Microphone apparatus and method with catch-up buffer
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- at a microphone;
detecting voice activity in a data stream while simultaneously buffering the data stream in a buffer;
sending a signal to a host indicating a positive detection of voice activity in the data stream;
in response to receiving an external clock signal from the host, synchronizing internal operations of the microphone with the external clock signal;
sending a buffered data stream through a first path, the first path including the buffer and having a buffer delay time corresponding to a time the buffered data stream takes to move through the buffer;
stopping said sending the buffered data stream after the buffer delay time plus a predetermined buffer extension time, wherein the buffered data stream includes buffered data extending over the buffer delay time and extended buffer data extending over the predetermined buffer extension time;
continuously sending the data stream through a second path as a real-time data stream, wherein the second path does not include the buffer, and wherein the real-time data stream begins with the extended buffer data;
multiplexing the buffered data stream and the real-time data stream to create a multiplexed data stream; and
transmitting the multiplexed data stream to the host via a single data line.
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Accused Products
Abstract
At a microphone, voice activity is detected in a data stream while simultaneously buffering audio data from the data stream to create buffered data. A signal is sent to a host indicating the positive detection of voice activity in the data stream. When an external clock signal is received from the host, the internal operation of the microphone is synchronized with the external clock signal. Buffered data stream is selectively sent through a first path, the first path including a buffer having a buffer delay time representing the time the first data stream takes to move through the buffer. The data stream is continuously sent through a second path as a real-time data stream, the second path not including the buffer, the real-time data stream beginning with the extended buffer data at a given instant in time. The buffered data stream and the real-time data stream are multiplexed onto a single data line and transmitting the multiplexed data stream to the host.
174 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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at a microphone; detecting voice activity in a data stream while simultaneously buffering the data stream in a buffer; sending a signal to a host indicating a positive detection of voice activity in the data stream; in response to receiving an external clock signal from the host, synchronizing internal operations of the microphone with the external clock signal; sending a buffered data stream through a first path, the first path including the buffer and having a buffer delay time corresponding to a time the buffered data stream takes to move through the buffer; stopping said sending the buffered data stream after the buffer delay time plus a predetermined buffer extension time, wherein the buffered data stream includes buffered data extending over the buffer delay time and extended buffer data extending over the predetermined buffer extension time; continuously sending the data stream through a second path as a real-time data stream, wherein the second path does not include the buffer, and wherein the real-time data stream begins with the extended buffer data; multiplexing the buffered data stream and the real-time data stream to create a multiplexed data stream; and transmitting the multiplexed data stream to the host via a single data line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system, the system comprising:
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a microphone configured to; detect voice activity in a data stream while simultaneously buffering audio data from the data stream in a buffer; send a signal to the host indicating a positive detection of voice activity in the data stream; in response to receiving an external clock signal from a host, synchronize internal operations of the microphone with the external clock signal; send the data stream through a first path, the first path including the buffer and having a buffer delay time corresponding to a time the data stream takes to move through the buffer; stop sending a buffered data stream after the buffer delay time plus a predetermined buffer extension time, wherein the buffered data stream includes buffered data extending over the buffer delay time and extended buffer data extending over the predetermined buffer extension time; continuously send the data stream through a second path as a real-time data stream, wherein the second path does not include the buffer, and wherein the real-time data stream begins with the extended buffer data; multiplex the buffered data stream and the real-time stream to create a multiplexed data stream; and transmit the multiplexed data stream to the host via a single data line; wherein the host is coupled to the microphone. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification