Patents Examined by William A Jerez Lora
  • Patent number: 12368448
    Abstract: A digital microphone includes a log amplifier having an input for receiving an analog signal; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the log amplifier; a digital low-pass filter coupled to the ADC; a digital decompression component coupled to the digital low-pass filter; and a predictor filter coupled to the digital decompression component, the predictor filter having an output for generating a digital signal. The digital low-pass filter is a positive group delay filter and the predictor filter is a negative group delay filter. The digital microphone has an improved Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) due to filtering, but without increasing overall group delay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2025
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Dietmar Straeussnigg, Simon Grünberger
  • Patent number: 12363490
    Abstract: A microphone device comprises a microphone array comprising a plurality of microphone elements physically arranged to provide a respective plurality of microphone signals from which a spatially encoded sound-field signal may be produced; a local storage device; a processor; and a wireless transmission module. The device is arranged to store the plurality of microphone signals to the local storage device; to produce, using the processor, a reference signal including at least one of the plurality of microphone signals and a further signal derived therefrom; and to transmit the reference signal via the wireless transmission module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2025
    Assignee: Nomono AS
    Inventor: Audun Solvang
  • Patent number: 12363477
    Abstract: A wireless audio device includes a communication module, a plurality of microphones comprising an internal microphone and an external microphone, and at least one processor configured to: receive a multi-recording conversion signal from an electronic device, enable at least one microphone of the internal microphone and the external microphone based on the multi-recording conversion signal, transmit a first audio signal generated based on a sound input through the enabled at least one microphone to the electronic device, detect a microphone control input, selectively mute or unmute the at least one microphone of the internal microphone and the external microphone based on the microphone control input, and transmit, to the electronic device, a second audio signal generated based on a microphone input acquired in a state where the at least one microphone of the internal microphone and the external microphone is selectively muted or unmuted based on the microphone control input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2025
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jeonghwan Kim, Daesun Rhee
  • Patent number: 12356146
    Abstract: An audio conference system for automatically forming a single combined physical microphone array aperture across associated and/or disassociated ad-hoc microphone elements in a shared 3D space is provided. The audio conference system includes a plurality of microphone/speaker units, each including at least one microphone and/or at least one speaker and a system processor communicating with the microphone/speaker units. The system processor instructs the microphone/speaker units to transmit unique calibration signals sequentially or simultaneously and to calculate time difference of arrival (TDOA) between the microphone/speaker units. A physical array structure of the microphone/speaker units is obtained based on TDOA between the microphone/speaker units, and a consolidated target coverage zone common to the microphone/speaker units is generated based on the physical array structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2025
    Assignee: NUREVA, INC.
    Inventors: Aleksander Radisavljevic, David Eric Holmgren, Kael Blais, Zhengyin Wang
  • Patent number: 12348920
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to electronic components and glasses comprising an electronic component. The electronic component may include a component body, a first circuit board, a second circuit board, a first microphone element, and a second microphone element. The component body may include a cavity. The first circuit board and the second circuit board may be inclined to each arranged in the cavity. The first microphone element may be arranged on a sidewall, facing the component body, of the first circuit board. The second microphone element may be arranged on a sidewall, facing the component body, of the second circuit board. A first sound conducting hole may be arranged on a sidewall, opposite to the first microphone element, of the component body. The first sound conducting hole may be configured to conduct a sound to the first microphone element. A second sound conducting hole may be arranged on the sidewall, opposite to the first microphone element, of the component body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2025
    Assignee: SHENZHEN SHOKZ CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yueqiang Wang, Yongjian Li, Yunbin Chen, Haofeng Zhang
  • Patent number: 12335696
    Abstract: A microphone device includes a first circuit board, a plurality of first microphones and a plurality of second microphones. The first microphones are disposed on the first circuit board and arranged along a first spiral about the reference point. The second microphones are disposed on the first circuit board and arranged along a second spiral about the reference point, wherein the second spiral is non-overlapped with the first spiral. The first microphones and the second microphones are point-symmetrical with respect to the reference point, the first microphones and the second microphones form a plurality of microphone sets, and each of the microphone sets comprises one of the first microphones and one of the second microphones which are point-symmetrical with respect to the reference point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2025
    Assignee: AVER INFORMATION INC.
