Voice controlled assistant with coaxial speaker and microphone arrangement

• US 10,657,970 B1
• Filed: 04/29/2019
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: List, Timothy Theodore
• Primary Examiner(s): Ensey, Brian
• Application Number:
  US16/397,931
• Time in Patent Office: 386 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/08 Speech classification or search
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/1822 Parsing for meaning understanding
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/20 Speech recognition techniques specially adapted for robustness in adverse environments, e.g. in noise, of stress induced speech G10L21/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/30 Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02082 the noise being echo, reverberation of the speech
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02166 Microphone arrays; Beamforming
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0208 Noise filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/08 Mouthpieces; Microphones; Attachments therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/323 for loudspeakers H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/326 for microphones H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/345 for loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/003 Digital PA systems using, e.g. LAN or internet
• 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 3/002 Damping circuit arrangements for transducers, e.g. motional feedback circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

A voice controlled assistant has a housing to hold one or more microphones, one or more speakers, and various computing components. The housing has an elongated cylindrical body extending along a center axis between a base end and a top end. The microphone(s) are mounted in the top end and the speaker(s) are mounted proximal to the base end. The microphone(s) and speaker(s) are coaxially aligned along the center axis. The speaker(s) are oriented to output sound directionally toward the base end and opposite to the microphone(s) in the top end. The sound may then be redirected in a radial outward direction from the center axis at the base end so that the sound is output symmetric to, and equidistance from, the microphone(s).

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a housing;

a speaker;

a microphone disposed at least partly within the housing;

one or more processors; and

non-transitory computer-readable media configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving audio data representing audio captured by the microphone;

sending the audio data to a remote system; and

receiving, from the remote system, an indication that a communication channel has been established between the device and a remote device based at least in part on the audio data.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising configuring a setting associated with operation of the device.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising performing an echo-cancellation process in association with the audio data.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising performing a double-talk-reduction process in associated with the audio data.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising a light element configured to indicate a state of the device.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising causing a light element of the device to emit light based at least in part on the audio data corresponding at least in part to a predetermined word.

6. A device, comprising:

a housing;

a microphone disposed at least partly within the housing;

a speaker;

a network interface configured to communicate over a network with a remote system;

one or more processors; and

non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

generating audio data representing audio captured by the microphone;

sending the audio data to the remote system; and

receiving, from the remote system, a command to enable wireless communication between the device and a remote device.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising configuring a setting associated with operation of the device.

8. The device of claim 6, further comprising a light element configured to indicate a state of the device.

14. The device of claim 6, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising causing a light element of the device to emit light based at least in part on the audio data corresponding at least in part to speech.

9. A device, comprising:

a housing;

a speaker disposed at least partly within the housing;

a microphone;

a light element disposed proximate to a top end of the housing;

one or more processors; and

non-transitory computer-readable media configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

generating audio data representing audio captured by the microphone;

determining that the audio data corresponds at least in part to a predetermined word; and

causing the light element to emit light based at least in part on the audio data corresponding at least in part to the predetermined word.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising configuring a setting associated with operation of the device.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising causing the audio data to be sent to a remote system.

12. The device of claim 9, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable media is further configured with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

sending the audio data to a remote system; and

receiving, from the remote system, a command to enable wireless communication between the device and a remote device.