Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/012,428, filed Feb. 28, 1996. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications, and more specifically, to the field of voice activated vehicular telephone systems. 
     It is well known in the wireless telecommunications industry that voice recognition technologies can be used to interface with vehicular telephone systems, including analog and digital cellular telephones, personal communication system devices, and other types of communication devices. It has long been hoped that the addition of voice recognition capabilities to such systems would make the systems more user friendly, more convenient and efficient to use, easier to learn to use, and more conducive to driver safety. However, the reality is that such systems have not yet been very successful in the market. Past implementations of voice recognition technologies with vehicular telephone systems have often proven to be user unfriendly, difficult to use and learn, and lacking in incentive to overcome the learning curves associated with such systems. First of all, some of the previous systems are capable of providing only a small portion of the important call processing functions which are manually supported by the vehicular telephone system, thus incentive to use is low. Secondly, in order for other systems to provide the user a voice-based method of accomplishing many of the option-laden functions of a vehicular telephone system, such a system would need to support a large and complicated set of multi-layered commands, making it much easier for the user to decide to simply look &amp; reach down to use the vehicular telephone system handset. As a result of not being used, the voice recognition capabilities of such systems have not facilitated greater driver safety. 
     Another element in many conventional vehicular telephone systems is an external control unit (ECU). Such a device provides an additional user interface which is intended to be more convenient to use than the primary control unit and is often located in the dash of an automobile, or other type of vehicle, but may also be located elsewhere inside the vehicle. A typical ECU includes an output display and most, if not all, of the keys located on the primary control unit, such as a portable telephone resting in a vehicular holder or an installed full-function handset. While ECU&#39;s are often more conveniently positioned with respect to the driver, they are typically rather large and present great positioning difficulties to automotive designers. As a result, ECU&#39;s are not currently implemented on a very large scale, and, furthermore, after-market attempts to accomplish similar functions frequently appear to consumers to be less impressive or valuable. 
     There have also been vehicular telephone systems which include both an ECU and a voice recognition component. While both elements have previously been included as options in vehicular telephone systems, each element has previously been designed to address the individual objectives of that element. Consequently, such thrown-together systems also fail to address the problems discussed above. In addition, the very presence of both elements in a vehicular telephone system often exacerbates those problems. For example, a user is much less likely to try to learn how to use a voice recognition system if similar call processing functions may be accessed more quickly through manual operation of a conveniently located, yet non-integrated, ECU. 
     There is, therefore, a need in the industry for a system for addressing these and other related, and unrelated, problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, an external control unit (ECU) with a reduced keypad for more versatile and universal vehicular installation is tightly integrated in a voice activated vehicular telephone system which further includes a voice adapter (VA) providing an intelligent interface between the ECU and a portable telephone removably coupled to a portable telephone holder (instead of a portable telephone and holder, other embodiments include a conventional full-function automotive handset system). By taking full advantage of the voice recognition capabilities of the VA, the ECU is able to effectively harness the extensive power of the telephone system while requiring a very small amount of vehicle space through the combination of an internal microphone and a keypad with substantially fewer keys than conventional portable telephones. The keys which remain on the ECU are specifically chosen for their value as one-touch implementations of many functions which could otherwise require more time-consuming and complicated voice instructions, as well as for their ability to ensure that all call processing functions are provided by the telephone system without access to a complete keypad. Likewise, by leveraging a carefully designed VA&#39;s ability to efficiently and precisely provide audible prompts and other status information to the user, the ECU of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is intentionally designed without a display. Thus, due, at least in part, to the reduced number of keys on the ECU and the intentional absence of a display, the ECU of the preferred embodiment is easy and convenient to learn and use and provides a user the incentive to use the voice recognition capabilities of the VA, resulting in more realization of the intended benefits of voice recognition integration into a vehicular telephone system. 
     In addition, the tight integration of the telephone system enables the ECU keys to provide a variety of different functions varying with different operational modes of the system, such as, for example, during an idle mode compared to a call-in-process mode. Accordingly, use of a voice activated dialer (VAD) key during the idle mode causes the vehicular telephone system to prompt the user to speak a number to be dialed. However, use of the VAD key during the call-in-process mode causes the vehicular telephone system to, for as long as the key is depressed, to activate a voice-to-tones conversion facility to generate, play, and transmit dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones, a unique voice-activated call-in-process facility. This facility enables a user to, for example, operate an audio response system, such as a voice mail system, without the need for a conventional keypad with a full complement of digit keys. Likewise, use of a directory (DIR) key during the idle mode results in a prompt for the user to speak a name previously stored in the directory for quickly dialing an accompanying stored telephone number. However, use of the same key during the call-in-process mode enables a voice-to-memory conversion facility for storing in scratchpad memory digits spoken while the key is depressed. According to this inventive aspect of the present invention, a call to the telephone number spoken by the user during the current call may be started immediately upon completion of the current call. Of course, a variety of other equally important inventive aspects of the present invention are also described below, such as, for example, the existence of UP and DOWN keys on the ECU which are supported by the VA to be mode-specific and multi-functional, as is discussed below. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an external control unit with a reduced keypad based on a supporting voice activated dialing facility. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a voice activated vehicular telephone system with a call-in-process voice-to-tones facility. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a voice activated vehicular telephone system with a call-in-process voice-to-memory facility. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a voice activated vehicular telephone system with an external control unit with a reduced keypad integrated with a call-in-process voice-to-tones facility and a call-in-process voice-to-memory facility. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an external control unit for a voice activated vehicular telephone system wherein the external control unit includes a plurality of keys and an internal microphone. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an external control unit interface for a voice activated vehicular telephone system wherein the external control unit includes fewer than a complete complement of digit keys. 
     One other object of the invention is to provide an external control unit interface for a voice activated vehicular telephone system wherein the external control unit does not include a display. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide an external control unit interface for a voice activated vehicular telephone system wherein the external control unit includes at least one of a VAD key or a DIR key. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an external control unit interface for a voice activated vehicular telephone system wherein the external control unit includes a mute key and a mute indicator. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a voice activated vehicular telephone system including a portable telephone, a portable telephone holder, a voice adapter, and an external control unit with a reduced keypad. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for generating, playing, and transmitting dual tone multi-frequency tones corresponding to user speech detected during a call. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for storing digits into memory corresponding to user speech detected during a call. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a voice adapter for a vehicular telephone system which passes to a portable all keystrokes from an ECU, except for UP and DOWN keys during a directory scroll mode, in which case those keys are used to control the scrolling of stored audio label playback. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of a vehicular telephone system in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic block representation of the portable telephone thereof. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic block representation of the external control unit thereof. 
     FIG. 4 is a block diagram representation of the portable telephone thereof. 
     FIG. 5 is a block diagram representation of the holder thereof. 
     FIG. 6 is a block diagram representation of the voice adapter thereof. 
     FIG. 7 is a block diagram representation of the external control unit thereof. 
     FIG. 8 is a flow chart representation of an idle mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 9 is a flow chart representation of an incoming mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 10 is a flow chart representation of a key idle mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 11 is a flow chart representation of a ready mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 12 is a flow chart representation of a digit entry mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 13 is a flow chart representation of a recall mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 14 is a flow chart representation of a directory recall mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 15 is a flow chart representation of a directory scroll mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 16 is a flow chart representation of a directory confirm mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 17 is a flow chart representation of a recall host memory mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 18 is a flow chart representation of a store mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 19 is a flow chart representation of a store directory mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 20 is a flow chart representation of a directory overwrite mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 21 is a flow chart representation of a store host memory mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 22 is a flow chart representation of a verify host store mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 23 is a flow chart representation of a directory playback mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 24 is a flow chart representation of a delete memory mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 25 is a flow chart representation of a delete directory mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 26 is a flow chart representation of an erase directory mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 27 is a flow chart representation of a delete host memory mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 28 is a flow chart representation of a wait call in process (CIP) mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 29 is a flow chart representation of a CIP mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 30 is a flow chart representation of CIP—voice tones mode of operation thereof. 
     FIG. 31 is a flow chart representation of CIP—voice pad mode of operation thereof. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference is now made to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures. Referring now to FIG. 1, the first preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a voice activated vehicular telephone system  10  which includes a portable telephone  12  removably coupled (both physically and electrically) through a line  14  to a holder  16  which is electrically coupled to an external antenna  11  through a radio frequency (RF) coaxial line  18  and to a voice adapter (VA)  20  through a multi-conductor line  22 . The VA  20  is further connected to a power source (e.g., an automobile battery, not shown) through a line  23  (including raw power, ignition-switched power, and ground), to a speaker  28  through a speaker line  27 , and to an external control unit (ECU)  26  through a line  24 . 
     Refer now to FIG. 2 for a schematic block representation of the portable telephone  12  of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Portable  12  includes, at least, an external interface  41  accommodating a front keypad  42 , a display  40  (such as a liquid crystal or other type of display), an RF antenna  30 , up/down keys  36 ,  38 , an internal speaker  32 , an internal microphone  34 , and an input/output (I/O) connector  39 . Keypad  42  includes a numeric keypad  44  including a full complement of digit keys and “*”, “#” keys. Keypad  42  also includes a send key  46 , a clear key  48 , an end key  50 , a recall key  52 , a store key  54 , a menu key  56 , an emergency dialing key  58 , an alpha-numeric key  60 , and a power key  62 . These keys are all used in normal cellular telephone functionality, and, when appropriate, the function of particular keys are described below as the functions relate to the present invention. Moreover, other components of the portable  12  will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic block representation of the ECU  26  of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Constructed for being mounted to a surface within an automobile (such as a dash, or, alternately, the inside surface of a windshield), the ECU  26  includes a rigid vehicular mounting structure  69  supporting a reduced keypad  193 , a microphone  70 , and a mute indicator light  92 . The reduced keypad  193  includes a send key  72 , an end key  74 , an emergency dialing key  76  (also a special type of “quick dial” key), quick dial (QD) keys  78 ,  70 ,  82 ,  84 , labeled “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4”, respectively, a down key  86 , an up key  88 , a mute key  90 , a directory (DIR) key  94 , and a voice activated dialing (VAD) key  96 . The ECU  26  further includes an I/O connector  182  coupled to internal supporting circuitry of the ECU  26  as is discussed below. 
     Turn now to FIG. 4 for a block diagram representation of the portable telephone  12  according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. Portable  12  internally includes a microprocessor  108 , memory  115  having memory allocated for various functions (described in detail below), keys circuitry  112 , display circuitry  114 , audio processing/interface/microprocessor support circuitry  106 , speaker and microphone circuitry  110 , transmitter and receiver circuitry  104 , RF relay  102  connected to antenna  30 , I/O connector  39 , and battery circuit  128 . Through various conductors, microprocessor  108  is coupled to memory  115 , display circuitry  114 , keys circuitry  112 , audioprocessing/interface/microprocessor support circuitry  106 , and to I/O connector  39  through line  136 . Battery circuit  128  of portable  12  is coupled to I/O connector  39  through line  129  and through other lines (not shown) to various components of portable  12  which require power and ground from battery circuit  128 , as would be understood by one reasonably skilled in the art. Audio processing/interface/microprocessor support circuitry  106  is further coupled through line  138  to I/O connector  39 , through a line to transmitter and receiver circuitry  104 , and through a line to speaker and microphone circuitry  110 . Transmitter and receiver circuitry  104  is coupled through a line to RF relay  102 , which alternates between connecting the line from transmitter and receiver circuitry  104  to an RF line coupled to portable antenna  30  and a connection to line  134  coupled through I/O connector  39  and an RF line of line  14  through the holder  16  and RF line  18  to external antenna  11  (FIG.  1 ). During operation, the particular state of RF relay  102  at any given time (i.e., whether transmitter and receiver circuitry  104  is coupled to portable antenna  30  or through I/O connector  39  to external antenna  11 ) is determined by whether portable  12  is electronically coupled to the holder  16  (FIG.  1 ). It should also be understood that additional lines not shown are connected through I/O connector  39  (as with other connectors of this first preferred embodiment) as necessary and as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art (e.g., digital and analog grounds, other sensing lines, etc.) 
     Consideration is now given to a more detailed description of memory  115  of portable  12 , according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIG.  4 . It should be understood that, although not specifically delineated in FIG. 4, memory  115  encompasses all on-board memory of portable  12  associated with microprocessor  108  of portable  12 . Thus, in addition to other memory areas not specifically delineated, memory  115  includes, at least, program memory  118 , NAM (number assignment module) memory  120 , assigned user storage  116 , scratchpad memory  126 , and current dialing sequence memory  122 . Memories  116 ,  118 ,  120 ,  122 , and  126  may include both nonvolatile and volatile memory. Program memory  118  stores executable programs which run, as determined by microprocessor  108 , during any operation of portable  12 . NAM memory  120  stores the telephone number for the portable  12 , electronic serial number information, personal &amp; vehicle options, and other parameters required for proper operation of the phone, etc. Assigned user storage  116  stores telephone numbers and assigned alpha-numeric descriptions (names) in a scrollable and individually addressable arrangement; scratchpad memory  126  temporarily stores unassigned telephone numbers in scrollable form; and current dialing sequence memory  122  temporarily stores the telephone number which will be used to initiate the next call. Speaker and microphone circuitry  110  supports the internal speaker  32  and microphone  34  (FIG. 2) which are operational when the portable  12  is not in a handsfree mode, and keys circuit  112  supports normal key entry on cellular telephone keypad  42  (FIG. 2) and up/down keys  36 ,  38  (FIG. 2) of portable  12 . Display circuitry  114  is associated with controlling display  40  of portable  12 . 
