Headphone responsive to optical signaling
First Claim
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1. A headphone device, comprising:
- an optical sensor configured to (a) receive an optical signal comprising a strobe pattern that corresponds to an emergency vehicle and (b) output a sensor signal; and
an audio controller coupled to the optical sensor, wherein the audio controller is configured to;
output an audio signal to a transducer;
decode the sensor signal using clock and data recovery to obtain the strobe pattern from the sensor signal and to compare a characteristic of the decoded strobe pattern with a known pattern to detect a presence of the emergency vehicle; and
adjust the output audio signal based, at least in part, on the detection of the presence of the emergency vehicle.
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Abstract
An optical sensor may be integrated into headphones and feedback from the sensor used to adjust an audio output from the headphones. For example, an emergency vehicle traffic preemption signal may be detected by the optical sensor. Optical signals may be processed in a pattern discriminator, which may be integrated with an audio controller integrated circuit (IC). When the signal is detected, the playback of music through the headphones may be muted and/or a noise cancellation function turned off. The optical sensor may be integrated in a music player, a smart phone, a tablet, a cord-mounted module, or the earpieces of the headphones.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A headphone device, comprising:
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an optical sensor configured to (a) receive an optical signal comprising a strobe pattern that corresponds to an emergency vehicle and (b) output a sensor signal; and an audio controller coupled to the optical sensor, wherein the audio controller is configured to; output an audio signal to a transducer; decode the sensor signal using clock and data recovery to obtain the strobe pattern from the sensor signal and to compare a characteristic of the decoded strobe pattern with a known pattern to detect a presence of the emergency vehicle; and adjust the output audio signal based, at least in part, on the detection of the presence of the emergency vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 19, 22)
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9. A method, comprising:
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receiving, at an optical sensor integrated into a headphone device, an optical signal comprising a strobe pattern that corresponds to an emergency vehicle; receiving, at an audio controller, a first input comprising a sensor signal from the optical sensor; receiving, at the audio controller, a second input corresponding to an audio signal for playback through a transducer of the headphone device; decoding, by the audio controller, the sensor signal using clock and data recovery to obtain the strobe pattern from the sensor signal and to compare a characteristic of the decoded strobe pattern with a known pattern to detect the presence of the emergency vehicle; and adjusting, by the audio controller, the audio signal for playback through the transducer after the presence of the emergency vehicle is detected. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 20)
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14. A headphone device, comprising:
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an optical sensor configured to (a) receive an optical signal comprising a strobe pattern that corresponds to an emergency vehicle and (b) output a sensor signal; an audio input node configured to receive an audio signal; and a pattern discriminator coupled to the optical sensor to receive the sensor signal and configured to couple to a transducer, wherein the pattern discriminator is configured to; decode the sensor signal using clock and data recovery to obtain the strobe pattern from the sensor signal and to compare a characteristic of the decoded strobe pattern with a known pattern to detect a presence of the emergency vehicle; and mute the transducer when the presence of the emergency vehicle is detected. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23)
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Specification