Patent Document ID: 7487084
Application ID: 10210667
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An apparatus for testing speech recognition in a new vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a laptop computer; a speaker arrangement which propagates a speech output based on a known text previously recorded by a human; wherein the text is comprised of a set of commands of interest, said speech output being stored digitally in a laptop computer; a testing arrangement adapted to test the acceptability of installed speech recognition systems in vehicles while the vehicles are being operated on a roadway at speeds of 0, 30, and 60 miles per hour, wherein the acceptability of a particular vehicular speech recognition system is based upon a comparison of pre-specified standards of recognition accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio values with a recognition accuracy value and a signal-to-noise ratio value produced by the particular vehicular speech recognition system, based on the text recognized from the speech output and the testing arrangement is located separate from the vehicle being tested, the propagated speech output being transmitted to the testing arrangement via a cellular transmission unit located within the vehicle being tested; wherein said speaker arrangement is configured to simulate the propagation of a human voice and is calibrated with respect to an audio input of an installed speech recognition system in a vehicle such that the speech output is propagated at the same pressure and distance from a microphone used to record the human speech; wherein the speech output comprises three recordings of the human voice, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles, and one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour; wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour; wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour; wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour; and wherein the apparatus is used to test every one-hundredth car that leaves an assembly line.