JP5141463B2 - In-vehicle device and communication connection destination selection method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device having a function of performing short-range wireless communication with an electronic device brought into a vehicle, and a connection destination selection method for communication by the in-vehicle device.

  Among in-vehicle devices installed in vehicles, short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) is performed with electronic devices such as mobile phones brought into the vehicle by vehicle drivers, such as in-vehicle hands-free devices. In some cases, a predetermined function is realized by a cooperative operation with the electronic device. In this type of in-vehicle device, when multiple occupants get into the vehicle and multiple electronic devices are brought into the vehicle, it is necessary to select the electronic device brought in by the vehicle driver as the communication connection destination. is there.

As a technology for automatically selecting the communication connection destination from multiple electronic devices with short-range wireless communication function, priority is set for multiple electronic devices, and electronic devices with higher priority are connected for communication. A technique of automatically setting the destination is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-133830 determines the priority order of a plurality of electronic devices based on the frequency of communication connections in the past, and automatically selects an electronic device having a higher priority order from among the plurality of electronic devices as a communication connection destination. Have been described. Further, Patent Document 2 describes that priority is determined based on radio wave intensity of a plurality of electronic devices, and an electronic device having a high priority among the plurality of electronic devices is automatically selected as a communication connection destination. .
JP 2003-78529 A JP 2006-319946 A

  However, as described in Patent Literature 1, when the connection destination of communication by the in-vehicle device is selected according to the priority order determined from the frequency of communication connection in the past, the passenger is more likely to have a past driving frequency than the vehicle driver. If it is high, there is a problem that not the electronic device brought into the vehicle by the vehicle driver but the electronic device brought into the vehicle by the passenger is selected as a communication connection destination. Further, as described in Patent Document 2, when a connection destination of communication by an in-vehicle device is selected according to a priority order determined from the radio wave intensity of a plurality of electronic devices, for example, the vehicle driver places the electronic device in a pocket or a bag. If the radio wave strength is weaker than the electronic device that the passenger has brought into the vehicle as a result of being brought into the vehicle with the passenger in the vehicle, the passenger is not the electronic device that the vehicle driver has brought into the vehicle. There is a problem that an electronic device brought in is selected as a communication connection destination.

  The present invention was devised in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and is capable of reliably selecting an electronic device brought into the vehicle by a vehicle driver as a communication connection destination. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication connection destination selection method.

The present invention stores a voice model obtained by modeling voice features of a plurality of speakers in association with identification information of electronic equipment corresponding to each voice model, and information that prompts the vehicle driver to speak. The electronic device corresponding to the speaker who spoke is shown by detecting the spoken speech, extracting the feature amount of the detected speech, comparing the extracted speech feature amount with the stored speech model If there is an electronic device that has been identified and brought into the vehicle as an electronic device that corresponds to the speaker who spoke, select this electronic device as the connection destination for communication, and the specified electronic device exists Otherwise, after confirming that the other electronic device brought into the vehicle through the dialogue with the driver is the connection destination, the other electronic device is selected as the communication connection destination, thereby solving the above-described problem. .

According to the present invention, since the vehicle driver speaks in response to the presentation of information, the electronic device corresponding to the vehicle driver is specified, and the electronic device is selected as a communication connection destination. Can reliably select an electronic device brought into the vehicle as a communication connection destination.
Further, according to the present invention, when an electronic device corresponding to the vehicle driver is not detected in the vehicle and another electronic device is detected in the vehicle, the other electronic device is connected to the vehicle driver. If the vehicle driver inputs an instruction to connect another electronic device after confirming whether or not to set, the other electronic device can be selected as a communication connection destination.

  Hereinafter, as the best mode for carrying out the present invention, an example in which the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle hands-free device that enables a hands-free call by a cooperative operation with a mobile phone brought into the vehicle by a vehicle driver. This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The in-vehicle hands-free device to which the present invention is applied is, in particular, the point that the vehicle driver's mobile phone can be surely selected as a communication connection destination when a plurality of mobile phones are brought into the vehicle. It is a feature.

