Patents Issued in March 7, 2023
  • Patent number: 11600246
    Abstract: In the use of a display of a converter, method for operating a converter, and converter, the converter having an address code switch, in particular on its housing, and in an actuation of the address code switch and during a subsequent, predefined period of time, a respective value corresponding to the respective switch position of the address code switch is displayed by the display. Operating information of the converter is displayed in all other cases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: SEW-EURODRIVE GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventor: Joachim Nikola
  • Patent number: 11600247
    Abstract: The retainer for securing a musical instrument string to a body of a musical instrument includes a first casing portion defining a first opening and a ball-end chamber therein. The first opening is located at a proximal end of the retainer and a second casing portion is located at a distal end of the first casing portion. The second casing portion defines a passageway from the ball-end chamber to a second opening located at a distal end of the retainer. The passageway length is greater than the ball-end chamber length, and the ball-end chamber width is greater the passageway width.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Inventor: Robert J. Lesko
  • Patent number: 11600248
    Abstract: A bow for a musical instrument is provided where the bow includes a bowstick having a proximal end configured to be grasped by a user and a distal end remote from the proximal end, the distal end being provided with a stylus configured for use with a capacitive touch screen. The stylus may include a touch screen contact portion for contacting a touch screen and a bow attachment portion for attachment to a bow of a musical instrument. The stylus allows a musician using the bow to interact with a touchscreen device without having to release the bow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Project Zed Limited
    Inventor: Joseph Stanley Harrop
  • Patent number: 11600249
    Abstract: A saxophone cleaning tool is revealed. The saxophone cleaning tool includes a cleaner provided with a cleaning surface for cleaning an inner surface of a tube, a first pull body having one end connected with a first connection portion of the cleaner and the other end placed into the tube through a tube opening and descending into a curved portion, and a second pull body having one end connected with a second connection portion of the cleaner and the other end placed into the tube through a bell opening and descending into the curved portion. A free end of both the first and second pull bodies is provided with an assembly portion and a magnetic member. Thereby the cleaning tool is passed through the tube easily with the two free ends connected to form a loop which is pulled continuously for fast and cyclic cleaning of the saxophone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: CHYAU-KE CO., LTD
    Inventor: Chi-Yi Ko
  • Patent number: 11600250
    Abstract: Described herein are percussion instruments and drums, such as snare drums. The drums include a throw-off device with a handle attached to a mount, which itself can be attached to a drum sidewall. One of the handle and the mount includes a magnet while the other includes a magnetic portion for magnetic engagement with the magnet. The magnetic engagement can be used to bias the handle toward or into a desired position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Drum Workshop, Inc.
    Inventor: Rich Sikra
  • Patent number: 11600251
    Abstract: A musicality information provision method includes acquiring first performance data from a performance of a given composition, calculating, with respect to a combination of a plurality of parameters indicating musicality, which are included in the first performance data, respective distances between the first performance data and a plurality of sets of second performance data that are acquired from performances of the given composition and that are compared with the first performance data, and outputting determination information for determining the musicality of the first performance data, the determination information including information indicating the distances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignees: UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA, OSAKA UNIVERSITY, ROLAND CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinichi Yamagiwa, Yoshinobu Kawahara, Hidemasa Togai, Yoshiyasu Kitagawa, Ikuo Tanaka, Tomoko Nakai
  • Patent number: 11600252
    Abstract: A performance analysis method according to the present invention includes generating information related to a performance tendency of a user, from observed performance information relating to a performance of a musical piece by the user and inferred performance information that occurs when the musical piece is performed based on a specific tendency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akira Maezawa
  • Patent number: 11600253
    Abstract: An electronic percussion instrument, electronic musical instrument, information processing device, and information processing method are provided. The electronic musical instrument includes a control device that performs processing in which an envelope indicating a change in a reference value over time for determining whether vibration of the second playing operation element is self-induced vibration or excited vibration entailed by vibration of the first playing operation element is generated based on a waveform indicating vibration of the first playing operation element, and processing in which information on the basis of excited vibration of the second playing operation element is prevented from being included in information indicating operation of the second playing operation element using the reference value indicated by the envelope.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Roland Corporation
    Inventor: Seiya Izumi
  • Patent number: 11600254
    Abstract: A noise attenuating trim part for a vehicle, with acoustic mass-spring characteristics comprising a mass layer comprising at least an impervious barrier layer, and a decoupling layer consisting of open cell foam and wherein the decoupling layer has a first surface adjacent to the mass layer and a second surface facing away from the mass layer, and wherein the decoupling layer and mass layer are laminated together and wherein the decoupling layer has at least one region with a plurality of indentations wherein each indentation comprises a round base area wherein the round base areas are situated in plane with the second surface and wherein the total surface area of the round base areas is between 10 and 40% of the total surface area of the second surface of the decoupling layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: AUTONEUM MANAGEMENT AG
    Inventors: Michael Scheinhardt, Marco Seppi
  • Patent number: 11600255
    Abstract: An acoustic panel is provided that includes a perforated first skin, a second skin and a corrugated structure. The corrugated structure is between and is connected to the perforated first skin and the second skin. The corrugated structure includes a first baffle, a first septum, first material and second material that is configured with the first material. The first baffle is formed by an uninterrupted portion of the first material. The first septum is formed by a portion of the second material that is exposed through an interruption in the first material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Rohr, Inc.
