Patents Examined by Simon Sing
  • Conference device
    Patent number: 8976958
    Abstract: A conference device receives and transmits at least one of images and voice via a communication network. The conference device includes a housing having an upper wall; and an operating unit installed on the upper wall. The operating unit includes a first operating member group made up of a plurality of operating members, and at least one different operating member that has a lower frequency of usage as compared to each of the plurality of operating members of the first operating member group. The plurality of operating members of the first operating member group are arranged in a first direction along a top face of the upper wall. The at least one different operating member is disposed, along with one of the plurality of operating members of the first operating member group, in a second direction that runs along the top face and that intersects with the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventor: Ryota Yano
  • Communication channel capacity estimation
    Patent number: 8971500
    Abstract: Prediction of a channel capacity is accomplished based on a TDR echo without explicitly estimating the topology of the line. The prediction is based on obtaining a measured TDR echo, determining a theoretical TDR echo for a plurality of loop lengths, estimating the equivalent TDR length based on an optimization, updating the equivalent TDR length and utilizing the updated TDR length to predict one or more of the upstream and downstream data rates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Broadcom Corporation
    Inventors: Ling Zheng, Michael A. Lund
  • Transmission of noise compensation information between devices
    Patent number: 8965005
    Abstract: One or more microphones of a first devices receive a first audio. The first device generates a first audio signal from the received first audio. The first device analyzes the first audio signal to determine noise characteristics included in the first audio received by the first device. The first device generates noise compensation information based at least in part on the noise associated with the first audio. The first device transmits the noise compensation information to at least one of a second device or a third device that is intermediate to the first device and the second device. The first device receives a second audio signal generated by the second device, wherein the second audio signal is based at least in part on the noise compensation information transmitted by the first device. The first device then outputs the second audio signal to a speaker of the first device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Varada Gopalakrishnan, Kiran K. Edara
  • Signal processing using spatial filter
    Patent number: 8965003
    Abstract: A device and method processing microphone signals from at least two microphones is presented. A first beamformer processes the signals from the microphones and provides a first beamformed signal. A power estimator processes the signals from the microphones and the first beamformed signal from the first beamformer in order to generate, in frequency bands, a first statistical estimate of the energy of a first part of an incident sound field. A gain controller processes said first statistical estimate in order to generate in frequency bands a first gain signal, and an audio processor for processing an input to the signal processing device in dependence of said generated first gain signal. The invention provides a new and improved noise reduction device and noise reduction method for use in the signal processing in devices processing acoustic signals, e.g. microphone devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Rasmussen Digital ApS
    Inventor: Erik Witthøfft Rasmussen
  • Subband domain echo masking for improved duplexity of spectral domain echo suppressors
    Patent number: 8964967
    Abstract: A method and system for improving a perceived duplexity of handsfree telephone applications is disclosed. An echo suppression circuit for a device comprising loudspeaker and microphone is described. A circuit attenuates a subband of a transmit signal, wherein the transmit signal is captured by the microphone and wherein the transmit signal comprises an echo of a far-end signal rendered by the loudspeaker and a near-end signal. The attenuation circuit further determines a subband far-end indicator of a voice activity in the far-end signal; determines a subband near-end indicator of a voice activity of the near-end signal; determines a subband masking weight; determines a subband attenuation for the transmit signal in the subband; and attenuates the subband of the transmit signal using the determined subband attenuation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor B.V.