[Constitution]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle hands-free device to which the present invention is applied. This in-vehicle hands-free device is realized as, for example, a function of an in-vehicle navigation system. For the control unit 1 that forms the core of the system, a microphone 2 that detects sound, a speaker 3 that outputs sound, and a liquid crystal that displays various information. The monitor 4 and an operation input device 5 for a vehicle occupant to input various operations are connected.

The control unit 1 receives a Bluetooth communication circuit 11 that performs short-range wireless communication conforming to the Bluetooth communication standard with a mobile phone 100 that is brought into the vehicle, and an audio signal input through the Bluetooth communication circuit 11. An audio codec 12 that decodes and encodes an audio signal input from the microphone 2, an audio model storage memory 14 that stores a plurality of audio models, and the microphone 2 with reference to the audio model storage memory 14 . A speaker recognition engine 13 for specifying the speaker who has spoken and the mobile phone 100 corresponding to the speaker, and a control device 15 for comprehensively controlling the operation of the in-vehicle hands-free device. .

Here, the speech model stored in the speech model storage memory 14 models speech features such as some features of the speaker's speech, for example, speech frequency features and speech intensity pattern (inflection) features. Is. In the voice model storage memory 14 , a plurality of voice models generated by the user registration process in advance, that is, a voice model of a plurality of speakers who can be a vehicle driver (a user of the in-vehicle hands-free device) is stored in each speaker. It is stored in association with identification information (user ID) and identification information (for example, Bluetooth device address (BD_ADRESS)) of the mobile phone 100 normally used by each speaker.

When the utterance voice of the vehicle driver is detected by the microphone 2, the speaker recognition engine 13 extracts the voice feature quantity of the uttered voice, and the extracted voice feature quantity is stored in the voice model storage memory 14 . The speech model closest to the speech speech is detected by collating with the speech model. Then, the user ID stored in association with the voice model closest to the uttered voice is output as vehicle driver identification information, and the Bluetooth device address stored in association with the voice model closest to the uttered voice is controlled. 15 is output.

  For example, the control device 15 is configured by a microcomputer in which a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a peripheral circuit, and the like are connected to each other via a bus. This control device 15 uses the RAM as a work area to execute various control programs stored in the ROM, thereby controlling the operation of each part of the in-vehicle hands-free device, and the user registration described later in detail. In addition, connection setting with the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle, hands-free calling by the link operation with the mobile phone 100, operation restriction of the mobile phone 100, and the like are performed.

  The microphone 2 is installed, for example, in a roof console portion in the vicinity of the driver's seat of the vehicle, and has a directivity that is particularly sensitive to the voice of the vehicle driver seated in the driver's seat. Moreover, as the speaker 3, for example, a speaker of an audio system installed on an instrument panel, a front door, a rear door, or the like of a vehicle is used. The microphone 2 and the speaker 3 are connected to the audio codec 12 of the control unit 1 via amplifiers 6 and 7, respectively.

  The liquid crystal monitor 4 is installed, for example, in the center console portion of the vehicle. Further, as the operation input device 5, for example, a central switch installed in the vicinity of the liquid crystal monitor 4, a steering switch installed in the steering handle, or the like is used. Further, a touch panel may be provided on the liquid crystal monitor 4 and used as the operation input device 5. The liquid crystal monitor 4 and the operation input device 5 are connected to the control device 15 of the control unit 1.

  In addition to the liquid crystal monitor 4 and the operation input device 5, the control unit 15 of the control unit 1 receives radio waves from a vehicle speed sensor 21 for detecting the vehicle speed, a shift position sensor 22 for detecting the shift position of the vehicle, and a GPS satellite. Various sensors such as a GPS antenna 23 for receiving and amplifying, a door opening / closing sensor 24 for detecting opening / closing of a vehicle door, and a seat load sensor 25 for detecting a load applied to each seat of the vehicle are connected. The control device 15 of the control unit 1 appropriately inputs vehicle sensor signals such as a vehicle speed signal, a shift position signal, a GPS signal, a door opening / closing signal, and a seat load signal from these various sensors, and determines the state of the vehicle.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the in-vehicle hands-free device configured as described above will be described. The operation of this in-vehicle hands-free device is roughly divided into user registration, connection setting, hands-free calling, operation restriction, and others. Below, the specific example of the process in the control unit 1 for implement | achieving each of these operation | movement is divided into items and demonstrated.

