Patents Examined by David Ton
  • Patent number: 10257629
    Abstract: A method for security and/or automation systems is described. In one embodiment, the method includes detecting a sound using a microphone, generating an audio signature of the detected sound, comparing the audio signature of the detected sound to an audio signature of a characterized sound, and determining whether a recognizable event occurs based on the comparison. In some embodiments, the microphone is attached to a pipe at the premises.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: Vivint, Inc.
    Inventors: Shiwei Liu, Aaron Davis, Justin Peel, Rongbin Lanny Lin, Brandon Bunker
  • Patent number: 10237639
    Abstract: A system and method for performing microphone gating operations, is disclosed. The system and method include a transmitter configured to emit a transmit signal towards an object and a receiver configured to receive a reflected signal from the object, the reflected signal corresponding to the transmit signal. The system and method also include a controller configured to instruct the transmitter to emit the transmit signal and receive the reflected signal from the receiver. The controller is further configured to detect motion of the object based upon the reflected signal and turn a microphone on or off based upon the motion of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: Sound Devices, LLC
    Inventors: Jason McIntosh, Matt Anderson, Steve Popovich
  • Patent number: 10236015
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an encoding device and method, and a decoding device and method, and a program which enable music signals to be played with higher sound quality by expanding a frequency band. A band pass filter divides an input signal into multiple subband signals, a feature amount calculating circuit calculates feature amount using at least any one of the divided multiple subband signals and the input signal, a high-frequency subband power estimating circuit calculates an estimated value of high-frequency subband power based on the calculated feature amount, and a high-frequency signal generating circuit generates a high-frequency signal component based on the multiple subband signals divided by the band pass filter and the estimated value of the high-frequency subband power calculated by the high-frequency subband power estimating circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yuki Yamamoto, Toru Chinen
  • Patent number: 10231054
    Abstract: Headphones include a left loudspeaker element; a right loudspeaker element; and a holder for holding the left loudspeaker element and the right loudspeaker element, such that the loudspeaker elements can be attached to the ears, wherein the left loudspeaker element or the right loudspeaker element includes: a first sound converter; a second sound converter, wherein the first sound converter is implemented such that the first sound converter provides directed emission in the direction of an ear in the operating position of the headphones, and the second sound converter is implemented such that the second sound converter provides no or less directed emission than the first sound converter in the direction of the ear in the operating position of the headphones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Kaetel Systems GmbH
    Inventor: Klaus Kaetel
  • Patent number: 10231051
    Abstract: Embodiments are directed to a computer-implemented method and computer system for using a smartphone. A non-limiting example of this method includes receiving an audio input on the smart phone. The audio input is converted to a first digital signal. The first digital signal is transmitted along with location information of the smartphone. The first digital signal is configured to be used as a microphone input for a public address system. The location information is configured to be used to position an automated spotlight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shang Q. Guo, Jonathan Lenchner, Maharaj Mukherjee
  • Patent number: 10231040
    Abstract: A speaker is provided. The speaker includes a supporting shell, at least one first speaker monomer and a waxy material. The supporting shell includes at least one first sound port. The first speaker monomer is installed at the first sound port. The outer surface of the supporting shell is covered by the waxy material. Wherein an average thickness of the waxy material is more than or equal to an average thickness of the supporting shell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Inventor: Hsiu-Ping Lin
  • Patent number: 10225654
    Abstract: A spectral tilt of an audio signal is used to determine whether a speaker will introduce perceptible distortion during playback of the audio signal. The spectral tilt may be indicated by determining a ratio between energy in a distortion-producing frequency band and energy in a distortion-masking frequency band. Based on the determined spectral tilt, the distortion-producing frequency band may be attenuated to reduce the distortion introduced by the speaker. Additionally, the distortion-masking frequency band may be amplified to reduce perceptibility of the distortion produced by the speaker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric Lindemann, Ziad Hatab
  • Patent number: 10225675
    Abstract: Provided are an encoding method of a multichannel signal, an encoding apparatus to perform the encoding method, a multichannel signal processing method, and a decoding apparatus to perform the decoding method. The decoding method may include identifying an N/2-channel downmix signal derived from an N-channel input signal; and generating an N-channel output signal from the identified N/2-channel downmix signal using a plurality of one-to-two (OTT) boxes. If a low frequency effect (LFE) channel is absent in the output signal, the number of OTT boxes may be equal to N/2 where N/2 denotes the number of channels of the downmix signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventors: Seung Kwon Beack, Jeong Il Seo, Jong Mo Sung, Tae Jin Lee, Dae Young Jang, Jin Soo Choi
  • Patent number: 10206035
    Abstract: Placement of microphones and design of filters in a microphone network are solved simultaneously. Using filterbanks with multiple sub-channels for each microphone, the design of the filter response is solved simultaneously with placement. By using an objective function that penalizes the number of sub-channels in any solution, only some of many possible sub-channels and corresponding microphones and filters are selected while also solving for the filter responses for the selected sub-channels. For a given target location, the location of the microphones and the filter responses to beamform are optimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: University of Maryland
    Inventors: Yenming Mark Lai, Radu Victor Balan
  • Patent number: 10194260
    Abstract: A sound volume control device is loaded on a vehicle and connected to a pair of speakers arranged left and right sides of two listening positions in a vehicle interior. Based on vehicle information, a first frequency characteristic and a second frequency characteristic, which are respective frequency characteristics at the two listening positions, of sound outputted from at least one of the pair of speakers are derived. Based on such characteristics, a sound signal supplied to at least one of the pair of speakers is controlled. When there is a common peak of the sound common to the first and second frequency characteristic, the sound signal is controlled in at least one of peak frequency bands which are the peak frequency bands corresponding to the common peak. Thereby, the sound signal is controlled such that the peaks appearing on the respective frequency characteristics at two listening positions are corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: PIONEER CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akihiro Iseki
