Abstract:
The present invention is an Always On, Hands-free, Speech Activated, Power-optimized Wireless Communications Device with associated base. The unique value of the device is that a person can use the device at any time,  24×7,  with hands-free operation. People can wear it  24×7  on their body either around their neck or on their wrist or wherever it best meets their needs. Speech activation provides greater convenience for the person in using the wireless communications device, and at the same time, it allows the microcontroller greater control of power consuming resources. The wireless communications device may host simple, low power applications. In addition, applications will reside in the base, and in an application (either voice or data) server that is accessed by the wireless communications base.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/141,601 filed Dec. 30, 2008. 
     
    
       [0002]    TECHNICAL FIELD 
         [0003]    The present invention is in the technical field of wireless communicating devices. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    We live in a world of wireless devices. The first popular wireless device was the one-way pager a few decades ago. This allowed people to be contacted by clients or colleagues while they were away from the office. Typically, a person who received the page would find the nearest payphone to call an answering service in order to retrieve a message. In the 1970s, a new voice communications device, called the cell phone, allowed one to make and receive voice calls away from their home or office. These devices were very expensive, generally had poor audio quality, and required large batteries that provided typically very short talk times and quite short standby times. 
         [0005]    Each successive generation of wireless devices (one way then two way message pagers, mobile phones) focused on reduced size, better displays, more features, and longer battery life. 
         [0006]    Similarly, the plain old telephone sets in the home gave way to feature-rich cordless phones. They, too, evolved from simple voice communication devices to capabilities that are nearly the same as mobile phones but are not nearly as restrictive in size, features, and battery life. 
         [0007]    Cordless phones and mobile phones operate in a similar manner. To make a call, the user must enter in a telephone number and press talk or send to initiate a call. They both can receive calls simply by pressing the answer button when the device rings. 
         [0008]    In either case, the user must physically press the “send” or “answer” button to establish a voice connection with the other party. In a mobile phone, the voice connection is established wirelessly to a cell phone tower located somewhere in the neighborhood and typically routed over the landline phone network to the other party. In a cordless phone, the voice connection is established wirelessly to the cordless phone base, with the base connecting to the telephone line in one&#39;s house. 
         [0009]    Both wireless devices have two modes of operation; standby mode and talk mode. In standby mode, the device is periodically sending a beacon signal to the base indicating that it is available to receive calls. In talk mode, a two-way voice channel is established between the wireless device and a base. Compared to standby mode, talk mode requires much more battery power to sustain the voice channel to the base. This can be more than 10 times the power required to sustain standby mode. 
         [0010]    Another feature that some mobile phones have is push to talk. Push to talk (similar to walkie-talkies) provides a relatively simple means of sending a brief voice message to one or more similar devices. The mobile phone would have pre-programmed “group lists” to select from before sending a push to talk voice message. The recipients can respond in kind by pressing a button on their mobile phone to send back a short voice message. 
         [0011]    Another common feature is speakerphone or hands-free mode. The microphone is sensitive enough to pick up the person&#39;s voice in the immediate area and the speaker on the device is powerful enough for the user to hear what the person at the other end of the call is saying. 
         [0012]    Another feature that is being introduced is fixed function, limited vocabulary speech recognition. The speech recognition feature requires that the user press a button or a sequence of buttons to engage this feature on the communications device. 
         [0013]    Another feature that has been introduced to wireless devices is the use of computer generated speech to provide indicators to users. Computer generated speech can be provided by speech synthesis or by playing recorded speech segments to the user. 
         [0014]    In summary, today&#39;s wireless devices focus on including a multitude of features and integrated applications requiring manual (and generally complex) interaction via tiny keyboards and tiny displays. Some of this manual interaction has been reduced by the use of a limited use speech recognition facility for specific onboard applications. Continuous speech recognition on a wireless device is problematic since this requires a large amount of computer processing power which in turn results in relatively short periods of usage time between battery recharging. Continuous speech recognition could be made available to the wireless device by establishing a continuous speech path to its base whereby the base does the processing of speech data into text, but maintaining a continuous wireless connection quickly draws down the battery of the wireless device and thus will require either a larger battery as part of the wireless device or would require the user to more frequently recharge the device between use. Additionally, battery power draw will be substantial regardless if speech or silence is being transported over the established wireless voice path. 