    Inventors: Marc W. Quesada, Jose S. Alonso-Miralles, Kathryn Mireles, Michael Scamardo, Yves Klett
  • Patent number: 11600256
    Abstract: A first input signal captured by one or more sensors associated with an ANR headphone is received. A frequency domain representation of the first input signal is computed for a set of discrete frequencies, based on which a set of parameters is generated for a digital filter disposed in an ANR signal flow path of the ANR headphone, the set of parameters being such that a loop gain of the ANR signal flow path substantially matches a target loop gain. Generating the set of parameters comprises: adjusting a response of the digital filter at frequencies (e.g., spanning between 200 Hz-5 kHz). A response of at least 3 second order sections of the digital filter is adjusted. A second input signal in the ANR signal flow path is processed using the generated set of parameters to generate an output signal for driving the electroacoustic transducer of the ANR headphone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventor: John Rule
  • Patent number: 11600257
    Abstract: A connector for connecting together first and second mechanical waveguides, including a first connector body having a first jaw portion provided with a first aperture for receiving the first mechanical waveguide therein, a second connector body having a second jaw portion provided with a second aperture for receiving the second mechanical waveguide therein, with the first and second connector bodies removably securable together, a first mediating body having an acoustic impedance lower than that of the first mechanical waveguide, with the first mediating body being inserted within the first aperture to be positioned between the first jaw portion and the first mechanical waveguide, and a second mediating body having an acoustic impedance lower than that of the second mechanical waveguide, with the second mediating body inserted within the second aperture to be positioned between the second jaw portion and the second mechanical waveguide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Les Solutions Medicales Soundbite Inc.
    Inventors: Gholamreza Mirshekari, Martin Brouillette, Steven Dion, Louis-Philippe Riel, Chris Karshafian, Aaron Ma
  • Patent number: 11600258
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods associated with mode conversion for ultrasound and acoustic radiation devices. A method is disclosed for manufacturing a mode converting structure comprising a holographic metamaterial that, when positioned relative to an acoustic radiation device (AR), modifies an acoustic field profile of the AR device from an input mode to an output mode, the method including identifying a volumetric distribution of acoustic material properties within the mode converting structure to transform an input pressure field distribution of acoustic radiation in the input mode to an output field distribution of acoustic radiation that approximates the target radiation pattern in the output mode and manufacturing the mode converting structure using the identified volumetric distribution of acoustic material properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Elwha LLC
    Inventor: Yaroslav A. Urzhumov
  • Patent number: 11600259
    Abstract: Provided are a voice synthesis method, an apparatus, a device, and a storage medium, involving obtaining text information and determining characters in the text information and a text content of each of the characters; performing a character recognition on the text content of each of the characters, to determine character attribute information of each of the characters; obtaining speakers in one-to-one correspondence with the characters according to the character attribute information of each of the characters, where the speakers are pre-stored pronunciation object having the character attribute information; and generating multi-character synthesized voices according to the text information and the speakers corresponding to the characters of the text information. These improve pronunciation diversities of different characters in the synthesized voices, improve an audience's discrimination between different characters in the synthesized voices, and thereby improve experience of a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Inventor: Jie Yang
  • Patent number: 11600260
    Abstract: Devices and techniques are generally described for generating and evaluating utterances. In some examples, an utterance generation and evaluation system can receive intent data and target data. The utterance generation and evaluation system can determine related target names and related intent names and, based on the related target names and related intent names, can generate an utterance phrase. The utterance generation and evaluation system can determine a confidence score associated with the utterance phrase and, based on the confidence score, determine the utterance phrase as a recommended utterance phrase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Vaidyanathan Puthucode Krishnamoorthy, Deepak Babu P R, Ashwin Gopinath, Sethuraman Ramachandran, Ankit Tiwari
  • Patent number: 11600261
    Abstract: Systems are configured for generating spectrogram data characterized by a voice timbre of a target speaker and a prosody style of source speaker by converting a waveform of source speaker data to phonetic posterior gram (PPG) data, extracting additional prosody features from the source speaker data, and generating a spectrogram based on the PPG data and the extracted prosody features. The systems are configured to utilize/train a machine learning model for generating spectrogram data and for training a neural text-to-speech model with the generated spectrogram data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Shifeng Pan, Lei He, Yulin Li, Sheng Zhao, Chunling Ma
