METHOD FOR UTILIZING MULTI-TONE IDENTIFICATION AND AUDIO APPARATUS UTILIZING THE SAME

• US 20150003637A1
• Filed: 07/01/2013
• Published: 01/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fortemedia, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fortemedia, Inc.
• Inventors: Opris, Ion Elinor, Lee, Lan, Chen, Shomo
• Application Number:
  US13/932,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20150003637A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/122
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 1/02 Remote control of amplification, tone or bandwidth combined with remote tuning or selection of resonant circuits H03J

Abstract

A method for utilizing multi-tone identification and an audio apparatus utilizing the same are provided. The audio apparatus includes a microphone, a tone generator, a modulator and an amplifier. The microphone is configured to generate an audio signal. The tone generator is configured to generate a set of tones which represents a level of service, wherein the level of service indicates a service provided to the audio signal. The modulator, coupled to the microphone and the tone generator, is configured to modulate the audio signal with the set of tone to generate a modulated signal. The amplifier, coupled to the modulator, is configured to amplifying the modulated signal.

Claims

1. A method adopted by an audio apparatus, comprising:

generating an audio signal;

generating a set of tones which represents a level of service;

modulating the audio signal with the set of tone to generate a modulated signal; and

amplifying the modulated signal;

wherein the level of service indicates a service provided to the audio signal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transforming the amplified signal to a frequency domain signal;

extracting the set of tones from the frequency domain signal;

determining the level of service based on the extracted set of tones;

extracting the audio signal from the frequency domain signal; and

performing a service to the extracted audio signal according to the determined level of service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of tones further represents a manufacturer identifier;

the method further comprises determining the manufacturer identifier based on the extracted set of tones; and

the performing step comprises performing the service to the extracted audio signal when the manufacturer identifier matches to an entry in an authorized list.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the set of tones is programmable to represent a combination of the level of service and the manufacturer identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of tones have amplitudes less than that of the audio signal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of tones comprises a fixed number of tones at fixed frequencies.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each two adjacent tones in the set of tones comprises a programmable frequency ratio.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each two adjacent tones in the set of tones comprises a programmable amplitude ratio.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of tones comprises a programmable number of tones.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the modulating step is performed in a known timing.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the modulating step is performed periodically.

12. An audio apparatus, comprising:

a microphone, configured to generate an audio signal;

a tone generator, configured to generate a set of tones which represents a level of service, wherein the level of service indicates a service provided to the audio signal;

a modulator, coupled to the microphone and the tone generator, configured to modulate the audio signal with the set of tone to generate a modulated signal; and

an amplifier, coupled to the modulator, configured to amplifying the modulated signal.

13. The audio apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

a frequency domain transformer, coupled to the amplifier, configured to transform the amplified signal to a frequency domain signal, and extract the set of tones and the audio signal from the frequency domain signal

a tone identification circuit, coupled to the frequency domain transformer, configured to determine the level of service based on the extracted set of tones; and

a data processor, coupled to the tone identification circuit, configured to perform a service to the extracted audio signal according to the determined level of service.

14. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein the set of tones further represents a manufacturer identifier;

the tone identification circuit is configured to further determine the manufacturer identifier based on the extracted set of tones; and

the data processor is configured perform the service to the extracted audio signal when the manufacturer identifier matches to an entry in an authorized list.

15. The audio apparatus of claim 14, wherein the set of tones is programmable to represent a combination of the level of service and the manufacturer identifier.

16. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein the set of tones have amplitudes less than that of the audio signal.

17. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein the set of tones comprises a fixed number of tones at fixed frequencies.

18. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein each two adjacent tones in the set of tones comprises a programmable frequency ratio.

19. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein each two adjacent tones in the set of tones comprises a programmable amplitude ratio.

20. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein the set of tones comprises a

21. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein the modulator step is configured to modulate the audio signal with the set of tone to generate a modulated signal in a known timing.

22. The audio apparatus of claim 12, wherein the modulator step is configured to modulate the audio signal with the set of tone to generate a modulated signal periodically.