         [0015]    Generally, the goal of an advanced wireless communication device is to provide the user with as broad an access to applications and information in the smallest, most user-friendly package that he/she can carry around while minimizing the requirement of frequent battery recharging. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The present invention is an Always On, Hands-free, Speech Activated, Power-optimized Wireless Communications Device with associated base. The unique value of the device is that a person can use the device at any time, 24×7, with hands-free operation. People can wear it 24×7 on their body either around their neck or on their wrist or wherever it best meets their needs. It can be placed on a battery charging appliance located beside the person&#39;s bed while they sleep but still have the wireless device available for use at any time while the battery is recharging. 
         [0017]    The device is as small as possible while still meeting the communications and applications needs of the person. 
         [0018]    The device size and weight will be significantly affected by the size and weight of battery used. A bigger battery allows for longer use between charges. Through power optimization, as this invention provides, the size of the battery can be greatly reduced to deliver the always on, hands-free, speech activated wireless communications device. Speech activation eliminates the need to power on (since the invention is always on and in a low power state), to manually establish a voice connection and to manually disconnect when no longer needed. Not only does always on and speech activation provide greater convenience for the person in using the wireless communications device but it allows for greater control of power consuming resources, mainly the radio interface, within the device. 
         [0019]    In some embodiments of this invention, the wireless communications device may host simple, low power applications. In other embodiments, such applications will reside in the base, or in an application (either voice or data) server that is accessed via the wireless communications base. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a general view of the wireless communicator and associated base, and externally connected equipment. 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the wireless communicator 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  is the state machine of the wireless communicator 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the associated base 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  is the state machine of the associated base 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0025]      FIG. 1  provides a general view of the invention, the wireless communicator  102  and associated base  104 . The base connects to a variety of external voice and data systems and services, as needed. The wireless communicator  102  is attached on or is near the body of the user  101  in order to pick up the user&#39;s speech and to be heard by the user via the integrated speaker. The wireless communicator  102  may be attached to the clothes of the user  101 . The wireless communicator  102  must be within radio contact range of the base  104  in order to establish a proper wireless speech path. The base  104  provides applications to the user  101  through the wireless communicator. The application server  105  is associated with base  104  in order to provide other applications desired by the user  101 . The base  104  provides access to the telephone network  106  and the data network  107  to allow the user  101  to communicate by voice or to access data resources as managed by an application running on the base  104  and serving the user  101 . Additionally, the base provides access to a variety of external media servers  108  supporting audio-based applications like IVR/voicemail, Dictaphone service, and podcasts/music. The wireless communicator  102  makes use of the wireless communicator charger  106  to recharge its battery while still being operational. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  identifies the components that make up the wireless communicator. Audio can be fed by the radio interface  206  or the microcontroller  205  as a stream of binary data representation to a digital to analog converter or DAC  207 . The DAC  207  outputs an analog signal which drives the speaker  208 . The analog signal can be amplified as necessary. The microphone  201  continuously picks up sound in the immediate environment. The analog to digital converter or ADC  202  converts the analog signal from the microphone  201  into a binary digit representation. The speech energy detection  203  circuit continuously analyzes the ADC  202  output and over a number of successive samples determine if there is speech energy detected above a predefined threshold. The speech capture buffer  204  circuit is engaged at the beginning of detecting sufficient speech energy, and is turned off when detected speech energy drops below the predefined threshold. While engaged, the speech capture buffer  204  stores all output from the ADC  202 . Additionally, the speech capture buffer  204  can be continuously engaged in recording speech data for use in other applications. 
         [0027]    While in the idle state, the microcontroller  205  is designed such that it is sleeping which conserves battery power. The microcontroller  205  periodically wakes up and initiates a “ping” indicating to the base  104  that it is still within range and available for service and goes back to sleep after receiving a response. 
         [0028]    The microcontroller  205  is signaled  216  by the Radio Interface  206  when the base  104  wishes to establish a speech path with the wireless communicator  102 . 
         [0029]    Additionally, the microcontroller  205  may have previously requested that the speech recognition  209  circuit be enabled to translate the captured speech into one of a small set of specific keyword phrases. Upon a successful translation match  215 , the microcontroller  205  will be notified of the match  215  and be presented with the matched phrase. 
         [0030]    Additionally, when the speech recognition  209  circuit is not enabled, the microcontroller  205  is signaled  213  by the speech energy detection circuit  203  when the speech energy threshold is met and when the speech energy detection falls below the threshold. 
         [0031]    The purpose of the speech capture buffer  204  is to permit, beyond just keyword speech recognition, additional analysis locally to the wireless communicator  102  or to have the captured speech be forwarded to the base  104  for analysis or use. 