  • Patent number: 11600262
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a recognition device includes storage and a processor. The storage is configured to store a first recognition model, a first data set, and tags, for each first recognition model. The processor is configured to acquire a second data set, execute recognition processing of the second recognition target data in the second data set by using the first recognition model, extract a significant tag of the tags stored in the storage in association with the first recognition model, based on the recognition processing result and the second correct data in the second data set, and create a second recognition model based on the acquired second data set and the first data set stored in the storage in association with the extracted tag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA DIGITAL SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koji Yasuda, Kenta Cho
  • Patent number: 11600263
    Abstract: This disclosure describes a tabletop game assistant system configured to ingest and guide tangible games (such as board games, card games, etc.) using natural language interaction and image capture/visual display components. The system can include features enabling a game developer to “teach” the system the rules of a game using natural language, such as written instructions, to reduce or eliminate the need for writing dedicated code. The system may process images of a game board and/or tokens such as game pieces and/or cards to further generate game data in the form of a logical game model. The system can use the game data to guide human players of the game and, in some cases, participate as a player itself. The system may further be configured to observe a game and detect invalid actions, answer questions regarding the rules, and suggest moves. The system may provide additional utilities such as generating a random output (e.g., rolling virtual dice) and learning to recognize new game pieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: James Robert Blair, Mark Chien, Farah Lynn Houston, Steven T Rabuchin
  • Patent number: 11600264
    Abstract: A prosodic speech recognition engine configured to identify prosodic features and patterns in a speech continuum for the extraction of linguistic content including para-syntactic content, discourse function, information structure, meaning, and speaker sentiment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: YEDA RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Elisha Moses, Tirza Biron, Dominik Freche, Daniel Baum, Nadav Matalon, Netanel Ehrmann, Eyal Weinreb
  • Patent number: 11600265
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for determining whether to activate a voice activated device based on a speaking cadence of the user. When the user speaks with a first cadence the system may determine that the user does not intend to activate the device and may accordingly not to trigger a voice activated device. When the user speaks with a second cadence the system may determine that the user does wish to trigger the device and may accordingly trigger the voice activated device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc.
    Inventors: Edison Lin, Rowena Young, Kanchan Sripathy, Reda Harb
  • Patent number: 11600266
    Abstract: Systems and methods of network-based learning models for natural language processing are provided. Information may be stored information in memory regarding user interaction with network content. Further, a digital recording of a vocal utterance made by a user may be captured. The vocal utterance may be interpreted based on the stored user interaction information. An intent of the user may be identified based on the interpretation, and a prediction may be made based on the identified intent. The prediction may further correspond to a selected workflow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
    Inventor: Stephen Yong
  • Patent number: 11600267
    Abstract: A technique for semantic search and retrieval that is event-based, wherein is event is composed of a sequence of observations that are user speech or physical actions. Using a first set of conversations, a machine learning model is trained against groupings of utterances therein to generate a speech act classifier. Observation sequences therein are organized into groupings of events and configured for subsequent event recognition. A set of second (unannotated) conversations are then received. The set of second conversations is evaluated using the speech act classifier and information retrieved from the event recognition to generate event-level metadata that comprises, for each utterance or physical action within an event, one or more associated tags. In response to a query, a search is performed against the metadata. Because the metadata is derived from event recognition, the search is performed against events learned from the set of first conversations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Drift.com, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey D. Orkin, Christopher M. Ward, Elias Torres
  • Patent number: 11600268
    Abstract: The method S200 can include: at an aircraft, receiving an audio utterance from air traffic control S210, converting the audio utterance to text, determining commands from the text using a question-and-answer model S240, and optionally controlling the aircraft based on the commands S250. The method functions to automatically interpret flight commands from the air traffic control (ATC) stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: MERLIN LABS, INC.