     Reference is now made to FIG. 5 which is a block diagram representation of the holder  16 . Connectors  139  and  140  combine and couple data signal lines and audio signal lines  150  through holder  16  for data and audio communication between portable  12  and VA  20  (FIG. 1) through lines  14  and  22 . The connector  140  also couples RF signals through the holder  16  over an RF signal line  141  to coaxial connector  6  connected to the RF line  18 , and eventually the external antenna  11  (FIG.  1 ). A power line  144  couples power through the connector  139  to rapid charger circuitry  143  and DC-to-DC converter/power supply  142 , which in turn couples power through line  145  to the connector  140  and line  14  for powering the portable  12  and controlling the antenna relay  102  (FIG.  4 ). The rapid charger circuitry  143  also receives a control signal from the VA  20  (FIG. 1) coupled through the connector  139  and line  147  to suspend battery charging while a call is in process. A thermal indicator line  146  also enables the charger  143  to sense battery temperature in the portable  12  (FIG. 1) and adjust accordingly as it supplies charging current over line  148 . When the portable  12  is mechanically engaged into the holder  16  (FIG.  1 ), an on-hook/off-hook switch  149  is closed. The movement of the switch  149  grounds a circuit internal to the holder  16 , an action which is signaled on line  151 . 
     Attention is next directed to FIG. 6 which is a block diagram representation of the voice adapter (VA)  20  in the first preferred embodiment. The VA  20  includes, at least, an interface/(I/O) processor  159  (an acceptable example of which is the 80C51) which is coupled to holder  16  (FIG. 1) through lines  156 ,  157 , and  158 , the connector  155 , and line  22 , and also coupled to the ECU  26  (FIG. 1) through synchronous clock line  160  and synchronous data lines  161  and  162 , a connector  9 , and line  24 . Line  156  is coupled to line  151  of FIG. 5 to notify the interface/(I/O) processor  159  of the mechanical engagement of the portable  12  into the holder  16  (FIG. 1) to evoke handsfree capabilities. Serial data lines  157  and  158  provide for asynchronous data communication between the interface/(I/O) processor  159  and the microprocessor  108  in the portable  12  (FIG. 4) after traveling through line  22 , the holder  16 , and line  14  (FIG.  1 ). The interface/(I/O) processor  159  is also coupled to a voice processing unit (VPU)  166 . One example of an acceptable VPU  166  includes a digital signal processor (DSP) TI 320C541 with handsfree operation provided through software. Another example of an acceptable VPU  166  includes a microprocessor/application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) combination with separate hardware for handsfree functionality. Thus, the CODECs  165 ,  169  discussed below are omitted in the non-DSP embodiment since the handsfree functionality is handled through separate hardware. 
     According to this first preferred embodiment, the VPU  166  is coupled to a MIC/SPKR CODEC  169  which is a microphone/speaker coder-decoder that is coupled to the microphone  70  of ECU  26  (FIG. 3) through a line  170 , connector  9 , and line  24 , and is also coupled to speaker  28  (FIG. 1) through a speaker amplifier  171 , a connector  8 , and line  27 . When the interface/(I/O) processor  159  detects a hook switch close at the holder  16  via line  156 , the portable  12  is notified through the data line  158  to cease using the internal microphone and speaker  34 ,  32 , respectively, (FIG.  2 ). Simultaneously, the VPU  166  is instructed to enable operation of the MIC/SPKR CODEC  169  by passing digitized voice back and forth between the RX/TX CODEC  165  and the MIC/SPKR CODEC  169 . Thus the VPU  166  handles the handsfree audio signal conditioning including handsfree echo canceling, noise reduction, etc. The RX/TX CODEC  165  is a receive/transmit coder-decoder that is in turn coupled through line  163 , the connector  155 , line  22 , through the holder  16  (FIG.  5 ), through line  14 , through the I/O connector  39  (FIG.  4 ), and line  138  to the audio processing/interface/microprocessor support circuitry  106  of portable  12 . Furthermore, the VPU  166  is coupled to RAM memory  167  and ROM memory  168 , including both volatile (with limited backup power) and nonvolatile memory, respectively. ROM memory  168  includes static information, such as program memory, standard tables (including speaker independent voice recognition template memory), and standard prompts. However, RAM memory  167  includes directory memory for storing recorded user-defined names and numbers, voice recognition template memory for those user-defined names, and personal/vehicle options memory. 
     Raw, unswitched, vehicular battery power is coupled through line  23 , a connector  7 , and a line  177  to a portable/ignition detector  176 . Ignition-switched vehicular battery power is also coupled through line  23 , connector  7 , and a line  178  to the portable/ignition detector  176 . A portion of the raw battery power coupled to the portable/ignition detector  176  is voltage regulated and coupled through a line  153  to a capacitor  181 . The capacitor  181  is normally charged by the power coupled through the line  153  to provide back-up power to the RAM  167 . For example, if the vehicle battery dies or is disconnected as it is during normal vehicle service operations, the residual charge on the capacitor  181  is used to maintain power to the RAM  167  to maintain the integrity of information stored therein for a period of time until the battery is charged again or a new battery is installed in the vehicle. Switched battery power (approximately 12 volts) is coupled from portable/ignition detector  176  through lines  154 ,  173 , and  174  to various other subsystems of the first preferred embodiment including various other components of the VA  20 . This includes any portion of system  10  requiring switched battery power, including: i) holder  16  (FIG. 1) through line  174 , connector  155 , and line  22 ; ii) ECU  26  through line  173 , connector  9 , and line  24 ; iii) through line  173  to the speaker amplifier  171  which is in turn coupled through the line  172  and the connector  8  to drive the speaker  28 ; iv) through line  154  to a voltage regulator  175  on-board VA  20  which is used to regulate power coupled to any other portion of the system  10  requiring regulated power (i.e., power coupled after the voltage regulator  175  as Vcc to the other subsystems of system  10  or components of VA  20 ). 
     The portable/ignition detector  176  of the VA  20  is also coupled through a line  179  to detect if the portable  12  (FIG. 1) has been electrically connected to the holder  16  for the purpose of enabling operation of all modules in system  10 . The portable/ignition detector  176  is coupled to the interface/(I/O) processor  159  through a line  5  to receive an indication of whether a call is in process for holding after ignition dies and for assisting in charge control, as well as letting the interface/(I/O) processor  159  know when the vehicle ignition key has been turned to the on position. In addition, the portable/ignition detector  176  is coupled to the holder  16  through a line  180  to control battery charging. When the portable  12  (FIG. 1) is not electrically connected to the holder  16  (line  179 ), power is switched off from being provided by the portable/ignition detector  176  to other elements, except for power to the capacitor  181 . This situation is also true when the ignition key is determined to be in the off position (line  177 ), except when a call is in process (line  5 ). 
     At this point, for a more detailed discussion of the ECU  26 , reference is made to FIG. 7 which is a block diagram representation of the ECU  26 . The ECU  26  includes, at least, a connector  182 , microcontroller circuitry  191 , a reduced keypad  193 , an LED  192 , backlights  187 , voltage regulators  185  and  188 , a 2-stage preamplifier  183 , and the microphone  70 . The ECU  26  is coupled to line  24  through connector  182  for propagating signals sent between ECU  26  and VA  20  (FIG.  6 ). The microcontroller circuitry  191  of ECU  26  is coupled to the connector  182  through clocked logic  189  and a line  190 . Moreover, the microcontroller circuitry  191  controls activation of the LED  192  as directed by the VA  20  (FIG.  6 ), continually polls the reduced keypad  193  to detect key presses and key releases (NOOP&#39;s) before notifying the VA  20  through the clocked logic  189  and line  190 , and receives power from voltage regulator  188 . The voltage regulators  185  and  188  are coupled to the connector  182  through a line  186 , while the voltage regulator  188  is also coupled to the clocked logic  189 . The backlights  187  are coupled to the connector  182  likewise through the line  186  and provide light to the reduced keypad  193 . The reduced keypad  193  is also coupled to the voltage regulator  188 . In addition, the voltage regulator  185  is coupled to the 2-stage preamplifier  183 , which is in turn coupled to the connector  184  and the microphone  70  which detects user audio sounds and generates representative signals transmitted to the VA  20  (FIG.  6 ). Note that, in general, in the figures, the directions of arrowheads on any lines coupling any subsystems of the system  10 , or any of the components thereof, are meant to indicate the direction of flow of signals therebetween. Lines coupling these subsystems, or subsystem components, having more than one arrowhead indicate that signals are coupled in more than one direction. 
     Up until now the discussion has centered mainly on the structural relationships between the various subsystems, and components thereof, of the first preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. The focus hereinbelow presently shifts more to a description of the functional relationships of these subsystems and components, and to methods of the first preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. Thus, along with the specified flowcharts, also refer to one or more of FIGS. 1-7 to see the various structural elements. 
     At the heart of the present invention is the VA  20 . The VA  20 , in combination with the ECU  26 , enables a user to control all basic call processing functions through an integrated combination of voice commands and operation of the ECU  26 , including, at least, the following: i) generating signals for placing a call; ii) generating DTMF signals while a call is in process; iii) entering digits into scratchpad memory while a call is in process; iv) answering calls; v) terminating calls; vi) placing calls by selecting names in a user directory having numerous locations (the directory memory), such as “HOME”, “OFFICE”, or “MOM” in the VA  20 ; vii) placing calls by selecting memory location numbers in numerous memory locations in the portable  12 ; viii) muting; ix) volume changes; x) quick dialing; and xi) programming and/or deleting phone numbers in both the numerous memory locations in the portable  12  (by memory location number) and/or in the directory memory in the VA  20  (by voice label). In implementing the above described first preferred embodiment, the different operational modes of the system  10  will be described in some detail, including an idle mode  200  (discussed below in reference to FIG. 8) and a call-in-process (CIP) mode  1060  (discussed below in reference to FIG.  29 ). However, before discussing these modes, which occur after power-on and initialization of the system  10 , (with the portable  12  positioned in the holder  16  in handsfree mode), consideration is given specifically to the events that occur upon power-on and initialization of the VA  20 . 
     Accordingly, on power-up, the VA  20  enters its initialization or wake-up mode and initializes all circuits (including audio processing) to their default settings. Also, in wake-up mode, the portable  12  (if powered-on and initialized) will send a TERM VERS REQ (terminal version request) command to the VA  20  over a reverse data connection (including lines  14 ,  150 ,  22 , and  157  of FIGS. 5 and 6) to determine which peripherals are attached to system  10 . For instance, if a 3-WATT BOOSTER is also coupled to the VA  20 , then the VA  20  must accommodate the portable  12  and intercept the TERM VERS REQ command, send a response (a CONFIG command) to the portable  12  such as, for example, 00H=NO 3-WATT BOOSTER or 01H=3-WATT BOOSTER ATTACHED, and forward the TERM VERS REQ command to the ECU  26  through line  24 . Communication from the VA  20  to the portable  12  is accomplished through a forward data connection, including lines  158 ,  22 ,  150 , and  14 . The ECU  26 , upon receipt of the TER VERS REQ command, will also send a response (TERM VERS STATUS) which will be passed to the portable  12  via the VA  20  to indicate the type of control unit (i.e., the ECU  26 ) which is attached. This response will allow the portable  12  to specifically control and interface to the ECU  26  based on a list of control units that the portable  12  is capable of supporting. In addition, in wake-up mode, the portable  12  will send a volume command to the VA  20  which the VA  20  will use to set a volume level for voice prompts (discussed below) and user-programmed label playback. The VA  20  will then reply with a KEYTONES ON command to indicate the presence of the VPU  166  in the system, and enter its idle mode (also described below). However, the VA  20  will not go into its idle mode if the portable  12  sends a KEY CONTROL STOP DATA command to the VA  20  to indicate that the portable  12  is in its initialization routines and that no Forward Data should be sent. The VA  20  will pass the KEY CONTROL STOP DATA command on a Reverse Data line though line  24  to the ECU  26 , but no forward data will be accepted by, or transmitted to, the portable  12  on a Forward Data line through line  22  until a KEY CONTROL SEND TEST command is received at the VA  20  from the portable  12 . Once the initialization routines of the portable  12  have been completed, the portable  12  will send the KEY CONTROL SEND TEST command to indicate their completion and that the Forward Data line is again active. This command is passed by the portable  12  through the holder  16  and the VA  20  to the ECU  26 . 
     Once the portable  12  and the VA  20  are powered-on and initialized, the system  10  enters the idle mode  200  FIG.  8 ).Before discussing idle mode  200  (see FIG. 8) of system  10  further, it should be noted that for the system  10 , there is another parallel operating mode which, for certain processing modes of the VA  20 , allows the VA  20  to receive (over coupled lines as described above) and process commands from the portable  12  to perform other activities. These commands include, as an example, a KEYTONE VOLUME command from the portable  12  which functions to pause a current processing state of the VA  20  to set an audio output volume level for speaker  28  according to the command parameters and then return VA  20  to its current processing state. Another command which can be received by the VA  20  from the portable  12  is an ALERT TONE START command, which causes the VA  20  to cancel any voice activated dialing operation in progress, and then the VA  20  goes to an incoming call mode  230  (described below in reference to FIG.  9 ). Similarly, commands received by the VA  20  produce corresponding actions by the VA  20  as follows: i) TRANSFER TO V-CH (voice-channel) causes the VA  20  to go to CALL IN PROCESS mode; ii) AUDIO MUTE ENABLE causes the VA  20  to set an AUDIO MUTE signal to ON (for those implementations including a signal output to mute a car stereo while a call is in process); iii) AUDIO MUTE DISABLE causes the VA  20  to set the AUDIO MUTE signal to OFF; iv) HORN ON causes the VA  20  to set a HORN ALERT signal to ON (for those implementations including a signal output to use an automotive horn to alert a user of an incoming call; v) HORN OFF causes the VA  20  to set the HORN ALERT signal to OFF; vi) BOOSTER POWER ON causes the VA  20  to set a BOOSTER ENABLE line to ON, to set POWER LEVEL=000, and to set an internal BOOSTER POWER flag ON; vii) BOOSTER POWER OFF causes the VA  20  to set the BOOSTER ENABLE line to OFF and set the internal BOOSTER POWER flag to OFF; viii) SET BOOSTER POWER LEVEL causes VA  20 , if BOOSTER POWER flag=ON, to set BOOSTER POWER CONTROL lines to a BOOSTER POWER LEVEL indicated by this command, and if BOOSTER POWER flag=OFF, to ignore this command; ix) VA DTMF ENABLE causes the VA  20  to enable DTMF tone detector function in the VA  20 ; and x) VA DTMF DISABLE causes the VA  20  to disable the DTMF tone detector function in the VA  20 . Without implying anything about the other commands above, the last two commands are not required in the preferred embodiment. Note also that the VA  20  forwards all commands from the portable  12  to the ECU  26  and key presses and status responses from the ECU  26  to the portable  12  except for the UP  88  and DOWN  86  keys as they apply to a directory scroll mode  510  which is described in more detail in relation to FIG.  15 . 