<user registration>
The user registration process is started when the user uses the operation input device 5 to perform an operation of selecting, for example, a “user registration” icon displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 4.

  When a command for performing user registration is input to the control device 15 of the control unit 1 in accordance with the user's operation input, the control device 15 first displays the character on the liquid crystal monitor 4 or the voice output from the speaker 3, Announcement is made that only the mobile phone 100 that the user owns is operating in the vehicle. When a request signal is transmitted to the mobile phone 100 in the vehicle via the Bluetooth communication circuit 11 and a unique Bluetooth device address is acquired via the Bluetooth communication circuit 11 as a response to the request signal, the Bluetooth signal is acquired. The device address is stored in the voice model storage memory 14 in association with the unique user ID set for the user.

  Next, the control device 15 makes an announcement that prompts the user to make a predetermined utterance by displaying characters on the liquid crystal monitor 4 or outputting sound from the speaker 3. When the user utters a predetermined utterance according to the announcement, the uttered voice of the user is detected by the microphone 2, and the voice signal of the uttered voice encoded by the voice codec 12 is input to the speaker recognition engine 13. The speaker recognition engine 13 extracts a voice feature from the user's uttered voice, models it, and outputs it as a voice model to the control device 15.

  When the voice model generated by the speaker recognition engine 13 is input, the control device 15 stores the voice model in the voice model storage memory 14 in association with the Bluetooth device address and the user ID. This completes the user registration process. By repeating the above user registration process for each user who can be a vehicle driver, the voice model storage memory 14 stores a plurality of speaker voice models, Bluetooth device addresses and user IDs corresponding to the respective voice models. Are stored in association with each other.

<Connection settings>
Connection setting with the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle is performed, for example, according to the processing procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. The feature of this connection setting process is that even when a plurality of occupants get into the vehicle and a plurality of mobile phones 100 are brought into the vehicle by specifying the mobile phone 100 of the vehicle driver by speaker recognition, The mobile phone 100 of the vehicle driver can be surely selected as a communication connection destination.

  When the flow of FIG. 2 is started, first, in step S101, the control device 15 of the control unit 1 transmits a request signal via the Bluetooth communication circuit 11. Then, by detecting the Bluetooth device address transmitted from the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle as a response to the request signal through the Bluetooth communication circuit 11, the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle is detected. To do. When the control device 15 acquires an unknown Bluetooth device address, that is, when it detects the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle for the first time, the control device 15 registers the Bluetooth device address of the mobile phone 100 in the internal memory or the like. At the same time, it registers its own Bluetooth device address in the mobile phone 100 via the Bluetooth communication circuit 11 and performs pairing with the mobile phone 100.

  Next, in step S102, the control device 15 determines whether or not the mobile phone 100 that has been set as a communication connection destination at the present stage exists in the mobile phone 100 detected in step S101. If the mobile phone 100 set as the communication connection destination is detected at this stage, a step is performed on the condition that no change of the vehicle driver is detected (NO in step S103). In S104, the current connection setting is maintained, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, when mobile phone 100 set as the communication connection destination at this stage is not detected (NO in step S102), or when a change in vehicle driver is detected (YES in step S103). ) Proceeds to step S105.

