System with wireless earphones

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9049502-B2
Application number	US-201213609409-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2012
Priority date	Apr 7, 2008
Publication date	Jun 2, 2015
Grant date	Jun 2, 2015

Abstract

A system comprising a wireless earphone set and a client computing device, both of which are communicable with a host server via the Internet. The host server stores configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set that are transmittable to the wireless earphone set via the Internet, and that are configurable by an authenticated user of the client computing device via the host server to generate updated configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set. The updated configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set are transmitted by the host server to the wireless earphone set via the Internet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a wireless earphone set, comprising a pair of earphones configured to be worn simultaneously, wherein:
the wireless earphone set is communicable with a host server via the Internet and at least one wireless access point;
the host server stores one or more configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set that are transmittable to the wireless earphone set via the Internet and the at least one wireless access point; and
the wireless earphone set is configured to play digitally-formatted content received by the wireless earphone set from one or more content servers via the Internet and the at least one wireless access point; and

a client computing device communicable with the host server via the Internet, such that the one or more configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set are configurable by an authenticated user of the client computing device via the host server to generate one or more updated configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set, wherein the one or more updated configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set are transmitted by the host server to the wireless earphone set via the Internet and the at least one wireless access point.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters comprise one or more sound quality parameters.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more sound quality parameters comprise one or sound quality settings selected form the group consisting of: a treble setting; a bass setting; one or more frequency settings; and a noise cancellation setting.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters comprise one or more content parameters.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the one or more content parameters comprise identification for the one or more content servers.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the identification for the one or more content servers comprises an IP address for the one or more content servers.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the digitally-formatted content comprises digitally-formatted audio content.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters comprise one or more parental control parameters.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more parental control parameters comprise a restriction on content servers that broadcast explicit content.

10. A system comprising:
a wireless earphone set comprising paired wireless earphones to be worn simultaneously by a user; and
a computer for communicating audio content to the wireless earphone set,
wherein:
each earphone in the wireless earphone set comprises a memory unit for storing audio content received from the computer;
the wireless earphone set is for audibly outputting the audio content received from the computer for listening by the user;
each earphone in the wireless earphone set has a wireless transceiver for receiving and transmitting wireless communications; and
the computer is for storing and transmitting one or more user-specified configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set to the wireless earphone set for controlling playing of the audio content by the wireless earphone set.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the computer comprises a host server connected to the Internet;
the wireless earphone set is communicable with the host server via the Internet and at least one wireless access point;
the wireless earphone set is configured to play the audio content received by the wireless earphone set from one or more content servers via the Internet and the at least one wireless access point.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a client computing device communicable with the host server via the Internet, such that the one or more user-specified configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set are configurable by an authenticated user of the client computing device via the host server to generate one or more updated user-specified configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set, wherein the one or more updated user-specified configuration parameters for the wireless earphone set are transmitted by the host server to the wireless earphone set via the Internet and the at least one wireless access point.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more user-specified configuration parameters comprise one or more user-specified sound quality parameters.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters comprise one or more content parameters.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more content parameters comprise identification for the one or more content servers.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the identification for the one or more content servers comprises an IP address for the one or more content servers.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters comprise one or more parental control parameters.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more parental control parameters comprise a restriction on content servers that broadcast explicit content.

19. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters comprise one or more sound quality parameters.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the one or more sound quality parameters comprise one or sound quality settings selected form the group consisting of: a treble setting; a bass setting; one or more frequency settings; and a noise cancellation setting.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein at least one earphone in the wireless earphone set comprises a user interface that, when touched by the user, causes a change in the audio content played by the wireless earphone set.

22. The system of claim 10 , wherein the audio content comprises digitally-formatted audio content.

23. A headphone set comprising:
left and right earphones, wherein each of the left and right earphones comprises at least one acoustic transducer; and
a headband connecting the left and right earphones;
wherein at least one of the left or the right earphones comprises:
a programmable processor circuit;
a radio circuit connected to the processor circuit, wherein the radio circuit is for communicating via one or more wireless networks;
a memory unit connected to the processor circuit for storing digital audio data;
a digital-to-analog converter connected between the processor circuit and the at least one acoustic transducer; and

wherein,
in a first mode, the radio circuit receives digital audio from a digital audio player over a first wireless network, the processor circuit processes the received digital audio, and the at least one acoustic transducer outputs the received digital audio;
in a second mode, the radio circuit receives streaming digital audio from a server connected to the Internet over a second wireless network, the processor circuit processes the received streaming digital audio, and the at least one acoustic transducer outputs the received streaming digital audio.

24. The headphone set of claim 23 , wherein the first wireless network comprises a Bluetooth network.

25. The headphone set of claim 24 , wherein the second wireless network comprises a WiFi network.

26. The headphone set of claim 25 , wherein the first and second earphones comprise over-ear earphones.

27. The headphone set of claim 26 , further comprising

Assignees

• Pelland Michael J
• Koss Michael J
• Hallingstad Gregory J
• Lowery Morgan J
• Koss Corp

Inventors

• Pelland Michael J
• Koss Michael J
• Hallingstad Gregory J
• Lowery Morgan J

Classifications

• H04M1/0254

  comprising one or a plurality of mechanically detachable modules · CPC title

• H04W48/20

  Selecting an access point · CPC title

• H04R2225/55

  Communication between hearing aids and external devices via a network for data exchange · CPC title

• H04R1/1091

  Details not provided for in groups H04R1/1008 - H04R1/1083 · CPC title

• H04H20/95

  characterised by a specific format, e.g. an encoded audio stream · CPC title