     When the VPU  166  is actively processing voice commands (i.e., active mode=not in idle mode), any 10 second period where no voice command is detected will cause the VA  20  to forward “RCL” “RCL” (i.e., two RECALL commands as if a user pressed the RECALL key twice on the portable  12 ) keystrokes to the portable  12  to abort any commands in process and to retain the current dialing sequence on the display  40 . Then the VA  20  will issue two audible beeps over the speaker  28 , and then return to idle mode  200 . Also, similar results will occur if the VA  20  receives a VAD NOT READY, an OFF HOOK, or a DC LOOP ON command. While in active mode, the VA  20  will recognize a user saying “HELP” or “TERMINATE” (global keywords recognized at almost any time). The function of the “HELP” verbal command is to request a voice synthesized response over the speaker  28  from the VA  20  as to valid keywords for the VA  20  at the particular time the voice command is issued. The VA  20  responds to “HELP” by playing back an initial prompt for that entry point plus acceptable keywords for the benefit of the user. On the other hand, the “TERMINATE” verbal command functions to cancel active mode. The VA  20  responds to “TERMINATE” to cancel any operations in process by sending the “RCL” “RCL” keystroke commands to terminate any commands in process and retain a dialing sequence on the display  40 . The VA  20  also issues a KEY TONES ON command to the portable  12 , issues two (2) audible beeps or “bye” on the speaker  28 , and the system  10  (the VA  20 ) returns to the idle mode  200 . 
     Note, however, that during active mode, if any improper keystroke on the ECU  26  is detected by the VA  20 , active mode will be aborted, the VA  20  will issue two (2) beeps over the speaker  28 , and the VA  20  will return to idle mode  200 . The UP and DOWN commands will be passed through to the portable  12  in response to a user pressing the UP  88  and DOWN  86  keys on the ECU  26  for volume control or intercepted for DIRECTORY SCROLL functions (described below). Note also that there are recognition prompts which are voice synthesized by the VA  20  and issued over speaker  28  if the VA  20  cannot recognize a verbal command from the user. Such global prompts include, at least, “PLEASE REPEAT” and “LOUDER, PLEASE”. The former is heard over the speaker  28  if the user says a word which is detected by the VA  20 , but the word is not close enough in sound to any active key word recognized by the VA  20 . On the other hand, the latter is heard over the speaker  28  if the user says a word, but the word is not sufficiently detected by the VA  20 , perhaps because the user spoke at too low a volume. 
     Returning now to FIG. 8, in idle mode  200 , before decision block  204 , a VRU PERS PREF command may be sent from the portable  12  which indicates a user&#39;s PERSONAL PREFERENCE options to VA  20 . As a result of this, PERSONAL PREFERENCE options are set per data in the VRU PERS PREF command and idle mode  200  continues. The portable  12  may also send a VRU VEHICLE OPTIONS command which transmits VEHICLE CONFIGURATION options to the VA  20  to be set per data in the VRU VEHICLE OPTIONS command and idle mode  200  continues. If an incoming call is detected by system  10 , then flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  204  through incoming mode step  206  to incoming mode  230  (FIG. 9) which is described below. As discussed below, “global” keywords of the system  10  are not active when system  10  is in idle mode  200 . If, however, there is no incoming call in step  204 , flow proceeds along the no branch of step  204  to step  208  in which it is determined if there is any user action. If there is no user action, flow proceeds along the no branch of step  208  and the system  10  returns to step  204 . 
     If, however, the user acts, flow proceeds to step  210  in which it is determined if a key has been pressed (either on the portable  12  or the ECU  26 ). If a key has been pressed, flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  210  through key idle mode step  212  to key idle mode  260  (FIG. 10) which is described below. On the other hand, if no key has been pressed, then flow continues along the no branch of step  210  to step  214  where it is ascertained whether or not voice activation has been enabled. Note that if, at any time, VOICE ACTIVATION ENABLE=OFF is set by a command to the VA  20 , or such is the initialization state, voice recognition algorithms within the VPU  166  are not enabled during the idle mode  200 . When voice activation is not enabled, flow proceeds along the no branch of step  214  and system  10  returns to step  204 . Alternatively, when voice activation is enabled, flow moves along the yes branch of step  214  to step  216  where the VA  20  determines if the user has said “VOICE CONTROL”. In other words, the user&#39;s speech is picked up by microphone  70  of ECU  26  for conversion to an audio signal which is coupled through line  24  to VA  20  for recognition and processing. If the speech detected by the VA  20  is not “VOICE CONTROL” (or some other activation phrase), flow moves along the no branch of step  216  and system  10  returns to step  204 . If, however, the user has said “VOICE CONTROL”, then flow instead follows the yes branch of step  216  and the VA  20  issues an audible beep in step  218  through the speaker  28 . Flow now continues to step  220 , wherein a KEYTONES OFF command is issued from the VA  20  to the portable  12  signifying that the VA  20  desires to enter the ready mode. This is followed by step  222  in which it is determined if the host (portable  12 ) is ready. If the portable  12  is not ready (i.e., a VAD NOT READY command is sent from the portable  12  and received at the VA  20 ), then flow moves along the no branch of step  222  and system  10  moves back to step  204 . Alternatively, if the host (portable  12 ) is ready (i.e., a VAD READY command is received at the VA  20 ), then flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  222  and system  10  goes through ready mode step  224  to ready mode  320  which is discussed in more detail below in relation to FIG.  11 . 
     For the system  10  in idle mode  200  as introduced above, the user says “VOICE CONTROL” to go to the ready mode step  224  for voice activated dialing (VAD). Note that the VOICE CONTROL command is disabled by a VOICE ACTIVATION ENABLE=OFF command in the PERSONAL PREFERENCE option word. When the VOICE ACTIVATION ENABLE=OFF is set, the VOICE CONTROL command (keyword) will not be detected by the VA  20 . However, as indicated in step  218 , a single audible beep is issued over the speaker  28  after detection by the VA  20  of the complete voice activation phrase (VOICE CONTROL command). Note also that the user must pause approximately 0.5 to 2 seconds between the words “VOICE” and “CONTROL” in saying “VOICE CONTROL” aloud for proper detection by the VA  20 . If this phrase is not completed after 2 seconds, the system  10  resets to step  204  along the no branch of step  216 . 
     FIG. 9 is a flow chart representation of an incoming mode  230  of operation of the system  10 . Proceeding through the steps of FIG. 9, a telephone ring is audibly output in step  234 . The system  10  flow then proceeds to step  236 , where it is determined if any of the up or down control keys  88  or  86 , respectively, of the ECU  26 , or the up or down keys  36  or  38 , respectively, of the portable  12  have been pressed by the user. If any of the keys  36 ,  38 ,  86 , or  88  have been pressed, then the yes branch of step  236  is followed to adjust ring volume in step  238  after which flow proceeds to step  255  (described below). If none of the keys  36 ,  38 ,  86 , or  88  have been pressed, then flow proceeds along the no branch of step  236  to step  240 , after which it is ascertained if the send key  46  on the portable  12  or the send key  72  on the ECU  26  have been pressed. In step  240 , if either of send keys  46  or  72  have been pressed, the flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  240  to CIP (call in process) mode  1060 , which is detailed below in relation to FIG. 29, through CIP mode step  242 . If send keys  46  or  72  have not been pressed, however, flow follows the no branch of step  240  to step  244  where it is ascertained if voice answer is enabled (i.e., has the VOICE ANSWER ENABLE=ON command been received by the VA  20 ). If voice answer is not enabled, then flow follows the no branch of step  244  to step  255 . If the incoming call is still in process, the yes branch of step  255  is taken back to step  236 . On the other hand, if the call is no longer in process, the no branch of step  255  is taken to step  246 . If, on the other hand, in step  244 , voice answer is enabled, then the yes branch of step  244  is taken to step  250 , in which the VA  20  determines if the user has said the word “ANSWER”. If “ANSWER” has not been detected in step  250 , flow proceeds along the no branch of step  250  to step  255  with subsequent flow from step  255  as above. Alternatively, if the keyword “ANSWER” has been detected in step  250 , the yes branch of step  250  is taken to step  252 , wherein a SEND command is sent to the portable  12  as if the send key  72  was pressed, and flow proceeds to CIP mode  1060  (FIG. 29) through step  254  now that the incoming call has been answered. Note that in incoming mode  230 , if VOICE ANSWER ENABLE=OFF is set, the voice recognition algorithms of the VA  20  are not active at that point. 
     Reference is now made to FIG. 10 which is a flow chart representation of a key idle mode  260  of operation of system  10 . As discussed above, if the flow of system  10  proceeds along the yes branch of step  210  in FIG. 8, then the flow moves to key idle mode  212 , which is the same as moving to key idle mode  262  of FIG. 10 and the steps thereafter. In FIG. 10, in step  264 , it is determined whether the key that was pressed to get to  212  in FIG. 8 is an ECU  26  key. If an ECU  26  key was not pressed, system  10  flow proceeds along the no branch of step  264  to step  265 , where it is determined if the end key  50  of portable  12  is the key that was pressed. If the end key  50  was pressed, the flow moves along the yes branch of step  265  to step  266  to see if the host (portable  12 ) is ready (i.e., whether the VA  20  has received a VAD READY command from the portable  12 ). If the host is not ready, the flow follows the no branch of step  266  through idle mode step 267  back to the idle mode  200  of FIG.  8 . However, if the host is ready, then flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  266  through ready mode step 268  to a ready mode  320  which is discussed in more detail below in relation to FIG.  11 . 
     Going back to step  265 , if, on the other hand, the end key  50  of the portable  12  was not pressed, then flow follows the no branch of step  265  to step  270  where normal portable  12  key processing will occur. This is followed by flow proceeding to step  272 , where it is ascertained whether a call is ever in process. If there is a call in process, the flow moves along the yes branch of step  272  to CIP mode  1060 , which is discussed in more detail below in relation to FIG. 29, through CIP mode step  274 . If, instead, there is no call in process, then flow moves along the no branch of step  272  to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  286 . 
     Note that back in step  264 , if an ECU  26  key was pressed instead, then the flow of system  10  proceeds along the yes branch of step  264  to step  276  to ascertain whether the key that was pressed is one of the quick dial (QD) keys  76 ,  78 ,  80 ,  82 , or  84  (FIG.  3 ). Note that each of the QD keys  76 ,  78 ,  80 ,  82 , and  84  of the ECU  26  is capable, according to the user&#39;s preference and with a single touch of the user&#39;s finger, of causing the portable  12  to dial a particular stored telephone number. Accordingly, if one of the QD keys  76 ,  78 ,  80 ,  82 , or  84  was pressed, then the flow moves along the yes branch of step  276  to step  278  where the portable  12  initiates the call, followed by flow to CIP mode in step  1060  (FIG. 29) through CIP mode step  280 . 
     However, if one of the QD keys was not pressed, then flow continues along the no branch of step  276  to step  282  to see if one of the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys of the ECU  26  was pressed instead. If one of the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys was pressed, then flow goes along the yes branch of step  282  to step  283 , wherein the portable  12  responds with a volume adjustment command to the VA  20 , and the flow continues to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  286 . 
     Considering again step  282 , if one of the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys of the ECU  26  was not pressed, then flow continues along the no branch of step  282  to step  288 , wherein it is determined whether the send key  72  of the ECU  26  is the key that was pressed. If the SEND key  72  was pressed, then the flow of system  10  moves along the yes branch of step  288  to step  290  to determine if any digits occupy the current dialing sequence memory  122  of the portable  12 . If there are no digits in the sequence, flow proceeds along the no branch of step  290  to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  286 . If, however, the current dialing sequence is available in the current dialing sequence memory  122 , then the flow continues along the yes branch of step  290  to step  292  to begin a call, and then to CIP mode  1060  (FIG. 29) through CIP mode step  294 . If the SEND key  72  was not pressed, then the flow moves along the no branch of step  288  to step  296  to determine if the END key  74  of the ECU  26  is the key that was pressed. If the END key  74  was pressed, then flow moves along the yes branch of step  296  to step  298  to determine whether the portable  12  is ready (has a VAD READY command been received by the VA  20 ). If the portable  12  is ready in step  298 , then flow goes along the yes branch of step  298  to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  300 . On the other hand, if the portable is not ready in step  298 , then flow follows the no branch of step  298  to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  302 . 
