Patents Examined by Kile Blair
  • Patent number: 9549252
    Abstract: An apparatus comprises a first transducer configured to detect sound and generate a first signal based on the detected sound. The apparatus also comprises a second transducer configured to detect vibration and/or sound and generate a second signal based on the detected vibrations and/or sound. The second transducer is less acoustically responsive than the first transducer. The apparatus comprises an interface configured to send the first and second signals to a processor configured to modify the first signal on the basis of the second signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
    Inventor: Mikko Veli Aimo Suvanto
  • Patent number: 9530396
    Abstract: Processor-implemented methods and systems for visually-assisted mixing of audio using a spectral analyzer are disclosed. The system calculates and displays a spectral view for each track in an arrangement in a multi-track view. A user can then request modification of the spectral view. In response to this request for modification, the system automatically adjusts associated mixing parameters for the modified track so that the spectral output of the track substantially matches the user-requested modified spectral view. This allows a user to visually mix an arrangement by imputing a desired spectral result and having the program make the changes necessary to achieve it.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Steffen Gehring
  • Patent number: 9510082
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an earphone vibrator detection device, system and method. The device of the present invention is suitable for detecting a headset vibrator, and being placed at the headband position of the headset during detection. The device comprises an acceleration sensor and a signal conversion module mutually connected; the acceleration sensor is configured to detect the acceleration information of the headband position when the headset outputs a specified audio, and convert the acceleration information into a voltage signal to be output to the signal conversion module; and the signal conversion module is configured to convert the received voltage signal into a digital signal to be output, so as to determine whether the vibration amplitude of the headset vibrator is qualified according to the output digital signal. The technical solution of the present invention solves the problem that the detection of a headset vibrator is currently conducted manually in a cumbersome and laborious manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: QINGDAO GOERTEK TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Xiliang Niu, Jun Zhang
  • Patent number: 9503827
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an earphone testing device. An earphone testing device provided by the embodiments of the present invention comprises an fixation base, a standard microphone attached to the fixation base, and a fixation scaffold for attaching and fixing the fixation base and the standard microphone; the fixation base is supported and fixed on the fixation scaffold by several supporting elements; a sealer is located on the position on the fixation base in contact with the outer shell of an earphone, the sealer forms an earphone storage portion for placing the earphone; a sealer is located on the position on the fixation base in contact with the outer shell of the standard microphone, the sealer forms a microphone attachment portion for attaching to the standard microphone; the earphone placed in the earphone storage portion and the standard microphone attached onto the microphone attachment portion are communicated with each other in the fixation base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: GOERTEK, INC.
    Inventors: Zongbao Hu, Wentuan Zheng, Baohui Song, Yongjun Liu, Yanpeng Zhao
  • Patent number: 9491307
    Abstract: A system and method for assisting with calls to public safety answering points may include receiving emergency message data from a user, and, in response to receiving an emergency call request from the user at a telecommunications device, communicating the emergency message data in an audio format to a PSAP.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC
    Inventors: Amar N. Ray, John M. Heinz
  • Patent number: 9485600
    Abstract: An audio system including a first speaker and a second speaker that are arranged in front of a predetermined listening position to be substantially bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the listening position; a third speaker and a fourth speaker that are arranged in front of the predetermined listening position to be substantially bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the listening position; a first attenuator that attenuates components that are equal to or less than a predetermined first frequency of an input audio signal; and an output controller that outputs sounds that are based on the input audio signal from the first speaker and the second speaker and outputs sounds that are based on the first audio signal in which components that are equal to or less than the first frequency of the input audio signal from the third speaker and the fourth speaker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kenji Nakano
