Locating wireless devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10771898-B2
Application number	US-201715721666-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2017
Priority date	Jan 9, 2017
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

Abstract

Systems, methods, devices and non-transitory, computer-readable storage mediums are disclosed for location-tracking wireless devices. In an embodiment, a method performed by an electronic device comprises: playing, or initiating the playing of, a sound through a loudspeaker of an accessory device via a communication link. The sound is played at a specified frequency that utilizes a frequency response of the loudspeaker (or loudspeaker plus speaker enclosure). The sound is received through two or more microphones of the electronic device and filtered by one or more filters. The one or more filters are configured to pass the sound at or around the specified frequency and to reduce masking of the sound by ambient noise. The filtered sound is associated with direction data generated from sensor data provided by one or more inertial sensors of the electronic device. In another embodiment, the specified frequency is higher than the maximum human hearing range.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by an electronic device, comprising:
playing, or initiating the playing of, a sound through a loudspeaker of an accessory device located in an environment, wherein the accessory device is communicatively coupled to the electronic device through a communication link, wherein the sound is played at a specified frequency or frequencies that utilizes a resonant frequency response of the loudspeaker of the accessory device, and wherein the sound is played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device at increasing levels of loudness until a maximum loudness is reached;
receiving, by two or more microphones of the electronic device, a recording of the environment, the recording including the sound played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device and ambient noise;
filtering, by one or more filters of the electronic device, the recording, the one or more filters configured to pass the sound played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device and to reduce masking of the sound by the ambient noise;
determining, by the electronic device, a pressure level of the passed sound; and
associating, by the electronic device, the pressure level of the passed sound with an orientation of the electronic device in a reference coordinate system, the orientation of the electronic device determined from sensor data provided by one or more inertial sensors of the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the orientation is a compass heading calculated from sensor data provided by the one or more inertial sensors.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
calculating a normalized sound pressure level value from the passed sound;
causing a graphical user interface to be displayed on the electronic device that includes a graphical element that associates the normalized sound pressure level with the orientation of the electronic device in a reference coordinate system.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the graphical element further comprises:
a rotatable portion including at least one direction indicator, the rotatable portion operable to rotate when the electronic device is rotated, such that the orientation of the electronic device is indicated by the at least one direction indicator; and
one or more bars indicating normalized sound pressure levels protruding radially from the perimeter of the rotatable graphical element.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maximum loudness is defined by government regulations.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound is played at a frequency that is higher than the maximum human hearing range.

7. The method of claim 1 , where the accessory device is an earbud, headphone or headset, and the method further comprises:
obtaining, by the electronic device from the accessory device, an in-ear detector (IED) status indicating that the accessory device is located in, or is proximate to, a human ear.

8. The method of claim 1 , where the accessory device is an earbud, headphone or headset, and the method further comprises:
prior to playing the sound through the loudspeaker of the accessory device, playing a prerecorded audio message through the loudspeaker of the accessory device, the prerecorded audio message warning that sound is about to be played through the loudspeaker.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound is streamed by the electronic device to the accessory device over the communication link.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sound played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device is generated by the accessory device using a sound file stored on the accessory device in response to a signal or command provided by the electronic device over the communication link.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
commanding or signaling, by the electronic device, the accessory device to open one or more accessory microphones; and
obtaining, from the accessory device and through the communication link, data representing ambient sound captured by the one or more accessory microphones at location of the accessory device in the environment, where the ambient sound is obtained by the electronic device at a different time than the recording is received by the electronic device.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the accessory device is an earbud, headphone or headset, and the loudspeaker is a left or right loudspeaker, and the method further comprises:
receiving, through a graphical user interface displayed by the electronic device, input selecting the left or right loudspeaker; and
responsive to the input, muting the selected loudspeaker.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
establishing, by the electronic device, communication with a server computer;
receiving, by the electronic device from the server computer, a sound file for the sound to be played on the accessory device.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein filtering the recording comprises applying a band-pass filter centered at a resonant frequency or frequencies of the loudspeaker.

15. A system comprising:
two or more microphones;
one or more processors;
memory operable to store instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
playing, or initiating the playing of, a sound through a loudspeaker of an accessory device located in an environment, wherein the sound is played at a specified frequency or frequencies that utilize a resonant frequency response of the loudspeaker, wherein the sound is played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device at increasing levels of loudness until a maximum loudness is reached;
receiving, by the two or more microphones, a recording of the environment, the recording including the sound played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device and ambient noise;
filtering, by one or more filters, the recording, the one or more filters configured to pass the sound played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device and to reduce masking of the sound by the ambient noise; and
associating a pressure level of the passed sound with an orientation of an electronic device in a reference coordinate system, the orientation of the electronic device determined from sensor data provided by one or more inertial sensors of the electronic device.

16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:
calculating a normalized sound pressure level value from the passed sound;
causing a graphical user interface to be displayed on the electronic device that includes a graphical element that associates the normalized sound pressure level with the orientation of the electronic device in a reference coordinate system.

17. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
playing, or initiating the playing of, a sound through a loudspeaker of an accessory device located in an environment, wherein the accessory device is communicatively coupled to the electronic device through a communication link, wherein the sound is played at a specified frequency or frequencies that utilize a resonant frequency response of the loudspeaker of the accessory device, and wherein the sound is played through the loudspeaker of the accessory device at increasing levels of loudness until a maximum loudness is reached;
receiving, by two or more microphones of the electronic device, a recording of the environment, the recording including the

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Dusan Sorin V
• Pai Raghunandan K
• Lopatin Scott
• Rochette Tommy
• Suparna Navin Bindiganavile
• Lalande Emmanuel
• Movva Siva Ganesh
• Watson Robert
• Grinker Scott

Classifications

• G08B3/1016 Primary

  using wireless transmission (calling systems using transmission by inductive loop H04B5/00) · CPC title

• H04M1/6008

  in the transmitter circuit · CPC title

• H04R1/1091

  Details not provided for in groups H04R1/1008 - H04R1/1083 · CPC title

• H04R2499/11

  Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's · CPC title

• G08B25/08

  using communication transmission lines {(G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence)} · CPC title