     Considering again step  296 , if the END key  74  was not pressed, then flow proceeds to step  304  to determine if the VAD key  96  is the key that was pressed on ECU  26 . Note that the VAD  96  key functions to turn on voice activated dialing in the VA  20 . If the VAD  96  key was pressed, then system  10  flow moves along the yes branch of step  304  to step  305 , wherein a KEY TONES OFF command is sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12 . The flow of system  10  then moves to step  306  in which it is determined whether the portable  12  is ready (whether a VAD READY command is received from the portable  12 ). If the portable  12  is not ready in step  306 , then flow moves along the no branch of step  306  to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  302 . If, however, the portable  12  is ready in step  306 , then flow goes along the yes branch of step  306  to digit entry mode  400 , which is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 12, through digit entry mode step  308 . 
     Considering step  304  again, if the VAD key  96  is not the key that was pressed on the ECU  26 , then flow moves along the no branch of step  304  to step  310 , wherein it is determined whether the DIR key  94  of the ECU  26  is the key that was pressed. If the DIR key  94  was pressed, then the flow continues along the yes branch of step  310  to step  311 , wherein a KEY TONES OFF command is sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12 . The system  10  flow then continues to step  312 , wherein it is determined as to whether the portable  12  is ready. If the portable  12  is ready in step  312 , then flow goes along the yes branch of step  312  to directory recall mode  480 , which is discussed in more detail below in reference to FIG. 14, through directory recall mode step  314 . In contrast, in step  312 , if the portable  12  is not ready, then flow moves along the no branch of step  312  to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  316 . 
     Considering step  310  again, if the DIR key  94  of the ECU  26  is not the key that was pressed, then the flow continues along the no branch of step  310  to step  317  where an error tone is played since the MUTE key  90  must have been the ECU key pressed, and such a function, while not in call-in-process (CIP) mode, is improper. After step  317 , the system  10  proceeds to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  316 . 
     Attention is now directed to FIG. 11 which is a flow chart representation of a ready mode  320  of operation of system  10 . The flow of system  10  to ready mode through step  224  that was discussed above in reference to FIG. 8, and through steps  268  and  300  that were discussed above in reference to FIG. 10, proceeds to ready mode  322  and steps thereafter of FIG.  11 . In step  324 , the VA  20  voice synthesizes and prompts the user with the word “READY” over the speaker  28 . Then, in step  326 , it is determined whether the user has responded to the “READY” prompt by saying the word “DIAL” aloud for the VA  20  to recognize that the user wants to say a phone number to the portable  12  for dialing or storage. If the user responds by saying “DIAL”, as detected in step  326 , then the flow of system  10  follows along the yes branch of step  326  to digit entry mode  400 , which is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 12, through digit entry mode step  328 . However, as would be detected in step  326 , if the user has not said “DIAL”, then the flow proceeds along the no branch of step  326  to step  330 , where it is determined whether the user has said “DIRECTORY” to indicate to the VA  20  that the user wants to enter directory recall mode  480  (FIG. 14) through directory recall mode step  332 . If the user says “DIRECTORY”, as detected in step  330 , then flow goes along the yes branch of step  330  to directory recall mode  480  through directory recall mode step  332 . Thus, the user is able to access special memory locations in the assigned user storage  116  by user-programmed voice labels by saying the word “DIRECTORY”. 
     Alternatively, as would be detected in step  330 , if the user does not say “DIRECTORY”, then flow goes along the no branch of step  330  to step  334 , where it is determined if the user responds by saying the word “SEND” to indicate to the VA  20  that the user wants to initiate a call using the current dialing sequence stored in the current dialing sequence memory  122  of the portable  12 . The user says “SEND”, as detected in step  334 , to dial the current dialing sequence that was previously input into the memory  122 . If the user says “SEND” as detected in step  334 , then flow continues along the yes branch of step  334  to step  336 , wherein the VA  20  determines if the current dialing sequence number is available. The number availability is determined by the VA  20  by sending “RCL” “RCL” (i.e., two RECALL) command key strokes to the portable  12  and then evaluating the number of digits in the current dialing sequence memory  122  after such digits are sent from the portable  12  to the VA  20  in response. If the number of digits=0, as ascertained in step  336 , the flow of the system  10  (the VA  20 ) moves along the no branch of step  336  and the system  10  (the VA  20 ) prompts the user with “NO NUMBER”, followed by flow to digit entry mode  400  (FIG. 12) through digit entry mode step  328 . However, in step  336 , if the number is available, then flow moves along the yes branch of step  336  to step  344 , wherein, if the last audible command from the user was not “VERIFY”, then flow proceeds along the no branch of step  344  to step  350 , in which the dialing number sequence from the current dialing sequence memory  122  is repeated. This is followed by flow to step  346 , wherein a send command key stroke is transmitted to the portable  12  to initiate a call, and, in turn, flow moves to wait (waiting for) CIP mode  1030 , which is described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 28, through wait CIP mode step  348  (i.e., wait CIP mode step  348  goes to wait CIP mode  1032  in FIG.  28 ). Considering step  344  again, if the last audible user command was “VERIFY”, then the user has recently heard the dialing sequence and flow moves along the yes branch of step  344  to step  346 , wherein a send command is sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12  to activate the call without repeating the dialing sequence. This is also followed by flow to wait CIP mode  1030  (FIG. 28) through wait CIP mode step  348 . 
     Consideration is now given again to step  334 , wherein, if the user has not said “SEND”, flow instead continues along the no branch of step  334  to step  340 . In step  340 , it is determined if the user responded with an audible “RECALL”. The user says “RECALL” to access numbers stored in the VA directory or portable memory. If the user responded with an audible “RECALL”, then flow moves along the yes branch of step  340  to recall mode  460 , which is described below in more detail in reference to FIG.  13  and the steps after recall mode  462 , through recall mode step  342 . However, if the user did not respond by saying “RECALL”, as would be detected in step  340 , then the system  10  (the VA  20 ) flow continues along the no branch of step  340  to step  352 , in which it is ascertained if the user responded with an audible “STORE”. The user says “STORE” to save the current dialing sequence. If the user did respond with “STORE”, as detected in step  352 , then the flow goes along the yes branch of step  352  to store mode  670 , which is described in more detail below in reference to FIG.  18  and the steps after store mode  672 , through store mode step  354 . 
     Alternatively, as would be detected in step  352 , if the user did not respond by saying “STORE”, then flow proceeds along the no branch of step  352  to step  356 , wherein it is determined if the user responded with an audible “DELETE”. The user says “DELETE” to erase memory location contents either in the memory of the portable  12  or in the directory of the VA  20 . If the user responded with an audible “DELETE”, as detected in step  356 , then the flow of system  10  goes along the yes branch of step  356  to delete memory mode  880 , which is described in more detail below in FIG. 24 after delete memory mode  877 , through delete memory mode step  358 . In contrast, if the user did not say “DELETE”, as would be detected in step  356 , then flow continues along the no branch of step  356  to step  360 , where a determination is made whether the user responded with an audible “VERIFY”. The user says verify to hear the current dialing sequence. If the user did respond with “VERIFY”, then the flow moves along the yes branch of step  360  to step  362  where the current dialing sequence is queried as above. If the current dialing sequence is not available (number of digits=0) in step  362  as similarly determined above, then flow moves along the no branch of step  362  to step  364 , in which the system  10  (the VA  20 ) prompts the user with “NO NUMBER”. For either of these last prompts, the flow of system  10  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  366 , i.e., to the audible “READY” prompt of step  324 . Alternatively, back in step  362 , if the current dialing sequence is available, then flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  362  to step  368  in which the current dialing sequence is played back to the user digit by digit and flow then also moves to ready mode  320  (FIG.  11 ), i.e., to the audible “READY” prompt of step  324 , through ready mode step  366 . However, if the first stored digit=“N” or “n”, then the system  10  (the VA  20 ) prompts the user with a “SECRET MEMORY” instead of announcing the digits. 
     Considering again step  360 , if the user does not respond with “VERIFY”, as would be detected in step  360 , then flow continues along the no branch of step  360  to step  370 , wherein it is ascertained if the user responded with an audible “PLAYBACK”. The user says “PLAYBACK” to hear a list of directory names from assigned user storage  116 . If the user did respond with “PLAYBACK”, then the flow moves along the yes branch of step  370  to directory playback mode  870 , which is described in more detail below in reference to FIG.  23  and steps after directory playback mode  871 , through directory playback mode step  372 . However, as would be in step  370 , if the user did not respond with “PLAYBACK”, then the system  10  flow goes along the no branch of step  370  to step  374 , in which it is determined if the user responded with an audible “CLEAR” or “CANCEL”. The user says “CLEAR” or “CANCEL” to exit ready mode  320  and return to idle mode  200 . If the user says one of these words (i.e., “CLEAR” or “CANCEL”), the flow moves along the yes branch of step  374  to step  376 , in which the VA  20  issues two beeps over the speaker  28  to notify the user and then sends a KEY TONES ON (VAD IDLE) command to the portable  12  in step  378  before returning to idle mode  200  through idle mode step  380 . Alternatively, going back to step  374 , if the user did not respond with a “CLEAR” or “CANCEL”, as would be detected in step  374 , then the flow of the system  10  (the VA  20 ) continues along the no branch of step  374  to right after step  324  (i.e., step  326 ). It should be understood that if the user does not respond with any of the audible responses detectable in the ready mode  320 , the system  10  continues to stay in (loop within) the ready mode  320  as indicated by the no branch of step  374  until a time-out occurs. 
     Attention is now directed to FIG. 12 which is a flow chart representation of a digit entry mode  400  of the system  10  and referred to above. Digit entry mode  400  follows from step  328  in FIG.  11 . Once in digit entry mode, after step  402 , the system  10  prompts the user with “NUMBER PLEASE” in step  404 . Note that the global keywords discussed above are not active in digit entry mode  400 . In step  406 , it is determined if the user responds by saying any of the digits “0-9” (including the letter “O”, which is interpreted as if the user said “zero”), “POUND” (#),“STAR” (*), or “STOP”. If the user does respond with any of these words, the flow of the system  10  proceeds along the yes branch of step  406  to step  408 , wherein a single beep is issued from the system  10  over the speaker  28  for digit recognition confirmation. Then, instep  410 , the digit key stroke commands corresponding to the response in step  406  are sent to the portable  12 . Note that the word “STOP” is the voice command for a PAUSE command (function) in system  10 . Note also that the PAUSE command (function) is implemented by an “END” key stroke from the VA  20  to the portable  12  as any character in a dialing sequence except the first character. After step  410 , the VA  20  stores the digit key stroke commands of step  410  in RAM  167 . Following step  412 , the system  10  flow again proceeds back to step  406 . 
     Considering step  406  again, if instead the user did not respond by saying “0-9”, “POUND” (#),“STAR” (*), or “STOP”, the system  10  flow continues along the no branch of step  406  to step  414 , wherein it is determined if the user responded with a “VERIFY”. The user says “VERIFY” to terminate the ability of the system  10  to detect spoken digits and to hear the current dialing sequence played by the system  10 . If the user said “VERIFY”, as detected in step  414 , the flow of the system  10  (the VA  20 ) proceeds to step  416 , wherein a “RCL” “RCL” key stroke command is sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20  to access all digits of the current dialing sequence. If the number of digits=0, then the system  10  prompts the user in step  426  with “NO NUMBER” and flow proceeds to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  428 . However, if the current dialing sequence is available, as determined in step  416 , then the flow of the system  10  goes to step  418  where the current dialing sequence is played back digit by digit to the user over the speaker  28 . After step  418 , the flow of the system  10  (the VA  20 ) goes to step  420 , to determine if the user responds with a “CLEAR” or a “CANCEL” as determined in step  420 . If the user responded with “CLEAR” or “CANCEL”, as detected in step  420 , then flow continues through the yes branch of step  420  to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  428 . 
     If, on the other hand, the user does not say “CLEAR” or “CANCEL” as determined in step  420 , then flow of the system  10  (the VA  20 ) proceeds along the no branch of step  420  to step  430 , wherein it is determined whether the user said “SEND”. The user says “SEND” to dial the current dialing sequence. If the user said “SEND”, as detected in step  430 , then flow moves along the yes branch of step  430  to step  436 , in which the VA  20  transmits a “SEND” key stroke command to the portable  12 , followed by flow to wait CIP mode  1030  (FIG. 28) through wait CIP mode step  438 . However, back at step  430 , if the user did not say “SEND”, then flow goes along the no branch of step  430  to step  432 , in which it is determined whether the user said “STORE”. The user says “STORE” to save the current dialing sequence in the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12  or in the directory memory of the VA  20 . If the user said “STORE”, as detected in step  432 , then the flow of the system  10  (the VA  20 ) is along the yes branch of step  432  to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  434 . However, if the user did not say “STORE”, then the flow goes along the no branch of step  432  back to step  420 . 
     Considering again step  414 , if the user did not say “VERIFY”, then the flow of the system  10  (the VA  20 ) continues along the no branch of step  414  to step  422 , wherein it is determined whether the user said “CLEAR”. If the user says “CLEAR”, as detected in step  422 , the last digit in the current dialing sequence is erased from the working memory of the VA  20  and the current dialing sequence memory of the portable  12 . If the user said “CLEAR”, then flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  422  to step  424 , in which the existence of a current dialing sequence in the portable  12  is determined. If there is no current dialing sequence (an initial condition is digits=0), then flow proceeds along the no branch of step  424  to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  428 . Alternatively, if there exists a current dialing sequence in step  424 , then flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  424  to step  440  to erase the last digit in both memories in the portable  12  and in the VA  20 . In step  442  it is determined if there still exists at least one digit left in the current dialing sequence after erasing the last digit. If the current dialing sequence still exists, the flow proceeds along the yes branch of step  442  back to step  406 . However, if the final digit was cleared and there is no longer the current dialing sequence, then the flow goes along the no branch of step  442  back to the digit entry mode  400  starting with the “NUMBER PLEASE” prompt in step  404 . 
