Voice command integration for local network connected devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11611796-B2
Application number	US-202117556695-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2021
Priority date	Aug 12, 2021
Publication date	Mar 21, 2023
Grant date	Mar 21, 2023

Abstract

Various arrangements for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network are provided. A primary television receiver executing a first operating system can receive audio data including human voice from a voice enabled remote control. The primary television receiver can transmit the audio data to a secondary television receiver executing a second operating system and that includes a voice command component. The secondary television receiver can convert the audio data into voice command data and transmit the voice command data to the primary television receiver. The primary television receiver can transmit the voice command data to a voice processing server via the Internet and receive, in response, a command generated based on the voice command data. The primary television receiver can transmit the command to the secondary television receiver. The voice command component can then control an operation of the secondary television receiver based on the command.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network, comprising:
receiving, at a primary television receiver, audio data from a voice enabled remote control, wherein:
the audio data comprises human voice; and
the primary television receiver executes a first operating system;

transmitting the audio data, from the primary television receiver to a secondary television receiver, wherein:
the secondary television receiver executes a second operating system that is different from the first operating system; and
the second operating system comprises a voice command component that is executed locally;

converting, by the voice command component of the second operating system, the audio data into voice command data;
after converting the audio data into the voice command data by the voice command component of the second operating system, transmitting, by the secondary television receiver, the voice command data to the primary television receiver;
in response to receiving the voice command data, transmitting, by the primary television receiver, the voice command data to a voice processing server via the Internet, wherein:
the secondary television receiver is connected to the Internet via only the primary television receiver;

receiving, at the primary television receiver from the voice processing server, a command, wherein the command is generated based on the voice command data;
transmitting, by the primary television receiver to the secondary television receiver, the command; and
controlling, by the voice command component, an operation of the secondary television receiver based on the command.

2. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the voice enabled remote control, a voice command initiation request;
capturing, by the voice enabled remote control, the audio data; and
transmitting the audio data from the voice enabled remote control to the primary television receiver.

3. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 2 , further comprising:
transmitting, from the voice enabled remote control to the secondary television receiver via the primary television receiver, the voice command initiation request; and
initiating, by the voice command component, an audio data listener.

4. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 1 , wherein:
the primary television receiver includes a television frequency tuner configured to tune to one of a plurality of frequencies corresponding to a plurality of television channels; and
controlling the operation of the secondary television receiver based on the command comprises:
generating a tuning request based on the command, the tuning request including a request for the television frequency tuner to tune to a television channel;
transmitting the tuning request from the secondary television receiver to the primary television receiver;
tuning the television frequency tuner to a frequency associated with the television channel; and
transmitting a video stream from the primary television receiver to the secondary television receiver, the video stream being received by the television frequency tuner at the frequency associated with the television channel.

5. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 4 , wherein:
the primary television receiver is communicatively coupled with a satellite antenna configured to receive the plurality of frequencies; and
the primary television receiver receives the video stream from the satellite antenna via a satellite link.

6. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 1 , wherein the primary television receiver is connected to the secondary television receiver within a local area network separate from the Internet.

7. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 1 , wherein the primary television receiver and the secondary television receiver are communicatively coupled using a universal serial bus.

8. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 1 , wherein the primary television receiver and the secondary television receiver are communicatively coupled using a coaxial cable.

9. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 1 , wherein the primary television receiver and the secondary television receiver are communicatively coupled using a wireless network.

10. The method for facilitating smart television content receivers in a local network of claim 1 , wherein the audio data is received by the secondary television receiver in a first format and the method further comprises:
converting the audio data in the first format to a second format; and
transmitting the audio data in the second format to the voice command component.

11. A smart television system comprising:
a primary television receiver operating using a first operating system, wherein the primary television receiver is configured to:
receive audio data including a recording of a human voice;
receive voice command data;
transmit the voice command data to a voice processing server over a wide area network connection; and
receive a command input from the voice processing server, wherein the command input is generated based on the voice command data;

a secondary television receiver operating using a second operating system different from the first operating system, the second operating system comprising a voice command module, wherein the secondary television receiver is configured to:
receive the audio data from the primary television receiver over a local area network connection separate from the wide area network connection;
convert, by the voice command module, the audio data into voice command data;
transmit, by the voice command module, the voice command data to the primary television receiver;
receive, by the voice command module, the command input from the primary television receiver; and
control, by the voice command module, an operation of the secondary television receiver based on the command input.

12. The smart television system of claim 11 , further comprising a voice enabled remote control configured to:
capture the audio data in response to receiving a voice command initiation request; and
transmit the audio data to the primary television receiver.

13. The smart television system of claim 11 , further comprising a satellite antenna communicatively coupled to the primary television receiver, wherein:
the satellite antenna is configured to provide a plurality of television channel frequencies to a television frequency tuner of the primary television receiver;
the secondary television receiver is further configured to:
generate a tuning request based on the command input, the tuning request including a request for the television frequency tuner to tune to a television channel; and
transmit the tuning request to the primary television receiver; and

the primary television receiver is further configured to:
tune, in response to receiving the tuning request from the secondary television receiver, the television frequency tuner to a television channel frequency of the plurality of television channel frequencies associated with the television channel; and
transmit a video stream to the secondary television receiver, the video stream being received by the television frequency tuner from the satellite antenna at the

Assignees

• Dish Network Llc

Inventors

• Tiwari Anand
• Innes David

Classifications

• H04N21/818

  OS software · CPC title

• H04N21/6143

  involving transmission via a satellite · CPC title

• H04N21/6125

  involving transmission via Internet (transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82) · CPC title

• H04N21/6118

  involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem · CPC title

• H04N21/6106

  specially adapted to the downstream path of the transmission network · CPC title