Earbud operation during earbud insertion detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11611822-B2
Application number	US-202217806295-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 10, 2022
Priority date	Apr 27, 2018
Publication date	Mar 21, 2023
Grant date	Mar 21, 2023

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. A method for operating an earbud configured to be removed from and inserted into a user's ear canal, the method comprising:
generating an input signal by each of a plurality of input signal generating devices of the earbud;
determining whether an earbud insertion event has occurred based on each generated input signal;
causing the earbud to operate in a low power mode responsive to an absence of an earbud insertion event determination after a first period of time; and
causing the earbud to operate in an ultra-low power mode responsive to the absence of an earbud 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.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising causing the earbud to operate in a regular power mode responsive to a determination that an insertion event has occurred.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein causing the earbud to operate in a low power mode includes reducing operating power to a power amplifier coupled with a first one of the plurality of input signal generating devices.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the first one of the plurality of input signal generating devices is a transducer.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising triggering the second period of time once an impedance of the power amplifier exceeds an impedance of the transducer.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising the transducer converting a sensed pressure into the input signal generated by the transducer.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein causing the earbud to operate in an ultra-low power mode includes reducing operating power to a second one of the plurality of input signal generating devices.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the second one of the plurality of input signal generating devices is a microphone.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the microphone converting an ambient sound wave into the input signal generated by the microphone.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising filtering each input signal.

11. An earbud including an earbud insertion detection system configured to:
generate an input signal by each of a plurality of input signal generating devices of the earbud;
determine whether an earbud insertion event has occurred based on each generated input signal;
cause the earbud to operate in a low power mode responsive to an absence of an earbud insertion event determination after a first period of time; and
cause the earbud to operate in an ultra-low power mode responsive to the absence of an earbud 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.

12. The earbud of claim 11 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is further configured to cause the earbud to operate in a regular power mode responsive to a determination that an insertion event has occurred.

13. The earbud of claim 11 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is configured to cause the earbud to operate in a low power mode by reducing operating power to a power amplifier coupled with a first one of the plurality of input signal generating devices.

14. The earbud of claim 13 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is configured to cause the earbud to operate in the low power mode by reducing operating power to a power amplifier coupled with a transducer.

15. The earbud of claim 14 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is further configured to trigger the second period of time once an impedance of the power amplifier exceeds an impedance of the transducer.

16. The earbud of claim 14 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is further configured to cause the transducer to convert a sensed pressure into the input signal generated by the transducer.

17. The earbud of claim 13 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is further configured to cause the earbud to operate in the low power mode by reducing operating power to a second one of the plurality of input signal generating devices.

18. The earbud of claim 17 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is further configured to cause the earbud to operate in the low power mode by reducing operating power to a microphone.

19. The earbud of claim 18 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is further configured to cause the microphone to convert an ambient sound wave into the input signal generated by the microphone.

20. The earbud of claim 11 wherein the earbud insertion detection system is further configured to filter each input signal.

Assignees

• Avnera Corp

Inventors

• Wurtz Michael Jon
• Kumar Amit
• An Jiajin

Classifications

• G10K11/17885

  additionally using a desired external signal, e.g. pass-through audio such as music or speech · CPC title

• G10K2210/1081

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

• H03G3/348

  Muting in response to a mechanical action or to power supply variations, e.g. during tuning; Click removal circuits · CPC title

• H04R29/001

  for loudspeakers (H04R29/007 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04R2460/01

  Hearing devices using active noise cancellation · CPC title