Patents Assigned to Knowles Electronics, LLC
  • Publication number: 20220014855
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an integrated circuit connectable to a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) transducer. The MEMS transducer is configured to generate a transducer audio signal in response to sound. The integrated circuit comprises a digital scrambling circuit coupled to a data communication interface. The digital scrambling circuit is configured to convert a digital audio stream, representative of the transducer audio signal, into a corresponding scrambled data stream. The integrated circuit additionally comprises a data bus interface coupled to the digital scrambling circuit and configured to output the scrambled data stream.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2019
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Andrzej Pawlowski, Henrik Thomsen, Rene Rye Larsen
  • Patent number: 11223906
    Abstract: An acoustic receiver includes a cover made from an electrically non-conductive material configured to cover an open end of a housing portion of the acoustic receiver. The cover has an inner surface and an outer surface. A motor is disposed on the inner surface, while electrical contacts are disposed on the outer surface. The motor is connected to the electrical contacts on the outer surface. Various electrical components, such as integrated circuits and sensors, are disposed on the outer surface. In one embodiment, the cover is a printed circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventor: Yahui Zhang
  • Patent number: 11218804
    Abstract: A system and method in an audio signal electrical circuit including a feedback loop with a digital filter coupled to a current digital to analog converter (IDAC) includes providing an output signal from the IDAC to analog elements of the audio signal electrical circuit, the output signal from the IDAC based upon a reference signal input to the IDAC when an output of the digital filter is not input to the IDAC. The system and method also include comparing an output signal of the audio signal electrical circuit to a reference, and calibrating the audio signal electrical circuit to correspond the output signal of the audio signal electrical circuit to the reference. Calibration of the audio signal electrical circuit enables more precise control of a cut-off frequency of a microphone signal when the output of the digital filter is input to the IDAC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Kim Spetzler Berthelsen, Mohammad Shajaan, Claus Fürst
  • Publication number: 20210409548
    Abstract: A communication system and method is disclosed. The system and method provides for acoustic echo cancellation. For instance, a processor implements a non-linear loudspeaker model to approximate loudspeaker performance. Using the model, a cancellation signal may be generated to ameliorate cross-talk between a loudspeaker and microphone to diminish an echo.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Applicant: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventor: Andy Unruh
  • Patent number: 11212621
    Abstract: An acoustic transducer comprises a transducer substrate defining an aperture therein. A diaphragm is disposed on the transducer substrate. The diaphragm comprises a diaphragm inner portion disposed over the aperture such that an outer edge of the diaphragm inner portion is located radially inwards of a rim of the aperture, the diaphragm inner portion having a first stress. A diaphragm outer portion extends radially from the outer edge of the diaphragm inner portion to at least the rim of the aperture, the diaphragm outer portion having a second stress different from the first stress.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Peter V. Loeppert, Sung Bok Lee
  • Patent number: 11206494
    Abstract: A microphone device includes a base and a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) transducer and an integrated circuit (IC) disposed on the base. The microphone device also includes a cover mounted on the base and covering the MEMS transducer and the IC. The MEMS transducer includes a diaphragm attached to a surface of the substrate and a back plate mounted on the substrate and in a spaced apart relationship with the diaphragm. The diaphragm is attached to the surface of the substrate along at least a portion of a periphery of the diaphragm. The diaphragm can include a silicon nitride insulating layer, and a conductive layer, that faces a conductive layer of the back plate. The MEMS transducer can include a peripheral support structure that is disposed between at least a portion of the diaphragm and the substrate. The diaphragm can include one or more pressure equalizing apertures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Sung Bok Lee, Vahid Naderyan, Bing Yu, Michael Kuntzman, Yunfei Ma, Wade Conklin, Peter Loeppert
  • Patent number: 11206482
    Abstract: A system method provides for multi-port wind noise protection. A sound may include a desired component such as speech and an undesired component such as wind. Multiple apertures on a housing receive the sound and conduct it to a microphone. The undesired component such as wind is uncorrelated at the apertures and mixes at the microphone, attenuating in amplitude while the desired component such as speech is correlated at the apertures. In this manner, the signal to noise ratio between the desired component and undesired component is improved at the microphone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventor: Thomas Miller