     Now considering again step  422 , if the user did not say “CLEAR”, then flow goes along the no branch of step  422  to step  446 , in which it is ascertained if the user said “CANCEL”. The user says “CANCEL” to clear an entire current dialing sequence from the VA  20  memory and the portable  12 . If the user did not say “CANCEL”, as would be detected in step  446 , then the flow follows along the no branch of step  446  back to step  406 . However, if the user said “CANCEL”, then the flow follows along the yes branch of step  446  to step  450 , wherein the existence of the current dialing sequence is determined as above. If the current dialing sequence exists (i.e., if an initial condition is digits&gt;0), then flow moves along the yes branch of step  450  to erase the current dialing sequence completely from memory  126  and RAM  167  in step  451 , followed by flow back to digit entry mode  400  (FIG. 12) through digit entry mode step  444 . To send a “CANCEL” command, a “CLEAR” command which includes a one (1) second hold before the associated NOOP (in the preferred embodiment) is sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12 . In contrast, back at step  450 , if there is no current dialing sequence (i.e., if an initial condition is digits=0), then the flow of the VA  20  proceeds along the no branch of step  450  to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  428 . 
     Attention is now directed to FIG. 13 which is a flow chart representation of a recall mode  460  of the system  10 . For the system  10 , any discussions herein of “to recall mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the recall mode  460  and steps below recall mode  462 . Once the VA  20  has entered the recall mode  460 , in step  464 , the VA  20  voice synthesizes and audibly prompts the user with the words “RECALL DIRECTORY OR MEMORY?”. The VA  20  then determines if the user responds by saying the words “DIRECTORY” (step  466 ), “MEMORY” (step  470 ), “CANCEL” or “CLEAR” (step  474 ). Note that when a “Y” or an “N” are observed in an output branch of any particular step of any of the figures, it is understood to mean flow of the VA  20  along the yes (or affirmative) branch and the no (or negative) branch in accordance with a response required (whether from the user or any subsystem of the system  10 ) in the particular step. 
     If the user responds with any of the words being expected in the steps  466 ,  470 , or  474 , then the system  10  flow proceeds to directory recall mode  480  (FIG. 14) through recall mode step  368 , or to recall host memory mode  610 , which is described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 17, through recall host memory mode step  472 , or to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  476 , respectively. If none of the responses expected in steps  466 ,  470 , or  474  are detected from the user by the VA  20 , then the system  10  flow continues to loop back from step  474  along the no branch thereof to step  466 . 
     Now attention is drawn to FIG. 14 which is a flow chart representation of a directory recall mode  480  of the operation of the system  10 . For the system  10 , any discussions herein of “to directory recall mode”, followed by a numerical reference (e.g., to directory recall mode  368  of FIG. 13, etc.), represent a flow to the directory recall mode  480  and steps therein below directory recall mode  482 . In step  484 , it is determined whether the VA  20  directory is empty (i.e., if the number of directory entries=0). If the directory is empty, the VA  20  prompts (as above) with “DIRECTORY EMPTY” in step  486 , followed by flow to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  488 . Alternatively, if the directory is not empty as determined in step  484 , then step  490  follows, wherein the system prompts (as above) with “NAME PLEASE”. Note that the global keywords discussed above are not active. If the user responds with “CLEAR” as expected in step  492 , the directory recall mode  480  is aborted and operation proceeds to the ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  488 . 
     However, if the user responds with some other speech, as determined in step  496 , the VA  20  attempts to find the closest match to this other speech in step  498 . For example, the user may say a name to access a user programmed directory memory in the VA  20 . In this case, the VA  20  plays back a closest voice label match for confirmation by the user. After playing back the closest voice label, VA  20 , according to step  500 , sends and holds a CLEAR key stroke command for a period of time (e.g., for 1.5 seconds) followed by digit key strokes for the directory dialing sequence associated with the selected directory location to the portable  12 . Flow then proceeds to a directory confirmation mode  550 , which will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 16, through directory confirmation mode step  502 . Note that, in the Figures, it is to be understood that a double bracket in a step is used to indicate that a command which is within the double brackets is being sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12 , wherein the double bracketed command corresponds to holding down a key (e.g., the send key  46 ) for a period of time. Holding down a key delays the associated NOOP (key release) command. 
     Alternatively, back at step  496 , if the user, instead, presses the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys on the ECU  26 , as determined in step  504 , which are intercepted in step  506  along with associated NOOPs (note that NOOPs are key release associated signals) by the VA  20 , then the key strokes are not forwarded to the portable  12 . Flow then proceeds to a directory scroll mode  510 , which is described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 15, through directory scroll mode step  508 . Note that, back at step  504 , if the user does not press the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys on the ECU  26 , then the flow of the VA  20  goes back to step  492 . 
     Consideration is now given to FIG. 15, which is a flow chart representation of the directory scroll mode  510  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to directory scroll mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the directory scroll mode  510  and steps therein below directory scroll mode  512 . In directory scroll mode  510 , the pressing and releasing of t UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys is intercepted along with the associated NOOPs as above. In step  514  a first name stored in a directory or a next name in a scrolled direction stored in a directory if entering the directory scroll mode  510  from a directory confirmation mode  550  (described below in more detail in reference to FIG.  16 ), is played back. In step  516 , a CLEAR key command (corresponding to a pressing of the CLEAR key  48  of the portable  12 ) is sent to the portable  12  and held for a period of time (e.g., for 1.5 seconds in the first preferred embodiment), as above, followed by digit keystrokes (the directory number) for a current dialing sequence corresponding to the selected directory name is sent to the portable  12 . If the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys remain depressed, (i.e., no NOOP key has been intercepted as determined in step  518 ), the directory entries (names) are correspondingly scrolled up or down, the CLEAR command is repeated to clear the portable  12  current dialing sequence memory, and the corresponding directory digits are sent to the portable  12  in step  520  after such time as the NOOP is received. Note that in the first preferred embodiment, whenever scrolling occurs, directory entries are scrolled at a rate (the scrolling rate) of one (1) entry per second as a circular queue. Also, note that the UP  88  key scrolls in ascending order, while the DOWN  86  key scrolls in descending order. After step  520 , the system  10  flows back to step  518 . 
     In contrast, in step  518 , if there is a NOOP key that has been intercepted (including at the completion of scrolling), then the pressing of the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys, as determined in step  522 , whose corresponding commands are not sent to the portable  12 , cause the next name to be played back in step  524  to the user over speaker  28 . The next name is associated with a particular scrolling position, corresponding with the pressing of the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys, in the directory to be played back in step  524 . Then the flow of the VA  20  returns to step  516  above as indicated in FIG.  15 . 
     Alternatively, in step  522 , if the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys are not pressed, then, in step  526 , it is determined if the user wants to play back the current name. If the user says ‘PLAYBACK in step  526 , then the current name is played back over the speaker  28  in step  528 . Whether the user says “PLAYBACK” in step  526  or not, in step  530 , it is determined if the user says “VERIFY”. The user says “VERIFY” to hear a dialing sequence stored for the current directory entry. If the user says “VERIFY”, then the current dialing sequence is played back to the user in step  532 . Regardless of whether or not “VERIFY” is said by the user in step  530 , it is determined in step  534  if the user wants to activate a call corresponding to the digits stored in the current dialing sequence in the portable  12 . If the user says “SEND” as ascertained in step  534 , the SEND key command is sent to the portable  20  from the VA  20  in step  536  and the VA  20  flow proceeds to wait CIP mode  1030  (FIG. 28) through wait CIP mode step  538 . 
     If the user does not say “SEND” as determined in step  534 , then it is determined in step  540  whether the user says “DELETE”. The user says “DELETE” to delete the current entry from the directory. If the user says “DELETE”, then the VA  20  flows to a delete directory confirmation mode  905 , which will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 25, through delete directory confirmation mode step  542 . However, if the user does not say “DELETE” in step  540  then it is ascertained whether the user says “CLEAR” or “CANCEL” in step  544 . If the user says “CLEAR” or “CANCEL” as determined in step  544 , then directory scroll mode  510  is aborted and the flow of the VA  20  returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  546 . Alternatively, if the user does not say “CLEAR” or “CANCEL”, then the flow of the VA  20  returns to step  522  as indicated in FIG.  15 . 
     Consideration is next focused on FIG. 16 which is a flow chart representation of a directory confirmation mode  550  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to directory confirmation mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the directory confirmation mode  550  and steps therein below directory confirmation mode  552 . In step  554 , the VA  20  prompts the user with the word “CORRECT”. If the user says “YES”, as determined in step  556 , to confirm the name, then in step  558  a directory template is updated, followed by a SEND key stroke command being sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12  in step  560 , and then the VA  20  flows to wait CIP mode  1030  (FIG. 28) through wait CIP mode step  562 . However, if the user does not say “YES” as determined in step  556 , but instead says “NO” as determined in step  564  (the user says “NO” to reject the current label or name), and if it is on the first or second try to match the name as ascertained in step  566 , then, in step  568 , a next closest match is selected by the VA  20 , and the voice label associated with that match is played to the user. In step  570 , the VA  20  transmits a CLEAR key stroke command for a period of time (e.g., delaying transmission of a NOOP command for 1.5 seconds in the first preferred embodiment) followed by digit keystrokes (the directory number) for a current dialing sequence corresponding to the next closest name. Subsequent to step  570 , the flow of the VA  20  goes back to directory confirmation mode  550  (to step  554 ) as indicated in FIG.  16 . Alternatively, in step  566 , if it is on the third or more try to match the name, then the user is prompted with “PLEASE RETRY” in step  572  and the directory confirmation mode  550  is canceled by transmitting and holding down in step  574  (again, for 1.5 seconds in the preferred embodiment) a CLEAR key stroke command from the VA  20  to the portable  12 , followed by flow to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  576 . 
     Going back to step  564 , if the used does not say “NO”, then it is detected in step  578  if the user said “VERIFY” instead. The user says “VERIFY” to hear the current dialing sequence. If the user says “VERIFY” and if the current dialing sequence is secret (i.e., the number of digits=“N” or “n” for the current dialing sequence), as determined in step  584 , then the user is prompted in step  586  with “SECRET MEMORY PROTECTED”, and the directory confirmation mode  550  is restarted back at step  556 . However, if the current dialing sequence is not secret in step  584 , then the current dialing sequence is played back digit by digit to the user over the speaker  28  in step  588  and the directory confirmation mode  550  is also restarted back at step  556 . 
     Considering again step  578 , if the user does not say “VERIFY”, and if the user says “CLEAR” instead, as detected in step  590 , then the attempt to recall by current name is aborted and the flow of the VA  20  goes to directory recall mode  480  through directory recall mode step  592 . Alternatively, if the user does not say “CLEAR” for step  590 , then it is determined in step  594  whether the user said “CANCEL”. The user says “CANCEL” to abort the directory recall function and the VA  20  returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  596 . Moreover, in step  594 , if the user does not say “CANCEL”, then it is ascertained in step  598  whether the user said “STORE”. The user says “STORE” to save the recalled dialing sequence. If the user says “STORE”, then the VA  20  goes to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  600 . If“STORE” is not detected in step  598 , flow is transferred to step  602  where it is determined if the UP  88  or DOWN  86  key was pressed. If either key was pressed, flow is transferred to the directory scroll mode  510  (FIG. 15) through directory scroll mode step  604 , otherwise the directory confirmation mode  550  is restarted back at step  556 , as indicated in FIG.  16 . 
     Attention is now centered on FIG. 17 which is a flow chart representation of a recall host memory mode  610  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to recall host memory mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the recall host memory mode  610  and steps therein below recall host memory mode  612 . In recall host memory mode  610 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION PLEASE” in step  614 . Note that the global keywords are not active during digit recognition and are disabled in step  616 . In step  620 , it is determined whether the user indicates a memory location number in response to the “LOCATION PLEASE” prompt of step  614  by saying aloud digits (e.g., two digits in the first preferred embodiment), as indicated by “0-9” in step  620 , in order to access the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12 . Note that in saying the digits, the user actually says aloud a particular combination from amongst any of the digits “zero”, “one”, “two”, “three”, etc. up to “nine”, where saying the letter “O” is recognized by the VA  20  as if the user said “zero”. 
     In step  622 , if the user has verbally identified a memory location number, the VA  20  accumulates a 2-digit location number in &lt;xx&gt; format corresponding to the user&#39;s response or the VA  20  generates a 2-digit location number in “0&lt;x&gt;” format if the second digit is not spoken within three (3) seconds (in the first preferred embodiment) of the first digit (where x represents digits spoken by the user). Note that, although not specifically shown in FIG. 17, if the user says “CLEAR” in step  622 , then the recall host memory mode function in process will be canceled and the VA  20  returns to step  614 . After step  622 , if the user has said digit(s) aloud, the VA  20  sends a “RCL” key stroke command plus an “&lt;xx&gt;” command (the 2-digit key strokes in step  622 ) to the portable  12  in step  624  (where xx now corresponds to the 2-digit number). The portable  12  is then checked to see if memory (the assigned user storage  116 ) of portable  12  is O.K. in step  626 . If the memory (in the assigned user storage  116 ) of portable  12  is not O.K., and it is determined that the memory location (the assigned user storage  116 ) corresponding to the 2-digit number &lt;xx&gt; is empty in step  628 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION &lt;xx&gt; EMPTY” in step  618 , followed by restarting the recall host memory mode  610  in step  614 . However, if the memory location is not empty in step  628 , then it is determined in step  630  if there is a memory location number error, and if there is an error, the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION &lt;xx&gt; INVALID OR RESTRICTED” in step  632 , followed by restarting the recall host memory mode  610  in step  614 . Alternatively, if there is no error in step  630 , then the recall host memory mode  610  is restarted in step  614 . 
