Automatic speaker setup

• US 9,961,480 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2015
• Issued: 05/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hutchings, Jeffrey L., Kreifeldt, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jerez Lora, William A
• Application Number:
  US15/302,235
• Publication Number:
  US 20170034648A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• Field of Search: 381 2, 381 3, 381 4, 381 6, 381 16, 381 77, 381311, 381315, 381124
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/04 for correcting frequency response
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/30 Control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field
• 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

Abstract

In one embodiment, a computer-program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed for performing an automatic speaker setup is provided. The computer-program product includes instructions for wirelessly receiving, via Near Field Communication (NFC), speaker information for at least one speaker in a speaker system. The computer-program product further includes instructions wirelessly transmitting the speaker information to an audio control unit that transmits audio data to the at least one speaker based on the speaker information.

Claims

1. A computer-program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed for performing an automatic speaker setup, the computer-program product comprising instructions for:

wirelessly receiving, via Near Field Communication (NFC) at a mobile device, speaker information from at least one speaker in a speaker system, the speaker information including a speaker size for the at least one speaker;

processing the speaker information at the mobile device; and

wirelessly transmitting the speaker information from the mobile device to an audio control unit that includes a transceiver to transmit audio data to the at least one speaker based on the speaker information.

2. The computer-program product of claim 1 further comprising wirelessly transmitting the speaker information to the audio control unit via a first wireless protocol that is different than the NFC.

3. The computer-program product of claim 2 wherein the first wireless protocol includes one of WIFI and BLUETOOTH.

4. The computer-program product of claim 1 wherein the speaker information corresponds to at least one alignment delay value and at least one parameter equalizer value for the at least one speaker.

5. The computer-program product of claim 1 further comprising instructions for wirelessly receiving, via the NFC, speaker information from an NFC tag positioned on the at least one speaker.

6. The computer-program product of claim 5 further comprising instructions for generating a magnetic field for transmission to the NFC tag to request the speaker information for the at least one speaker in the speaker system prior to wirelessly receiving the speaker information.

7. The computer-program product of claim 1 further comprising instructions for receiving the speaker information via an active NFC tag.

8. An apparatus for performing an automatic speaker setup, the apparatus comprising:

a mobile device configured to;

wirelessly receive, via Near Field Communication (NFC), speaker information from at least one speaker in a speaker system, the speaker information including a speaker size for the at least one speaker; and

wirelessly transmit the speaker information to an audio control unit that includes a transceiver to transmit audio data to the at least one speaker based on the speaker information.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the mobile device is configured to wirelessly transmit the speaker information to the audio control unit via a first wireless protocol that is different than the NFC.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the first wireless protocol includes one of WIFI and BLUETOOTH.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the speaker information corresponds to at least one alignment delay value and at least one parameter equalizer value for the at least one speaker.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the mobile device is further configured to wirelessly receive, via the NFC, speaker information from an NFC tag positioned on the at least one speaker.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the mobile device is further configured to generate a magnetic field for transmission to the NFC tag to request the speaker information from the at least one speaker in the speaker system prior to wirelessly receiving the speaker information.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the mobile device includes a first transceiver configured to receive the speaker information from the at least one speaker.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the first transceiver is an active NFC tag.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the mobile device includes a second transceiver configured to transmit the speaker information to the audio control unit for storage thereon.

17. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the mobile device is one of a cell phone, tablet, and laptop computer.

18. An apparatus for performing an automatic speaker setup, the apparatus comprising:

at least one loudspeaker including a first transceiver configured to;

wirelessly receive a request to provide speaker information;

wirelessly transmit the speaker information including a speaker size for the at least one loudspeaker to a mobile device via Near Field Communication (NFC) that provides the speaker information to a transceiver of an audio control unit; and

wirelessly receive audio data based on the speaker information from the audio control unit.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the speaker information corresponds to at least one alignment delay value and at least one parameter equalizer value for the at least one loudspeaker.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the first transceiver is a passive NFC tag for receiving a magnetic field to provide the speaker information to the mobile device.