foregoing in mind, embodiments of the present invention advantageously provide an apparatus, program product, and associated methods to communicate with a vehicle during vehicle travel that can enhance the flow of data to and from a vehicle driver or other user, such as a police officer. Embodiments of the present invention also provide an apparatus, including a voice command interface program product, that reduces the need to type commands into a computer and/or press keyboard keys or buttons that are difficult to access, especially when the vehicle is on the move. Embodiments of the present invention also provide an apparatus, including a voice command interface program product, that delivers audio feedback indicating the selection of a command input to a mobile data Communications application program in the form of the voice command, returning the interpretation of the voice command so the vehicle user can determine if the command or text was interpreted correctly. [0019] Advantageously, the voice command interface program product can provide voice command recognition and can deliver an echo of each spoken voice command, or a subset thereof, either in the form of text-to-speech or in the form of a pre-recorded human voice. Advantageously, this negates the need for the vehicle user to remove his/her hands from the steering wheel while driving or to shift focus from the outside environment in order to receive feedback. This functionality is particularly beneficial to law-enforcement. Unlike in other professions, a law-enforcement officer can be faced with situations, such as, for example, a high-speech chase or a vehicle stop, where even a momentary distraction causing the officer to focus visual attention on the computer can cause the officer to loose control of the situation, resulting in possible injury or death to either the officer or to a bystander. [0020] Embodiments of the present invention advantageously provide an apparatus, including a voice command interface program product, to communicate with a user during vehicle travel which can: receive voice commands to operate vehicle computer application programs including those that can transmit queries to a remote computer; echo the identified voice commands in either text-to-voice or pre-recorded human voice, as pre-selected by a user; and prioritize pre-recorded human voice responses to the transmitted queries, summarizing the responses, thereby delivering rapid, easily comprehended responses that allow the user to maintain visual awareness of the surroundings at all times. [0021] More particularly, embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus to communicate with a user or users, e.g., law-enforcement, during remote vehicle operations that can enhance command communication, particularly in a high-noise environment. For example, in an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus includes a vehicle mobile data computer system which includes a vehicle computer having memory to store data therein and adapted to be positioned within a user vehicle, such as, for example, a law enforcement or other civil service vehicle, to define a vehicle mobile data computer. The vehicle mobile data computer is in communication with a remote host computer, e.g., a department server, which is in communication with various external databases. When implemented with law enforcement, the remote host computer is in communication with law enforcement databases to supply law enforcement data to officers positioned in a law enforcement vehicle. The vehicle mobile data computer preferably uses radio frequency to transmit and to receive such data. The vehicle mobile data computer is also in communication with at least one but preferably a plurality of audio speakers and at least one audio input device. One or more vehicle mobile data computer application programs are stored in the memory of the mobile data computer. At least one of the vehicle mobile data computer application programs preferably is a mobile data communications application program adapted to communicate with the remote host computer through the vehicle mobile data computer, to thereby transmit and receive data through the remote host computer. Continue reading... Full patent description for Apparatus for communicating with a vehicle during remote vehicle operations, program product, and associated methods Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Apparatus for communicating with a vehicle during remote vehicle operations, program product, and associated methods patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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