         [0032]    Upon receiving any of these signals via  213 ,  214 ,  215 , the microcontroller  205  is woken up and initiates an appropriate function. The keyword function store  210  contains the code for use by the microcontroller  205 . Audio prompts and tone store  211  contains speech prompts and tone indicators that can be played to the user  102  as necessary or in the execution of a function. The data store  212  contains necessary state information needed by the microcontroller for normal operation and normal execution of any of the functions. 
         [0033]    Another embodiment of the wireless communicator  102  is a communicator that has full speech recognition capabilities. Such a communicator will be capable of carrying out a wide variety of speech-related applications, with no, or minimal, involvement of the base. 
         [0034]    Another embodiment of the invention is the separation of the microphone  201  and ADC  202  from the wireless communicator  102  as a separate “button-sized” wireless microphone device using a very low power microcontroller and radio interface typically covering the range of the user&#39;s body. In this embodiment, the wireless communicator  102  would have an additional radio interface that communicates with the radio interface of the button microphone. This button microphone provides greater flexibility in placement near the user&#39;s mouth due to its smaller size and the placement of the associated wireless communicator on the body. The wireless communicator  102  could also be placed near the person, such as near the person&#39;s bed when the person is sleeping. 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  identifies the general state machine executed by the microcontroller  205 . The radio interface  206  uses commercial digital wireless technology available today that supports voice and data transmission. The microcontroller  205  waits to receive  301  the signal from the radio interface  206  indicating that the wireless communicator  102  is within range of operation with the base  104 . The microcontroller will initiate registration  302  with the base. This indicates to the base  104  that the wireless communicator  102  is available to receive connection requests. Once registration has been authorized, the microcontroller  205  enters into the idle  303  state and goes into sleep mode. It is ready to receive any events from within the wireless communicator or from the base  104  via the Radio Interface  206 . Periodically the microcontroller  205  will wake up from the idle state  303  and enter into the ping state  313  where it sends a ping message to the base  104  and waits to receive a response message to verify that the base is active and within range of the wireless communicator  102 . If a response message is not received by a predetermined timeframe, the microcontroller will enter the out of range  315  state and sit there and wait for detection of an in range signal. If the response message is received, the microcontroller then returns to the idle state  303  and reenters sleep mode awaiting the next wakeup event. 
         [0036]    In the idle  303  state, the microcontroller  205  can receive a connect request indication from the base  104  and enter the base connect request  314 . In this state, the microcontroller  205  will establish the speech path between the radio interface and the microphone  201  and the speaker  208 , and then send a positive acknowledgment to the base  104  indicating that the speech path has been successfully establish. The microcontroller  205  is now in the connected  308  State. 
         [0037]    The microcontroller  205 , when in the connected  308  state, may decide, either through the speech energy detection circuit  203  or by an expected pause in the active function logic being executed, that no speech data is being transferred between the wireless communicator  102  and the base  104 . It can signal the base  104  to enter into the suspend  309  state and put the radio interface  206  into the suspend mode. In the suspend mode, the wireless speech path between the wireless communicator  102  and the base  104  is turned off, but the control path remains active. This greatly reduces battery drain in the communicator  102  during long silences in the conversation. The microcontroller  205  will enter the suspend  309  state upon positive acknowledgment from the base  104 . If it receives a negative acknowledgment, then the microcontroller will remain in the connected  308  state indicating that the base  104  requires the speech connection to remain established. And vice versa, the base  104  can request suspend also, when it does not intend to communicate with the communicator  102 . The wireless speech path is re-established  308  on a resume request. 
         [0038]    In the idle  303  state, the microcontroller  205  can receive an indication  215  that a keyword phrase was spoken by the user  101  as detected by the speech recognition  209  circuit. The microcontroller  205  will wake up from its sleep and enter the keyword recognized  312  state. Based on the keyword phrase spoken, the microcontroller  205  will execute a predefined function  310 ,  311 ,  317  or resume executing a predefined function already in progress. Each predefined function can request to play an audio prompt or tone to the user to solicit further input from the user  102  or to indicate an acknowledgement or condition to the user  102 . The microcontroller can engage with the base  104  in the process of executing a function either by establishing a speech path or by exchanging function-related data with the base  104  via a wireless data transfer channel  316  supported by the radio interface  206 . 