    Inventors: Michael Pust, Joseph Bondaryk, Matthew George
  • Patent number: 11600269
    Abstract: A system for detection of at least one designated wake-up word for at least one speech-enabled application. The system comprises at least one microphone; and at least one computer hardware processor configured to perform: receiving an acoustic signal generated by the at least one microphone at least in part as a result of receiving an utterance spoken by a speaker; obtaining information indicative of the speaker's identity; interpreting the acoustic signal at least in part by determining, using the information indicative of the speaker's identity and automated speech recognition, whether the utterance spoken by the speaker includes the at least one designated wake-up word; and interacting with the speaker based, at least in part, on results of the interpreting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Cerence Operating Company
    Inventors: Meik Pfeffinger, Timo Matheja, Tobias Herbig, Tim Haulick
  • Patent number: 11600270
    Abstract: The present technique relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method that can improve the convenience of a voice AI assistance service used in coordination with content. A first information processing apparatus including an insertion unit that inserts a token, which is related to use of a voice AI assistance service in coordination with content, into an audio stream of the content and a second information processing apparatus including a detection unit that detects the inserted token from the audio stream of the content can be provided to improve the convenience of the voice AI assistance service used in coordination with the content. The present technique can be applied to, for example, a system in coordination with the voice AI assistance service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Saturn Licensing LLC
    Inventor: Yasuaki Yamagishi
  • Patent number: 11600271
    Abstract: A speech-based audio device may be configured to detect a user-uttered wake expression. For example, the audio device may generate a parameter indicating whether output audio is currently being produced by an audio speaker, whether the output audio contains speech, whether the output audio contains a predefined expression, loudness of the output audio, loudness of input audio, and/or an echo characteristic. Based on the parameter, the audio device may determine whether an occurrence of the predefined expression in the input audio is a result of an utterance of the predefined expression by a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Alan Pogue, Philip Ryan Hilmes
  • Patent number: 11600272
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for facilitating navigation of an oil-gas domain application using a virtual assistant integrated within the oil-gas domain application includes generating a trained model for responding to utterances received from a user via a virtual assistant integrated within an oil-gas domain application. The trained model links the utterances to respective actions and responses; receiving a user utterance via the virtual assistant integrated within the oil-gas domain application. The method further includes determining a response to the user utterance using the trained model, wherein the response is associated with performing an action within the oil-gas domain application; and providing the response to the virtual assistant to cause the virtual assistant to execute the action within the oil-gas domain application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Atul Sureka
  • Patent number: 11600273
    Abstract: The speech processing apparatus 100 includes an air microphone speech recognition unit 101 which recognizes speech from an air microphone 200 acquiring speech through air, a wearable microphone speech recognition unit 102 which recognizes speech from a wearable microphone 300, a sensing unit 103 which measures environmental conditions, a weight decision unit 104 which calculates the weights for recognition results of the air microphone speech recognition unit 101 and the wearable microphone speech recognition unit 102 on the basis of the environmental conditions, and a combination unit 105 which combines the recognition results outputted from the air microphone speech recognition unit 101 and the wearable microphone speech recognition unit 102, using the weights.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Qiongqiong Wang, Takafumi Koshinaka
  • Patent number: 11600274
    Abstract: A process for recognizing and responding to a detected audio inquiry by gathering information distributed amongst users and providing a calculated result includes monitoring audio communications and detecting an audio inquiry from a first electronic communication device. It is determined then the audio inquiry is of a distributed information gathering and mathematical operation type and, in response, a plurality of target electronic communication devices that are capable of providing partial answers to the audio inquiry are identified and a request for a partial answer transmitted to each. Corresponding partial answers are received and a mathematical operation performed on the partial answers to generate a final answer to the audio inquiry different from the corresponding partial answers. The final answer is then provided to the first electronic communication device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Mariusz Stefanski, Kornel Maslowski, Dariusz Majcherczyk, Grzegorz Gustof
  • Patent number: 11600275