    Inventor: Ming-Yu Liu
  • Patent number: 12328568
    Abstract: An apparatus comprising means configured to: obtain at least one impulse response; obtain at least one reflection filter based on the obtained at least one impulse response, wherein the at least one reflection filter is configured to determine at least one early reflection from an acoustic surface which is not overlapped in time by any other reflection, wherein a duration of the at least one early reflection is shorter than a duration of the obtained at least one impulse response. In addition, an apparatus comprising means configured to: obtain at least one impulse response, wherein the at least one impulse response is configured with a perceivable timbre during rendering; create a timbral modification filter; obtain at least one audio signal; and render at least one output audio signal based on the at least one audio signal, wherein the at least one output signal is based on an application of the timbral modification filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2025
    Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
    Inventors: Antti Eronen, Tapani Pihlajakuja, Archontis Politis, Otto Puomio, Tapio Lokki
  • Patent number: 12323779
    Abstract: A sound source localization system includes a microphone array composed of a plurality of microphones each converting sound wave into a corresponding voice signal; a room shape estimator that determines a room shape including a location map and a corresponding template voice feature map composed of template voice features associated with a virtual sound source disposed at different locations respectively, and outputs a room reliability indicating confidence about the determined room shape; a lookup table (LUT) that pre-stores the location map and the corresponding template voice feature map; and a localizer that determines a location of a sound source according to the room reliability and similarity between a voice feature associated with the sound source and the template voice features of the template voice feature map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2025
    Assignee: Himax Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Ti-Wen Tang, Tzu-Hsu Chen, Chin-Kuei Hsu, Ching-Han Chou
  • Patent number: 12323783
    Abstract: Systems and techniques are provided for performing spatial audio recording. For instance, a process can include detecting an occlusion for at least one audio frame of one or more audio frames associated with a spatial audio recording. During the spatial audio recording, the process can further include selecting, based on detection of the occlusion, at least one of an occluded spatial filter for the one or more audio frames or a non-occluded spatial filter for the one or more audio frames.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2025
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Sanghyun Chi, Dinesh Ramakrishnan, Krishna Kumar Malthakal
  • Patent number: 12317041
    Abstract: Audio playback equipment includes microphones, a loudspeaker, emitter means arranged to emit a sound detection signal, and at least one processor component arranged: to acquire detection audio signals produced by the microphones as a result of picking up the detection sound signal; from the audio detection signals, to detect a run of maskings in which at least two distinct microphones are masked in succession; to analyze a detected run of maskings so as to detect a command slide made by a user on the housing via at least two distinct microphones; and to cause at least one predetermined action to take place as a result of detecting said command slide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2025
    Assignee: SAGEMCOM BROADBAND SAS
    Inventor: Gabriel Bouvigne
  • Patent number: 12315484
    Abstract: Described herein are active noise reduction (ANR) techniques for reducing noise produced by a fan(s) of a head-mounted display (HMD). An example process may include receiving data indicative of a noise that is being produced by the fan(s), determining, based at least in part on the data and using a model(s), one or more audio parameter values, and outputting, via one or more off-ear speakers of the HMD, a sound(s) having one or more audio characteristics based at least in part on the one or more audio parameter values to reduce the noise produced by the fan(s) at a location(s) of an ear(s) of the user of the HMD.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2025
    Assignee: Valve Corporation
    Inventors: Joshua Mark Hudman, Ivan McCraken
  • Patent number: 12279090
    Abstract: There is provided an apparatus comprising means for receiving spatial audio capture requirement(s) of one or more user devices; determining position and/or orientation information of the one or more user devices; generating one or more privacy masks at least partly based on the spatial audio capture requirement(s) and position and/or orientation information of the one or more user devices; and transmitting the generated privacy masks to the one or more user devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignee: Nokia Technologies OY
    Inventors: Sujeet Shyamsundar Mate, Antti Johannes Eronen, Arto Juhani Lehtiniemi, Lasse Juhani Laaksonen
  • Patent number: 12272345
    Abstract: For online audio/video conferencing applications deployed in an open office environment, using shared conference devices, it can be advantageous to define an acoustic fence. A non-participant audio received from outside the acoustic fence can be considered noise and filtered out before transmission of an audio signal to a far end recipient. Three suppression stages are used to filter the non-participant audio. The first suppression stage uses beamformers for suppression. The second suppression stage is mask-based, and the third suppression stage is reference-based. The three suppression stages filter out non-participant audio signals, having a wide range of frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: Zoom Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhenghang Gu, Zhaofeng Jia, Qiyong Liu, Ye Wang, Zexian Wu, Chunyu Zhang
