Granted Patent B2

US 9,280,981 · App. 13/778,325 · Granted Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

Claims (41)

1. A method for voice control of a mobile device, the method comprising:

establishing a connection between the mobile device and a voice-control module;

responsive to establishing the connection, entering the mobile device into an intermediate mode;

monitoring at the voice-control module for verbal input comprising a verbal command from among a set of predetermined verbal commands;

upon receiving a verbal command from among the set of predetermined verbal commands, sending instructions from the voice-control module to the mobile device related to the verbal command received;

acting on the received instructions at the mobile device;

wherein monitoring at the voice-control module for verbal input comprising a verbal command further comprises monitoring at the voice-control module for verbal input comprising arguments associated with the verbal command; and

in response to receiving a verbal input that does not include an associated argument, issuing a prompt, based on the associated argument, for further verbal input at the voice-control module, if the associated argument is a required argument and has not been received.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein entering the intermediate mode comprises disabling at least some predetermined functionality of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least some predetermined functionality comprises ability to communicate with one or more predetermined networks.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least some predetermined functionality comprises ability to monitor for verbal commands.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of predetermined verbal commands comprises verbal commands corresponding to communication applications.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein, monitoring at the voice-control module for verbal input comprising arguments associated with the verbal command comprises identifying an argument based on a predetermined set of possible responses stored at the voice-control module.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein acting on the received instructions at the mobile device comprises activating an application related to the verbal command.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein acting on the received instructions at the mobile device further comprises performing an action via the application, based on the verbal command.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable code that, when executed on a computer device, performs the method of claim 1 .

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the verbal command is a command to initiate a communication and the associated argument is a recipient of the communication, the method further comprising:

determining one or more potential recipients for the communication; and

issuing the prompt based on the one or more potential recipients.

11. A voice control module (VCM) for voice control of a mobile device, the VCM comprising:

a connection module configured for establishing a connection between the VCM and the mobile device;

a monitoring module configured for monitoring for verbal input comprising a verbal command from among a set of predetermined verbal commands; and

a communications module configured for sending instructions to the mobile device related to the verbal command received;

wherein the monitoring module is further configured to monitor for verbal input comprising arguments associated with the verbal command and, in response to receiving a verbal input that does not include an associated argument, issue a prompt, based on the associated argument, for further verbal input, if the associated argument is a required argument and has not been received.

12. The VCM of claim 11 , wherein the set of predetermined verbal commands comprises verbal commands corresponding to communication applications.

13. The VCM of claim 11 , further comprising a memory module, and wherein the monitoring module is further configured to identify an argument based on a predetermined set of possible responses stored at the memory module.

14. The VCM of claim 11 , wherein the verbal command is a command to initiate a communication and the associated argument is a recipient of the communication, the monitoring module further configured to:

determine one or more potential recipients for the communication; and

wherein issue the prompt based on the one or more potential recipients.

15. A mobile device comprising:

a connection module configured for establishing a connection between the mobile device and a voice-control module (VCM);

a mode-setting module configured to cause the mobile device to enter an intermediate mode, responsive to establishing the connection;

a monitoring module configured for monitoring for instructions received from the VCM; and

a processing module configured for executing the received instructions at the mobile device;

wherein the monitoring module is further configured to monitor for verbal input comprising arguments associated with the verbal command and, in response to receiving a verbal input that does not include an associated argument, issue a prompt, based on the associated argument, for further verbal input, if the associated argument is a required argument and has not been received.

16. The mobile device of claim 15 , wherein entering the intermediate mode disables at least some predetermined functionality of the mobile device.

17. The mobile device of claim 16 , wherein the at least some predetermined functionality comprises ability to communicate with one or more predetermined networks.

18. The mobile device of claim 15 , wherein the processing module is configured for executing the received instructions by activating an application related to a verbal command recognized by the VCM and performing an action via the application, based on the verbal command.

19. The mobile device of claim 15 , wherein the verbal command is a command to initiate a communication and the associated argument is a recipient of the communication, the monitoring module further configured to:

determine one or more potential recipients for the communication; and

wherein issue the prompt based on the one or more potential recipients.

Assignments (8)