     Going back to step  626 , if the memory (the assigned user storage  116 ) of portable  12  is, instead, O.K. (i.e., available), then the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION &lt;xx&gt;” in step  644 . In step  646 , if the user says “VERIFY” to hear a current dialing sequence, then a “RCL” “RCL” key stroke command is sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12  to access all digits of the current dialing sequence in step  648 . The current dialing sequence is then played back over the speaker  28  digit by digit in step  650  unless a first digit=“N” or “n” is obtained from the portable  12  by the VA  20 , in which case the VA  20  prompts the user with “SECRET MEMORY PROTECTED”. After step  650 , the flow of the VA  20  continues back to step  646 . 
     In considering step  646  again, if the user does not say “VERIFY”, then it is ascertained in step  652  if the user responds instead with “SEND”, in which case, the user wants to dial the current dialing sequence. If the user says “SEND”, then a SEND key stroke command is transmitted to the portable  12  from the VA  20  in step  654  and flow proceeds to wait CIP mode  1030  through wait CIP mode step  656 . Alternatively, if the user does not say “SEND”, and instead responds with “RECALL” as detected in step  658 , in which case the user wants to recall another portable  12  memory location. If the user says “RECALL”, flow is transferred to step  614 . If the keyword “RECALL” is not detected in step  658 , and if, instead, it is determined that the user said “CANCEL” or “CLEAR”, as detected in step  660 , the VA  20  sends a CLEAR key stroke command to the portable  12  in step  662  and then flow returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  664 . Note that, going back to step  620 , if the user does not say any of the digits “0-9”, then it is determined whether the user instead responds with either “CLEAR” (in step  634 ) or “CANCEL (in step  638 ). For either response, the current recall function is aborted and a CLEAR key stroke command is sent and held (again for 1.5 seconds in the first preferred embodiment) from the VA  20  to the portable  12  in steps  636  (for “CLEAR” in step  634 ) or  640  (for “CANCEL” in step  638 ). However, the VA  20  restarts the recall host memory mode  610  in step  614  from step  636 , whereas the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  642  from step  640 . 
     Consideration is now directed to FIG. 18 which is a flow chart representation of a store mode  670  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to store mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the store mode  670  and steps therein below store mode  672 . In step  674 , a current dialing sequence is accessed as described above with the “RCL” “RCL” key stroke command being sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20 . If the number of digits=0 (i.e., there is no current dialing sequence), then VA  20  prompts the user with “NO NUMBER” in step  675  and then goes to digit entry mode  400  (FIG. 12) through digit entry mode step  676 . However, if there is a current dialing sequence and if digits=“N” or “n” is returned to the VA  20 , then it is determined in step  678  that the current dialing sequence is secret and the VA  20  prompts the user with “SECRET MEMORY PROTECTED” in step  680  and goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  682 . However, if there is a current dialing sequence and it is not secret (step  678 ), then the VA  20  prompts the user with “STORE DIRECTORY OR MEMORY?” in step  684 . If the user responds with “DIRECTORY” (detected in step  686 ), or with “MEMORY” (detected in step  690 ), or with “CANCEL” or “CLEAR” (detected in step  694 ), the VA  20  flows to store directory mode  700 , which will be described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 19, through store directory mode step  688 , or to store host memory mode  780 , which will be described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 21, through store host memory mode step  692 , or to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  682 , respectively. If none of these responses are detected in steps  686 ,  690 , or  694 , then the VA  20  flows back to step  686 . 
     Consideration is now given to FIG. 19 which is a flow chart representation of a store directory mode  700  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to store directory mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the store directory mode  700  and steps therein below store mode  702 . In step  703 , it is determined if there is enough room for storing information in the directory memory of the VA  20 . If there is no room, then in step  705 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “MEMORY FULL” and the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  707 . However, if there is room in storage  116  as determined in step  703 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “NAME PLEASE” in step  704 . Note that the global keywords are not active in the store directory mode  700 . After step  704 , it is determined in steps  706  and  712  whether the user responded to the prompt of step  704  with “CLEAR” or with some OTHER SPEECH), respectively. If the user responded with “CLEAR”, as detected in step  706 , then the store directory function of the store directory mode  700  is aborted and the VA  20  goes to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  710 . However, if the user does not say “CLEAR” as would be detected in step  706 , and if the user also does not respond with some OTHER SPEECH, as would be detected in step  712 , then flow goes back (loops back) to step  706  as indicated in FIG.  19 . But, if the user responded with OTHER SPEECH (i.e., the system  10  assumes that the user has said a NAME to use as the voice label for user programmed memory (RAM  167 ) in the VA  20 ), then the VA  20  evaluates the NAME for similarity with existing labels in step  714  (COMPARE). If the comparison is too similar in step  716 , the VA  20  goes to directory overwrite mode  740 , which will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 20, through directory overwrite mode step  718 , otherwise the user is prompted with “AGAIN” in step  720  for training the VA  20  one (1) more time. Note that the training of the VA  20  one (1) more time after step  720  will not occur if the user says “CLEAR” as detected in step  721 , in which case the VA  20  goes back to step  704  of the store directory mode  700 . However, if the user does not say “CLEAR” as would be detected in step  721 , and if the user does not repeat the NAME one (1) more time as detected in step  723 , then the system keeps recycling back to step  721 . 
     Alternatively, if the user says the NAME one (1) more time as detected and recorded in step  723 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “STORING &lt;SEQ&gt; UNDER &lt;NAME&gt;. CORRECT?” in step  722 , where &lt;SEQ&gt; is a current dialing sequence and &lt;NAME&gt; is the user programmed voice label recorded in step  723 . Steps  724 ,  732 ,  734 , and  738  then detect whether the user responds to the prompt of step  722  with “YES/STORE”, or “NO”, or “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL”, respectively. If the user says “YES” or “STORE” as detected in step  724 , then the VA  20  stores the current dialing sequence and the associated voice label in the user programmed directory memory (in RAM  167 ) of the VA  20  in step  726 , which is followed by the issuance of a single beep over the speaker  28  from the VA  20  for user confirmation and then return to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  730 . However, if the user does not say “YES” or “STORE” as detected in step  724 , but instead, says “NO” as detected in step  732 , then the VA  20  cancels the directory store in process and the store directory mode  700  is respecified by VA  20  going to step  704 . Moreover, if the user does not say “NO” as detected in step  732 , but, instead, says “CLEAR” as detected in step  734 , then the VA  20  cancels the directory store in process and returns to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  736  to respecify the store mode operation of the store mode  670 . Furthermore, if the user does not say “CLEAR” as detected in step  734 , but instead says “CANCEL” as detected in step  738 , then the directory store function of the directory store mode  700  is aborted and the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  730 . Alternatively, if neither “YES/STORE”, or “NO”, or “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” is a response of the user, then the VA  20  goes back to step  724 . 
     Consideration is now given to FIG. 20 which is a flow chart representation of a directory overwrite mode  740  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to directory overwrite mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the directory overwrite mode  740  and steps therein below directory overwrite mode  742 . In step  744 , the user is prompted with “SIMILAR NAME EXISTS. OVERWRITE &lt;NAME&gt;”, where &lt;NAME&gt; is the user programmed voice label of an existing directory memory location. The user may respond to the prompt of step  744  with “YES/STORE”, “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” as detected in steps  746 ,  760 ,  764 , and  768 , respectively. If the user says “YES” or “STORE” (detected in step  746 ), then the VA  20  prompts the user with “AGAIN” in step  748  for the user to speak the name one (1) more time to complete directory training and record the name, and then the user is prompted with “STORING &lt;SEQ&gt; UNDER &lt;NAME&gt;. CORRECT?” in step  750 . If the user responds to the prompt in step  750  with a “YES” or “STORE” as detected in step  752 , then the selected directory entry is overwritten in step  754 , and the VA  20  issues two (2) beeps OVER THE SPEAKER  28  in step  756 , and then returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  758 . 
     On the other hand, the user may not respond to the prompt in step  750  with “YES” or “STORE”, but may respond instead with “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” as detected in steps,  772 ,  774 , and  776 , respectively. For a response of “NO” to the prompt in step  750 , the store directory function in process is canceled and the store directory function is restarted (respecified) by going to store directory mode  700  (FIG. 19) through store directory mode step  762 . However, for a response of “CLEAR”, instead, to the prompt in step  750 , the store directory function in process is canceled and the store mode function is restarted by going to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  766 . Moreover, for a response of “CANCEL”, instead, to the prompt in step  750 , the store function in process is canceled and the store function is aborted, followed by a return to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  770 . Furthermore, if the user does not respond to the prompt in step  750  with either “YES/STORE”, “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL”, then the flow of the VA  20  returns (loops back) to step  752  of directory overwrite mode  740 . 
     Going back to step  746 , if the user does not respond to the prompt in step  744  with “YES” or “STORE”, then the user may instead respond with “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” as detected in steps  760 ,  764 , and  768 , respectively. If the user responds with either “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” to the prompt in step  744 , then the flow of the VA  20  proceeds to step  762  from step  760  like from step  772 , to step  766  from step  764  like from step  774 , and to step  770  from step  768  like from step  776 , respectively. However, if neither “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” are responded to the prompt in step  744 , then the flow of the VA  20  returns (loops back) to step  746  of the directory overwrite mode  740 . 
     Attention is next focused on FIG. 21 which is a flow chart representation of a store host memory mode  780  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to store host memory mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the store host memory mode  780  and steps therein below store host memory mode  782 . In step  784 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION PLEASE”. The user may respond to the prompt in step  784  with a location number as indicated by “0-9” in step  784  in order to store in the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12 . Note that going from step  786  to step  788  in FIG. 21 is completely analogous to going from step  620  to step  622  in FIG.  17  and will not be repeated here. Also note that, although not specifically shown in FIG. 21, if the user says “CLEAR” in step  788 , then the store host memory mode function in process will be canceled and the VA  20  returns to step  784 . After step  788 , the VA  20  prompts the user in step  790  with “STORING IN LOCATION &lt;xx&gt;, CORRECT?”. As detected in steps  802 ,  808 ,  810 , and  814 , the user may respond to the prompt in step  790  with “YES” or “STORE”, “CANCEL”, “CLEAR”, or “NO”. If the user responds to the prompt in step  790  with “YES” or “STORE”, then a current dialing sequence is stored in the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12  by sending a “STO” (i.e., STORE) key stroke command plus an “&lt;xx&gt;” command (the xx key strokes) to the portable  12  in step  804  (where xx now corresponds to the 2-digit number of step  788  as above). After step  804 , the flow of the VA  20  proceeds to verify host store mode  820 , which is described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 22, through verify host store mode step  806 . 
     However, if the user instead responds with “CANCEL” to the prompt of step  790 , as detected in step  808 , then the store host memory operation is canceled and the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  800 . Moreover, if the user instead responds to the prompt of step  790  with “CLEAR”, as detected in step  810 , then the store host memory operation is canceled and the VA  20  goes to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  812 . Furthermore, if the user instead responds to the prompt of step  790  with “NO”, as detected in step  814 , then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  784  to restart the store host memory mode  780  and to respecify a memory (assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12 ) location number. Alternatively, if the user does not respond to the prompt of step  790 , then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  802 . 
     Going back to step  786 , in response to the prompt in step  784 , if the user does not verbally specify location digits, the user may instead respond to this prompt with “CLEAR” or “CANCEL” as detected in steps  792  and  798 , respectively. If the user responds with “CLEAR” as detected in step  792 , and if the first digit of the location has already been detected by the VA  20  in step  794 , the store host memory function in process is canceled and the VA  20  goes back to step  784  to restart the store host memory  780 . However, if the first digit has not been detected in step  794 , then the VA  20  goes to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  796 . Alternatively, if the user instead responds to the prompt in step  784  with “CANCEL” as detected in step  798 , then the store host memory function in process is canceled and the VA  20  returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  800 . Note that if the user does not respond to the prompt in step  784 , then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  786 . 
     Attention is now directed to FIG. 22 which is a flow chart representation of a verify host store mode  820  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to verify host store mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the verify host store mode  820  and steps therein below verify host store mode  822 . In step  824 , it is determined whether memory store to the portable  12  was without error. If the memory store to the portable  12  was successful (i.e., HOST O.K.) in step  824 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “STORED IN &lt;xx&gt;” in step  826  and the VA  20  returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  828 . However, if the memory was not successful, as determined in step  824 , then there may be a memory location number error or a restricted memory error (BAD LOCATION) as determined in step  830 , or there may be too many digits as determined in step  836 , or the host (the portable  12 ) memory location may have been occupied as determined in step  840 . 
     For a memory location error as determined in step  830 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION &lt;xx&gt; INVALID OR RESTRICTED” in step  832  and the VA  20  goes to store host memory mode  780  (FIG. 21) through store host memory mode step  834  to restart the store host memory mode  780 . However, for too many digits as determined in step  836 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION &lt;xx&gt;-TOO MANY DIGITS” in step  838  and the VA  20  goes to store host memory mode  780  (FIG. 21) through store host memory mode step  834  to restart the store host memory mode  780 . Moreover, for the host memory occupied as determined in step  840 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION &lt;xx&gt; OCCUPIED. OVERWRITE?” in step  842 . Note that if none of the determinations expected in any of steps  824 ,  830 ,  836 , or  840  occurs, then the flow of the VA  20  returns (loops back) to step  824  as indicated in FIG. 22 from step  840 . 