  • Patent number: 11197104
    Abstract: A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) transducer includes a transducer substrate including an opening; a back plate including a plurality of protrusions oriented substantially perpendicular to the back plate; and a diaphragm between the transducer substrate and the back plate. The diaphragm includes a lead and a plurality of spring members. The lead is structured to suspend the diaphragm over the transducer substrate. The spring members are structured to separate the diaphragm from the transducer substrate and the back plate in the absence of a bias voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventor: Peter V. Loeppert
  • Patent number: 11197088
    Abstract: A MEMS transducer includes a transducer substrate, a back plate, a diaphragm, and an intermediate layer. The transducer substrate includes an aperture. The back plate is coupled to a first surface of the transducer substrate and covers the aperture. The diaphragm is oriented substantially parallel to the back plate and is spaced apart from the back plate to form a gap. The intermediate layer is coupled to the diaphragm and the back plate and includes an acoustic relief channel, which fluidly couples the gap to an environment surrounding the MEMS transducer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Vahid Naderyan, Mohammad Mohammadi, Evan Llamas-Young
  • Publication number: 20210375270
    Abstract: Methods and systems are disclosed herein for improvements relating to compressed automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. The ASR system may comprise a compressed acoustic engine and an adaptive decoder. The adaptive decoder may be dynamically compiled based on characteristics of the compressed acoustic engine and a current state of the application device. In some embodiments, a dynamic command list is used to manage context-specific commands. Two or more commands recognized by the adaptive decoder may be confusable due to compression of the ASR system. Alternate commands may be determined that are semantically equivalent but phonetically different than the confusable commands to reduce classification error of the adaptive decoder. An alternate command may replace one or more of the confusable commands in the adaptive decoder. In some embodiments, a user interface is displayed to a user of the ASR system to select the alternate command for replacement in the decoder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Fuliang Weng, Alexei Ivanov, Stephen Cradock
  • Publication number: 20210377652
    Abstract: An ultrasonic device includes a substrate, a transmitter disposed over the substrate, the transmitter including an ultrasonic transmitting transducer configured to generate ultrasonic signals, and a receiver disposed over the substrate, the receiver including an ultrasonic receiving transducer configured to sense ultrasonic signals. The ultrasonic device further includes a first horn-shaped acoustic channel, wherein a material of at least one portion of the first horn-shaped acoustic channel is the same as a material of at least one portion of the transmitter or the receiver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2017
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew UNRUH, Martin VOLK
  • Patent number: 11184011
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for an audio processor that includes a clock detection circuit and a clock bypass circuit. According to various embodiments, the clock detection circuit can check and indicate the status of a main clock and upon detection of a loss of the main clock, the clock bypass circuit can switch the source of the main clock to an alternate source such as an on chip oscillator allowing the system to gracefully recover from the clock loss event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher K. Wolf, Frederic Denis Raynal
  • Patent number: 11184729
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are related to a system and a method for synchronizing signal processing on audio channels. In one aspect, a system includes processors, each including an audio data input configured to receive audio data from multiple audio sources. In one aspect, each processor includes audio channels coupled to the audio data input, where each audio channel includes a corresponding processing chain configured to convert a sample rate of audio data from a corresponding audio source. Each processor may include a synchronization pulse generator configured to generate a corresponding synchronization pulse for each processing chain in response to a trigger pulse. The synchronization pulse generator may include a counter configured to generate an output having a phase based on a programmable initial condition of the counter, where the synchronization pulse for each processing chain is based on the counter output and a phase register value of the corresponding processing chain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Konrad Wolf, Erick Alvarado
  • Publication number: 20210352391
    Abstract: A microphone assembly includes a housing including a base, a cover, and a sound port. The microphone assembly further includes an acoustic transducer and an electrical circuit, both of which are disposed in an enclosed volume of the housing. The transducer and electrical circuit work in concert to convert sound waves into a processed digital audio signal. The electrical circuit is configured to process digital data in a series of frames that correspond to a fixed period in time. The electrical circuit is further configured to reduce noise in the resulting signal by varying the current draw required in a randomized or pseudo-randomized fashion between adjacent frames of digital data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2019
