Smart tool for headphones

• US 9,736,587 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2013
• Issued: 08/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Desai, Vishruti R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Blair, Kile
• Application Number:
  US13/958,900
• Publication Number:
  US 20140064511A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,471 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1895 for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4872 Non-interactive information services
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1041 Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements switches in general H01H
• 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 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices of the various embodiments enable headphone users to he hear audible announcements of relevance to the user. In the various embodiments, a user device, such as headphones, may receive an announcement, determine whether the announcement is of interest to the user, and pause the current audio output by the headphones and enable the user to hear the announcement. In an embodiment, an announcement system may transmit announcements audibly and via a wireless channel, for example via broadcast and/or multicast transmission, to enable user devices to receive announcements and play relevant announcements via the headphones. In another embodiment, an announcement system may embedded announcement identifiers within audible announcements to enable a user device to identify announcements of interest. In another embodiment, a user device may filter received audio to identify announcements of interest to the user based on recognized subject matter within the received audio.

Claims

1. A method for ensuring that audible announcements are heard by a user wearing headphones, comprising:

establishing a short range communication link between the headphones and an announcement system by a first wireless transceiver;

receiving an announcement in the headphones from the announcement system via a wireless link established by a second wireless transceiver, wherein the announcement is received after establishing the short range communication link;

determining, in a processor within the headphones, whether the short range communication link is active in response to receiving the announcement;

determining, in the processor within the headphones, whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones;

pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active; and

playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

resuming the current audio output of the headphones after playing the announcement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless link established by the second wireless transceiver comprises a Wi-Fi channel.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the announcement includes header information; and

determining, in the processor within the headphones, whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones comprises determining, in the processor within the headphones, whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones based at least in part on the header information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the header information includes an announcement identifier or location identifier.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving a hidden service set ID from the announcement system in the headphones via the short range communication link,

wherein the Wi-Fi channel corresponds to the hidden service set ID.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, in the processor within the headphones, whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones comprises:

obtaining a profile of the user wearing the headphones; and

determining, in the processor within the headphones, whether the announcement is relevant to the user of the headphones based at least in part on the profile of the user wearing the headphones.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scanning a barcode with a barcode scanner on the headphones or a device connected to the headphones to generate an indication of barcode information prior to receiving the announcement at the headphones;

registering the headphones with the announcement system based on the indication of barcode information prior to receiving the announcement; and

determining, in the processor within the headphones, whether the headphones are registered with the announcement system,

wherein;

pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user comprises pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user, the short range communication link is active, and the headphones are registered with the announcement system; and

playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user comprises only playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user the short range communication link is active, and the headphones are registered with the announcement system.

9. Headphones, comprising:

means for establishing a short range communication link between the headphones and an announcement system by a first wireless transceiver;

means for receiving an announcement in the headphones from the announcement system via a wireless link established by a second wireless transceiver after establishing the short range communication link;

means for determining whether the short range communication link is active in response to receiving the announcement;

means for determining whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones;

means for pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active; and

means for playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active.

10. The headphones of claim 9, further comprising:

means for resuming the current audio output of the headphones after playing the announcement.

11. The headphones of claim 9, wherein the wireless link established by the second wireless transceiver comprises a Wi-Fi channel.

12. The headphones of claim 11, wherein:

the announcement includes header information; and

means for determining whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones comprises means for determining, at the headphones, whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones based at least in part on the header information.

13. The headphones of claim 12, wherein the header information includes an announcement identifier or location identifier.

14. The headphones of claim 11, further comprising means for receiving a hidden service set ID from the announcement system in the headphones via the short range communication link,

wherein the Wi-Fi channel corresponds to the hidden service set ID.

15. The headphones of claim 9, wherein means for determining whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones comprises:

means for obtaining a profile of the user wearing the headphones; and

means for determining whether the announcement is relevant to the user of the headphones based at least in part on the profile of the user wearing the headphones.

16. The headphones of claim 9, further comprising:

means for scanning a barcode with a barcode scanner on the headphones or a device connected to the headphones to generate an indication of barcode information prior to receiving the announcement at the headphones;

means for registering the headphones with the announcement system based on the indication of barcode information prior to receiving the announcement; and

means for determining whether the headphones are registered with the announcement system,

wherein;

means for pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user comprises means for pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user, the short range communication link is active, and the headphones is registered with the announcement system; and

means for playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user comprises means for only playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user, the short range communication link is active, and the headphones registered with the announcement system.

