Patent US 6,230,138

Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for controlling a speech recognition system on board an automobile. The automobile has one or more voice activated accessories and a passenger cabin with a number of seating locations. The speech recognition system has a plurality of microphones and push-to-talk controls corresponding to the seating locations for inputting speech commands and location identifying signals, respectively. The speech recognition system also includes multiple speech engines recognizing speech commands for operating the voice activated accessories. A selector is coupled to the speech engines and push-to-talk controls for selecting the speech engine best suited for the current speaking location. A speech processor coupled to the speech engine selector is used to recognize the speech commands and transmit the commands to the voice activated accessory.