Location aware power management scheme for always-on-always-listen voice recognition system

• US 10,133,332 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2014
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Wong, Hong W., Kwong, Wah Yiu, Liang, Xiaoguo, Tao, Jiancheng, Wang, Jian
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Albert
• Application Number:
  US15/113,780
• Publication Number:
  US 20170031420A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,695 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3293 by switching to a less power-consuming processor, e.g. sub-CPU
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/20 Speech recognition techniques specially adapted for robustness in adverse environments, e.g. in noise, of stress induced speech G10L21/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2025/786 Adaptive threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/84 for discriminating voice from noise
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0254 detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods and apparatus relating to a location aware power management scheme for an always-on-always-listen voice recognition system are described. In an embodiment, logic performs ambient noise trigger level analysis for a location and causes storage of an ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location based on the ambient noise trigger level analysis. Furthermore, logic determines whether to cause modification to a state of an audio processor in response to detection of the audio processor at the location and comparison of a detected sound level at the location and the stored ambient noise trigger level threshold value. Other embodiments are also disclosed and claimed.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

performance logic, the performance logic at least partially comprising hardware logic, to perform ambient noise trigger level analysis for a location and cause storage of an ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location based on the ambient noise trigger level analysis,

wherein modification logic is to determine whether to cause modification to a state of an audio processor in response to detection of the audio processor at the location and comparison of a detected sound level at the location and the stored ambient noise trigger level threshold value, wherein the ambient noise trigger level threshold value is to be selected from a plurality of ambient noise trigger level threshold values, wherein each of the plurality of ambient noise trigger level threshold values is to correspond to a different type of location for the audio processor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein performance logic is to cause storage of the ambient noise trigger level threshold value and a time of the analysis for the location.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein modification logic is to cause the audio processor or another processor to enter a high performance state or high power consumption state to detect a voice command.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein modification logic is to cause the audio processor or another processor to stay in a low power consumption state or low performance state in response to not detecting a voice command.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more sensors are to detect data indicative of the location of the audio processor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the stored ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location is to be shared amongst a plurality of computing devices.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the plurality of the computing devices are to be coupled to the same computer network.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein detection of the audio processor at the location is to be aligned with periodic wake states.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein how often the detection of the audio processor at the location occurs is to be dynamically adjusted.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising logic to adjust the ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location based on a false trigger that occurs after performance of the ambient noise trigger level analysis for the location.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a processor, having one or more processor cores, is to comprise the performance logic.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more of the performance logic, one or more processor cores, and memory are on a single integrated circuit die.

13. A method comprising:

performing ambient noise trigger level analysis for a location and cause storage of an ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location based on the ambient noise trigger level analysis; and

determining whether to cause modification to a state of an audio processor in response to detection of the audio processor at the location and comparison of a detected sound level at the location and the stored ambient noise trigger level threshold value, wherein the ambient noise trigger level threshold value is selected from a plurality of ambient noise trigger level threshold values, wherein each of the plurality of ambient noise trigger level threshold values corresponds to a different type of location for the audio processor.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising causing storage of the ambient noise trigger level threshold value and a time of the analysis for the location.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising causing the audio processor or another processor to enter a high performance state or a high power consumption state to detect a voice command.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising causing the audio processor or another processor to stay in a low performance state or a low power consumption state in response to not detecting a voice command.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising causing one or more sensors to detect data indicative of the location of the audio processor.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising sharing the stored ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location amongst a plurality of computing devices.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising causing coupling of the plurality of the computing devices to the same computer network.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising aligning detection of the audio processor at the location with periodic wake states.

21. The method of claim 13, further comprising dynamically adjusting how often the detection of the audio processor at the location occurs.

22. The method of claim 13, further comprising adjusting the ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location based on a false trigger that occurs after performance of the ambient noise trigger level analysis for the location.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions that when executed on a processor configure the processor to perform one or more operations to:

perform ambient noise trigger level analysis for a location and cause storage of an ambient noise trigger level threshold value for the location based on the ambient noise trigger level analysis; and

determine whether to cause modification to a state of an audio processor in response to detection of the audio processor at the location and comparison of a detected sound level at the location and the stored ambient noise trigger level threshold value, wherein the ambient noise trigger level threshold value is to be selected from a plurality of ambient noise trigger level threshold values, wherein each of the plurality of ambient noise trigger level threshold values is to correspond to a different type of location for the audio processor.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising one or more instructions that when executed on the processor configure the processor to perform one or more operations to cause storage of the ambient noise trigger level threshold value and a time of the analysis for the location.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising one or more instructions that when executed on the processor configure the processor to perform one or more operations to cause the audio processor or another processor to enter a high performance state or a high power consumption state to detect a voice command.