  Here, the vehicle driver is changed by, for example, periodically operating the microphone 2 to detect the voice in the vicinity of the driver's seat, and extracting the detected voice feature amount by the speaker recognition engine 13. Detect by monitoring changes. In other words, when the feature value of the sound regularly detected by the microphone 2 changes so as to exceed a predetermined judgment reference value, it can be estimated that the occupant seated in the driver's seat has changed, so the sound feature value. When the change of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined criterion value, it is determined that the vehicle driver has changed. Further, the vehicle driver detects boarding / exiting based on the door opening / closing signal of the driver's seat door from the door opening / closing sensor 24, and the vehicle driver gets on / off based on the seat load signal of the driver's seat from the seat load sensor 25. When the load on the front and rear driver seats changes beyond a predetermined determination reference value, it may be determined that the vehicle driver has changed. Moreover, you may make it detect the change of a vehicle driver combining these methods.

  In step S <b> 105, the control device 15 controls the operation of the liquid crystal monitor 4 or the speaker 3, and makes an announcement that prompts the vehicle driver to make a predetermined utterance by displaying characters on the liquid crystal monitor 4 or outputting sound from the speaker 3. Here, the content of the utterance requested to the vehicle driver is not necessarily the same as the content uttered by the registered user during the user registration process, but the same content as the utterance content during the user registration process. , The accuracy of the recognition process by the speaker recognition engine 13 can be improved.

  When an utterance is made in accordance with the announcement prompting the utterance, the uttered voice is detected by the microphone 2, and the voice signal of the uttered voice encoded by the voice codec 12 is input to the speaker recognition engine 13. When the speech signal of the utterance voice is input, the speaker recognition engine 13 extracts a feature amount from the utterance speech in step S106, and in step S107, the speech feature amount extracted in step S106 is used as a speech model storage memory. 14 is collated with a plurality of speech models stored in 14, and the speech model closest to the speech speech is detected. Then, the Bluetooth device address of the mobile phone 100 stored in association with the voice model closest to the speech voice is read and output to the control device 15.

  Next, in step S108, the control device 15 compares the Bluetooth device address input from the speaker recognition engine 13 with the Bluetooth address acquired in step S101, and the processing performed by the speaker recognition engine 13 is performed by the vehicle driver. It is determined whether or not the mobile phone 100 identified as “in” is brought into the vehicle. If it is determined that the vehicle driver's mobile phone 100 is brought into the vehicle, the mobile phone 100 is selected as a communication connection destination in step S109, and the process proceeds to step S114.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle driver's mobile phone 100 is not brought into the vehicle, the control device 15 detects a mobile phone 100 other than the vehicle driver's mobile phone 100 in step S110 in step S101. In other words, it is determined whether or not a Bluetooth device address different from the Bluetooth device address input from the speaker recognition engine 13 has been acquired in step S101. If it is determined that the other mobile phone 100 is brought into the vehicle, whether or not to connect to the other mobile phone 100 by displaying characters on the liquid crystal monitor 4 or outputting sound from the speaker 3 in step S111. In step S112, as an answer to the announcement, for example, an instruction to connect to another mobile phone 100 by an operation input using the operation input device 5 or the like as a response to the announcement It is determined whether or not an input has been made. If there is an instruction input to connect to another mobile phone 100, in step S113, the other mobile phone 100 is selected as a communication connection destination, and the process proceeds to step S114.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S110 that another mobile phone 100 is not brought into the vehicle, or if it is determined in step S112 that an instruction to connect to another mobile phone 100 has not been input. Ends the process without setting the connection with the mobile phone 100.

  In step S114, the control device 15 performs connection settings so that hands-free communication can be performed by the linkage operation with the mobile phone 100 selected as the communication connection destination in step S109 or step S113. Then, when the connection setting is completed, a series of processing is terminated. The connection setting includes processing such as setting of a transmission / reception address for the Bluetooth communication circuit 11 and selection of a control program corresponding to the selected mobile phone 100 model.

<Hands-free call>
When the connection-destination mobile phone 100 is selected and the connection setting is completed, a hands-free call can be made by the linked operation with the mobile phone 100.

