# US 10,310,082 B2 · Acoustic spatial diagnostics for smart home management > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,310,082 B2 - Document ID: US10310082B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/810,129 - Filed: 2017-11-12 - Published: 2019-01-31 - Granted: 2019-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2017-07-27 - Assignees: Quantenna Communications, Inc. - Applicants: Quantenna Communications, Inc. - Inventors: Aykut Bultan; Narayanan Bharath; Sam Heidari; Hossein Dehghan - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10310082B2 ## CPC - G01S 15/66: Sonar tracking systems - G01S 5/22: Position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements (G01S5/28 takes precedence) - G01S 15/04: Systems determining presence of a target - G01S 15/06: Systems determining the position data of a target - G06F 3/167: {Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback} - G10L 15/063: {Training} - G10L 25/51: for comparison or discrimination - G10L 2021/02166: {Microphone arrays; Beamforming} - H04W 84/12: WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] - H04W 84/18: Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A wireless transceiver including: at least one antenna; a plurality of transmit and receive path components; an array of microphones; an acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit and a rule execution circuit. The plurality of components form transmit and receive paths coupled to the at least one antenna. The acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit couples to the array of microphones to successively sample an acoustic environment surrounding the wireless transceiver and to determine from each set of acoustic samples an acoustic spatial map of at least humans within the surrounding environment. The rule execution circuit couples to the spatial diagnostic circuit to execute an action proscribed by a selected rule when a related portion of the acoustic spatial map sampled by the spatial diagnostic circuit exhibits a correlation above a threshold amount with a spatial context condition associated with the selected rule. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A wireless transceiver for wireless communications on a wireless local area network (WLAN); and the wireless transceiver comprising: at least one antenna; a plurality of components coupled to one another to form transmit and receive paths coupled to the at least one antenna for processing wireless communications; an array of microphones; an acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit coupled to the array of microphones to successively sample an acoustic environment surrounding the wireless transceiver and to determine from each set of acoustic samples an acoustic spatial map of at least humans within the surrounding environment; and a rule execution circuit coupled to the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit to execute an action proscribed by a selected rule when a related portion of the acoustic spatial map sampled by the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit exhibits a correlation above a threshold amount with a spatial context condition associated with the selected rule. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1 further comprising: the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit to determine locations of sound sources in the surrounding environment from the acoustic samples. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1 further comprising: the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit to determine locations of sound sources by correlating a known geometry of the array of microphones with the acoustic samples of sounds emanating from humans, animals, and objects in the surrounding environment. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1 wherein the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit further comprises: an acoustic identification circuit to identify sound sources by correlating authentication records containing acoustic profiles of specific humans, animals, and objects with the acoustic samples. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1 wherein each acoustic spatial map determined by the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit includes a location and identity of humans within a surrounding structure. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1, further comprising: a training circuit to recognize spoken commands from a user and to generate a corresponding rule which combines a recognized command with a current acoustic spatial map output by the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1 further comprising: a memory for storing rules each proscribing an action to perform, and a spatial context in which to perform the action; and the rule execution circuit coupled to the memory to determine when a current acoustic spatial map from the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit substantially matches the spatial context of one of the rules stored in the memory, and in the event of an affirmative determination to execute the action proscribed by the selected one of the rules. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1, operative as one of a wireless access point (WAP) or a wireless station. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The wireless transceiver of claim 1, further comprising: a network interface to a remote server to offload a functionality of at least one of the acoustic spatial diagnostic circuit or the rule execution circuit to the remote server. ### Claim 10 A method for operating a wireless transceiver for wireless communications on a wireless local area network (WLAN); and the method comprising the acts of: providing at least one antenna; providing a plurality of components coupled to one another to form transmit and receive paths coupled to the at least one antenna for processing wireless communications; providing an array of microphones; successively sampling an acoustic environment surrounding the wireless transceiver; generating an acoustic spatial map of at least humans within the surrounding environment from each set of acoustic samples provided in the sampling act; and executing an action proscribed by a selected rule when a related portion of the acoustic spatial map generated in the generating act exhibits a correlation above a threshold amount with a spatial context condition associated with the selected rule. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, wherein the sampling and generating acts further comprise: determining locations of sound sources in the surrounding environment from the acoustic samples. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, wherein the sampling and generating acts further comprise: determining locations of sound sources by correlating a known geometry of the array of microphones with the acoustic samples of sounds emanating from humans, animals, and objects in the surrounding environment. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, wherein the sampling and generating acts further comprise: identifying sound sources by correlating authentication records containing acoustic profiles of specific humans, animals, and objects with the acoustic samples. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, wherein each acoustic spatial map generated in the generating act includes a location and identity of humans within a surrounding structure. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, further comprising: recognizing spoken commands from a user; and generating a corresponding rule which combines a recognized command with a current acoustic spatial map generated in the generating act. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, further comprising: receiving feedback from a smart device manually switchable between an on state and an off state by a user, as to such a change in state; and generating a corresponding rule which combines the received change in state of the smart device with a current acoustic spatial map generated in the generating act. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, further comprising: storing rules each proscribing an action to perform, and a spatial context in which to perform the action; determining when a current acoustic spatial map substantially matches the spatial context of one of the rules stored in the memory; and executing the action proscribed by the selected one of the rules, responsive to an affirmative determination of a substantial match in the determining act. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, further comprising one of the acts of: operating the wireless transceiver as a wireless access point (WAP); and operating the wireless transceiver as a wireless station. ### Claim 19 (depends on 10) The method for operating a wireless transceiver of claim 10, further comprising: executing at least one of the generating or executing acts on a remote server communicatively coupled with the wireless transceiver. ### Claim 20 A method for operating a wireless transceiver for wireless communications on a wireless local area network (WLAN) and a remote server communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver; and the method comprising the acts of: successively sampling an acoustic environment surrounding the wireless transceiver; generating an acoustic spatial map of at least humans within the surrounding environment from each set of acoustic samples provided in the sampling act; and executing an action proscribed by a selected rule when a related portion of the acoustic spatial map generated in the generating act exhibits a correlation above a threshold amount with a spatial context condition associated with the selected rule.