Calibration error conditions

• US 10,462,592 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2018
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Lehnert, Hilmar, Sheen, Timothy, Wilberding, Dayn
• Primary Examiner(s): Paul, Disler
• Application Number:
  US16/185,906
• Publication Number:
  US 20190082280A1
• Time in Patent Office: 354 Days
• Field of Search: 381 58- 59, 381 55
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/005 Audio distribution systems for home, i.e. multi-room use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/00 Monitoring arrangements; Testing arrangements for hearing aids H04R25/30; detection of loudspeaker connection H04R5/04; sound-field adaptation dependent on speaker detection H04S7/308
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/001 for loudspeakers H04R29/007 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/008 Visual indication of individual signal levels visual indication of stereophonic sound image H04S7/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/302 Electronic adaptation of stereophonic sound system to listener position or orientation H04S7/301 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/303 Tracking of listener position or orientation

Abstract

Examples described herein involve identifying one or more error conditions during calibration of one or more playback devices in a playback environment. A microphone of a network device may detect and sample an audio signal while the one or more playback devices in the playback environment plays a calibration tone. A processor of the network device may then receive, from the microphone, a stream of audio data. The audio data may include an audio signal component and a background noise component. As a subset of the audio data is received, the processor may identify based on the audio data, the one or more error conditions. The processor may then cause a graphical display to display a graphical representation associated with the identified error condition.

Claims

1. A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors of a mobile device to perform a method comprising:

detecting, via one or more microphones of the mobile device, audio signals emitted from one or more playback devices as part of a calibration process of one or more playback devices, wherein the calibration process comprises moving the mobile device within a listening environment while the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals;

after the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices, determining whether variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process;

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that insufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, displaying, via a controller interface on a graphical display of the mobile device, a prompt to move the mobile device more while the one or more playback devices emit one or more additional audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices; and

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, calibrating the one or more playback devices with a calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.

2. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process comprises:

determining whether a level of the detected audio signals exceeds a threshold degree of variation while the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals for a pre-determined duration of time.

3. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that insufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, a graphical representation of an error condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the mobile device during the calibration process.

4. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, one or more prompts to initiate calibration of at least one playback device within a given environment; and

receiving, via the controller interface, input data indicating a command to initiate the calibration process.

5. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

in response to receiving the input data indicating the command to initiate the calibration process, sending, to at least one playback device of the one or more playback devices, one or more instructions that cause the one or more playback devices to emit the audio signals.

6. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether a rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was within a threshold speed range;

when the rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that the movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was outside the threshold speed range, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, a prompt to move the mobile device at a walking speed; and

when the rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that the movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was within the threshold speed range, calibrating the one or more playback devices with the calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.

7. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

while detecting the audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices, detecting, via one or more sensors, acceleration data indicating movement of the mobile device;

determining whether a subset of the acceleration data indicates sufficient movement of the mobile device;

when the subset of the acceleration data indicates insufficient movement of the mobile device, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display of the mobile device, the prompt to move the mobile device more while the one or more playback devices emit one or more additional audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices; and

when the subset of the acceleration data indicates sufficient movement of the mobile device, calibrating the one or more playback devices with the calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.

8. A method to be performed by a mobile device, the method comprising:

detecting, via one or more microphones of the mobile device, audio signals emitted from one or more playback devices as part of a calibration process of one or more playback devices, wherein the calibration process comprises moving the mobile device within a listening environment while the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals;

after the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices, determining whether variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process;

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that insufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, displaying, via a controller interface on a graphical display of the mobile device, a prompt to move the mobile device more while the one or more playback devices emit one or more additional audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices; and

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, calibrating the one or more playback devices with a calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process comprises:

determining whether a level of the detected audio signals exceeds a threshold degree of variation while the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals for a pre-determined duration of time.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that insufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, a graphical representation of an error condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the mobile device during the calibration process.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, one or more prompts to initiate calibration of at least one playback device within a given environment; and

receiving, via the controller interface, input data indicating a command to initiate the calibration process.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

in response to receiving the input data indicating the command to initiate the calibration process, sending, to at least one playback device of the one or more playback devices, one or more instructions that cause the one or more playback devices to emit the audio signals.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether a rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was within a threshold speed range;

when the rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that the movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was outside the threshold speed range, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, a prompt to move the mobile device at a walking speed; and

when the rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that the movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was within the threshold speed range, calibrating the one or more playback devices with the calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

while detecting the audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices, detecting, via one or more sensors, acceleration data indicating movement of the mobile device;

determining whether a subset of the acceleration data indicates sufficient movement of the mobile device;

when the subset of the acceleration data indicates sufficient movement of the mobile device, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display of the mobile device, the prompt to move the mobile device more while the one or more playback devices emit one or more additional audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices; and

when the subset of the acceleration data indicates insufficient movement of the mobile device, calibrating the one or more playback devices with the calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.

15. A mobile device comprising:

a graphical display;

a network interface;

one or more processors; and

data storage storing instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the mobile device to perform a method comprising;

detecting, via one or more microphones of the mobile device, audio signals emitted from one or more playback devices as part of a calibration process of one or more playback devices, wherein the calibration process comprises moving the mobile device within a listening environment while the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals;

after the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices, determining whether variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process;

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that insufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, displaying, via a controller interface on the graphical display, a prompt to move the mobile device more while the one or more playback devices emit one or more additional audio signals as part of the calibration process of the one or more playback devices; and

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, calibrating, via the network interface, the one or more playback devices with a calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein determining whether variation within the detected audio signals indicates that sufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process comprises:

determining whether a level of the detected audio signals exceeds a threshold degree of variation while the one or more playback devices emit the audio signals for a pre-determined duration of time.

17. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

when the variation within the detected audio signals indicates that insufficient movement of the mobile device occurred during the calibration process, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, a graphical representation of an error condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the mobile device during the calibration process.

18. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, one or more prompts to initiate calibration of at least one playback device within a given environment; and

receiving, via the controller interface, input data indicating a command to initiate the calibration process.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

in response to receiving the input data indicating the command to initiate the calibration process, sending, to at least one playback device of the one or more playback devices, one or more instructions that cause the one or more playback devices to emit the audio signals.

20. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether a rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was within a threshold speed range;

when the rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that the movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was outside the threshold speed range, displaying, via the controller interface on the graphical display, a prompt to move the mobile device at a walking speed; and

when the rate of variation within the detected audio signals indicates that the movement of the mobile device during the calibration process was within the threshold speed range, calibrating the one or more playback devices with the calibration based on the detected audio signals emitted from the one or more playback devices.