17. Headphones, comprising:

a speaker; and

a processor connected to the speaker, wherein the processor is configured to;

establishing a short range communication link between the headphones and an announcement system by a first wireless transceiver;

receive an announcement from the announcement system via a wireless link established by a second wireless transceiver after establishing the short range communication link;

determine whether the short range communication link is active in response to receiving the announcement;

determine whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones;

pause a current audio output of the speaker in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active; and

play the announcement over the speaker in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active.

18. The headphones of claim 17, wherein the first wireless transceiver and the second wireless transceiver are connected to the processor, and

wherein the processor is configured to

receive the current audio output of the speaker after playing the announcement.

19. The headphones of claim 17, wherein the wireless link established by the second wireless transceiver comprises a Wi-Fi channel.

20. The headphones of claim 19, wherein:

the announcement includes header information; and

the processor is configured to determine whether the announcement is relevant to the user of the headphones by determining, at the headphones, whether the announcement is relevant to the user of the headphones based at least in part on the header information.

21. The headphones of claim 20, wherein the header information includes an announcement identifier or location identifier.

22. The headphones of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a hidden service set ID from the announcement system in the headphones via the short range communication link with the short range wireless transceiver; and

receive the announcement in the headphones via the Wi-Fi channel by receiving the announcement in the headphones via the Wi-Fi channel corresponding to the hidden service set ID.

23. The headphones of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the announcement is relevant to the user of the headphones by:

obtaining a profile of the user wearing the headphones; and

determining whether the announcement is relevant to the user of the headphones based at least in part on the profile of the user wearing the headphones.

24. The headphones of claim 17, further comprising a barcode scanner coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to:

generate an indication of barcode information of a barcode scanned by the barcode scanner prior to receiving the announcement at the headphones;

register the headphones with the announcement system based on the indication of barcode information prior to receiving the announcement;

determine whether the headphones are registered with the announcement system,

pause the current audio output of the speaker in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user by pausing the current audio output of the speaker in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user, the short range communication link is active, and the headphones are registered with the announcement system; and

play the announcement over the speaker in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user by only playing the announcement over the speaker in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user, the short range communication link is active, and the headphones are registered with the announcement system.

25. A non-transitory processor readable medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations comprising:

establishing a short range communication link between the headphones and an announcement system by a first wireless transceiver receiving an announcement from the announcement system via a wireless link established by a second wireless transceiver after establishing the short range communication link;

determining whether the short range communication link is active in response to receiving the announcement;

determining whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones;

pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active; and

playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user and the short range communication link is active.

26. The non-transitory processor readable medium of claim 25, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations further comprising

resuming the current audio output of the headphones after playing the announcement.

27. The non-transitory processor readable medium of claim 25, wherein the wireless link comprises a Wi-Fi channel.

28. The non-transitory processor readable medium of claim 27, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations such that:

the announcement includes header information; and

determining whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones comprises determining whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones based at least in part on the header information.

29. The non-transitory processor readable medium of claim 28, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations such that the header information includes an announcement identifier or location identifier.

30. The non-transitory processor readable medium of claim 27, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations further comprising receiving a hidden service set ID from the announcement system via the short range communication link, and wherein the Wi-Fi channel corresponds to the hidden service set ID.

31. The non-transitory processor readable medium of claim 25, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations such that determining whether the announcement is relevant to a user of the headphones comprises:

obtaining a profile of the user wearing the headphones; and

determining whether the announcement is relevant to the user of the headphones based at least in part on the profile of the user wearing the headphones.

32. The non-transitory processor readable medium of claim 25, wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations further comprising:

generating an indication of barcode information of a barcode scanned by a barcode scanner prior to receiving the announcement at the headphones;

registering the headphones with the announcement system based on the indication of barcode information prior to receiving the announcement; and

determining whether the headphones are registered with the announcement system, and

wherein the stored processor-executable instructions are configured to cause a processor of headphones to perform operations such that;

pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user comprises pausing a current audio output of the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user, the short range communication link is active, and the headphones are registered with the announcement system; and

playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user comprises only playing the announcement over the headphones in response to determining that the announcement is relevant to the user the short range communication link is active, and the headphones are registered with the announcement system.