    Publication date: November 11, 2021
    Applicant: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Adam Abed, Edwin Cordon, Niel Warren, Donald Sanders, Maulik Patel, Dushyant Liya
  • Patent number: 11172312
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates generally to a microphone assembly. The microphone assembly has an acoustic activity detection mode of operation when the electrical circuit is clocked using an internal clock signal generator in the absence of an external clock signal at a host interface, and an electrical circuit of the microphone assembly is configured to provide an interrupt signal to the host interface upon detection of acoustic activity by the electrical circuit. The electrical circuit is configured to control the operating mode of the microphone assembly based on a frequency of the external clock signal in response to providing the interrupt signal and is configured to provide data representing the electrical signal to the host interface using the external clock signal received at the host interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Claus Erdmann Fürst, Henrik Thomsen, Michael Deruginsky, Dibyendu Nandy, Oddy Nopporn Khamharn, Aziz Yurttas, Svetoslav Radoslavov Gueorguiev, Anders Mortensen
  • Patent number: 11163521
    Abstract: A microphone assembly is disclosed including a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) transducer and an electrical circuit disposed in a housing having an external-device interface. The electrical circuit is configured to determine whether a speech characteristic is present in an electrical signal produced by the transducer, attempt to authenticate the speech characteristic, and provide an interrupt signal to the external device interface only upon successful authentication of the speech characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventor: Roland K. Bowler, II
  • Patent number: 11159890
    Abstract: An acoustic receiver includes a first receiver subassembly having a bottom housing plate with a motor assembly fastened thereto, and a second receiver subassembly having a closed-ended receiver housing sidewall fastened to the bottom housing plate that includes at least one sidewall opening where a portion of the acoustic receiver is disposed in the at least one sidewall opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Yahui Zhang, Shehab Albahri, Christopher Gabel
  • Patent number: 11159867
    Abstract: A microphone assembly comprises a substrate and an enclosure disposed on the substrate. A port is defined in one of the substrate or the enclosure. An acoustic transducer is configured to generate an electrical signal in response to acoustic activity. The acoustic transducer comprises a membrane separating a front volume from a back volume of the microphone assembly. The front volume is in fluidic communication with the port, and the back volume is filled with a first gas having a thermal conductivity lower than a thermal conductivity of air. An integrated circuit is electrically coupled to the acoustic transducer and configured to receive the electrical signal from the acoustic transducer. At least a portion of a boundary defining at least one of the front volume or the back volume is configured to have compliance so as to allow pressure equalization. The first gas is different from the second gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Peter Loeppert, Michael Pedersen, Michael Kuntzman
  • Patent number: 11134332
    Abstract: An ear tip for a hearing device includes a body member having a receiver retention portion that is communicably coupled to a sound port. The receiver retention portion is configured to receive and capture a receiver such as a balanced armature receiver. An electrical interface of the receiver is accessible via an opening in the receiver retention portion. The ear tip also includes an ear interface portion that is disposed at least partially about the body member. The ear interface portion is configured to be disposed in a user's ear canal. The ear interface portion and the body member are integrally formed as a unitary member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventor: Matthew Manley
  • Publication number: 20210287674
    Abstract: Various methods, systems, and apparatus are disclosed with improved imposter rejection for keyword recognition systems in a wearable device. Speech signals are measured by a microphone and a vibration sensor, the vibration sensor configured to measure vibrations in the body of a wearer of the device. An audio signal from the microphone and a vibration signal from the vibration sensor are input into a classifier to determine whether the wearer of the device spoke the keyword. In some embodiments, high-frequency components of a signal from the microphone may be combined with low-frequency components of a signal from the vibration sensor to generate a combined speech signal. The classifier may use a classification model trained with positive training data of the wearer speaking the keyword and negative training data of a non-wearer speaking the keyword.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Applicant: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Andy Unruh, Wenjing Yang, Bin Jiang, Stephen Cradock, Alexei Ivanov, Fuliang Weng, Scott Choi