Methods, portable electronic devices, computer servers and computer programs for identifying an audio source that is outputting audio

• US 9,904,506 B1
• Filed: 11/15/2016
• Issued: 02/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spotify AB (Spotify Technology SA)
• Original Assignee: Spotify AB (Spotify Technology SA)
• Inventors: Jehan, Tristan
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eljaiek, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US15/352,444
• Time in Patent Office: 469 Days
• Field of Search: 381 56, 381 58, 4554141, 700 94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/433 using audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/487 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/635 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/683 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

The present disclosure relates in general to media streaming, such as music streaming. In particular, this disclosure presents various embodiments of methods, portable electronic devices (200), computer servers (300) and computer program that allow for identifying an audio source (e.g., a music source) that is currently outputting audio (e.g., playing music). In an example scenario, this may allow a user to identify a social gathering such as a party where music is being played.

Claims

1. A method performed by a computer server of a media streaming service for identifying an audio source that is outputting audio, the method comprising:

streaming media to one or more audio sources;

receiving, from a portable electronic device, position coordinates related to a position of the portable electronic device and a fingerprint representing an audio sample;

searching for available audio sources of the one or more audio sources within a predefined range of said position coordinates by utilizing the received position coordinates;

determining a list of available audio sources of the one or more audio sources within the predefined range of said position coordinates;

comparing the received fingerprint with fingerprints of corresponding audio samples of the determined list of available audio sources; and

in response to finding a match between the received fingerprint and any one of the fingerprints of the corresponding audio samples of the determined list of available audio sources;

identifying a corresponding audio source; and

sending, to the portable electronic device, a first data message comprising information related to the corresponding audio source.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving said position coordinates and the fingerprint comprises receiving a second data message from the portable electronic device, said second data message including said position coordinates and the fingerprint.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the corresponding audio source comprises determining which audio source of the audio sources of the determined list of available audio sources is closest to the portable electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data message comprises the list of available audio sources of the one or more audio sources within the predefined range of said position coordinates.

5. A computer server of a media streaming service, comprising:

a receiver;

a transmitter;

at least one processor; and

a storage device comprising instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the computer server to;

stream media to one or more audio sources;

receive, using the receiver, from a portable electronic device, position coordinates related to a position of the portable electronic device and a fingerprint representing an audio sample;

search for available audio sources of the one or more audio sources within a predefined range of said position coordinates by utilizing the received position coordinates;

determine a list of available audio sources of the one or more audio sources within the predefined range of said position coordinates;

compare the received fingerprint with fingerprints of corresponding audio samples of the determined list of available audio sources; and

in response to finding a match between the received fingerprint and any one of the fingerprints of the corresponding audio samples of the determined list of available audio sources;

identify a corresponding audio source; and

send, to the portable electronic device using the transmitter, a first data message comprising information related to the corresponding audio source.

6. The computer server of claim 5, wherein receiving said position coordinates and the fingerprint comprises receiving a second data message from the portable electronic device, said second data message including said position coordinates and the fingerprint.

7. The computer server of claim 5, wherein identifying the corresponding audio source comprises determining which audio source of the audio sources of the determined list of available audio sources is closest to the portable electronic device.