  • Patent number: 10186248
    Abstract: Active noise reduction systems and methods for a helmet with a rigid shell that spatially divides a shell interior from a shell ambiance include receiving at least one desired-sound signal representative of at least one desired sound pattern occurring in the shell ambience, and generating, based on the at least one desired-sound signal, anti-sound that is configured to interact with internal sound occurring in the shell interior through superposition. The internal sound includes first internal sound components and second internal sound components, the first internal sound components not corresponding to the at least one desired sound pattern and the second internal sound components corresponding to the at least one desired sound pattern. The anti-sound is further configured to attenuate the first internal sound components, and to amplify, not attenuate, or attenuate to a lesser degree than the first internal sound components the second internal sound components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Paul Zukowski, Gerhard Pfaffinger
  • Patent number: 10187714
    Abstract: A sound pickup device includes: a housing; a mount portion via which the housing on an object constituting a portion of a musical instrument; a sound pickup including a plurality of the microphones respectively oriented in different directions; a first output configured to output a sound signal indicating a sound input to the sound pickup; and an installer configured to install the sound pickup on the housing such that each of the plurality of microphones is oriented away from the object when the housing is mounted on the object via the mount portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideaki Takehisa, Nobuhiro Nambu, Masamichi Yano, Keizo Harada
  • Patent number: 10171901
    Abstract: A sound pickup device includes: a housing; a mount portion via which the housing is mounted on an object; a sound pickup including a microphone; a first output configured to output a sound signal indicating a sound input to the sound pickup; an installer configured to install the sound pickup on the housing; a sensor configured to detect a vibration transmitted to the housing; and a second output configured to output a vibration signal indicating the vibration detected by the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideaki Takehisa, Nobuhiro Nambu, Masamichi Yano, Keizo Harada
  • Patent number: 10166816
    Abstract: A sound source device of a horn according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a diaphragm; a movable iron core connected to the diaphragm through a support point; and a coil (bobbin and winding) into which a driving signal is inputted. The driving signal includes a first signal component that resonates with the diaphragm and a second signal component of a second frequency that resonates with the movable iron core of a first frequency and has a chord relationship with the first frequency. The support point is provided at a position eccentric from the center of the diaphragm, and the movable iron core is structured such that a gravity center is displaced further in an eccentric direction than the support point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Hisanobu Ino, Ikuyo Ohsugi, Noriyuki Nabeshima
  • Patent number: 10170095
    Abstract: Aspects are generally directed to headphone systems that adjust Active Noise Reduction operations based on measurements of environmental conditions. In one example, a headphone system includes an earpiece having an interior volume, the earpiece configured to couple to an ear and define an acoustic volume including the interior volume and a volume within the ear, a speaker to provide acoustic energy to the acoustic volume based on a received driver signal, a feedback microphone to detect at least residual noise within the acoustic volume and generate a feedback audio signal indicative of the residual noise, and a control circuit including a sensor interface configured to receive an atmospheric pressure signal, the control circuit coupled to the feedback microphone to receive the feedback audio signal, and the control circuit configured to adjust the driver signal based at least in part on the feedback audio signal and the atmospheric pressure signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: BOSE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Paul Yamkovoy
  • Patent number: 10165356
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present technology may comprise methods and apparatus for controlling a bias voltage. Methods and apparatus for controlling a bias voltage to an electrical device according to various aspects of the present invention may operate in conjunction with a charge pump and a voltage regulator. A pulse generator may be employed to vary the output voltage of the voltage regulator, which in turn, varies the output voltage (bias voltage) generated by the charge pump. The pulse generator may be activated at the start-up of the electrical device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventor: Akinobu Onishi
  • Patent number: 10149082
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
  • Patent number: 10142719
    Abstract: A microphone includes a head case and an arm that supports the head case. The head case includes a microphone unit and a light emitter. A proximal end portion of the arm includes a light emitter circuit that turns on the light emitter on the basis of potential information of a specific terminal. One end of the light emitter is connected to the light emitter circuit through a wire that passes through an inside of the arm. The other end of the light emitter is connected to the microphone unit in the head case. The light emitter circuit includes a switching element that switches on and off of light emitter. The specific terminal is connected to a control signal input side of the switching element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2018
    Assignee: Audio-Technica Corporation
    Inventor: Satoshi Yoshino
  • Patent number: 10134381
    Abstract: An example active road noise control includes generating with a sensor arrangement a primary sense signal representative of at least one of accelerations, motions and vibrations that occur at a first position, and providing a noise reducing signal by processing the primary sense signal according to an adaptive mode of operation or a non-adaptive mode of operation. It further includes generating within the vehicle body noise reducing sound at the second position from the noise reducing signal, evaluating the primary sense signal and controlling the processing of the primary sense signal so that the primary sense signal is processed in the adaptive mode of operation when the magnitude of the primary sense signal undercuts a first threshold and in the non-adaptive mode of operation when the magnitude of the primary sense signal exceeds a second threshold, the first threshold being equal to or smaller than the second threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    Inventor: Gerhard Pfaffinger
  • Patent number: 10129680
    Abstract: Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, embodiments receiving audio content in a multi-channel sound format over a communication network resulting in multi-channel audio content. Further embodiments can include identifying a compression ratio of the audio content. Additional embodiments can include determining a rendered sound externalization for rendering the audio content according to the compression ratio of the audio content. Also, embodiments can include rendering the audio content in a binaural audio format for headphone playback on an audio device according to the rendered sound externalization. Other embodiments are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Manuel Briand