  • Patent number: 12267664
    Abstract: A virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and/or mixed reality (MR) system in a physical environment with a plurality of loudspeakers includes a user-worn head mounted display (HMD), a VR/AR/MR processor, and a VR/AR/MR user tracking processor. The HMD includes a microphone and a user tracking device configured to track a user orientation and position. The VR/AR/MR processor delivers a digital video signal to the head-mounted display, and a digital control signal and a digital audio signal to a receiver/preamplifier. The VR/AR/MR user tracking processor receives user tracking data from the HMD user tracking device and provides a digital user tracking data signal to the receiver preamplifier. the receiver/preamplifier receives the digital user tracking data signal, the digital control signal, the digitized microphone signal, and the digital audio signal, and provides a processed audio signal to the amplifier. An amplifier receives the processed audio signal and provides amplified audio signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: SOUND UNITED LLC
    Inventors: Jonathan Rodman, Bradley M. Starobin
  • Patent number: 12260848
    Abstract: A method for generating an active noise reduction filter includes: obtaining a physically noise-reduced signal, the physically noise-reduced signal being a signal received by a feedback microphone after a noise signal passes through an earphone, obtaining a mixed signal, the mixed signal being a signal received by the feedback microphone when the same noise signal is played and the earphone plays a through signal in a through state, calculating an input signal according to the mixed signal and the physically noise-reduced signal, performing adaptive filtering on the input signal and the physically noise-reduced signal according to an adaptive filtering algorithm to obtain a transfer function, and generating an active noise reduction filter according to the transfer function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Shenzhen Bluetrum Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shali Wei, Chongming Xu, Xiangen Deng
  • Patent number: 12262191
    Abstract: An audio processor for reproducing multichannel audio has a normal layer processing and a lower layer processing. The normal layer processing is configured for processing one or more channels of the object-specific audio or the multichannel audio belonging to a normal layer. The lower layer processing is configured for processing at least one channel or more channels of the object-specific audio or the multichannel audio belonging to a lower layer. The lower layer processing is configured to feed at least one signal belonging to the one channel or the more channels of the lower layer to a subwoofer output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V.
    Inventors: Andreas Walther, Yannik Grewe, Julian Klapp
  • Patent number: 12256201
    Abstract: A microphone unit having only one PCB, a plurality of transducers of acoustic-electric type with digital output mounted on a back side of the PCB, through holes obtained in the PCB in correspondence with each transducer, an A2B audio interface mounted on the back side of the PCB and electrically connected to the transducers; and input/output electrical connectors mounted on the back side of the PCB and electrically connected to said A2B audio interface; the plurality of transducers include a central transducer and at least three peripheral transducers disposed at the same radial distance from the central transducer and equally angularly spaced. A microphone meta-array includes a plurality of microphone units connected by one or more A2b networks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Inventors: Luca Cattani, Angelo Farina, Daniel Pinardi, Tiziano Nili, Andrea Toscani
  • Patent number: 12245015
    Abstract: Presented herein are techniques to enhance the audio portion of a video conference. In one embodiment, a method includes determining, using a multi-microphone array, a direction of arrival of sound signals from a user, detecting, using an image from a camera, a face of the user, determining a position of the face of the user with respect to a position of the camera, and forming a spatial beam for the multi-microphone array based on the direction of arrival of sound signals from the user and the position of the face of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: Ragnvald Balch Barth, Sindre Groestad
  • Patent number: 12244999
    Abstract: A digital stethoscope includes a stethoscope housing defining a housing edge. The digital stethoscope also includes a surface region secured to the stethoscope housing at the housing edge, and a number of microphones. The digital stethoscope also includes a processing device disposed within the stethoscope housing and in communication with the microphones. The processing device receives the digital audio data from the microphones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: ALIVECOR, INC.
    Inventors: David Nalin Kumar, Vinod Khosla
  • Patent number: 12242972
    Abstract: A method for generating an impulse response for a listening point in a room includes: receiving a 3D model of the room, the position of at least one sound source in the 3D model, and acoustic properties of at least one boundary in the 3D model; using a wave based solver for determining a wave based impulse response of a wave based propagation of an impulse emitted at the at least one sound source in the 3D model and received at the listening point within a first acoustic frequency range; using a geometrical acoustics based solver for determining a geometrical impulse response of the ray based propagation of an impulse emitted at the at least one sound source in the 3D model and received at the listening point within a second acoustic frequency range; and generating the impulse response by merging the wave impulse response and the geometrical impulse response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: TREBLE TECHNOLOGIES
    Inventors: Finnur Pind, Jesper Pedersen