Audio data routing between multiple wirelessly connected devices

• US 9,924,010 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2016
• Issued: 03/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Watson, Robert D., Ganapathi Batta, Ganesha Adkasthala, Guetta, Anthony, Shaw, David John, Dooley, Craig, Saari, Chris, Novick, Gregory, De Vries, Nathan, Hariharan, Sriram, Bernhard, Patrick Ian, McLaughlin, Dana, Moore, Jeffrey Chandler, Coffman, Patrick Lee, Bennett, Jonathan Anderson, Iyer, Deepak, Howard, Jr., Albert Riley, Conn, Jason
• Primary Examiner(s): SANDIFORD, DEVAN A
• Application Number:
  US15/169,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20160360018A1
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1041 Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements switches in general H01H
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/01 Input selection or mixing for amplifiers or loudspeakers for hearing aids H04R25/43
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• 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 5/033 Headphones for stereophonic communication details thereof, e.g. relating to batteries, cables or control elements H04R1/10
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/566 of the information or information source or recipient
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/36 for reassigning the resources associated with the released connections

Abstract

Apparatus and methods to communicate audio data from either an active wireless device or a requesting wireless device to one or more audio reproduction devices that are simultaneously communicatively coupled to both the active wireless device and to the requesting wireless device are disclosed. Responsive to a request from the requesting wireless device to transmit audio data to the one or more audio reproduction devices, the active wireless device determines whether to transmit audio data from the requesting wireless device based at least in part on an audio status of the active wireless device and a set of predetermined arbitration criteria that prioritizes among applications and operating system processes that generate the audio data.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

by an active wireless device;

detecting an audio status of the active wireless device, the active wireless device being communicatively coupled to at least one of a first wireless ear bud or a second wireless ear bud of a pair of wireless ear buds, the active wireless device being communicatively coupled to a requesting wireless device and having control of an audio channel for transmission of audio data to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds;

determining whether to transmit audio data associated with the requesting wireless device to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds based at least in part on the audio status of the active wireless device and predetermined arbitration criteria; and

causing the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device to be transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds when the audio status of the active wireless device and the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device satisfy the predetermined arbitration criteria,

wherein the audio status of the active wireless device comprises whether the active wireless device is communicating audio data or is operating in a muted state or an audio paused state in which audio data is not being communicated to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and

wherein causing the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device to be transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds comprises;

generating a set of link keys for the requesting wireless device to connect with the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and

sharing the set of link keys with the requesting wireless device and the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds,

wherein the requesting wireless device utilizes the set of link keys to establish a connection with the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds and transmits the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device via the established connection.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

when the audio status of the active wireless device comprises the active wireless device operating in the muted state or the audio paused state, the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device is transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

when (i) the audio status of the active wireless device comprises the active wireless device communicating audio data having a first priority level to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and (ii) the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device comprises audio data having a second priority level that is equal to or higher than the first priority level, the audio data of the second priority level associated with the requesting wireless device is transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds and transmission of the audio data of the first priority level associated with the active wireless device is suspended.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the audio data having the second priority level associated with the requesting wireless device comprises audio data associated with a voice call or a video call.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

when the audio status of the active wireless device comprises the active wireless device communicating audio data having a first priority level to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device comprises audio data having a second priority level lower than the first priority level, the audio data of the second priority level associated with the requesting wireless device is not transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the audio data having the first priority level associated with the active wireless device comprises audio data associated with a voice call or a video call; and

the audio data having the second priority level associated with the requesting wireless device comprises audio data associated with an application or operating system process other than servicing the voice call or the video call.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the audio data having the second priority level associated with the requesting wireless device further comprises audio data corresponding to at least one of an alert, an alarm, a navigation application, a game application, media playback, or a voice mail.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a wearing status of each wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds,

wherein audio data is transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds from either the active wireless device or the requesting wireless device when at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds has an in-ear status.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

audio data is not transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds from either the active wireless device or the requesting wireless device when both the first wireless ear bud and the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds have an out-of-ear status.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause an active wireless device to:

