Engaging terminal devices

• US 9,577,710 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2012
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Piece Future Pte., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Greuet, Jean-Baptiste, Ozcan, Koray
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, YOGESHKUMAR G
• Application Number:
  US13/517,832
• Publication Number:
  US 20130223631A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,713 Days
• Field of Search: 381/17, 381/79, 381/74, 381/315, 381/312, 381/430
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/24 Inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72442 for playing music files
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/04 including near field communication means, e.g. RFID
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/403 loud-speakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2203/12 Beamforming aspects for stereophonic sound reproduction with loudspeaker arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/021 Aspects relating to docking-station type assemblies to obtain an acoustical effect, e.g. the type of connection to external loudspeakers or housings, frequency improvement
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/024 Positioning of loudspeaker enclosures for spatial sound reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/03 Connection circuits to selectively connect loudspeakers or headphones to amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/05 Detection of connection of loudspeakers or headphones to amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/04 Circuit arrangements, e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments combinations of amplifiers H03F3/68; stereophonic systems H04S

Abstract

A method including producing a first audio output from a first device; and producing an electromagnetic field from a coil of the first device. The electromagnetic field includes information for at least partially producing a second audio output from a second device. The information is configured to provide a relationship between the first and second audio outputs such that when the first audio output is a first acoustic sound, for the first acoustic sound to be configured to acoustically couple with second acoustic sound from the second device which based upon the second audio output, or when the first audio output is not acoustic sound, for the first audio output to be output from the first device for a headset of at least one first user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

producing a first audio output from a first device; and

producing an electromagnetic field from one or more coils of the first device, where the electromagnetic field is configured for at least partially producing a second audio output from a second device based upon one or more coils of the second device being in the presence of the electromagnetic field from the first device, and inductive coupling the one or more coils of the first device to the one or more coils of the second device, where information sent by the electromagnetic field is provided through the inductive coupling, where the information at least partially comprises an audio signal, where the electromagnetic field is configured to provide a relationship between the first and second audio outputs such that;

when the first audio output is a first acoustic sound radiated from the first device, for the first acoustic sound to be configured to acoustically couple with second acoustic sound radiated from the second device which is based upon the second audio output, and

when the first audio output is not acoustic sound, for the first audio output to be output from at least the first device for an external accessory of at least one first user,

when the first audio output is the first acoustic sound, producing the second audio output as the second acoustic sound from the second device at least partially based upon the information from the electromagnetic field, where the first acoustic sound constructively interacting with the second acoustic sound, where the constructive interacting provides a loudness from a combination of the first acoustic sound and the second acoustic sound which is louder than a loudness of the first acoustic sound from the first device alone, and buffering the first audio output in the first device to provide a delay between the first acoustic sound and the second acoustic sound.

2. The method of claim 1 where the constructive interacting provides beamforming from a combination of the first acoustic sound and the second acoustic sound.

3. The method of claim 1 where the constructive interacting generates at least one three dimensional effect from a combination of the first acoustic sound and the second acoustic sound.

4. The method of claim 3 where the at least one three dimensional effect is stereo widening.

5. The method of claim 1 where buffering the first audio output in the first device to provide the delay between the first acoustic sound and the second acoustic sound is for about 35 ms or less.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the second device producing a second audio output based, at least partially, upon the inductive coupling.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the first audio output from the first device and/or second audio output from the second device occurring, at least partially, based upon the inductive coupling.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

pairing the first and/or second device with at least one other device via at least one other inductive coupling; and

transmitting to the at least one other device, via the at least one other inductive coupling, the information.

9. The method of claim 1, where the one or more coils of the first device is a near field communication (NFC) antenna, a coil of a speaker, a metal detection coil and/or a hearing aid compatibility (HAC) coil.

10. The method of claim 1 where producing the first audio output comprises the first audio output being produced by an internal speaker of the first device or being sent as an electrical signal to a headset.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving information by the second device from the electromagnetic field and storing at least some of the information received by the second device in a memory of the second device.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a timing delay regarding when the first audio output should be produced versus when the second audio output will be produced and buffering a signal corresponding to the first audio output in the first device to delay producing the first audio output based, at least partially, on the timing delay.

13. The method of claim 1 where the method comprises a processor executing a computer program tangibly encoded on a computer readable medium.

14. The method of claim 1 where the first audio output is output from the first device at about a same time the second audio output is output from the second device.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a system for generating a first audio output;

a coil configured to send information by inductive coupling from the apparatus by an electromagnetic field, where the information relates to the first audio output, where the information sent by the inductive coupling comprises at least part of an audio signal; and

a controller connected to the system for generating the audio output and connected to the coil such that;

when the first audio output is acoustic sound, the acoustic sound is generated with a time delay relative to sending of the information from the coil to allow the acoustic sound to acoustically couple with acoustic sound from at least one second device, where the acoustic sound from the at least one second device is generation dependent upon the information from the coil, and buffering the audio signal used to generated the acoustic sound to thereby produce the time delay, and

when the first audio output is not acoustic sound, for the first audio output to be output from the first device for a headset of at least one first user.

16. An apparatus as in claim 15 further comprising means for determining if the coil is inductively coupled to another coil, and performing a predetermined operation if the coil is inductively coupled to the another coil and the first audio output is acoustic sound.

17. An apparatus as in claim 16 where the predetermined operation is buffering the audio signal in the apparatus to produce a time delay in generating the acoustic sound from the apparatus.

18. A method comprising:

producing acoustic sound from a first device based, at least partially, upon an audio signal;

producing an induction electromagnetic field from a coil of the first device, where the induction electromagnetic field comprises information relating to the audio signal, where the information comprises at least a portion of the audio signal; and

buffering the audio signal in the first device before producing the acoustic sound from the first device to at least partially allow coordination between the producing of the acoustic sound from the first device and acoustic sound from at least one second device which is at least partially dependent upon the information from the coil, where the information from the induction electromagnetic field relating to the audio signal and comprising at least a portion of the audio signal is generated by the first device before the acoustic sound is produced by the speaker of the first device.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising producing the acoustic sound from the second device at least partially based upon the information from the coil.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising detecting a test signal from the second device and, in response to detecting the test signal, the first device performing a handshake with the second device through inductive coupling with the coil.

21. The method of claim 18 where producing the induction electromagnetic field from the coil comprises modulating an intermediate signal to generate the induction electromagnetic field.

22. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations, the operations comprising:

producing an audio signal in a first device;

producing an induction electromagnetic field from a coil of the first device, where the induction electromagnetic field comprises information relating to the audio signal, where the information comprises at least a part of the audio signal; and

selecting between either;

outputting the audio signal to a transducer of a headset connected to the first device, or

buffering the audio signal in the first device for a predetermined period of time before sending the audio output signal to a speaker of the first device to produce acoustic sound, where the buffering produces a time delay between producing the information relating to the audio signal, comprising at least a part of the audio signal, by the induction electromagnetic field from the coil of the first device and subsequently producing the acoustic sound at the speaker.