  A hands-free call is started when the mobile phone 100 selected as the connection destination receives an incoming call or when a vehicle driver presses a phone switch for instructing to start a call, for example, among steering switches. When the control device 15 of the control unit 1 determines the start of the hands-free call, for example, by executing a control program stored in the internal ROM, the link operation with the cellular phone 100 set for connection, the Bluetooth circuit 11 and the audio codec 12 are controlled, the gains of the amplifiers 6 and 7 are adjusted, and a hands-free call for substituting the call by the mobile phone 100 using the microphone 2 and the speaker 3 is realized.

<Operation restriction>
When the vehicle driver's mobile phone 100 is selected as a connection destination for communication and the connection setting is completed, the control device 15 of the control unit 1 operates the mobile phone 100 so that operations on the mobile phone 100 are restricted. To control. That is, the control device 15 transmits a command for prohibiting acceptance of operation input to the mobile phone 100 to the mobile phone 100 set for connection, and the vehicle driver temporarily tries to operate the mobile phone 100. Also prevents that input from being accepted.

  However, in a situation where sufficient safety is ensured even when the vehicle driver operates the mobile phone 100, prohibition of accepting an operation input to the mobile phone 100 becomes troublesome. Therefore, the control device 15 of the control unit 1 determines that the vehicle is sufficiently safe from the vehicle speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor 21, the shift position signal from the shift position sensor 22, the GPS signal from the GPS antenna 23, and the like. In this case, a command for canceling the prohibition of accepting operation input is transmitted to the mobile phone 100 so that the operation input to the mobile phone 100 can be performed. The sufficiently safe state is, for example, a state where the vehicle is parked or parked at a parking lot or a wide roadside.

<Others>
In the in-vehicle hands-free device of the present embodiment, as described above, the speaker recognition engine 13 of the control unit 1 has a function of outputting the user ID of the vehicle driver who speaks toward the microphone 2 to an external device. doing. For example, the user ID of the vehicle driver output from the speaker recognition engine 13 is input to various devices having a function of performing settings suitable for the vehicle driver. As a result, various settings stored in advance as settings suitable for the vehicle driver in various devices are called out, and various settings in the vehicle are automatically switched to suit the vehicle driver. Here, as various settings in the vehicle, for example, settings relating to navigation functions such as a room mirror position, a door mirror position, a meter illuminance, a steering position, a seat position, an air conditioning setting, an illuminance of the liquid crystal monitor 4, a route search setting, and the like. It is done.

[Effect of the embodiment]
As described above in detail with reference to specific examples, the in-vehicle hands-free device according to the present embodiment performs control connection 1 when setting communication connection with the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle. Under the control of the control device 15, an announcement is made to prompt the vehicle driver to make a predetermined utterance by displaying characters on the liquid crystal monitor 4 or outputting sound from the speaker 3. When the vehicle driver makes a predetermined utterance in response to the announcement, the speaker recognition engine 13 identifies the mobile phone 100 corresponding to the vehicle driver, and the control device 15 connects the mobile phone 100 to the communication destination. Selected as. Therefore, according to this in-vehicle hands-free device, the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle by the vehicle driver can be reliably selected as a communication connection destination.

  Further, according to the in-vehicle hands-free device of the present embodiment, when the mobile phone 100 set as the communication connection destination at the current stage cannot be detected or when a change in the vehicle driver is detected, the vehicle An announcement that prompts the driver for a predetermined utterance and a process for selecting a new connection destination are performed, so that an inconvenience that the vehicle driver feels annoying due to an excessive announcement is suppressed. However, the connection setting of the mobile phone 100 can be performed efficiently.

  Further, according to the in-vehicle hands-free device of the present embodiment, the microphone 2 is periodically activated to detect the voice in the vicinity of the driver's seat, and the feature amount of the detected voice is extracted by the speaker recognition engine 13 to obtain the voice feature. Since the change of the vehicle driver is detected by a method of monitoring the change in the amount, the change of the vehicle driver can be detected with high accuracy.

