Battery-less, noise-cancellation headset

• US 10,080,078 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2016
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Gurunathan, Meenakshisundaram
• Primary Examiner(s): Yu, Norman
• Application Number:
  US15/268,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20180084331A1
• Time in Patent Office: 732 Days
• Field of Search: 381 74, 381 716, 381309, 381 711, 704226
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1041 Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements switches in general H01H
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1083 Reduction of ambient noise active noise reduction per se G10K11/175; protective devices for the ear, e.g. providing acoustic protection A61F11/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/03 Synergistic effects of band splitting and sub-band processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/01 Hearing devices using active noise cancellation
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/001 for loudspeakers H04R29/007 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for a battery-less, noise-cancellation headset compatible with 4-pin audio jack are generally described herein. An example head device to support a noise cancellation function may include a first microphone associated with a first speaker, and a second microphone associated with a second speaker. The example headset device may further include an audio plug having a single microphone contact, and a controller circuit to oscillate back and forth between coupling the first microphone and the second microphone to the single microphone contact at a predetermined frequency.

Claims

1. A device to support a noise cancellation function, the device comprising:

an audio socket including a microphone contact; and

an ambient noise detection module to;

receive an ambient noise data signal from a headset via the microphone contact, the microphone contact being alternatively coupled automatically to a first microphone and to a second microphone;

detect an impedance at the microphone contact; and

provide a first noise cancellation signal to a first speaker of the headset responsive to the impedance having a first value and to provide a second noise cancellation signal to a second speaker of the headset responsive to the impedance having a second value.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising an audio encoder/decoder to encode a first audio signal that includes first audio data and the first noise cancellation signal and to encode a second audio signal that includes second audio data and the second noise cancellation signal.

3. The device of claim 2, further comprising a processor and memory to provide raw audio data to the audio encoder/decoder, the audio encoder/decoder further to encode a first audio data based on the raw audio data and to encode a second audio data based on the raw audio data.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the audio socket further includes a first speaker contact to receive a first audio signal and a second speaker contact to receive a second audio signal, the first audio signal including the first noise cancellation signal, the second audio signal including the second noise cancellation signal.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the audio socket is a 4-contact audio socket to receive a 4-pin audio plug.

6. A method to provide noise cancellation, the method comprising:

receiving an ambient noise data signal from a headset via a microphone contact of an audio socket;

detecting an impedance at the microphone contact, the microphone contact being alternatively coupled automatically to a first microphone and to a second microphone;

providing a first noise cancellation signal to a first speaker of the headset based on the ambient noise data signal responsive to the impedance having a first value; and

providing a second noise cancellation signal to a second speaker of the headset based on the ambient noise data signal responsive to the impedance having a second value.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

encoding a first audio signal that includes first audio data and the first noise cancellation signal; and

encoding a second audio signal that includes second audio data and the second noise cancellation signal.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing the first audio signal to a first speaker contact of the audio socket; and

providing the second audio signal to a second speaker contact of the audio socket.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the audio socket is a 4-contact audio socket to receive a 4-pin audio plug.

10. The method of claim 6, where providing the first noise cancellation signal based on the ambient noise data signal responsive to the impedance having the first value comprises encoding the first noise cancellation signal with a same amplitude and a 180-degree phase offset from an amplitude and phase of the ambient noise data signal, and wherein providing the second noise cancellation signal based on the ambient noise data signal responsive to the impedance having the second value comprises encoding the second cancellation signal with a same amplitude and a 180-degree phase offset from an amplitude and phase of the ambient noise data signal.