  • Patent number: 9467775
    Abstract: A method and a system of noise suppressing an audio signal comprising a combination of at least two audio system input signals each having a sound source signal portion and a background noise portion, the method and system comprising steps and means of: Extracting at least two different types of spatial sound field features from the input signals such as discriminative speech and/or background noise features, computing a first intermediate spatial noise suppression gain on the basis of the extracted spatial sound field features, computing a second intermediate stationary noise suppression gain, combining the two intermediate noise suppression gains to form a total noise suppression gain, wherein the two intermediate noise suppression gains are combined by comparing their values and dependent on their ratio or relative difference, determining the total noise suppression gain, applying the total noise suppression gain to the audio signal to generate a noise suppressed audio system output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: GN Netcom A/S
    Inventor: Rasmus Kongsgaard Olsson
  • Patent number: 9467790
    Abstract: A method comprising determining a reverberation time estimate for an audio signal from a first part of an encoded audio signal representing the audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
    Inventor: Pasi Ojala
  • Patent number: 9445197
    Abstract: An automobile audio system having at least two near-field speakers located close to an intended position of a listener's head is configured by determining a first binaural filter that causes sound produced by each of the near-field speakers to have characteristics at the intended position of the listener's head of sound produced by a sound source located at a first designated position other than the actual locations of the near-field speakers, determining an up-mixing rule to generate at least three component channel signals from an input audio signal having at least two channels, and configuring the audio system to, determine a first binaural signal corresponding to a combination of the component channel signals originating at the first designated position, and filter the first binaural signal using the first binaural filter and to output the filtered signals using the near-field speakers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Charles Oswald, Michael S. Dublin, Tobe Z. Barksdale, Wontak Kim, Jahn Dmitri Eichfeld
  • Patent number: 9437116
    Abstract: A method and device is described for estimating the subglottal air pressure during speech or singing from the intraoral air pressure in essentially real-time by using a type of peak detection and extrapolation means that holds peaks in the low-pass filtered pressure signal for a period of time sufficient to allow their interpretation as real-time subglottal pressure. An electronic circuit suitable for implementing this function is described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Inventor: Martin Rothenberg
  • Patent number: 9432790
    Abstract: Described herein are techniques pertaining to real-time propagation of an arbitrary audio signal in a fixed virtual environment with dynamic audio sources and receivers. A wave-based numerical simulator is configured to compute response signals in the virtual environment with respect to a sample signal at various source and receiver locations. The response signals are compressed and placed in the frequency domain to generate frequency responses. Such frequency responses are selectively convolved with the arbitrary audio signal to allow real-time propagation with moving sources and receivers in the virtual environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Nikunj Raghuvanshi, John Michael Snyder, Ming Chieh Lin, Naga K. Govindaraju
  • Patent number: 9414157
    Abstract: The invention discloses a method and a device for reducing voice reverberation based on double microphones. The method comprises the steps of calculating a transfer function h(t) from a secondary microphone to a primary microphone according to an input signal x2(t) of the primary microphone and an input signal x1(t) of the secondary microphone; judging the strength of reverberation according to h(t) and calculating a regulatory factor ? of a gain function by taking a tail section hr(t) of the h(t); obtaining a late reverberation estimation signal {circumflex over (r)}(t) of x2(t) with the convolution of x1(t) and hr(t); calculating the gain function according to the frequency spectrum of x2(t), ? and frequency spectrum of {circumflex over (r)}(t); obtaining the reverberation removed frequency spectrum of x2(t) by multiplying the frequency spectrum of x2(t) by the gain function; and obtaining a late reverberation removed time-domain signal of x2(t) by frequency-time conversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Goertek, Inc.
