Abstract: An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) (100) for creating a touchless Virtual User Interface (VUI) 120 is provided. The IDE can include a development window (152) for graphically presenting a visual layout of user interface (UI) components (161) that respond to touchless sensory events in a virtual layout of virtual components (261), and at least one descriptor (121) for modifying a touchless sensory attribute of a user component. The touchless sensory attribute describes how a user component responds to a touchless touchless sensory event on a virtual component.

Abstract: A virtual user interface (VUI) is provided. The VUI (120) can include a touchless sensing unit (110) for identifying and tracking at least one object in a touchless sensory field, a processor (130) communicatively coupled to the sensing unit for capturing a movement of the object within the touchless sensory field, and a driver (132) for converting the movement to a coordinate object (133). In one aspect, the VUI can implement an applications program interface (134) for receiving the coordinate object and providing the coordinate object to the virtual user interface (VUI). An object movement within the sensory field of the VUI can activate user components in a User Interface (150).

Abstract: An Applications Programming Interface (API) provides coordinate and movement information of an object within a sensory field. The API can provide touchless APT methods for identifying a position, a displacement, a velocity, an acceleration, and a length of time an object is within a sensory field. The API can include an event listener for receiving at least one sensory event, and an event handler for processing sensory events. A GUI can implement the API to provide touchless navigation and control.

Abstract: An apparatus (100) and method is provided that identifies and tracks a relative location and movement of an object in a three-dimensional space. The sensing unit includes a processor (122) for communicating a coordinate information of the object within the three-dimensional space. The method includes emitting a pulse from a first transducer (101), estimating a time of flight from a reflection signal received by a second transducer (102), and determining a location and relative movement of the object from the time of flight measurements. The sensing unit can provide touchless control via touchless finger depression actions, finger slide actions, finger release actions, and finger hold actions.

Abstract: A mobile communication device (100) includes a vocoder (104) for vocoding speech (500) received at the mobile communication device. The parameters output by the vocoder are used to generate a voicing quality metric (208). The voicing quality metric is used to provide feedback to the user of the mobile communication device by various feedback modalities including visual (114), audible (108), and tactile modalities (118) to indicate when the user should speak louder to overcome ambient noise. The voicing quality metric is also used by other communications equipment (304, 312) to decide if communication activity is needed.

Abstract: A sensing unit (110) and method (200) for touchless interfacing using finger signing is provided. The sensing unit can include a sensor element (113) for tracking a touchless finger sign, a pattern recognition engine (114) for tracing a pattern in the touchless finger sign, and a processor (115) for performing an action on an object in accordance with the at least one pattern. The object may be a cursor, an object handled by the cursor, or an application object. A finger sign can be an touchless finger movement for controlling an object, or a touchless writing of an alpha-numeric character that is entered in an object. The processor can visually or audibly present the pattern in response to a recognition of the finger sign.

Abstract: A system (100) and method (160) for activating a touchless control is provided. The method can include detecting (162) a movement of a finger in a touchless sensing field, identifying (164) an activation cue in response to the finger movement, and activating (166) a touchless control of an object in response the activation cue. The method can include focusing the touchless sensing field (210) to produce a touchless projection space (220). An activation cue can be a positioning of a finger (302) within a bounded region (304) of the touchless projection space for a pre-determined amount of time. In one arrangement, cursor (124) navigation and control can be provided in accordance with touchless finger movements.

Abstract: A system (100) and method (200) for mapping a virtual user interface (VUI) to a graphical user interface (GUI) is provided. The method can include identifying (202) a range of object movement in a first coordinate system of the Virtual User Interface (101), identifying (204) a display range in a second coordinate system of the graphical user interface (103), and mapping (206) the range of object motion to the display range to produce a virtual mapping. The method can further include tracking (211) a finger (214) movement (310), applying (213) the virtual mapping to the finger movement to produce a second movement (312), and handling (215) a touchless control (102) in accordance with the second movement.

Abstract: A device (100) and a method (200) for operating a camera (130) based on touchless movements is provided. The device (100) includes a sensing unit (110) for detecting a touchless movement, and a controller (130) for handling one or more controls of the camera in accordance with the touchless movement. A virtual user interface is provided to allow a user to control a camera on a computer or a mobile device using touchless finger movements. Touchless controls are provided for zoom, pan, focus, aperture, balance, color, calibration, or tilt. A first touchless finger movement can select a control, and a second touchless finger movement can adjust the control.

Abstract: A method (200) and system (220) for range detection is provided. The system can include a sensing unit (110) for detecting a location and movement of a first object (401), and a processor (107) for providing a measure of the movement. The processor can convert the measure to a coordinate signal for moving a second object (124) in accordance with a location and movement of the first object. The system can include a pulse shaper (109) for producing a pulse shaped signal (167) and a phase detector (101) for identifying a movement from a reflected signal (166). A portion of the pulse shaped signal can be a frequency modulated region (312), a constant frequency region (316), or a chirp region (324). In one arrangement, the pulse shaper can be a cascade of all-pass filters (515) for providing phase dispersion.

