VAD detection microphone and method of operating the same
First Claim
1. A microphone assembly comprising:
- an acoustic sensor configured to produce an electrical signal at an output of the acoustic sensor in response to sensing an acoustic signal;
an electrical circuit including an acoustic activity detector, the electrical circuit having an input coupled to the output of the acoustic sensor, the electrical circuit configured to process the electrical signal to generate data representing the electrical signal;
an internal clock signal generator coupled to the electrical circuit;
a host interface with external connections coupled to the electrical circuit, the external connections including a connection for an external clock signal and data;
the microphone assembly having an acoustic activity detection mode of operation when the electrical circuit is clocked by the internal clock signal generator in the absence of an external clock signal at the host interface, the electrical circuit configured to provide an interrupt signal to the host interface upon detection of an acoustic event by the electrical circuit,the microphone assembly having a plurality of operating modes with different power consumptions, the plurality of operating modes controlled by an external clock signal received at the host interface in response to providing the interrupt signal,wherein the electrical circuit is configured to provide the data representing the electrical signal to the host interface when the external clock signal is received at the host interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A microphone assembly includes an acoustic sensor configured to produce an electrical signal and an electrical circuit including a voice activity detector coupled to an output of the acoustic sensor. The microphone assembly further includes an internal clock signal generator and a host interface coupled to the electrical circuit. The host interface has external connections including an external clock signal and a data connection. The microphone assembly includes an acoustic activity detection mode of operation when the electrical circuit is clocked by the internal clock signal generator in the absence of an external clock signal at the host interface. The microphone assembly has a plurality of operating modes controlled by an external clock signal received in response to an interrupt signal provided by the electrical circuit. The electrical circuit is configured to provide data representing the electrical signal at the host interface when the external clock signal is received.
190 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A microphone assembly comprising:
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an acoustic sensor configured to produce an electrical signal at an output of the acoustic sensor in response to sensing an acoustic signal; an electrical circuit including an acoustic activity detector, the electrical circuit having an input coupled to the output of the acoustic sensor, the electrical circuit configured to process the electrical signal to generate data representing the electrical signal; an internal clock signal generator coupled to the electrical circuit; a host interface with external connections coupled to the electrical circuit, the external connections including a connection for an external clock signal and data; the microphone assembly having an acoustic activity detection mode of operation when the electrical circuit is clocked by the internal clock signal generator in the absence of an external clock signal at the host interface, the electrical circuit configured to provide an interrupt signal to the host interface upon detection of an acoustic event by the electrical circuit, the microphone assembly having a plurality of operating modes with different power consumptions, the plurality of operating modes controlled by an external clock signal received at the host interface in response to providing the interrupt signal, wherein the electrical circuit is configured to provide the data representing the electrical signal to the host interface when the external clock signal is received at the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A microphone assembly comprising:
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an acoustic sensor; an electrical circuit having an input coupled to an output of the acoustic sensor, the electrical circuit including an acoustic activity detector; an internal clock signal generator coupled to the electrical circuit; a host interface with external connections coupled to the electrical circuit, the host interface including a connection for an external clock signal and data; the acoustic activity detector configured to process, in an acoustic activity detection mode, data representing an electrical signal output by the acoustic sensor for acoustic activity when the electrical circuit is clocked by a clock signal from the internal clock signal generator in the absence of an external clock signal on the host interface, the electrical circuit configured to provide an interrupt signal to the host interface after detection of an acoustic event, and the electrical circuit configured to control an operating mode of the microphone assembly based on an external clock signal received at the host interface in response to the interrupt signal, the microphone assembly having a plurality of different power consumption modes, wherein the electrical circuit is configured to provide the data representing the electrical signal to the host interface when the external clock signal is received at the host interface. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A microphone assembly comprising:
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a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) transducer; an electrical circuit including an acoustic activity detector, an A/D converter and a data buffer, an output of the MEMS transducer coupled to an input of the A/D converter and an output of the A/D converter coupled to the acoustic activity detector and the data buffer; an internal clock signal generator coupled to the electrical circuit; a host interface with external connections coupled to the electrical circuit, the host interface including a connection for an external clock signal and data; the microphone assembly having an acoustic activity detection mode when the electrical circuit is clocked by the internal clock signal generator in the absence of an external clock signal at the host interface, wherein during acoustic activity detection mode the electrical circuit is configured to process data representing an electrical signal output by the MEMS transducer for acoustic activity while data representing the electrical signal output by the MEMS transducer is buffered in the data buffer, the electrical circuit configured to provide an interrupt signal to the host interface after detection of an acoustic event and the electrical circuit configured to control an operating mode of the microphone assembly based on an external clock signal received at the host interface in response to the interrupt signal, the microphone assembly having a plurality of different power consumption modes, wherein buffered data is provided to the host interface in an operating mode when the external clock signal is received at the host interface.
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Specification