    Inventors: Michiel Helsloot, Gavin Radolan
  • Voice response apparatus and method of providing automated voice responses with silent prompting
    Patent number: 8964949
    Abstract: A voice response unit (VRU) includes a silent prompt feature in the form of an intentional delay inserted after a message is given to a caller, during which delay the caller may invoke alternative processing or interrupt current processing. If appropriate alternative or interrupt commands are not received during the delay period, then processing continues as provided in accordance with the previously played message. The duration of this silent prompt delay is carefully selected to provide sufficient response time for the caller to request alternative processing, while avoiding a perceptible or objectionable delay to the average caller not requiring alternative processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventor: Alexander I. McAllister
  • Identifying recorded call data segments of interest
    Patent number: 8964946
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of processing a voice call are disclosed. One example method of operation may include recording at least a portion of a voice call, and storing the portion of the voice call in memory. The method may also include processing the portion of the voice call to identify at least one segment of interest, and forwarding the at least one segment of interest to a new call party responsive to a call transfer action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: West Corporation
    Inventors: David Scheet, James K. Boutcher, Jeffrey William Cordell
  • Method for acquiring audio signals, and audio acquisition system thereof
    Patent number: 8965004
    Abstract: Method for acquiring audio signals is described, wherein a microphone probe (11) equipped with a plurality (Y) of microphone capsules (B) detects a plurality of audio signals, and wherein said detected audio signals are combined together in order to obtain a virtual microphone signal. The latter is generated as a function of characteristic probe data (IRs) measured during a probe characterization step, wherein the signals detected by each microphone capsule (B) are measured following a corresponding predetermined test signal. An audio acquisition system is also described which allows to implement the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignees: RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana S.p.A., Aida S.R.L
    Inventors: Leonardo Scopece, Angelo Farina
  • Voicemail system and method for providing voicemail to text message conversion
    Patent number: 8964950
    Abstract: A method and system for allowing a calling party to send a voicemail message as a text message. A calling party leaves a voicemail message and that message is converted from voice to a text message. If the calling party wishes to confirm the conversion, the text message is then converted to a voicemail message. The converted voicemail message is presented to the calling party so that the calling party can review and edit the message. The calling party can review and edit any portion of the converted voicemail message, The edits of the voicemail message are applied and the voicemail message is converted to a new text message. If the calling party wishes to further review and edit the text message, it is converted to a new voicemail; otherwise the text message is sent to the called party.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC
    Inventor: Carl Peter Zetterberg
  • Synchronizing audio signal sampling in a wireless, digital audio conferencing system
    Patent number: 8958897
    Abstract: A digital audio conferencing system has a fixed base station that is in communication with a far end (R.E.) system over a communication network. The base station is associated with a wireless loudspeaker and one or more wireless microphones. The base station operates to receive F.E. audio signals to be played by the wireless loudspeaker, and it operates to remove acoustic echo picked up by the wireless microphones. A first clock controlling F.E. audio signal sampling at the base station, and a second clock controlling audio signal sampling and at a wireless microphone are synchronized to one master, reference clock that controls the operation of the base station. Acoustic echo included in an audio signal picked up by a wireless microphone is removed by AEC functionality running in the base station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Revo Labs, Inc.
    Inventors: Pascal Cleve, Mark DesMarais, Timothy D Root
  • Navigating an interactive voice response system
    Patent number: 8958532
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention relate to effectively traversing the structure of an interactive voice response system. A menu associated with the system is organized and arranged in a hierarchy. Each received input is dynamically analyzed to enable a traversal of the hierarchy and to direct the input to an appropriate menu option associated with the system. The appropriate menu option is directly related to the input submission, and supports a direct communication with a telecommunication device that initiated communication with the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Barry A. Kritt, Thomas A. Mazzeo, Sarbajit K. Rakshit, Shawn K. Sremaniak
  • Particular signal cancel method, particular signal cancel device, adaptive filter coefficient update method, adaptive filter coefficient update device, and computer program
    Patent number: 8953776
    Abstract: By using the adaptive filter, the reference input signal is processed so as to identify a pseudo-signal of a particular signal to be deleted. The pseudo-signal is subtracted from the mixture containing a target signal inputted from a microphone, the particular signal to be deleted, and a noise so as to obtain an error signal. A stationary noise is estimated to obtain a stationary noise estimated value. A non-stationary noise is estimated to obtain a non-stationary noise estimated value. The stationary noise estimated value is mixed with the non-stationary estimated value to obtain a mixed noise estimated value. An update amount is calculated according to a correlation value between the error signal and the reference input signal, and the mixed noise estimated value. According to the update amount, a coefficient of the adaptive filter is updated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiko Sugiyama
  • Providing called number characteristics to click-to-dial customers
    Patent number: 8934619
    Abstract: A system and method to provide content and call attributes for a destination phone number using a click-to-dial connection includes accepting a query, retrieving links to a document, and searching through cached data using the query to identify relevant or destination number information. If no match is found, the method continues with accessing the document identified by the link for identifying relevant number information and creating a click-to-dial icon to link to the relevant numbers included in the relevant phone number information identified by the query. Next, a popup box for content relevant to the click-to-dial icon and a click feature on the popup box are created to retrieve call destination attributes for viewing by a user. Further, computer instructions create at least one communication connection between two communication devices after viewing call destination attributes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property II, L.P.