  Further, according to the in-vehicle hands-free device of the present embodiment, when the speaker's mobile phone 100 speaking in response to the announcement is not detected in the vehicle and another mobile phone 100 is detected in the vehicle, the vehicle driving When the vehicle driver confirms whether or not the other mobile phone 100 is set to be connected and the vehicle driver inputs an instruction to connect the other mobile phone 100, the other mobile phone 100 is Since the connection destination of communication is selected, for example, when the vehicle driver changes the model of the mobile phone 100 and then enters the vehicle without performing a new user registration process, the user is prompted to speak. Even if the passenger who does not have the mobile phone 100 speaks when the announcement is made, not the vehicle driver who has the mobile phone 100, the mobile phone 1 of the vehicle driver 0 can be selected securely as the connection destination of the communication.

  Further, according to the in-vehicle hands-free device of the present embodiment, when the mobile driver's mobile phone 100 is selected as a connection destination for communication and connection setting is performed, the reception of operation input to the mobile phone 100 is prohibited. Therefore, the consciousness of the vehicle driver can be concentrated on the driving operation. Further, according to the in-vehicle hands-free device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle is in a sufficiently safe state, the prohibition of accepting operation input to the mobile phone 100 of the vehicle driver is canceled, so The inconvenience of excessively restricting the operation of the telephone 100 can be effectively suppressed.

  In addition, according to the in-vehicle hands-free device of the present embodiment, when the vehicle driver's mobile phone 100 is connected and set, the speaker recognition engine 13 uses the user ID corresponding to the uttered voice as the vehicle driver identification information. Since output is performed, various settings in the vehicle can be automatically switched using this user ID so as to suit the vehicle driver, and convenience is improved.

  Hereinafter, as a reference, a correspondence relationship between the above-described embodiment and the constituent elements described in the claims is added. In the above-described in-vehicle hands-free device, the processing by the control device 15 that detects the mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle (the processing in step S101 in the flowchart of FIG. 2) is “device detection means” described in the claims. It corresponds to. In addition, a process for making an announcement for prompting the vehicle driver to make a predetermined utterance by the liquid crystal monitor 4 or the speaker 3 under the control of the control device 15 (the process of step S105 in the flowchart of FIG. 2). It corresponds to the “information presentation means” described in 1. Further, the microphone 2 that detects the voice of the driver of the vehicle corresponds to “voice detection means” described in the claims. The voice model storage memory 14 stores a voice model of a plurality of speakers registered as users, a Bluetooth device address corresponding to each voice model, and a user ID in association with each other. It corresponds to “memory means”. The feature amount of the utterance voice detected by the microphone 2 is collated with the voice model stored in the voice model storage memory 14, and the Bluetooth device address corresponding to the voice model closest to the utterance voice is output to the control device 15. The speaker recognition engine 13 corresponds to “apparatus identifying means” described in the claims. In addition, the processing by the control device 15 that selects the mobile phone 100 identified by the Bluetooth device address output from the speaker recognition engine 13 as a communication connection destination (processing in step S109 in the flowchart of FIG. 2) This corresponds to “connection destination selection means” described in the range. Further, the process (the process of step S103 in the flowchart of FIG. 2) by the control device 15 that monitors the change of the voice feature amount periodically detected by the microphone 2 and detects the change of the vehicle driver is claimed. It corresponds to the “detection means” described in 1. Further, the processing by the speaker recognition engine 13 that externally outputs the user ID corresponding to the speech model closest to the uttered speech corresponds to “driver information output means” described in the claims. Further, the processing by the control device 15 that prohibits the vehicle driver from accepting the operation input to the mobile phone 100 corresponds to “electronic device control means” described in the claims.

  In addition, said embodiment shows an example of application of this invention exemplarily, and it does not intend that the technical scope of this invention is limited to the content demonstrated as this embodiment. That is, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific technical matters disclosed in the above-described embodiments, but includes various modifications, changes, alternative techniques, and the like that can be easily derived from this disclosure.