detect an audio status of the active wireless device communicatively coupled to at least one of a first wireless ear bud or a second wireless ear bud of a pair of wireless ear buds;

receive a request to transmit audio data associated with a requesting wireless device to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, wherein the active wireless device is communicatively coupled to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds and controls an audio channel for transmission of audio data to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds;

grant the request to transmit the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds when the audio status of the active wireless device and the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device satisfy predetermined arbitration criteria,

wherein the audio status of the active wireless device comprises whether the active wireless device is communicating audio data or is operating in a muted state or an audio paused state in which audio data is not being communicated to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and

wherein granting the request to transmit the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds comprises;

generating a set of link keys for the requesting wireless device to connect with the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and

sharing the set of link keys with the requesting wireless device and the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds,

wherein the requesting wireless device utilizes the set of link keys to establish a connection with the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds and transmits the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device via the established connection.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

when the audio status of the active wireless device comprises the active wireless device operating in the muted state or the audio paused state, the request to transmit the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds is granted.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

when (i) the audio status of the active wireless device comprises the active wireless device communicating audio data having a first priority level to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and (ii) the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device comprises audio data having a second priority level that is equal to or higher than the first priority level, the request to transmit the audio data of the second priority level associated with the requesting wireless device to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds is granted and transmission of the audio data of the first priority level associated with the active wireless device is suspended.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein:

when (i) the audio status of the active wireless device comprises the active wireless device communicating audio data having a first priority level to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds, and (ii) the audio data associated with the requesting wireless device comprises audio data having a second priority level lower than the first priority level, the request to transmit the audio data of the second priority level associated with the requesting wireless device to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds is not granted.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein execution of the processor-executable instructions further causes the active wireless device to:

detect a wearing status of each of the first wireless ear bud and the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds,

wherein audio data is transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds from either the active wireless device or the requesting wireless device when at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds has an in-ear status.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein:

audio data is not transmitted to the at least one of the first wireless ear bud or the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds from either the active wireless device or the requesting wireless device when both the first wireless ear bud and the second wireless ear bud of the pair of wireless ear buds has an out-of-ear status.

16. A wireless device comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the wireless device to;

detect an audio status of the wireless device;

and

allow a second wireless device to transmit audio data associated with the second wireless device to one or more wireless audio reproduction devices when the audio status of the wireless device and the audio data associated with the second wireless device satisfy predetermined arbitration criteria,

wherein;

the wireless device is communicatively coupled to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices, the wireless device having control of an audio channel for transmission of audio data to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices,

the audio status of the wireless device comprises whether the wireless device is communicating audio data or is operating in a muted state or in an audio paused state in which audio data is not being communicated to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices, and

allowing the second wireless device to transmit audio data associated with the second wireless device to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices comprises;

generating a set of link keys for the second wireless device to connect with the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices, and

sharing the set of link keys with the second wireless device and the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices,

wherein the second wireless device utilizes the set of link keys to establish a connection with the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices and transmits the audio data associated with the second wireless device via the established connection.

17. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein:

when the audio status of the wireless device comprises the wireless device operating in the muted state or the audio paused state, the audio data associated with the second wireless device is transmitted to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices.

18. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein:

when (i) the audio status of the wireless device comprises the wireless device communicating audio data having a first priority level to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices, and (ii) the audio data associated with the second wireless device comprises audio data has a second priority level that is equal to or higher than the first priority level, the audio data of the second priority level associated with the second wireless device is transmitted to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices and transmission of the audio data of the first priority level associated with the wireless device is suspended.

19. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein:

when (i) the audio status of the wireless device comprises the wireless device communicating audio data having a first priority level to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices, and (ii) the audio data associated with the second wireless device comprises audio data having a second priority level lower than the first priority level, the audio data of the second priority level associated with the second wireless device is not transmitted to the one or more wireless audio reproduction devices.

20. The wireless device of claim 16, wherein:

the predetermined arbitration criteria comprise one or more rules for prioritizing between audio data associated with the wireless device and audio data associated with the second wireless device based at least in part on priority levels for applications or operating system processes that generate the audio data.