Abstract: This method, applicable in particular to radio-controlled toys comprises the operations consisting in: fitting the drone with a telemeter and a video camera; acquiring the altitude of the drone relative to the ground by means of a telemeter; acquiring the horizontal speed of the drone; and automatically stabilizing the drone in hovering by: servo-controlling the vertical thrust force of the drone so as to stabilize the altitude acquired by the telemeter; and servo-controlling the horizontal thrust force of the drone so as to obtain zero horizontal speed. The video camera is a front-sight camera pointing towards the front of the drone; and the horizontal speed of the drone is acquired from a plurality of video images captured by said front-sight camera.

Abstract: The method comprises the following steps in the frequency domain: a) combining signals into a noisy combined signal; b) estimating a pseudo-steady noise component; c) calculating a probability of transients being present in the noisy combined signal; d) estimating a main arrival direction of transients; e) calculating a probability of speech being present on the basis of a three-dimensional spatial criterion suitable for discriminating amongst the transients between useful speech and lateral noise; and f) selectively reducing noise by applying a variable gain specific to each frequency band and to each time frame.

Abstract: The concentrator couples a plurality of digital and analog sources to an audio/video reader system suitable for reading one of the sources. Each available source is associated with a source identifier and an activated or deactivated state flag, as a result of the user taking action on a source. A register (42) contains an identifier of the current source being read, and a multiple-level LIFO stack (44) stores an ordered list of identifiers of other sources on standby waiting to be read. When a new source is activated, automatic means replace the content of the register with the identifier of the new source so as to substitute the new source for the current source in order to enable it to be read by the system, and concurrently said automatic means add the identifier of the current source to the stack. The inverse operation is performed when the current source is deactivated, with the most recent source contained in the stack being substituted for the current source so as to enable it to be read by the system.

Abstract: The device comprises a microphone for picking up a speech signal from a near speaker, and a loudspeaker for reproducing a speech signal from a remote speaker. The processing for canceling the interfering acoustic echo implements an adaptive linear filtering algorithm. Double talk situations are detected by: evaluating an index representative of the degree of convergence or divergence of the algorithm; assessing a predetermined condition for detecting a double talk situation; and if said condition is satisfied, modifying at least one parameter of the algorithm in response to said detection. The representative index may be the norm of the gradient vector describing the adaptation of the filter from one iteration of the algorithm to the next, the conditions being a comparison between the gradient and a threshold. The parameter that is modified double talk situation may be the adaptation stepsize of the algorithm, and also the gain control of an echo suppression stage.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of recognizing objects for a video shooter game, the system comprising a first remote-controlled vehicle (51) having an on-board video camera (25), a second remote-controlled vehicle (53), and an electronic video display entity serving to remote control the first vehicle (51).

Abstract: The lighting device (10; 42) includes means for switching a light source on and/or off and search means suitable for detecting and identifying neighboring objects (34, 36, 38, 40) present in the proximity of the device and provided with radio transmitter circuits, e.g. of the Bluetooth type, that are suitable for interfacing with the device. The device includes means for causing it to switch off, and possibly to switch on, said means co-operating with the search means (20) to detect the appearance or the disappearance of neighboring objects in the radio range of the lighting device, and to trigger switching off of the light source on detecting the disappearance of at least one neighboring object, conditionally as a function of predetermined criteria. Switching is controlled essentially without orders being transmitted from neighboring objects to cause the lamp to switch off or on.

Abstract: The device comprises: a circuit for picking up acoustic signals with the microphone (18); a circuit for playing back audio signals with an amplifier (30) and a loudspeaker (16); an interface circuit (20) for interfacing with a telephone network or a cell phone; and a circuit for digitally processing audio signals, which circuit includes means for reducing the acoustic echo that results from interaction of the loudspeaker with the microphone. These means comprise: an echo cancellation stage (40) with an adaptive linear filter suitable for subtracting from the signal picked up by the microphone a reference signal that is derived from the signal received at the output from the interface means; a gain control stage (42) for suppressing the residual echo, and a stage (44) for selectively reducing the background noise present in the signal received at the output from the echo suppression stage.

Abstract: The appliance comprises a casing, a removable front plate, an electrical connector, and mechanical means for assembling the front plate on the casing and for fastening it thereto. The mechanical means comprise, at a first end, means that form a separable hinge comprising at least one pair of respective magnetic elements such as permanent magnets disposed in the region of the connector and facing one another on the casing and the front plate, and the opposite end, means for locking the front plate to the casing. Mechanical coupling of the front plate on the casing at the location of the separable magnetic hinge results solely from the mutual attraction of the facing magnetic elements.

Abstract: The display device (10) comprises a substantially parallelepipedal flat case, having a front face (14), a rear face (18) and side faces forming a peripheral edge. The case accommodates a display screen adapted to produce an image as a pixel array, and means for processing data and driving the display screen. The case comprises a housing (50) and a front part (96, 106) detachably assembled together through a mechanical fastening lock (84). The front part comprises a front glass (106) and a support part (96). The front glass extends from side to side over the support part and is non-detachably attached to the latter, and the support part comprises a central window and elements (102) for engaging the fastening lock (84).