         [0039]    When the microcontroller  205  initiates a connect request  305  to the base  104 , the base  104  will return a positive acknowledgment indicating that the speech path is established. In the next step  306 , the contents of the speech capture buffer  204  is sent via  214  and  216  to the base  104  for processing, as needed. Finally, the microcontroller  205  enters into the connected state  308  thus completing the speech path from the base  104  to the wireless communicator microphone  201  and speaker  208  via paths  217  and  218 , respectively. The microcontroller  205  then enters into low-power sleep mode. In this state, the base  104  is free to engage the user in any speech associated applications, including but not limited to regular phone conversations, voicemail, and IVR. 
         [0040]    In another embodiment, when the microcontroller  205  is in the idle  303  state, it will wait until it receives signal  213  from the speech energy detection  203  circuit before initiating a connect request  305  to the base  104  as stated in the previous paragraph. 
         [0041]    The microcontroller  205  can receive a disconnect request from the base  104  at any time. Any established connection is terminated and the microcontroller  205  goes to the idle  303  state. Any active function wraps up operation and is terminated, as well. 
         [0042]      FIG. 4  identifies the main components of the base  104 . The base is able to support one or more wireless communicator  102  connections. The Radio Interface  401  is used to communicate to each of the wireless communicators  102  that are registered with the base  104 . The computer  402  interacts with the wireless communicator  102  and external services  105 ,  106 ,  107 ,  108  (via the network access  404 ) that may be used with the set of functions servicing the wireless communicator  102 . These external services may also be used by functions executed on the base.  104 . 
         [0043]    The function store  405  contains the code for use by the computer  402  when needed. Audio prompts and tone store  406  contains speech prompts or tone indicators that can be played to the user  101 , through the speaker of the wireless communicator  102 , as necessary in the execution of a function. The speech recognition module  403  is used to convert received speech input into text as required during the execution of a function. The data store  407  contains necessary state information needed by the computer  402  for normal operation and normal execution of any of the functions. 
         [0044]      FIG. 5  identifies the general state machine executed by the computer  402 . The radio interface  206  uses commercial digital wireless technology available today that supports voice and data transmission. When a wireless communicator  102  is within radio range  501  of the base  104 , the wireless communicator  102  will send a registration request to the base  104 . In this registration state  502 , the computer  402  will authenticate and authorize valid registration requests and send back a positive acknowledgment and change to the idle state  503 . In the idle state  503 , the wireless communicator  102  will periodically send a “ping” message indicating that it is active and in range to the base  104 . If a predetermined number of pings are not receives within a predetermined time then the computer will consider the wireless communicator  102  to be unavailable and will deregister it  510 . 
         [0045]    In the idle  503  state, the computer  402  can receive a connect request indication from the wireless communicator  102  and enter the WC connect request  504 . In this state, the computer  402  will establish the speech path between the radio interface  401  and the speech recognition engine  403 , and then send a positive acknowledgment to the wireless communicator  102  indicating that the speech path between the communicator  102  and the base  104  has been successfully establish. The computer  402  is now in the connected  506  State. 
         [0046]    A base function can be started up  515 , either by an internal function scheduler program of invocation by an external service, such that it initiates a base connect request  505  with the wireless communicator  102 . Once established, the function can proceed to have a dialog with the user  101  and incorporating any of the services it has at hand  105 ,  106 ,  107 ,  108 ,  403 , or  406 . 
         [0047]    The computer  402 , when in the connected  506  state, may determine that no speech data is being transferred between the wireless communicator  102  and the base  104 . It can signal the wireless communicator  102  to enter into the suspend state and thus greatly reduce battery drain during long silences in the conversation by turning off the wireless speech path. The computer  402  will enter the suspend  507  state upon positive acknowledgment from the wireless communicator  102 . If it receives a negative acknowledgment, then the computer  402  will remained in the connected  506  state indicating that the wireless communicator  102  requires the speech connection to remain established. And vice versa, the wireless communicator  102  can request suspend also. The wireless speech path is re-established on a resume request. 
         [0048]    In the connected  506  state, the computer  402  can engage the speech recognition  403  engine which can be a high end, large vocabulary recognizer. Based on the phrase spoken, the computer  402  will execute a predefined function  511 ,  512 ,  513  or resume executing a predefined function already in progress. Each predefined function can request to play an audio prompt or tone to the user to solicit further input from the user  102 . The computer  402  can exchange function-related data with the wireless communicator  102  via a wireless data transfer channel  514  supported by the radio interface  401 . 
         [0049]    The computer  402  can receive a disconnect request at any time from the wireless communicator  102 . Any established connection is terminated and the computer  402  goes to the idle state  503 . Any active function wraps up operation and is terminated, as well. 
         [0050]    While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one skilled in the art of computer hardware and software development to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those appropriately skilled will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention as claimed.