Voice controlled assistant with coaxial speaker and microphone arrangement

• US 9,390,724 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2015
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: List, Timothy Theodore
• Primary Examiner(s): Ensey, Brian
• Application Number:
  US14/738,669
• Publication Number:
  US 20150279387A1
• Time in Patent Office: 396 Days
• Field of Search: 381/150, 381/160, 381/352, 181/145, 181/148, 181/153, 181/155, 181/156, 181/198, 181/199
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/08 Speech classification or search
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1822 Parsing for meaning understanding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/20 Speech recognition techniques specially adapted for robustness in adverse environments, e.g. in noise, of stress induced speech G10L21/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02082 the noise being echo, reverberation of the speech
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02166 Microphone arrays; Beamforming
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0208 Noise filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/08 Mouthpieces; Microphones; Attachments therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/323 for loudspeakers H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/326 for microphones H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/345 for loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/003 Digital PA systems using, e.g. LAN or internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• 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 3/002 Damping circuit arrangements for transducers, e.g. motional feedback circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

A voice controlled assistant has a housing to hold one or more microphones, one or more speakers, and various computing components. The housing has an elongated cylindrical body extending along a center axis between a base end and a top end. The microphone(s) are mounted in the top end and the speaker(s) are mounted proximal to the base end. The microphone(s) and speaker(s) are coaxially aligned along the center axis. The speaker(s) are oriented to output sound directionally toward the base end and opposite to the microphone(s) in the top end. The sound may then be redirected in a radial outward direction from the center axis at the base end so that the sound is output symmetric to, and equidistance from, the microphone(s).

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a housing having a base to support the housing on a surface and a distal top end;

at least one microphone mounted proximal to the top end to receive audio;

a processor mounted within the housing to process a signal representation of the audio;

a memory comprising one or more of a speech recognition module or an acoustic echo cancellation module, wherein the speech recognition module is executable by the processor to recognize speech in the signal representation, and the acoustic echo cancellation module is executable by the processor to reduce acoustic echoes detected in the signal representation;

at least one speaker mounted in the housing and oriented to output sound in a downward direction toward the base and away from the top end; and

a sound distribution cone mounted in the housing to distribute the sound emitted from the at least one speaker, wherein the sound distribution cone and the at least one speaker are coaxially aligned.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one speaker comprises first and second speakers coaxially aligned with one another and with the sound distribution cone.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the sound distribution cone directs the sound in a radial outward direction substantially perpendicular to the downward direction.

4. A method comprising:

receiving audio, via one or more microphones, in a device having the one or more microphones positioned at a top end;

processing a signal representation of the audio, the processing comprising one or more of;

recognizing speech in the signal representation using a speech recognition module, or

cancelling acoustic echoes detected in the signal representation using an acoustic echo cancellation module; and

outputting sound via one or more speakers arranged in a base end of the device, wherein the sound is output from the one or more speakers in a downward direction toward the base end directionally opposite to the one or more microphones at the top end.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein recognizing the speech comprises processing the signal representation to parse the speech.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising processing the signal representation to reduce double talk detected in the signal representation, in conjunction with cancelling the acoustic echoes detected in the signal representation.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein processing the signal representation comprises substantially cancelling acoustic echoes detected in the signal representation, and then parsing the speech in the signal representation.

8. A device comprising:

a housing having a base to support the housing on a surface and a distal end;

at least one microphone mounted at the distal end of the housing to receive audio;

a processor mounted within the housing to process a signal representation of the audio;

a memory comprising one or more of a speech recognition module or an acoustic echo cancellation module, wherein the speech recognition module is executable by the processor to recognize speech in the signal representation, and the acoustic echo cancellation module is executable by the processor to substantially cancel acoustic echoes detected in the signal representation; and

at least one speaker arranged inside the housing and oriented to output sound in a direction away from the at least one microphone.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the speech comprises specific commands.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the housing has one or more openings near the base to pass sound waves from the at least one speaker.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein the at least one speaker comprises a plurality of speakers that are coaxially aligned.

12. The device of claim 8, wherein the at least one speaker and the at least one microphone are coaxially aligned.

13. The device of claim 8, further comprising a sound distribution cone arranged inside of the housing to distribute the sound emitted from the at least one speaker.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the at least one speaker and the sound distribution cone are coaxially aligned.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the sound distribution cone directs the sound at least partially in a radial outward direction.

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the sound distribution cone directs the sound outward from the housing proximal to the base.