Abstract: A system (111 ) and method (200) for providing sensory feedback (210) for touchless feedback control is provided. The system can include a touchless sensing unit (110) that detects at least one position (304) of an object in a touchless sensing space (300), and an indicator (166) communicatively coupled to the touchless sensing unit that provides sensory feedback associated with the at least one position. The indicator can change in accordance with a location, a recognized movement, or a strength of the touchless sensing space. The sensory feedback can be associated with acquiring a touchless control or releasing a touchless control. The sensory feedback can be visual, auditory, or haptic.

Abstract: The invention concerns a communication device (102) and a method (200) for providing a personalized ring-back to a first user of the first communication device (102), when the first user initiates a phone call with a second user of a second communication device (104). In one arrangement, the method can include the steps of detecting (204) reception of a ring-back signal at the first communication device (102) received from a communication network (108), retrieving (206) a multimedia file in the first communication device (102), and playing (208) the multimedia file in the first communication device (102) for at least the duration of the ring-back signal.

Abstract: A text to speech system (100) uses differential voice coding (230, 416) to compress a database of digitized speech waveform segments (210). A seed waveform (535) is used to precondition each speech waveform prior to encoding which, upon encoding, provides a seeded preconditioned encoded speech token (550). The seed portion (541) may be removed and the preconditioned encoded speech token portion (542) may be stored in a database for text to speech synthesis. When speech it to be synthesized, upon requesting the appropriate speech waveform for the present sound to be produced, the seed portion is preappended to the preconditioned encoded speech token for differential decoding.

Abstract: Systems (100 or 300) and methods (400 or 500) are provided for selecting a post-compression waveform from a post-compression waveform table (106) and supplying it to a synthesis engine (108). The post-compression waveform is based upon a set of post-compression coefficients determined by generating a frequency-domain representation of a periodic signal, the representation including at least one pre-compression frequency-domain sample (204), and performing a threshold-based compression of the pre-compression frequency-domain samples. Systems and methods also include indexing and storing (502) post-compression coefficients in a post-compression coefficient table (102), generating (506) a post-compression waveform based upon the set of post-compression coefficients, and placing (508) the post-compression waveform in the table prior to the selecting (510).

Abstract: A system (100) and method (400) for monitoring a data channel for discontinuous transmission activity can include a monitoring unit (210), in which the monitoring unit can identify a source of modifying the discontinuous transmission activity based on receipt of an identifier packet, and an equalizer (214) coupled to the monitoring unit. When the monitoring unit determines that an identifier packet has been modified by a source over a communication channel, the equalizer can apply a compensatory equalization associated with the identified source to compensate for equalization applied at the source.

Abstract: A voice reply system (200) suitable for handling an incoming call. The voice reply system can include a reply handler (220) that, responsive to receiving the first spoken utterance from a user (250) speaking into a headset (110), audibly provides to the user a caller identifier sound token correlating to the incoming call. The voice reply system also can include a call handler (210) that, responsive to the reply handler receiving a second spoken utterance from the user, implements at least one routine that handles the incoming call. For example, the routine can automatically provide a predetermined reply to a caller (240). The reply handler also can include a voice recorder (226) that can append a voice note onto the predetermined reply to provide a combined reply to the caller.

Abstract: The invention concerns a system (100) and method (400) for operation of a voice activity detector (230). The system can include a speaker (105), a first microphone (110) and a second microphone (120) in which the first microphone and the second microphone can capture acoustic output from the speaker. The system can also include an adaptive module (220) in which the first microphone and the second microphone can provide signals to the adaptive module, and the adaptive module can provide an input to the voice activity detector. The adaptive module can receive a first input (242) from the first microphone and a second input (243) from the second microphone and can attempt to determine (430) a transformation between the first and second inputs for setting a configuration of the voice activity detector.

Abstract: Human hearing perceives loudness based on critical bands corresponding to different frequency ranges. As a sound's frequency spectrum increases beyond a critical band into a previously unexcited critical band, the perception is that the sound has increased in loudness. To take advantage of this principle, a filter is applied to a speech signal so as to expand the formant bandwidths of formants in the speech sample.

Abstract: The invention concerns a method (400) and system (100) for bandwidth extension of voice for improving the quality of voice in a communication system. The method can include the steps of receiving (412) an unknown voice signal (105), identifying (414) the voice bandwidth (625) of the received unknown voice signal and establishing (418) a region of support (636) in view of the spectral content of the received voice signal. The method can further include the step of selecting (428) a combination of mapping databases (210, 212, 214) from a plurality of mapping databases. Each mapping database can be associated with a predetermined bandwidth extension range for extending the voice bandwidth.

Abstract: An apparatus (213) and corresponding methods (FIG. 7) to facilitate maintaining crypto synchronization while processing communication signals in a communication unit includes a vocoder (215) configured to convert input audio band signals to vocoder output frames; a crypto processor (217) configured to encrypt the vocoder output frames to provide encrypted output frames; and a synchronizer (219) configured to substitute in a predetermined manner synchronization information corresponding to an encryption state of the crypto processor for a portion of the encrypted data in a portion of the encrypted output frames to provide resultant output synchronization frames suitable for synchronizing a decryption process at a target communication unit.