     Returning to step  842 , the user may respond to the prompt of step  842  with “YES/STORE”, “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” as determined in steps  844 ,  852 ,  858 , and  864 , respectively. If the user responds to the prompt of step  842  with “YES” or “STORE”, as detected in step  844 , then a second “STO” (STORE) key stroke command is sent to the portable  12  in step  846  from the VA  20  to overwrite the selected memory location in the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12 . The VA  20  then issues a single beep in step  848  over the speaker  28  and returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  850 . However, if the user instead responds with “NO”, as detected in step  852 , to the prompt of step  842 , then the “RCL” “RCL” key stroke command is sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20  in step  854  to cancel the store operation currently in process, and the VA  20  goes to store host memory mode  780  (FIG. 21) through store host memory mode step  856  to restart the store host memory mode  780 . Moreover, if the user instead responds with “CLEAR”, as detected in step  858 , to the prompt of step  842 , then the “RCL” “RCL” key stroke command is also sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20  in step  860  to abort the memory store operation, and the VA  20  goes to store mode  670  (FIG. 18) through store mode step  862  to restart the store mode  670 . Furthermore, if the user instead responds with “CANCEL”, as detected in step  864 , to the prompt of step  842 , then the “RCL” “RCL” key stroke command is also sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20  in step  866  to abort the store operation, and the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  850  to restart the ready mode  320 . Note that if none of the possible “YES/STORE”, “NO”, “CLEAR”, or “CANCEL” responses is said by the user, then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  844  from step  864 . 
     Consideration now centers on FIG. 23 which is a flow chart representation of a directory playback mode  870  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to directory playback mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the directory playback mode  870  and steps therein below directory playback mode  871 . As detected in step  873 , if no numbers are in a directory memory of the VA  20 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “MEMORY EMPTY” in step  874 , and then the flow of the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  875 . However, in step  873 , if numbers are instead detected in the directory memory, then the VA  20  prompts the user with “DIRECTORY NAMES” in step  872 , and then plays back (voice synthesizes from the VA  20  and outputs over the speaker  28  a names list) all directory names in memory location order from the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12  in rapid fire mode (i.e., with no pause between labels) in step  879 . Note that the global keywords are not active in the directory playback mode  870 . While step  879  is in process, the VA  20  will intercept any UP  88  or DOWN  86  key stroke commands and associated NOOPs from the user pressing these keys on the ECU  26  in step  876  during directory playback mode  870  and proceed to directory scroll mode  510  (FIG. 15) through directory scroll mode step  878 . These UP  88  or DOWN  86  key stroke commands and associated NOOPs are not forwarded to the portable  12  (the microprocessor  108 ). Note that in step  876 , if no UP  88  or DOWN  86  key stroke commands and associated NOOPs are detected by the VA  20 , then the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  875 . 
     Attention is next steered to FIG. 24 which is a flow chart representation of a delete memory mode  880  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to delete memory mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the delete memory mode  880  and steps therein below delete memory mode  877 . In step  881 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “DELETE DIRECTORY OR MEMORY”. The user may respond to the prompt in step  881  with “DIRECTORY”, “MEMORY”, “ERASE”, or “CANCEL/CLEAR” as detected in steps  882 ,  884 ,  886 , or  888 . If the user responds with “DIRECTORY” as detected in step  882 , then the VA  20  goes to delete directory mode  890  to delete a directory entry in the directory memory (RAM  167 ) of the VA  20  as will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 25, through delete directory mode step  883 . However, if the user responds instead with “MEMORY” as detected in step  884 , then the VA  20  goes to delete host memory mode  980  to delete a memory in the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12  as will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 27, through delete host memory mode step  885 . Moreover, if the user responds instead with “ERASE” as detected in step  886 , then the VA  20  goes to erase directory mode  940  to delete all directory entries in the directory memory (RAM  167 ) of the VA  20  as will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 26, through erase directory mode step  887 . Furthermore, if the user responds instead with “CANCEL” or “CLEAR” as detected in step  888 , then the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  889  to return to ready mode  320 . Note that if the user does not respond to the prompt of step  881  with the expected “DIRECTORY”, “MEMORY”, “ERASE”, or “CANCEL/CLEAR”, then from step  888 , the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  882 . 
     Consideration is now given to FIG. 25 which is a flow chart representation of a delete directory mode  890  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to delete directory mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the delete directory mode  890  and steps therein below delete directory mode  892 . In step  894 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “NAME PLEASE”. Note that in the delete directory mode  890 , the global keywords are not active. The user may respond to the prompt of step  894  with “CLEAR”, a NAME, or UP  88  or DOWN  86  key presses as detected in steps  896 ,  900 , and  906 , respectively. If the user responds with “CLEAR” as detected in step  896 , then the delete directory function in process of the delete directory mode  890  is aborted and the VA  20  returns to delete memory mode  880  (FIG. 24) through delete memory mode step  898 . However, skipping step  900  for the moment, if the user responds instead by pressing the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys (during the directory recall function for the directory scroll mode  510 ), as detected in step  906 , then these key press commands and their associated NOOPs are intercepted by the VA  20 . These intercepted key press commands and their associated NOOPs are not forwarded to the portable  12  (the microprocessor  108 ), and the VA  20  goes to directory scroll mode  510  (FIG. 15) through directory scroll mode  908 . Otherwise, if these UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys are not pressed as would be detected in step  906 , and if the expected responses are not detected in steps  896  and  900 , then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  896  from step  906 . 
     Now considering step  900 , if the user instead says aloud the name of a user programmed VA  20  memory (in the RAM  167 ) in response to the prompt in step  894 , as detected in step  900 , then, in step  902 , the VA  20  selects a closest label match (COMPARE) for confirmation by the user (see step  910  below), but the closest label match is not output to the user over the speaker  28 . The VA  20  then sends, in step  904 , a CLEAR key stroke command held for a period of time as above (held for 1.5 seconds in the first preferred embodiment), followed by dialing sequence digit key strokes (corresponding to the closest label match) terminated with the “RCL” “RCL” key stroke command to the portable  12  to display digits. The VA  20  then prompts the user with “DELETING &lt;NAME&gt;. CORRECT?” in step  910  for confirmation. Note that the delete directory confirmation mode  905  of the system  10 , which was discussed above in regard to delete directory confirmation mode step  542  of directory scroll mode  510  (FIG.  15 ), flows into step  910  as indicated in FIG.  16 . 
     In response to the prompt of step  910 , the user may say “YES”, “NO”, “CANCEL”, “CLEAR”, or the user may press the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys, as detected in steps  912   922 ,  928 ,  930 , and  934 . If the user responds to the prompt in step  910  with “YES”, as detected in step  912 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “DELETING” in step  914 . The directory entry is then deleted in step  916 , followed by a CLEAR key stroke command held down for a period of time as above (held for 1.5 seconds in the first preferred embodiment) in step  918 , and then the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  920 . However, if the user instead responds to the prompt of step  910  with “NO” as detected in step  922 , and if on the first or second try to match the NAME as determined in step  924 , then a next closest directory NAME match is used in step  926  to restart step  904  (confirmation with the next closest directory NAME is restarted) using a voice label of this next closest directory match. But, on a third try as detected in step  924 , the VA  20  goes (confirmation is canceled and the user is prompted with “PLEASE RETRY”, which is not shown in FIG. 25) to step  894  to restart the delete directory mode  890 . 
     Going back to step  922 , if the user does not respond to the prompt in step  910  with “NO”, and if the user instead responds with “CANCEL”, as detected in step  928 , then the delete directory function in process of the delete directory mode  890  is canceled and the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  920 . Moreover, if the user, instead, responds to the prompt in step  910  with “CLEAR”, as detected in step  930 , then the delete directory function in process of the delete directory mode  890  is also canceled and the VA  20  goes to the delete memory mode  880  (FIG. 24) through delete memory mode step  932 . Furthermore, if the user instead responds to the prompt in step  910  by pressing the UP  88  or DOWN  86  keys, then the key stroke commands associated with the pressing of these keys, along with the associated NOOPs, as detected in step  934 , are intercepted by the VA  20  and are not forwarded to the portable  12  by the VA  20  as above, and the VA  20  goes to directory scroll mode  510  (FIG. 15) through directory scroll mode step  936 . 
     Attention is now drawn to FIG. 26 which is a flow chart representation of an erase directory mode  940  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to erase directory mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the erase directory mode  940  and steps therein below erase directory mode  942 . In step  944 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “ERASING ENTIRE DIRECTORY. CORRECT?”. The user may respond to the prompt of step  944  with “NO/CLEAR”, “CANCEL”, or “YES”, as detected in steps  946 ,  950 , and  954 . If the user responds to the prompt in step  944  with “NO” or “CLEAR”, as detected in step  946 , then the VA  20  goes to the delete memory mode  880  (FIG. 24) through delete memory mode step  948  to respecify the delete function thereof. However, if the user instead responds to the prompt of step  944  with “CANCEL”, as detected in step  950 , then the erase function of the erase directory mode  940  is aborted and the VA  20  returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  952 . Moreover, if the user instead responds to the prompt in step  944  with “YES”, as detected in step  954 , then the VA  20  prompts with “ARE YOU SURE?” in step  956 . The user may now respond to the prompt in step  956  with “YES”, “NO/CLEAR”, or “CANCEL”, as detected in steps  958 ,  960 , and  964 , respectively. Note that if none of the above expected responses occurs as detected in steps  946 ,  950 , and  954 , then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  946  from step  954 . 
     For a “YES” response to the prompt of step  956 , as detected in step  958 , the VA  20  prompts the user with “ERASING ALL DIRECTORY ENTRIES” in step  966 . Then, in step  968 , all the directory entries are erased, followed by return to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  970 . Alternatively, for a “NO/CLEAR” response to the prompt of step  956 , as detected in step  960 , the VA  20  returns to the delete memory mode  880  (FIG. 24) through delete memory mode step  962  to respecify the delete function of the delete memory mode  880 . In contrast, for a “CANCEL” response to the prompt in step  956 , as detected in step  964 , the VA  20  returns to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  970 . Note that if none of the expected responses are detected in steps  958 ,  960 , or  964 , then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  958  from step  964 . 
     Reference is now made to FIG. 27 which is a flow chart representation of a delete host memory mode  980  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to delete host memory mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the delete host memory mode  980  and steps therein below delete host memory mode  982 . In step  984 , the CLEAR key stroke command is sent and held for a period of time (e.g., for 1.5 seconds in the first preferred embodiment), and then the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION PLEASE” in step  986 . The user may respond to the prompt in step  986 , as detected in step  988 , by saying a memory location number aloud, such as a combination of digits chosen from the digits 0-9 as indicated in step  988  by “0-9”, and which is analogous to step  786  of FIG.  21 . As before, if the user says the letter “O”, the VA  20  interprets this as “zero”. The user may also respond to the prompt of step  986  by saying either “CLEAR” or “CANCEL”, as detected in steps  990  and  996 , respectively. 
     For a digit response to the prompt of step  986 , as detected in step  988 , a 2-digit location number (meant to correspond to a memory location in the assigned user storage  116  of the portable  12 ) is accumulated in step  1000 , as above. After this accumulation, a “STO” key stroke command plus an &lt;xx&gt; key stroke, where xx is representative of the 2-digit location number as before, is sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20  in step  1002 . The command sent in step  1002  is used to check for a memory location number error, and if there is an error as detected in step  1004  (VALID?), the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION INVALID” in step  1006 , and the VA  20  then goes back to step  984  to restart the delete host memory mode  980 . However, if there is no location error as would be detected in step  1004 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “DELETING LOCATION &lt;xx&gt;. CORRECT?” in step  1008 . The user may respond to the prompt in step  1008  with “YES”, “NO/CLEAR”, or “CANCEL”, as detected in steps  1010 ,  1012 , and  1014 , respectively. 
     If the user responds with “YES” to the prompt in step  1008  in order to delete location xx, as detected in step  1010 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “O.K.” in step  1016 . Step  1016  is followed by a “STO” key stroke command being sent to the portable  12  to complete the memory erase key sequence, which is followed by the VA  20  returning to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  1020 . However, if the user responds to the prompt in step  1008  with “NO” or “CLEAR”, as detected in step  1012 , then the VA  20  goes to step  984  to return to the delete host memory mode  980  to respecify the delete function. Alternatively, if the user responds to the prompt in step  1008  with “CANCEL”, as detected in step  1014 , then a CLEAR key stroke command is sent to the portable  12  to abort the delete operation in process and to also return the VA  20  to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  1020 . Note that if none of the expected responses to the prompt in step  1008  is detected in steps  1010 ,  1012 , or  1014 , then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  1010 . 
     Returning to step  986 , as indicated above, the user may respond with “CLEAR”, as detected in step  990 , instead of responding to the prompt in step  986  with digits for detection in step  988 . If the first digit, as would be detected in step  988 , has not yet been detected in step  988 , as determined in step  992 , then the delete host memory operation of the delete host memory mode  980  is canceled and the VA  20  goes to delete memory mode  880  (FIG. 24) through delete memory mode step  994 . Alternatively, if the first digit has already been detected in step  988 , as determined in step  992 , then the delete host memory operation in process is canceled and the VA  20  goes to step  984  to restart the delete host memory mode  980 . 
     Again, going back to step  986 , however, if the user instead responds to the prompt in step  986  with “CANCEL”, as detected in step  996 , then the delete host memory operation in process is canceled to return the VA  20  to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  998 . However, if none of the expected responses are detected in steps  988 ,  990 , or  996  then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  988  from step  996 . 
     Consideration is now directed to FIG. 28, which is a flow chart representation of a wait CIP (waiting for CIP) mode  1030  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to wait CIP mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the wait CIP mode  1030  and steps therein below wait CIP mode  1032 . Note that during wait CIP mode  1030 , any other operation in process in the VA  20  is terminated. If a setting of the VA  20 , i.e., voice termination, is not enabled (VOICE TERMINATION ENABLE=OFF), then voice recognition algorithms in the wait CIP mode  1030  should be turned off in the VA  20 . Also note that all global keywords are not active in the wait CIP mode  1030 . 