  For example, in the in-vehicle hands-free device described as the embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the operation input by the user is performed using the operation input device 5, but the content of the user's uttered voice detected by the microphone 3 is used. A voice recognition engine for recognition may be added to the control unit 1 so that a user operation is performed by voice recognition processing. Thereby, it becomes possible to further improve the operability.

  In the above embodiment, the mobile phone 100 is exemplified as an electronic device brought into the vehicle, and the in-vehicle hands-free device is exemplified as the in-vehicle device to which the present invention is applied. The mobile phone 100 brought into the vehicle and the in-vehicle hands-free device However, the present invention is not limited to the example described in the above embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to the short-range wireless communication with an electronic device brought into the vehicle. In an in-vehicle device having a function of performing communication, the present invention can be widely applied as a technique for selecting an electronic device that is a communication connection destination.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted hands-free apparatus to which this invention is applied. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of performing connection setting between the mobile telephones carried in the vehicle in the vehicle-mounted hands-free device to which this invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control unit 2 Microphone 3 Speaker 4 Liquid crystal monitor 11 Bluetooth communication circuit 12 Voice codec 13 Speaker recognition engine 14 Voice model storage memory 15 Control apparatus

Claims (7)

In in-vehicle devices that have the function of performing short-range wireless communication with electronic devices brought into the car,
Device detection means for detecting electronic devices brought into the vehicle;
Information presenting means for presenting information prompting the vehicle driver to speak;
Voice detection means for detecting spoken voice;
Storage means for storing a speech model obtained by modeling speech features of a plurality of speakers in association with identification information of an electronic device corresponding to each speech model;
Device identification for extracting the feature amount of the voice detected by the voice detection unit, and collating the extracted voice feature amount with the voice model stored in the storage unit to identify the electronic device corresponding to the speaker who has spoken Means,
Of the electronic devices detected by the device detection means, comprising a connection destination selection means for selecting the electronic device identified by the device identification means as a communication connection destination ,
When the electronic device selected as the communication connection destination by the connection destination selection unit is not detected by the device detection unit, and another electronic device other than the electronic device selected as the connection destination is detected, An in-vehicle device characterized by confirming whether or not another electronic device is connected to the vehicle driver . It further comprises detection means for detecting a change of the vehicle driver,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the information presenting unit presents information prompting the vehicle driver to speak when a change of the vehicle driver is detected by the detecting unit. The voice detection means periodically detects the voice in the vehicle,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 2, wherein the detection unit detects a change of a vehicle driver by monitoring a change in a feature amount of the voice detected by the voice detection unit. In the storage means, identification information of a plurality of speakers is stored in association with a speech model obtained by modeling speech feature quantities of a plurality of speakers.
The voice feature amount detected by the voice detection unit is extracted, the extracted voice feature amount is compared with the voice model stored in the storage unit, the speaker who has spoken is identified, and the speaker identification information as identification information of the vehicle driver, either one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a driver information output means for outputting to other devices having a function of setting adapted to the vehicle driver The in-vehicle device according to one item. Vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an electronic device control means for prohibiting the acceptance of the operation input to the electronic device selected as the communication destination by the destination selection unit machine. The in-vehicle device according to claim 5 , wherein the electronic device control unit cancels prohibition of accepting an operation input to the electronic device when it is determined that the vehicle is in a specific state. A method of selecting an electronic device as a connection destination of communication by an in-vehicle device having a function of performing short-range wireless communication with an electronic device brought into the vehicle,
A speech model obtained by modeling speech feature quantities of a plurality of speakers and electronic device identification information corresponding to each speech model are stored in association with each other,
Present information that prompts the vehicle driver to speak, detect the spoken voice,
Extract the detected voice features, match the extracted voice features with the stored voice model, identify the electronic device corresponding to the speaker who spoke,
If there is an electronic device identified as an electronic device that corresponds to the speaker who spoke, among electronic devices brought into the car, select this electronic device as the connection destination for communication ,
If the specified electronic device does not exist, it is confirmed that another electronic device brought into the vehicle is used as a connection destination through dialogue with the driver .

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