    Inventors: Shasha Lou, Bo Li, Qiuchen Huang
  • Patent number: 9414159
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to beamform a first plurality of microphone signals using at least one beamforming weight to obtain a first beamformed signal, beamform a second plurality of microphone signals using the at least one beamforming weight to obtain a second beamformed signal, and adjust the at least one beamforming weight so that the power density of at least one perturbation component present in the first or the second plurality of microphone signals is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Tobias Wolff, Markus Buck, Gerhard Uwe Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9413889
    Abstract: A technique and apparatus to allow a determination of an MSAG-valid address by use of normalized house numbers included in address entries in an MSAG Address data store, to facilitate the simple match of an input civic/postal address against entries in a MSAG data store based on the use of a normalization of the house numbers. The house number normalization allows for an easy lexicographical determination as to whether or not the input civic/postal house number falls with the range of house numbers in the MSAG data store. The inventive process and apparatus pre-stores normalized house number fields in an MSAG address data store, and then normalizes house numbers in a civic/postal address associated with an emergency call. The normalized numbers in the input civic/postal address associated with the emergency call are then lexicographically matched with normalized entries in an MSAG address data store.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Telecommunication Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Gerhard Geldenbott, Gordon John Hines, Jeffrey Thomas Martin, Abe Backus
  • Patent number: 9408011
    Abstract: A wireless device is provided that makes use of other nearby audio transducer devices to generate a surround sound effect for a targeted user. To do this, the wireless device first ascertains whether there are any nearby external microphones and/or loudspeaker devices. An internal microphone for the wireless device and any other nearby external microphones may be used to ascertain a location of the desired/targeted user as well as the nearby loudspeaker devices. This information is then used to generate a surround sound effect for the desired/targeted user by having the wireless device steer audio signals to its internal loudspeakers and/or the nearby external loudspeaker devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Lae-Hoon Kim, Pei Xiang, Erik Visser
  • Patent number: 9392378
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a listening device for a hearing impaired person. The present invention furthermore relates to a corresponding operating method of operating a listening device and to a corresponding computer program. In particular, the present invention relates to a listening device that comprises a signal processing unit that is controlled by a controller configured to implement a combined feed-forward and feed-back control in order to ensure that both an electric input signal and a processed electric output signal have at least almost identical modulation index values. Thereby, speech intelligibility is increased, in particular for a hearing impaired person being capable of perceiving sound pressure levels in a substantially decreased dynamic range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: OTICON A/S
    Inventor: Niels Hellevad Jensen
  • Patent number: 9383963
    Abstract: To realize a change in a volume that does not give a user a feeling of strangeness even when a great processing load is put on a volume determining unit. A volume controller performs a process for determining a new volume of an audio signal based on an alternate pulse interval that is based on a counting time and the number of pulses counted by a counting section within the counting time and a current volume stored in a storage section, and storing the determined new volume as the current volume in the storage section, the same number of times as the number of pulses counted by the counting section every counting time, and outputs last information stored as the current volume in the storage section to an electronic volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: Onkyo Corporation
    Inventor: Kazunari Ito
  • Patent number: 9374448
    Abstract: A system for receiving multiple conversations or messages and for playing the multiple conversations or messages with a mobile device and wireless earpieces. The system may determine various presentation parameters based on various characteristics of the received messages and may play the messages such that audio appears at distinguishing locations around the user. The system may change how messages and/or conversations are played in response to recognize a change in the focus of the user based on detected user inputs, such as body movement gestures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Brian F. Miller, Adam E. Newham, Jose Menendez, Rohit Sauhta
  • Patent number: 9372251
    Abstract: A sound processing system receives an audio input signal that includes at least two different input channels of audio content. The sound processing system dissects the audio input signal to separate sources of audible sound included in the audio input signal into sound source vectors. Separation of the sources of audible sound into sound source vectors may be based on a perceived location of each of the sources of audible sound within a listener perceived sound stage. The sound source vectors may represent spatial slices across the listener perceived sound stage that may be individually and independently processed with the sound processing system. Following processing, the sound source vectors may be selectively assembled to form an audio output signal having output channels used to drive respective loudspeakers. Since the sources of audible sound are separated and independent, the audible sound sources may be included on any one or more of the output channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignees: Harman International Industries, Incorporated, Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    Inventor: Gilbert Arthur Joseph Soulodre
  • Patent number: 9337722
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a DC bias voltage circuit comprising a DC bias voltage generator adapted to supply a first DC voltage. A low-pass filter has an input operatively coupled to the first DC voltage to produce a second DC voltage at a low-pass filter output. The low-pass filter comprises an adjustable switched capacitor resistor setting a cut-off frequency of the low-pass filter and a controller is adapted to controlling a resistance of the adjustable switched capacitor resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: INVENSENSE, INC.
    Inventor: Olafur Mar Josefsson