    Abstract: An electronic device performing voice recognition on user utterance based on first voice assistance. The electronic device may receive information on recognition characteristic of second voice assistance for user utterance from an external device and adjust recognition characteristic of the first voice assistance based on the information on the recognition characteristic of the second voice assistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Dongwan Kim
  • Patent number: 11600276
    Abstract: One embodiment provides a method for predicting a next action in a conversation system that includes obtaining, by a processor, information from conversation logs and a conversation design. The processor further creates a dialog graph based on the conversation design. Weights and attributes for edges in the dialog graph are determined based on the information from the conversation logs and adding user input and external context information to an edge attributes set. An unrecognized user input is analyzed and a next action is predicted based on dialog nodes in the dialog graph and historical paths. A guiding conversation response is generated based on the predicted next action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Lei Huang, Robert J. Moore, Guangjie Ren, Shun Jiang
  • Patent number: 11600277
    Abstract: A voice input apparatus inputs voice and detects proximity to the voice input apparatus. The voice input apparatus performs control to, in a case where a second voice instruction for operating the voice input apparatus is input in a fixed period after a first voice instruction for enabling operations by voice on the voice input apparatus is input, execute processing corresponding to the second voice instruction. In a case where proximity to the voice input apparatus is detected, the voice input apparatus executes processing corresponding to the second voice instruction when the second voice instruction is input, even in a case where the first voice instruction is not input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Daiyu Ueno
  • Patent number: 11600278
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a plurality of microphones to obtain speech from a person outside the vehicle as an input signal and a sensor system to determine a location and orientation of the person relative to the vehicle. The vehicle also includes a controller to determine characteristics of the input signal and to determine whether to perform speech enhancement on the input signal based on one or more of the characteristics and the location and orientation of the person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Alaa M. Khamis, Gaurav Talwar, Romeo D. Garcia, Jr., Carmine F. D'agostino, Neeraj R. Gautama
  • Patent number: 11600279
    Abstract: A method to transcribe communications may include obtaining audio data originating at a first device during a communication session between the first device and a second device and providing the audio data to an automated speech recognition system configured to transcribe the audio data. The method may further include obtaining multiple hypothesis transcriptions generated by the automated speech recognition system. Each of the multiple hypothesis transcriptions may include one or more words determined by the automated speech recognition system to be a transcription of a portion of the audio data. The method may further include determining one or more consistent words that are included in two or more of the multiple hypothesis transcriptions and in response to determining the one or more consistent words, providing the one or more consistent words to the second device for presentation of the one or more consistent words by the second device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Sorenson IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Brian Chevrier, Shane Roylance, Kenneth Boehme
  • Patent number: 11600280
    Abstract: An analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), comprising: an adaptive whitening filter configured to filter an analogue input signal and output a whitened analogue input signal; a first converter configured to receive said whitened analogue input signal and output a whitened digital signal; a controller configured to adapt the whitening filter based on the received analogue input signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventor: John P. Lesso
  • Patent number: 11600281
    Abstract: There is disclosed inter alia an apparatus for spatial audio signal encoding comprising means for receiving for each time frequency block of a sub band of an audio frame a spatial audio parameter comprising an azimuth and an elevation; determining a first distortion measure for the audio frame by determining a first distance measure for each time frequency block and summing the first distance measure for each time frequency block; determining a second distortion measure for the audio frame by determining a second distance measure for each time frequency block and summing the second distance measure for each time frequency block, and selecting either the first quantization scheme or the second quantization scheme for quantising the elevation and the azimuth for all time frequency blocks of the sub band of the audio frame, wherein the selecting is dependent on the first and second distortion measures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
    Inventor: Adriana Vasilache
  • Patent number: 11600282
