Cellular phone picture

Philips Speech Processing announced Monday that its speaker-independent and speaker-dependent discrete speech recognizers have been ported to the Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group DSP1629 digital signal processor (DSP) chip which also hosts Lucent's adaptive acoustic echo and line echo cancellation, adaptive noise suppression, simultaneous voice and data modem, and voice memo recording for use in automotive hands-free applications.

By adding speech recognition to this device, users can now experience the safety and convenience of voice-activated dialing when placing a cellular phone call while walking, driving or using their hands for other activities.

Based on its extensive experience in developing speech recognition solutions for the automotive market, Philips has optimized its speech recognition engine for high accuracy under harsh driving conditions in a variety of vehicles. Philips developed U.S. English, as well as several European and Asian language versions of the speech recognition engine, and will soon make the technology available on several telematics systems.

"Speech recognition is the perfect interface for wireless phones and other small handheld devices," said Hans van der Linde, vice president and general manager, Voice Control for Philips Speech Processing. "The world is quickly realizing that the human voice is the most natural communications tool for these types of devices. In creating the information equipment of tomorrow, developers can benefit today from Philips' leadership and competency in speech technology."

"In response to customer requests, we are extremely pleased to now have the Philips speech recognizer implemented on our hands-free cellular signal processing platform," said Rob Franzo, director of automotive products for Lucent Technologies' Microelectronics Group. "The automotive telematics market will benefit greatly from high-caliber solutions such as these, which significantly enhance voice quality, clarity and safety."

Since 1986, Philips has developed numerous speech recognition applications for the automotive sector. Philips anticipates additional products to benefit from this speech recognition platform include digital spread spectrum cordless phones and Internet telephones.

The Voice Control line of business at Philips Speech Processing provides hardware and software engineering services, prototype development and manufacturing services for embedded systems in the automotive, consumer electronics and telecommunications markets.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation communications networks for service providers and enterprises. Backed by the research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such as optical and wireless networks; Internet infrastructure; communications software; communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; Web-based enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and professional network design and consulting services. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com.

Lucent's Microelectronics Group designs and manufactures integrated circuits and optoelectronic components for the computer and communications industries. Lucent Technologies Automotive Products Group brings together proven DSP products and Bell Laboratories acoustic and voice processing expertise to provide unsurpassed hands-free solutions for the growing in-cabin automotive and telematics market. Additional information about the Automotive Products Group is available from its web site at http://www.lucent.com/micro/handsfree.

Philips Speech Processing, a business unit of Royal Philips Electronics, is a pioneer and global leader in speech recognition, natural dialogue and language understanding technologies, with more than 40 years experience in the development and marketing of speech products. Philips offers a broad portfolio of speech technology solutions to the telecommunications, IT, automotive and consumer electronics industries. As a developer and provider of speech technologies in multiple languages, Philips has the largest installed base of speech recognition and natural language understanding systems in Europe, and is a large and growing provider of speech technology in North America and other regions of the world. Installations include call centre services automation, telephony applications, professional dictation solutions, voice controlled devices and Internet applications. Visit www.speech.philips.com for additional information.

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of $33.5 billion (EUR 31.5 billion) in 1999. It is a global leader in colour television sets, lighting, electric shavers, colour picture tubes for televisions and monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 226,900 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems, and IT services (Origin).