Audio routing determination for speaker devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12032871-B2
Application number	US-202117176778-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 16, 2021
Priority date	Feb 16, 2021
Publication date	Jul 9, 2024
Grant date	Jul 9, 2024

Abstract

When a speaker device is within communication range of an electronic device, various rules are used to determine whether to connect to or route audio data to the speaker device. For example, the electronic device may prompt the user to choose whether to connect to a wireless speaker device. In situations in which the user rejects connecting to the wireless speaker device, subsequent attempts by the speaker device to connect to the electronic device are also rejected or ignored without further prompting the user, or the wireless speaker device may be connected to the electronic device but audio data not routed to the wireless speaker device. By way of another example, the electronic device may determine whether to route audio data to a wireless speaker device based on signal strength and link quality metrics for wireless communication between the electronic device and one or more wireless speaker devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at an electronic device, a wireless connection request to connect a speaker device to an electronic device, the speaker device having been paired with the electronic device;
determining whether audio playback at the electronic device is currently active;
determining whether a record of a previous connection request to connect the speaker device to the electronic device indicates that the previous connection request was accepted, rejected, or ignored;
presenting, in response to the wireless connection request and determining that audio playback at the electronic device is currently active, a connection prompt based on the record of the previous connection request;
accepting, in response to a user input indicating acceptance to the connection prompt, the wireless connection request; and
routing, in response to accepting the wireless connection request, audio data for the audio playback wirelessly to the speaker device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the wireless connection request comprises a Bluetooth connection request.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the presenting the connection prompt includes:
displaying a visible connection prompt on a display of the electronic device; and
presenting haptic feedback at the electronic device indicating the visible connection prompt is displayed on the electronic device.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising ignoring, in response to a user input to the connection prompt indicating to ignore the wireless connection request, the wireless connection request by not responding to the wireless connection request.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 , further comprising continuing to route, in response to the user input to the connection prompt indicating to ignore the wireless connection request, the audio data for the audio playback to a speaker device internal to the electronic device.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
marking, in response to a user input to the connection prompt indicating to reject the wireless connection request, the speaker device as rejected; and
ignoring the wireless connection request by not responding to the wireless connection request.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising:
determining that audio playback at the electronic device is no longer currently active; and
clearing, in response to audio playback at the electronic device no longer being currently active, the marking of the speaker device as rejected.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a subsequent wireless connection request from the speaker device;
checking whether the speaker device has been previously marked as rejected; and
presenting the connection prompt only if the speaker device has not been previously marked as rejected.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 , further comprising ignoring, in response to the speaker device having been previously marked as rejected, the wireless connection request by not responding to the wireless connection request.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising automatically accepting, in response to determining that audio playback at the electronic device is not currently active, the wireless connection request.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting the connection prompt based on determining whether a threshold amount of time has elapsed since receiving a previous connection request to connect the speaker device to the electronic device.

12. An electronic device comprising:
a processor implemented in hardware; and
a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon multiple instructions that, responsive to execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts including:
receiving a wireless connection request to connect a speaker device to the electronic device;
determining whether audio playback at the electronic device is currently active;
determining whether a record of a previous connection request to connect the speaker device to the electronic device indicates that the previous connection request was accepted, rejected, or ignored;
presenting, in response to the wireless connection request and determining that audio playback at the electronic device is currently active, a connection prompt based on the record of the previous connection request indicating that the previous connection request was accepted;
accepting, in response to a user input indicating acceptance to the connection prompt, the wireless connection request; and
routing, in response to accepting the wireless connection request, audio data for the audio playback wirelessly to the speaker device.

13. The electronic device as recited in claim 12 , the acts further including:
marking, in response to a user input to the connection prompt indicating to reject the wireless connection request, the speaker device as rejected; and
ignoring the wireless connection request by not responding to the wireless connection request.

14. The electronic device as recited in claim 13 , the acts further including:
determining that audio playback at the electronic device is no longer currently active; and
clearing, in response to audio playback at the electronic device no longer being currently active, the marking of the speaker device as rejected.

15. The electronic device as recited in claim 12 , wherein the wireless connection request comprises a Bluetooth connection request.

16. The electronic device as recited in claim 12 , wherein the presenting the connection prompt includes:
displaying a visible connection prompt on a display of the electronic device; and
presenting haptic feedback at the electronic device indicating the visible connection prompt is displayed on the electronic device.

17. The electronic device as recited in claim 12 , the acts further including:
ignoring, in response to a user input to the connection prompt indicating to ignore the wireless connection request, the wireless connection request by not responding to the wireless connection request; and
continuing to route, in response to the user input to the connection prompt indicating to ignore the wireless connection request, the audio data for the audio playback to a speaker device internal to the electronic device.

18. An electronic device comprising:
an audio routing determination system, implemented at least in part in hardware, to:
receive a wireless connection request to connect a speaker device to the electronic device;
determine whether audio playback at the electronic device is currently active;
determine whether a record of a previous connection request to connect the speaker device to the electronic device indicates that the previous connection request was accepted, rejected, or ignored;
present, in response to the wireless connection request and determining that the audio playback at the electronic device is currently active, a connection prompt based on the record of the previous connection request; and
accept, in response to a user input indicating acceptance to the connection prompt, the wireless connection request; and

a communication system, implemented at least in part in hardware, to route, in response to accepting the wireless connection request, audio data for the audio playback wirelessly to the speaker device.

19. The electronic device as recited in claim 18 , wherein the communication system is further to receive a subsequent wireless connection request from

Assignees

• Motorola Mobility Llc

Inventors

• Kovalenko Igor
• Km Vishwanath

Classifications

• H04R3/12

  for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers {(specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407)} · CPC title

• H04R2420/07

  Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones · CPC title

• H04R2420/01

  Input selection or mixing for amplifiers or loudspeakers · CPC title

• G06F3/165 Primary

  Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path · CPC title