STAND-ALONE EAR BUD FOR ACTIVE NOISE REDUCTION
First Claim
1. An ear bud comprising:
- a microphone;
an active noise reduction unit configured to produce a noise reduction signal based on ambient noise sensed by the microphone in the vicinity of a first ear while an electronic device produces a first audio sound wave for a second ear; and
a speaker that produces a second audio sound wave at the first ear based on the noise reduction signal.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An ear bud and noise reduction system actively reduce noise in one ear while the user listens with the other ear to an audio sound wave produced by the speaker of an electronic device (e.g., a cell phone or a wireless headset attachable to a single ear). The ear bud includes a microphone, an active noise reduction unit, and an audio speaker. The active noise reduction unit produces a noise reduction signal based on ambient noise sensed by the microphone in the vicinity of a first ear while an electronic device produces a first audio sound wave in the vicinity of a second ear. The audio speaker produces a second audio sound wave in the vicinity of the first ear based on the noise reduction signal to reduce or substantially cancel the ambient noise. The first and second audio sound waves may be produced independently of each other.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An ear bud comprising:
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a microphone; an active noise reduction unit configured to produce a noise reduction signal based on ambient noise sensed by the microphone in the vicinity of a first ear while an electronic device produces a first audio sound wave for a second ear; and a speaker that produces a second audio sound wave at the first ear based on the noise reduction signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A noise reduction phone system, comprising:
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a phone comprising circuitry that receives a communications signal and produces a first audio sound wave at a first ear of a person based on the communications signal; and an ear bud comprising; a microphone; an active noise reduction unit that produces a noise reduction signal based on an ambient noise sensed by the microphone; and a speaker that produces a second audio sound wave based on the noise reduction signal at a second ear of the person. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of increasing the audibility of an audio sound wave produced by an electronic communications device in ambient noise, comprising:
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sensing ambient noise; producing a first audio sound wave that reduces the sensed ambient noise at a first ear of a person; and producing a second audio sound wave by an electronic communications device at a second ear of the person, wherein the producing of the first audio sound wave is independent of the producing of the second audio sound wave.
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Specification