Techniques for acoustic management of entertainment devices and systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10631065-B2
Application number	US-201715722364-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2017
Priority date	Aug 27, 2010
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

Techniques for acoustic management of entertainment devices and systems are described. Various embodiments may include techniques for acoustically determining a location of a remote control or other entertainment device. Some embodiments may include techniques for controlling one or more entertainment components using voice commands or other acoustic information. Other embodiments may include techniques for establishing a voice connection using a remote control device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
an enclosure;
a plurality of microphones comprising a first microphone arranged on a first side of the enclosure and a second microphone arranged on a second side of the enclosure substantially opposite the first side;
a processor circuit coupled to the plurality of microphones;
memory coupled to the processor circuit, the memory comprising instructions that when executed by the processor circuit, cause the processor circuit to:
receive acoustic information from at least two of the plurality of microphones, the acoustic information comprising a first acoustic input from the first microphone and a second acoustic input from the second microphone, the first acoustic input comprising a voice command signal and the second acoustic input comprises an ambient noise signal; and
subtract the ambient noise signal from the voice command signal to generate an isolated voice command signal; and

a wireless transceiver coupled to the processor circuit, the wireless transceiver operative to transmit the isolated voice command signal to an entertainment device, the entertainment device operative to adjust one or more entertainment parameters of an entertainment system based on the isolated voice command signal and a known programming signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the first microphone comprising a directional microphone and the second microphone comprises an omnidirectional microphone.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising:
one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the processor circuit, the memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor circuit cause the processor circuit to automatically receive the acoustic information based on information received from one or more the sensors.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , the memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor circuit cause the processor circuit to automatically receive the acoustic information based on a sensed direction of an axis of sensitivity for the plurality of microphones or based on an arrangement, position or location of the apparatus.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 , the sensors comprising one or more of an accelerometer, proximity sensor, tilt sensor, optical sensor, pressure sensor, thermal sensor or camera.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising:
one or more input devices communicatively coupled to the processor circuit, the memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor circuit cause the processor circuit to receive the acoustic information based on a signal generated in response to an activated input device.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , the one or more input devices comprising one or more of a touch sensitive surface or one or more buttons, switches, levers or toggles.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , the acoustic information comprising a content acoustic signal and the memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor circuit cause the processor circuit to compare the content acoustic signal to a volume threshold.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , the memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor circuit cause the processor circuit to automatically send a volume increase request to the entertainment device if the content acoustic signal is less than the volume threshold or automatically send a volume decrease request to the entertainment device if the content acoustic signal is greater than the volume threshold.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , the volume threshold established based on a previously selected volume level.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , the acoustic information comprising a third acoustic signal comprising a content acoustic signal, the memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor circuit cause the processor circuit to:
subtract the ambient noise signal from the content acoustic signal to generate an adjusted content acoustic signal;
determine whether the adjusted content acoustic signal is greater than a volume threshold; and
send a volume change request to the entertainment device based on a determination that the adjusted content acoustic signal is greater than the volume threshold.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , the memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor circuit cause the processor circuit to automatically send a volume increase request if the content acoustic signal has a lower magnitude than the ambient noise signal or automatically send a volume decrease request to the entertainment device if the content acoustic signal has a greater magnitude than the ambient noise signal.

13. A method, comprising:
receiving acoustic information from at least two of a plurality of microphones, the acoustic information comprising a first acoustic input from a first microphone of the plurality of microphones and a second acoustic input from a second microphone of the plurality of microphones, the first acoustic input comprising a voice command signal and the second acoustic input comprises an ambient noise signal;
subtracting the ambient noise signal from the voice command signal to generate an isolated voice command signal; and
transmitting the isolated voice command signal to an entertainment device over a wireless channel, the entertainment device to adjust one or more entertainment parameters of an entertainment system based on a known programming signal and the isolated voice command signal.

14. The method of claim 13 , the first microphone comprising a directional microphone and the second microphone comprising an omnidirectional microphone.

15. The method of claim 13 , comprising receiving the acoustic information based on a signal generated in response to an activation signal received from one or more input devices.

16. The method of claim 15 , comprising:
comparing a content acoustic signal in the acoustic information to a volume threshold; and
automatically sending a volume increase request to the entertainment device if the content acoustic signal is less than the volume threshold; or
automatically sending a volume decrease request to the entertainment device if the content acoustic signal is greater than the volume threshold.

17. The method of claim 13 , the acoustic information comprising a third acoustic signal comprising a content acoustic signal, the method comprising:
subtracting the ambient noise signal from the content acoustic signal to generate an adjusted content acoustic signal;
determining whether the adjusted content acoustic signal is greater than a volume threshold; and
sending a volume change request to the entertainment device based on a determination that the adjusted content acoustic signal is greater than the volume threshold.

18. The method of claim 17 , comprising:
establishing the volume threshold based on a previously selected volume level; and
automatically sending a volume increase request if the content acoustic signal has a lower magnitude than the ambient noise signal; or
automatically sending a volume decrease request to the entertainment device if the content acoustic signal has a greater magnitude than the ambient noise signal.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed by a processor enable a system to:
receive acoustic information from at least two of a plurality of microphones, the acoustic information comprising a first acoustic input from a first microphone of the plurality of microphones and a second acoustic input from a second micropho

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Ferren Bran
• Booth Cory J
• Andersen David B

Classifications

• G06Q30/0201

  Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data · CPC title

• H04N21/4147

  PVR [Personal Video Recorder] (H04N5/76 takes precedence {; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40}) · CPC title

• G08C2201/40

  Remote control systems using repeaters, converters, gateways · CPC title

• H04N21/4532

  involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18) · CPC title

• H04N21/4882

  for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders (arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895) · CPC title