     In step  1034 , the VA  20  determines whether there is a memory location number error (i.e., is the memory location number valid). If the memory location number is not valid, then the VA  20  prompts the user with “INVALID OR RESTRICTED CALL” in step  1036 , followed by the VA  20  going to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  1038 . On the other hand, if the memory location number is valid as determined in step  1034 , then it is determined in step  1040  whether the memory location is empty. If the memory location is empty, as detected in step  1040 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “LOCATION &lt;xx&gt; EMPTY” in step  1042  (where xx represents the memory location combination number as above), and then the VA  20  goes to ready mode  320  (FIG. 11) through ready mode step  1038 . 
     Alternatively, if the memory location is not empty as determined in step  1040 , then the VA  20  prompts the user with “DIALING” in step  1044 . Now if the setting of the VA  20 , i.e., the voice termination, is enabled (VOICE TERMINATION ENABLE=ON), as determined in step  1046 , and if the user responds to the prompt in step  1044  with “CALL QUIT”, as detected in step  1050 , then the VA  20  sends an END key stroke command in step  1052  to the portable  12  to terminate the call in process (CIP). Following step  1052 , the VA  20  issues two (2) beeps in step  1054  over the speaker  28 , and then the VA  20  goes to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  1056 . 
     Note that back in step  1046 , if the setting of the VA  20 , i.e., the voice termination, is, instead, not enabled (i.e., VOICE TERMINATION=OFF), as determined in step  1046 , then the VA  20  goes to CIP mode  1060 , which will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 29, through CIP mode step  1048 . Now, if VOICE TERMINATION=OFF, and if the user responds to the prompt in step  1044  with “CALL QUIT”, then this response is not detected at all in step  1050  since step  1050  is skipped as indicated in FIG.  28 . However, if the setting of the VA  20 , i.e., the voice termination, is enabled (VOICE TERMINATION ENABLE=ON), as determined in step  1046 , and if the user does not respond to the prompt in step  1044  with “CALL QUIT”, as would be detected in step  1050 , then the VA  20  also goes to CIP mode  1060  (FIG. 29) through CIP mode step  1048 . 
     Attention is now focused on FIG. 29, which is a flow chart representation of a CIP (call in process) mode  1060  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to CIP mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the CIP mode  1060  and steps therein below CIP mode  1062 . In CIP mode  1060 , any other operation in process in the VA  20  is terminated. If VOICE TERMINATION ENABLE=OFF, voice recognition algorithms of the VA  20  are not active in the CIP mode  1060 . Also, note that the global keywords are not active in the CIP mode  1060 . 
     In the CIP mode  1060 , in step  1064 , it is determined whether the VA  20  is set for voice termination enabled. For voice termination enabled, if the user says “CALL QUIT”, as detected in step  1066 , then an END key stroke command is sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20  in step  1068  to terminate the call in process. Following step  1068 , the VA  20  issues two (2) beeps in step  170  over the speaker  28 , and then the VA  20  returns to the idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step  1072 . Note that if the voice termination is not enabled, as determined in step  1064 , then if the user says “CALL QUIT”, it is not detected at all in step  1066  since step  1066  is skipped as indicated in FIG.  29 . Note also that, as determined in step  1064 , if the voice termination is not enabled, or if it is enabled and the user does not say “CALL QUIT”, as determined in step  1066 , then the VA  20  goes to step  1074 , wherein it is determined whether the VA  20  processing is to be aborted. In step  1074 , the VA  20  processing is aborted if a TRANSFER TO C-CH (cellular-channel) command is received at the VA  20 , in which case the VA  20  goes to idle mode  200  (FIG. 8) through idle mode step. 
     If the user presses the VAD key  96  on the ECU  26  to activate DTMF dialing by voice, as detected in step  1076 , the VA  20  does not wait to receive an associated NOOP from the ECU  26  as indicated in step  1078 , but rather, the VAD key  96  command is forwarded by the VA  20  to the portable  12  in step  1080  (as with other key presses in previous charts even though not shown). Step  1080  is followed by sending a KEYTONES OFF command from the VA  20  to the portable  12  in step  1082 , and then the VA  20  waits for up to two (2) seconds (time-out in the first preferred embodiment) for the portable  12  to respond to the KEYTONES OFF command in step  1084 . If the host (the portable  12 ) is ready, as determined in step  1086 , the portable  12  is in DTMF manual dial mode and the VA  20  (the portable  12 ) goes to CIP-voice tones mode  1120 , which will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 30, through CIP-voice tones mode step  1088 . However, back in step  1086 , if the host (the portable  12 ) is not ready, then the VAD key  96  key press command is ignored and the VA  20  stays in the CIP mode  1060 , going to step  1090 , which will be described below. 
     Considering step  1076  again, if the user does not press the VAD key  96  of the ECU  26 , as detected in step  1076 , then it is determined in step  1090  whether the user presses the DIR key  94  of the ECU  26  instead to activate the scratchpad entry (the scratchpad memory  126  of the portable  12 ) by voice. If the user presses the DIR key  94  on the ECU  26  to activate scratchpad entry by voice, as detected in step  1090 , the VA  20  does not wait to receive an associated NOOP from the ECU  26  as indicated in step  1092 , but rather, the DIR key  94  command is forwarded by the VA  20  to the portable  12  in step  1094 . Step  1094  is followed by sending a KEYTONES OFF command from the VA  20  to the portable  12  in step  1096 , and then the VA  20  waits for up to two (2) seconds (time-out in the first preferred embodiment) for the portable  12  to respond to the KEYTONES OFF command in step  1098 . If the host (the portable  12 ) is ready (VAD READY is received at the VA  20 ), as determined in step  1100 , the portable  12  has entered silent scratchpad mode and the VA  20  goes to CIP-voice pad mode  1150 , which will be described below in more detail in reference to FIG. 31, through CIP-voice pad mode step  1102 . 
     However, back in step  1100 , if the host (the portable  12 ) is not ready, then the DIR key  94  key press command is ignored and the VA  20  stays in the CIP mode  1060 , going to step  1104  to determine whether the user presses the MUTE key  90 . If the MUTE key  90  is pressed, as detected in step  1104 , then the portable  12 , through the VA  20 , sends a command to the ECU  26  to toggle the ECU mute indicator (light)  92  status in step  1106 . Step  1106  is followed by step  1108  in which the ECU  26  actually toggles the status of the mute condition indicator, followed by the VA  20  going back to step  1064  and staying in the CIP mode  1060 . Note that for any other key press on the ECU  26 , this other key press is ignored by the VA  20  and the VA  20  stays in the CIP mode  1060 . 
     Considering step  1104  again, if the MUTE key  90  on the ECU  26  is not pressed by the user, as determined in step  1104 , then the VA  20  goes back to step  1064  and stays in the CIP mode  1060 . Moreover, considering step  1090  again, if the DIR key  94  on the ECU  26  is not pressed by the user, as determined in step  1090 , then the VA  20  goes to step  1104  and stays in the CIP mode  1060  also. 
     Consideration now centers on FIG. 30, which is a flow chart representation of a CIP-voice tones mode  1120  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to CIP-voice tones mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the CIP-voice tones mode  1120  and steps therein below CIP-voice tones mode  1122 . The CIP-voice tones mode  1120  allows DTMF tone dialing by voice as long as the VAD key  96  on the ECU  26  is depressed by the user. In step  1124 , the VA  20  issues a single beep as a confirmation of being in the CIP-voice tones mode  1120 . Note that the portable  12  is now in a DTMF manual dial mode. In step  1126 , any audio signals received from the user or the distant party (e.g., still during the cellular telephone call) are muted and are not sent out over the audio lines to the portable  12  or the speaker  28 , respectively. Now in step  1128 , the user says aloud a digit (i.e., the user says aloud one digit at a time for each passage through step  1128 ) chosen from the digits 0-9, #, or *, as indicated by “0-9, #, *” in step  1128 . The saying of the digit aloud is picked up by the microphone  70  of the ECU  26  and converted to an audio signal which is recognized by the VA  20  to generate a key command which is sent to the portable  12  to generate a DTMF tone (a DTMF tone is generated which corresponds to the digit said aloud). Note that, again, saying the letter “O” is recognized as if the user says “zero”. 
     Note also that, as the user says the digit aloud, it is not necessary to provide a confirmation tone for the digit recognized by the VA  20  since a DTMF tone will be generated anyway by the portable  12  in the DTMF manual dial mode. In step  1130 , a digit key stroke corresponding to the recognized digit, as well as a NOOP associated with the VAD key  96  being depressed, are sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20 . This is followed by outputting the DTMF tone for the digit, which was said aloud by the user, over the speaker  28  to be heard by the user, as well as transmitting the DTMF tone from the portable  12  (e.g., during a cellular telephone call) in step  1132 . The DTMF tone may be required to access features during a cellular telephone call to a system external to the VA  20 , for example, to receive bank account information. Note that there are numerous other application which may be envisioned for the VA  20  in accordance with the present invention. 
     Returning to FIG. 30, it is determined, in step  1134 , by the VA  20  whether the user has released the VAD key  96  on the ECU  26  by detecting an associated NOOP. If the VAD key  96  is not released by the user, then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  1128  to receive a next digit said aloud by the user. However, if the NOOP associated with the release of the VAD key  96  on the ECU  26  is detected in step  1134 , then a KEYTONES ON command is sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12  in step  1136 , followed by re-enabling audio signals again in step  1138  (e.g., by the VA  20  during a cellular telephone call). After step  1138 , the VA  20  goes to CIP mode  1060  (FIG. 29) through CIP mode step  1140 . 
     Reference is now made to FIG. 31, which is a flow chart representation of a CIP-voice pad mode  1150  of operation of the VA  20 . For the VA  20 , any discussions herein of “to CIP-voice pad mode”, followed by a numerical reference, represent a flow to the CIP-voice pad mode  1150  and steps therein below CIP-voice pad mode  1152 . The CIP-voice pad mode  1150  allows scratchpad entry (to scratchpad memory  126  of the portable  12 ) by voice as long as the DIR key  94  of the ECU  26  is depressed. In step  1154 , the VA  20  issues a single beep as a confirmation of being in the CIP-voice pad mode  1150 . Note that the portable  12  is now in a silent scratchpad mode. In step  1156 , any audio signals received from the user or the distant party (e.g., still during the cellular telephone call) are muted and are not sent out over the audio lines to the portable  12  or the speaker  28 , respectively. Now in step  1158 , if the user says aloud a digit, as for the CIP-voice tones mode  1120 , (i.e., the user says aloud one digit at a time for each passage through step  1158 ) chosen from the digits 0-9, #, or *, as indicated by “0-9, #, *” in step  1158 , the saying of the digit aloud is picked up by the microphone  70  of the ECU  26  and converted to an audio signal which is recognized by the VA  20  to generate a digit to be stored in the scratchpad memory  126  of the portable  12 . Note that, again, saying the letter “O” is recognized as if the user says “zero”. 
     Note also that, as the user says the digit aloud, the VA  20  will provide a confirmation tone for each digit recognized by the VA  20  since KEYTONES=OFF in the portable  12  (see step  1162  below). In step  1160 , a digit key stroke corresponding to the recognized digit, as well as an associated NOOP, are generated in the VA  20  and sent to the portable  12  from the VA  20 . This is followed by outputting the confirmation tone for the digit, which was said aloud by the user, over the speaker  28  to be heard by the user in step  1162 , which is, in turn, followed by the portable  12  storing the generated digit in the scratchpad memory  126  of the portable  12  in step  1164 . 
     Now, in step  1166 , it is determined by the VA  20  whether the user has released the DIR key  94  on the ECU  26  by detecting an associated NOOP for a key release of the DIR key  94 . If the DIR key  94  is not released by the user, then the VA  20  goes back (loops back) to step  1158  to receive a next digit said aloud by the user. However, if the NOOP associated with the release of the DIR key  94  on the ECU  26  is detected in step  1166 , then a KEYTONES ON command is sent from the VA  20  to the portable  12  in step  1168 , followed by re-enabling audio signals again in step  1170 . After step  1170 , the VA  20  goes to CIP mode  1060  (FIG. 29) through CIP mode step  1172 . 
     It is intended that the scope of the present invention also include various other embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that the each of the embodiments disclosed herein, including the first preferred embodiment, includes features and characteristics which are considered independently inventive. Thus, the disclosure of variations and alterations of the preferred embodiment is intended only to reflect on the breadth of the scope of the present invention without suggesting that any of the specific features and characteristics of the first preferred embodiment are more obvious or less important. 
     Regarding specific application of the many inventive aspects of the present invention, a variety of environmental and economic considerations are understood to contribute to the alteration or omission of selected inventive aspects. For example, while the ECU of the first preferred embodiment does not include a display or all of the keys present on conventional primary control units, such is not the case with some other embodiments of the present invention where conservation of vehicle space is not a concern or the drivers of a particular type of car prefer to see those elements. Nonetheless, other inventive aspects of the present invention are included in those larger ECU&#39;s, such as, for example, at least one of the VAD and DIR keys integrated to invoke associated unique functions of the first preferred embodiment discussed above. Likewise, mere removal of the ECU internal microphone to another location in the vehicle is certainly contemplated depending on vehicle shapes and noise patterns. Furthermore, other embodiments of the present invention include enabling portable telephones alone (no ECU) to take full advantage of a VA through new keystroke combinations of current keys on the portable telephone, as well as the addition of new designated keys. Still other embodiments include a full-function handset automotive system instead of the portable/holder system of the first preferred embodiment. 
     While the embodiments of the present invention which have been disclosed herein are the preferred forms, other embodiments of the present invention will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art in view of this disclosure. Therefore, it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention and that the scope of the present invention should only be limited by the claims below. Furthermore, the corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or acts for performing the functions in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed.

Technology Category: 4