    Abstract: Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media. One of the methods includes receiving an audio waveform that includes a respective audio sample for each of a plurality of time steps, processing the audio waveform using an encoder neural network to generate a plurality of feature vectors representing the audio waveform, generating a respective coded representation of each of the plurality of feature vectors using a plurality of vector quantizers that are each associated with a respective codebook of code vectors, wherein the respective coded representation of each feature vector identifies a plurality of code vectors, including a respective code vector from the codebook of each vector quantizer, that define a quantized representation of the feature vector, and generating a compressed representation of the audio waveform by compressing the respective coded representation of each of the plurality of feature vectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Neil Zeghidour, Marco Tagliasacchi, Dominik Roblek
  • Patent number: 11600283
    Abstract: A codec allowing for switching between different coding modes is improved by, responsive to a switching instance, performing temporal smoothing and/or blending at a respective transition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Martin Dietz, Eleni Fotopoulou, Jérémie Lecomte, Markus Multrus, Benjamin Schubert
  • Patent number: 11600284
    Abstract: A voice morphing apparatus having adjustable parameters is described. The disclosed system and method include a voice morphing apparatus that morphs input audio to mask a speaker's identity. Parameter adjustment uses evaluation of an objective function that is based on the input audio and output of the voice morphing apparatus. The voice morphing apparatus includes objectives that are based adversarially on speaker identification and positively on audio fidelity. Thus, the voice morphing apparatus is adjusted to reduce identifiability of speakers while maintaining fidelity of the morphed audio. The voice morphing apparatus may be used as part of an automatic speech recognition system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: SOUNDHOUND, INC.
    Inventor: Steve Pearson
  • Patent number: 11600285
    Abstract: A method for speech equalization, comprising the steps of receiving an input audio signal, processing said input audio signal in dependence on frequency and to providing an equalized electric audio signal according to an equalization function, wherein said equalization function comprises at least an actuator part configured to dynamically applying a compensation filter to the received input signal and dynamically applying a transparent filter to the received input signal, and further transmitting an output signal perceivable by a user as sound representative of said electric acoustic input signal or a processed version thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: EPOS Group A/S
    Inventors: Anders Røser Hansen, Poul Peder Hestbek, Svend Feldt, Casper Fynsk
  • Patent number: 11600286
    Abstract: A hearing device includes: a first microphone and a second microphone for provision of a first microphone input signal and a second microphone input signal, respectively; a beamforming module configured to process the first microphone input signal and the second microphone input signal, the beamforming module configured to provide a beamformed input signal; a processor configured to process the beamformed input signal for provision of an electrical output signal based on the beamformed input signal from the beamforming module; a receiver configured to convert the electrical output signal to an audio output signal; and a motion detector; wherein the beamforming module comprises a beamforming controller coupled to the motion detector, and wherein the beamforming controller is configured to control the beamforming module based on motion data from the motion detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: GN HEARING A/S
    Inventor: Jesper Udesen
  • Patent number: 11600287
    Abstract: Audio systems and methods are provided that receive a sound management input signal as a reference signal to remove related content from a microphone signal in, e.g., an automotive hands-free system. The sound management signal may provide an acoustic augmentation to reduce, enhance, or create an acoustic effect, e.g., of an engine, motor, or other operating components. A signal processor receives the sound management signal and the microphone signal, and reduces or removes the sound management signal components from the microphone signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Bose Corporation
    Inventors: Cristian Marius Hera, Samuel Sangmin Rhee
  • Patent number: 11600288
    Abstract: A sound signal processing device that acquires a collected-sound signal obtained by sampling a sound collected by a microphone at a first sampling frequency, and receives a reproduced-sound signal obtained by sampling a sound for reproduction at a second sampling frequency different from the first sampling frequency, and then converts the sampling frequency of the reproduced-sound signal into the first sampling frequency so as to remove an acoustic echo from the collected-sound signal by using the reproduced-sound signal whose sampling frequency has been converted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
    Inventor: Yoshihiko Tamaru
  • Patent number: 11600289
    Abstract: The present document discloses a method for fading discontinued audio feeds for replay by a speaker. In particular, the method may first comprise receiving an input audio feed comprising a plurality of samples. The method may further comprise determining whether the input audio feed is discontinued. And, when discontinuity of the input audio feed is detected, the method may comprise generating an intermediate audio signal comprising a plurality of samples based on the discontinued input audio feed. In particular, the intermediate audio signal may be generated based on a last portion of the discontinued input audio feed that has been output for replay. In addition, the method may further comprise applying a fadeout function to the intermediate audio signal to generate a fadeout audio signal. Finally, the method may comprise outputting the fadeout audio signal for replay by the speaker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Dolby International AB