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of defining a common frame of reference for a video game system. The system comprises at least two remotely-controlled vehicles (1), a first vehicle and a second vehicle, each comprising a video sensor (19), and a reference element (69) with recognizable zones (71). The method comprises the following steps: positioning the first vehicle relative to the reference element (69) in such a manner that the recognizable zones (71) are in the field of view of the video sensor (19) of the first vehicle; processing the image delivered by the video sensor (19) of the positioned first vehicle in order to identify the recognizable zones (71) in the image; deducing the position of the first vehicle relative to the reference element (69) by identifying the recognizable zones (71); and transmitting the position of the first vehicle to the second vehicle.

Abstract: The device comprises: a circuit for picking up acoustic signals with the microphone (18); a circuit for playing back audio signals with an amplifier (30) and a loudspeaker (16); an interface circuit (20) for interfacing with a telephone network or a cell phone; and a circuit for digitally processing audio signals, which circuit includes means for reducing the acoustic echo that results from interaction of the loudspeaker with the microphone. These means comprise: an echo cancellation stage (40) with an adaptive linear filter suitable for subtracting from the signal picked up by the microphone a reference signal that is derived from the signal received at the output from the interface means; a gain control stage (42) for suppressing the residual echo, and a stage (44) for selectively reducing the background noise present in the signal received at the output from the echo suppression stage.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of display adjustment (49) for a video game system (1, 3). The system comprises a remotely-controlled vehicle (1) with a sensor (31) for sensing the attitude of the vehicle (1), and an electronic entity (3) including a display unit, the electronic entity (3) serving to control the vehicle (1) on a circuit, remotely. The method comprises the following steps: using the sensor (31) to acquire the instantaneous attitude of the vehicle (1) dynamically; dynamically estimating at least one inclination parameter of the circuit (57) from instantaneous attitude values delivered by the sensor (31); and adjusting the display (49) of the electronic entity as a function of the estimated values for the inclination parameter(s) of the circuit (57).

Abstract: The method comprises the steps of: filtering the audio signal by means of a lowpass filter (101) with a cutoff frequency substantially equal to said cutoff frequency (F0) of the sound playback device; determining a fundamental frequency for reconstituting from the lowpass filtered audio signal; and generating a harmonic signal (Sharm) associated with said fundamental frequency to be reconstituted. It also comprises the steps of: detecting a time envelope (env(t)) of the lowpass filtered audio signal; adapting the dynamic range of said time envelope (env(t)) as a function of the frequency band under consideration; and reinjecting said harmonic signal in phase into said audio signal by addition after multiplying said harmonic signal (Sharm) with the adapted time envelope (envadapt(t)).

Abstract: The method comprises, in the time domain, echo cancellation processing (40) by subtracting from the microphone signal a reference signal delivered by an adaptive circuit for modeling the acoustic coupling between the microphone (18) and the loudspeaker (16). Successive frames of the signal are subjected in the frequency domain to processing (42) for suppressing the residual echo that remains after the echo cancellation, together with noise reduction processing (44). The residual echo suppression processing comprises estimating respective values for the power of the residual echo over a plurality of defined frequency bands for successive signal frames, then calculating and applying a variable gain specific to each frequency band and to each frame, the respective gains being smaller whenever the estimated relative power of the residual echo is high for the frequency band under consideration, and vice versa.

Abstract: An automatic gain control system applied to a audio signal as a function of the ambient noise, the system comprising: an ambient noise estimator module suitable for establishing a current noise value estimated at least from a signal provided by a microphone; and an automatic gain control module suitable for applying to the audio signal gain of a value that is determined as a function of the current noise value received from the ambient noise estimator module. According to the invention, the ambient noise estimator module comprises an MCRA estimator suitable for establishing the current noise value from a signal provided by the microphone picking up the real noise, the echo of the music, and where appropriate speech. The system also includes a module for estimating the power of the audio signal and suitable for providing the automatic gain control module with a current power value for the audio signal.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of defining a game zone for a video game system. The system comprises a remotely-controlled vehicle (1) and an electronic entity (3) for remotely controlling the vehicle (1), the method comprising the following steps: acquiring the terrestrial position of the vehicle (1) via a position sensor (37) arranged on the vehicle (1); transmitting the terrestrial position of the vehicle (1) to the electronic entity (3); establishing a connection between the electronic entity (3) and a database (17) containing aerial images of the Earth; in the database (17), selecting an aerial image corresponding to the terrestrial position transmitted to the electronic entity (3); downloading the selected aerial image from the database (17) to the electronic entity (3); and incorporating the downloaded aerial image in a video game being executed on the electronic entity (3).

Abstract: This method is a method of analyzing time coherence in the noisy signal and comprises the steps consisting in: a) determining a reference signal from the noisy signal by applying treatment (10, 18) to the noisy signal that is suitable for attenuating speech components more strongly than the noise component, in particular by means of an adaptive recursive predictive algorithm of the LMS type; b) determining (24) a probability of speech being present/absent on the basis of the respective energy levels in the spectral domain of the noisy signal and of the reference signal; and c) deriving (26) a denoised estimate of the speech signal from the noise signal as a function of the probability of the speech being present/absent as determined in this way.

Abstract: The apparatus comprises a data memory containing a series of correspondents' call numbers and, for each call number, at least one associated voice print; a sound transducer suitable for picking up the name of a desired corespondent as spoken by the user of the apparatus; voice recognition means suitable for analyzing the correspondent's name as picked up by the transducer and for transforming it into an associated voice print; selective memory addressing means including associative means suitable for finding a voice print in the memory corresponding to the print supplied by the voice recognition means, and in the event of a match, for addressing the corresponding memory position; and means co-operating with the associative means for applying the addressed call number to the radiotelephone circuits.