Headphone operation during headphone insertion detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11463798-B2
Application number	US-202117221125-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2021
Priority date	Apr 27, 2018
Publication date	Oct 4, 2022
Grant date	Oct 4, 2022

Abstract

A method of operating a headphone configured to be removed from and placed in close proximity to a user's ear can include generating an input signal by an input signal generating device. The method can also include determining whether an insertion event has occurred based on the generated input signal and causing the headphone to operate in 5 a low power mode responsive to an absence of an insertion event determination after a first period of time. The method can also include causing the headphone to operate in an ultra-low power mode responsive to the absence of an insertion event determination after a second period of time that occurs after the first period of time, the ultra-low power mode having a lower power consumption than the low power mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An earbud having an earbud insertion detection system for detecting insertion of the earbud into a user's ear canal, the earbud comprising:
a microphone configured to convert an ambient sound wave to a first electrical audio signal;
a first filter configured to receive the first electrical audio signal from the microphone and produce a first modified audio signal based on first filter parameters;
a casing configured to support a transducer configured to convert a sensed pressure to a second electrical audio signal, the casing being further configured to maintain a position in the user's ear canal to maintain a position of the transducer within the user's ear;
a second filter configured to receive the second electrical audio signal from the transducer and produce a second modified audio signal based on second filter parameters; and
a control circuit configured to determine whether either or both of the first and second modified audio signals exceeds a respectively corresponding signal level threshold.

2. The earbud of claim 1 wherein each of the first and second filters is a bandpass filter or a low frequency filter.

3. The earbud of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is further configured to generate an insertion detection signal responsive to a determination that either or both of the first and second modified audio signals exceeds the respectively corresponding signal level threshold.

4. The earbud of claim 3 further comprising a speaker configured to, responsive to the generated insertion detection signal, resume playing an audio output that had been paused responsive to a removal of the earbud from the user's ear.

5. The earbud of claim 1 further comprising an amplifier coupled with the transducer and configured to be powered down responsive to neither of the first and second modified audio signals exceeding the respectively corresponding signal level threshold after a first period of time.

6. The earbud of claim 5 wherein the microphone is further configured to be powered down responsive to neither of the first and second modified audio signals exceeding the respectively corresponding signal level threshold after a second period of time that occurs after the first period of time.

7. An earbud having a system for detecting insertion of the earbud into a user's ear canal, comprising:
a casing having a speaker driver configured to generate an input signal based on a sensed pressure, the casing being configured to maintain a position in the user's ear canal to maintain a position of the speaker driver within the user's ear canal; and
a control component configured to determine whether the input signal exceeds a signal level threshold and create an insertion detection signal responsive to a determination that the input signal exceeds the signal level threshold.

8. The earbud of claim 7 wherein the control component includes a conditioning filter mechanism configured to filter the input signal before determining whether the input signal exceeds the signal level threshold.

9. The earbud of claim 7 wherein the control component includes a comparator configured to compare the input signal to the signal level threshold.

10. The earbud of claim 7 further comprising a power amplifier coupled with and configured to provide power to the speaker driver and be powered down after a removal of the earbud from the user's ear.

Assignees

• Avnera Corp

Inventors

• Wurtz Michael Jon
• Kumar Amit
• An Jiajin

Classifications

• H03G7/002

  in untuned or low-frequency amplifiers, e.g. audio amplifiers (H03G7/007, H03G7/001, H03G7/008, H03G7/02, H03G7/06 take precedence) · CPC title

• G10K11/17817

  between the output signals and the error signals, i.e. secondary path · CPC title

• H04R1/1041 Primary

  Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements (switches in general H01H) · CPC title

• G10K2210/1081

  Earphones, e.g. for telephones, ear protectors or headsets · CPC title

• H03F3/181

  Low-frequency amplifiers, e.g. audio preamplifiers · CPC title