Method and apparatus for identifying mobile devices in similar sound environment

• US 9,143,571 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Kim, Taesu, Lee, Te-Won
• Primary Examiner(s): Flanders, Andrew C
• Application Number:
  US13/370,668
• Publication Number:
  US 20120224707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,320 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A method for identifying mobile devices in a similar sound environment is disclosed. Each of at least two mobile devices captures an input sound and extracts a sound signature from the input sound. Further, the mobile device extracts a sound feature from the input sound and determines a reliability value based on the sound feature. The reliability value may refer to a probability of a normal sound class given the sound feature. A server receives a packet including the sound signatures and reliability values from the mobile devices. A similarity value between sound signatures from a pair of the mobile devices is determined based on corresponding reliability values from the pair of mobile devices. Specifically, the sound signatures are weighted by the corresponding reliability values. The server identifies mobile devices in a similar sound environment based on the similarity values.

Claims

1. A method for identifying mobile devices in a similar sound environment, the method comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device, an input sound from a first sound environment;

extracting, at the mobile device, a sound signature from the input sound;

determining, at the mobile device, a reliability value of the input sound, wherein the reliability value is determined based on at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model;

transmitting the sound signature and the reliability value from the mobile device to a server; and

receiving, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the reliability value includes:

determining a degree of reliability that the input sound belongs to a normal sound model rather than to a sensor artifact model.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the reliability value further includes extracting a sound feature from the input sound.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising constructing a packet including a sound signature field, wherein a number of bits of the sound signature field is determined based on the reliability value.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising constructing a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein constructing the packet includes determining a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, from the server, identification information of a user of the at least one mobile device, wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the input sound corresponds to a sensor artifact sound when the input sound corresponds to at least one of a clicking of the mobile device, a tapping of the mobile device, a rubbing of the mobile device, or a vibration of the mobile device.

7. A mobile device, comprising:

a sound sensor configured to receive an input sound from a first sound environment;

a sound signature extracting unit configured to extract a sound signature from the input sound;

a reliability determining unit configured to determine a reliability value of the input sound, wherein the reliability value is determined based on at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model;

a transmitting unit configured to transmit the sound signature and the reliability value to a server; and

a receiving unit configured to receive, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the reliability determining unit is configured to:

determine a degree of reliability that the input sound belongs to a normal sound model rather than to a sensor artifact model.

9. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein the reliability determining unit is configured to extract a sound feature from the input sound.

10. The mobile device of claim 7, further comprising a packet processing unit configured to construct a packet including a sound signature field, wherein a number of bits of the sound signature field is determined based on the reliability value, and wherein the transmitting unit is configured to transmit the packet to the server.

11. The mobile device of claim 7, further comprising a packet processing unit configured to construct a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein the packet processing unit is configured to determine a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value.

12. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the information includes identification information of a user of the at least one mobile device, and wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.

31. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the input sound corresponds to a sensor artifact sound when the input sound corresponds to at least one of a clicking of the mobile device, a tapping of the mobile device, a rubbing of the mobile device, or a vibration of the mobile device.

13. A mobile device, comprising:

means for receiving an input sound from a first sound environment;

means for extracting a sound signature from the input sound;

means for determining a reliability value of the input sound, wherein the reliability value is determined based on at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model;

means for transmitting the sound signature and the reliability value to a server; and

means for receiving, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

14. The mobile device of claim 13, further comprising means for constructing a packet including a sound signature field, wherein a number of bits of the sound signature field is determined based on the reliability value, and wherein the means for transmitting is configured to transmit the packet to the server.

15. The mobile device of claim 13, further comprising means for constructing a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein the means for constructing is configured to determine a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value, and wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.

32. The mobile device of claim 13, wherein the input sound corresponds to a sensor artifact sound when the input sound corresponds to at least one of a clicking of the means for receiving an input sound, a tapping of the means for receiving an input sound, a rubbing of the means for receiving an input sound, or a vibration of the means for receiving an input sound.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for identifying mobile devices in a similar sound environment, the instructions causing a processor to perform the operations of:

receiving, at a mobile device, an input sound from a first sound environment;

extracting, at the mobile device, a sound signature from the input sound;

determining, at the mobile device, a reliability value of the input sound, wherein the reliability value is determined based on at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model;

transmitting the sound signature and the reliability value from the mobile device to a server; and

receiving, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise constructing a packet including a sound signature field, wherein a number of bits of the sound signature field is determined based on the reliability value, and wherein transmitting the sound signature and the reliability value includes transmitting the packet to the server.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise constructing a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein constructing the packet includes determining a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the input sound corresponds to a sensor artifact sound when the input sound corresponds to at least one of a clicking of the mobile device, a tapping of the mobile device, a rubbing of the mobile device, or a vibration of the mobile device.

20. A method for identifying mobile devices in a similar sound environment, the method comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device, an input sound from a first sound environment;

extracting, at the mobile device, a sound signature from the input sound;

determining, at the mobile device, a reliability value of the input sound based on at least one stored sound model;

constructing a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein constructing the packet includes determining a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value;

transmitting the packet from the mobile device to a server; and

receiving, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one stored sound model includes at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising receiving, from the server, identification information of a user of the at least one mobile device, wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.

23. A mobile device, comprising:

a sound sensor configured to receive an input sound from a first sound environment;

a sound signature extracting unit configured to extract a sound signature from the input sound;

a reliability determining unit configured to determine a reliability value of the input sound based on at least one stored sound model;

a packet processing unit configured to construct a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein the packet processing unit is configured to determine a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value;

a transmitting unit configured to transmit the packet to a server; and

a receiving unit configured to receive, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

24. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein the at least one stored sound model includes at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model.

25. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein the information includes identification information of a user of the at least one mobile device, and wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.

26. A mobile device, comprising:

means for receiving an input sound from a first sound environment;

means for extracting a sound signature from the input sound;

means for determining a reliability value of the input sound based on at least one stored sound model;

means for constructing a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein the means for constructing is configured to determine a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value;

means for transmitting the packet to a server; and

means for receiving, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

27. The mobile device of claim 26, wherein the at least one stored sound model includes at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model, and wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for identifying mobile devices in a similar sound environment, the instructions causing a processor to perform the operations of:

receiving, at a mobile device, an input sound from a first sound environment;

extracting, at the mobile device, a sound signature from the input sound;

determining, at the mobile device, a reliability value of the input sound based on at least one stored sound model;

constructing a packet that includes a sound signature field indicative of the sound signature and a reliability field indicative of the reliability value, wherein constructing the packet includes determining a number of bits of the sound signature field based on the reliability value;

transmitting the packet from the mobile device to a server; and

receiving, from the server, information related to at least one mobile device in a second sound environment.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein the at least one stored sound model includes at least one normal sound model and at least one sensor artifact model, and wherein the second sound environment is similar to the first sound environment.