    Inventors: Gael Lassure, Alexander Stahlmann
  • Patent number: 11600290
    Abstract: Aspects of this disclosure provide techniques for generating a viseme and corresponding intensity pair. In some embodiments, the method includes generating, by a server, a viseme and corresponding intensity pair based at least on one of a clean vocal track or corresponding transcription. The method may include generating, by the server, a compressed audio file based at least on one of the viseme, the corresponding intensity, music, or visual offset. The method may further include generating, by the server or a client end application, a buffer of raw pulse-code modulated (PCM) data based on decoding at least a part of the compressed audio file, where the viseme is scheduled to align with a corresponding phoneme.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: LEXIA LEARNING SYSTEMS LLC
    Inventor: Carl Adrian Woffenden
  • Patent number: 11600291
    Abstract: This disclosure describes techniques for identifying a voice-enabled device from a group of voice-enabled devices to respond to a speech utterance of a user. A speech-processing system may receive an audio signal representing the speech utterance captured in an environment of a voice-enabled device, and identify another voice-enabled device located in the environment. The system may analyze the audio signal using a different natural-language-understanding model for each of the voice-enabled devices to identify an intent for each of the voice-enabled devices to respond to the speech utterance. The system may determine confidence scores that the intents are responsive to the speech utterance, and select the intent with the highest confidence score. The system may use the selected intent to generate a command for the corresponding voice-enabled device to respond to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Gang Lan, Joseph Pedro Tavares, Deepak Uttam Shah, Mckay Clawson, Vijay Shankar Tennety, Ravi Kiran Rachakonda, Venkata Snehith Cherukuri, Charles James Torbert
  • Patent number: 11600292
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device comprises a magnetic disk, a magnetic head, a monitoring unit, and a control unit. When carrying out write of data to a first track, if an absolute difference between a light output monitored by the monitoring unit at the time of write and a light output monitored last time by the monitoring unit exceeds a predetermined value, the control unit controls a position of a write head and writes data again to the first track or a second track one track before the first track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation
    Inventors: Takuya Matsumoto, Yusuke Tomoda
  • Patent number: 11600293
    Abstract: A magnetic recording device includes a main pole, a coil around the main pole, a trailing shield, and a leading shield. A trailing gap is between the main pole and the trailing shield. In one embodiment, the trailing gap includes a non-magnetic conductive material. In another embodiment, the trailing gap includes a spin torque oscillator device. A leading gap is between the main pole and the leading shield. The leading gap includes a non-magnetic conductive material. The main pole is coupled to a first terminal. The trailing shield coupled to a second terminal. The leading shield is coupled to a third terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Terence Lam, Michael Kuok San Ho, Yaguang Wei, Zhigang Bai, Muhammad Asif Bashir
  • Patent number: 11600294
    Abstract: Magnetic media including a magnetic recording layer structure formed of alternating magnetic recording sublayers and non-magnetic exchange control sublayers. The magnetic recording layer structure may include at least one magnetic recording sublayer formed to include a pair of thin films, with the films having different concentrations of platinum, ruthenium, and/or oxide segregants. That is, the sublayer has a “dual layer” structure. The dual layer structure can provide a gradient in magnetic anisotropy, saturation magnetization, and/or intergranular magnetic exchange coupling across the sublayer. In some examples, the film nearer to the substrate of the magnetic media has a higher platinum concentration than the other film. In one aspect, the magnetic media includes the substrate and the magnetic recording layer structure on the substrate, with the structure including six magnetic recording sublayers. In another aspect, a method of fabricating magnetic media with such structures is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Kai Tang
  • Patent number: 11600295
    Abstract: A vacuum process method for a magnetic recording medium having a surface protective layer for protecting a magnetic recording layer formed on a substrate includes a ta-C film forming step of forming a ta-C film on the magnetic recording layer, a transportation step of transporting a substrate on which the ta-C film is formed, a radical generation step of generating radicals by exciting a process gas, and a radical process step of irradiating a surface of the ta-C film with the radicals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: CANON ANELVA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroshi Yakushiji, Masahiro Shibamoto