    Inventors: Giuseppe Di Fabbrizio, Narendra K. Gupta
  • Routing of web-based contacts
    Patent number: 8934477
    Abstract: A method of providing access to a network of contact centers comprises providing contact links on one or more web pages which when activated initiate contacts to the contact centers. The network addresses associated with the links and to which the contacts are automatically directed are dynamically specified in the web pages and are obtained from a database. The database is dynamically updated in response to statistical updates received periodically or continually from the individual contact centers. In this way the contacts can be directed in advance to the most appropriate destination without having to evaluate each contact as it enters the contact center network, thereby reducing processing time and delays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Tony McCormack, Paul D'Arcy, Patrick Hession
  • File management system, method and computer program
    Patent number: 8934610
    Abstract: A file management system that transmits a record file of voice data or image data created by a local device to a center device over a network and manages the record file in the center device. The center device receives attribute information about the record file, including the ID of the record file, which is created in the local device, further acquires extended attribute information associated with the attribute information from a PBX, call control server, or customer server, stores management table including the attribute information and the extended attribute information. The extended attribute information of the record file suggests frequency of the reference for the record file in the local device. The center device decides the timing of the upload request for the record file based on the extended attribute information of the record file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Information & Telecommunication Engineering, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiaki Koyama, Toyoki Yamagishi
  • Bandwidth extension of a low band audio signal
    Patent number: 8929568
    Abstract: Estimation of a high band extension of a low band audio signal includes the following steps: extracting (S1) a set of features of the low band audio signal; mapping (S2) extracted features to at least one high band parameter with generalized additive modeling; frequency shifting (S3) a copy of the low band audio signal into the high band; controlling (S4) the envelope of the frequency shifted copy of the low band audio signal by said at least one high band parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ)
    Inventors: Volodya Grancharov, Stefan Bruhn, Harald Pobloth, Sigurdur Sverrisson
  • Analyzing speech application performance
    Patent number: 8929519
    Abstract: A method of analyzing speech application performance can include determining a call path for each of a plurality of calls from a log of an interactive voice response system having a speech application. Each call path can be defined by an ordered set of dialog nodes of the speech application. A number of occurrences of at least one selected type of event for the dialog nodes of the plurality of calls can be counted. At least one call path from the plurality of call paths can be indicated according, at least in part, to the number of occurrences of the selected type of event within the at least one indicated call path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Girish Dhanakshirur
  • System and method for automated audio mix equalization and mix visualization
    Patent number: 8929561
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for automatically analyzing, modifying, and mixing a plurality of audio signals. The modification of the audio signals takes place to avoid spectral collisions which occur when more than one signal simultaneously occupies one or more of the same frequency bands. The modifications mask out some signals to allow others to exist unaffected. Also disclosed herein is a method for displaying the identified spectral collisions superimposed on graphical waveform representations of the analyzed signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jerremy Holland, Ken Matsuda, Iroro F. Orife, Paul Wen Shen
  • Applying user preferences, behavioral patterns and environmental factors to an automated customer support application
    Patent number: 8923489
    Abstract: A method and apparatus of applying user profile information to a customized application are disclosed. One example method of operation may include receiving an inquiry message or call from a user device, identifying and authorizing the user from inquiry message information received from the inquiry message, retrieving a user profile comprising at least one user preference, applying the at least one user preference to a user call processing application, and transmitting menu options to the user device based on the applied at least user preference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: West Corporation
    Inventors: Blake John Roux, Craig A Webster
  • Method and apparatus for reducing TDMA noise in mobile communication terminal
    Patent number: 8917873
    Abstract: A mobile terminal includes an apparatus for reducing Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) noise in the mobile communication terminal. The apparatus includes a first output path including a resistance element; a second output path not including a resistance element; a modem for, when detecting an event for outputting an audio signal, determining an output path of the audio signal and outputting a control signal indicating the determined output path; and a switch for switching according to the control signal and providing the audio signal to either the first output path or the second output path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Gi-Bae Kim