Handling of loss of pairing between networked devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11726742-B2
Application number	US-202117353254-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 21, 2021
Priority date	Feb 22, 2016
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

Systems and methods disclosed herein include (i) receiving a voice command via at least one microphone of a networked microphone device, wherein the networked microphone device is configured to receive voice commands for a media playback system, and wherein the media playback system comprises the networked microphone device and a first playback device configured to play back content, (ii) determining that the networked microphone device is not configured to play back the content, (iii) in response to determining that the networked microphone is not configured to play back the content, determining that the first playback device is available to play back the content, (iv) causing the first playback device to play back the content, (v) determining that the first playback device is no longer available to play back the content, and (vi) selecting a second playback device to play back the content.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
at least one processor;
non-transitory computer-readable medium; and
program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
determine that a first playback device has received a first voice command via at least one microphone of the first playback device, wherein the first playback device is configured to receive voice commands for a media playback system, and wherein the media playback system comprises the first playback device and a second playback device;
determine that the first playback device is not configured to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device and that the second playback device is available to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device;
cause the second playback device to provide a first feedback in response to the first voice command;
determine that the first playback device has received a second voice command via the at least one microphone of the first playback device;
determine that the second playback device is no longer available to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device; and
in response to determining that the second playback device is no longer available to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device, select a fallback device based on the fallback device being currently or previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device; and
cause the fallback device to provide a second feedback in response to the second voice command.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first playback device is currently or was previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device, and wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to select the fallback device based on the fallback device being currently or previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to select the first playback device as the fallback device.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to cause the fallback device to provide the second feedback in response to the second voice command comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to reconfigure the first playback device to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media playback system further comprises a third playback device that is currently or was previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device, and wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to select the fallback device based on the fallback device being currently or previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to select the third playback device as the fallback device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the media content comprises multi-channel audio content, wherein the second playback device is currently or was previously configured to play back a first channel of the multi-channel audio content, and wherein the fallback device is currently or was previously configured to play back a second channel of the multi-channel audio content.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first playback device, the second playback device, and the fallback device are grouped for playing back the media content in synchrony.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to determine that the second playback device is no longer available to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to determine that the second playback device is one of (i) muted, (ii) in a do not interrupt state, (iii) in a power save mode, or (iv) unreachable via a network configured to support communications between the media playback system and the second playback device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to select the fallback device based on the fallback device being currently or previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that a remote computing device is configured to select the fallback device based on the fallback device being currently or previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device.

9. A method comprising:
determining that a first playback device has received a first voice command via at least one microphone of the first playback device, wherein the first playback device is configured to receive voice commands for a media playback system, and wherein the media playback system comprises the first playback device and a second playback device;
determining that the first playback device is not configured to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device and that the second playback device is available to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device;
causing the second playback device to provide a first feedback in response to the first voice command;
determining that the first playback device has received a second voice command via the at least one microphone of the first playback device;
determining that the second playback device is no longer available to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device; and
in response to determining that the second playback device is no longer available to provide feedback in response to voice commands received via the at least one microphone of the first playback device, selecting a fallback device based on the fallback device being currently or previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device; and
causing the fallback device to provide a second feedback in response to the second voice command.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first playback device is currently or was previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device, and wherein selecting the fallback device based on the fallback device being currently or previously configured to play back media content in synchrony with the second playback device comprises selecting the first playback device as the fallback device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein causing the fallback device to

Assignees

• Sonos Inc

Inventors

• Plagge Mark
• Jarvis Simon
• Butts Christopher

Classifications

• G06F3/167 Primary

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G10L15/30

  Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications · CPC title

• H04L12/2803

  Home automation networks · CPC title

• H04L12/40052

  High-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus (bus transfer protocol on a daisy chain bus using an embedded synchronisation G06F13/426) · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title