# US 11,310,594 B2 · Portable smart speaker power control

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- Number: US 11,310,594 B2
- Document ID: US11310594B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/574,273
- Filed: 2019-09-18
- Published: 2021-03-18
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2019-09-18
- Assignees: Bose Corporation
- Applicants: Bose Corporation
- Inventors: John Edward Fraize, Jr.; Dylan Maxwell Reilly; Jonathan Hilton Cooper; Karthik Ramana Sankar; Hector Andres Saint-Hilaire; Kenneth Andrew Taylor; David Gerard Burkhardt; Ajay Shrikar Khambadkone; Wen Shi; Isabel Anna Dunning; Paul William Larsen
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11310594B2

## CPC

- H04R 1/1041: {Mechanical or electronic switches, or control elements (switches in general H01H)}
- H04R 3/00: Circuits for transducers (arrangements for producing a reverberation or echo sound G10K15/08; amplifiers H03F)
- G06F 1/3206: Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
- G06F 1/3215: Monitoring of peripheral devices
- G06F 1/3287: by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
- G06F 3/162: {Interface to dedicated audio devices, e.g. audio drivers, interface to CODECs}
- G06F 3/167: {Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback}
- H04R 1/08: Mouthpieces; {Microphones;} Attachments therefor
- G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
- G10L 2015/223: {Execution procedure of a spoken command}
- H04R 3/005: {for combining the signals of two or more microphones (specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407)}
- H04R 2420/07: Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
- H04R: LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS (producing sounds with frequency not determined by supply frequency G10K)
- 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

## Abstract

Various aspects include a speaker including: an acoustic transducer for providing an audio output; a set of microphones for detecting a user voice command; and a controller coupled with the acoustic transducer and the set of microphones, wherein the controller is configured to: in response to detecting a power down command, switch the set of microphones from an active listening mode to a standby mode for a parking period, in response to detecting a power up command during the parking period, switch the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a first time period, and in response to detecting the power up command after expiration of the parking period switch the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a second time period that is greater than the first time period.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A speaker, comprising:
an acoustic transducer for providing an audio output;
a set of microphones for detecting a user voice command; and
a controller coupled with the acoustic transducer and the set of microphones, wherein the controller is configured to:
in response to detecting a power down command, switch the set of microphones from an active listening mode to a standby mode for a parking period,
in response to detecting a power up command during the parking period, switch the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a first time period, and
in response to detecting the power up command after expiration of the parking period, switch the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a second time period that is greater than the first time period.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The speaker of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to maintain the set of microphones in the active listening mode in response to detecting that the portable smart speaker maintains a connection to a power source that is external to the speaker.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The speaker of claim 2, wherein while the speaker is disconnected from the power source external to the speaker, the controller is further configured, after expiration of an additional period without detecting the power up command after expiration of the parking period, to switch the speaker from a first sleep mode to a second sleep mode requiring less power than the first sleep mode.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The speaker of claim 3, wherein while in the second sleep mode, the speaker requires a delay of a third time period to switch the set of microphones to the active listening mode, wherein the third time period is greater than the second time period.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The speaker of claim 4, wherein the parking period is at most approximately 5 minutes to approximately 10 minutes, wherein the additional period is at most approximately 12 to approximately 24 hours, wherein the second period is at most approximately 5 seconds to approximately 15 seconds, and wherein the third period is at least approximately 15 seconds.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The speaker of claim 1, further comprising:
a power storage device; and
a communications module configured to communicate over both wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication protocol and at least one additional communication protocol selected from: Bluetooth (BT) communication protocol, and Airplay communication protocol.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The speaker of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured, in response to failing to detect a previously configured Wi-Fi connection, to:
cause the communications module to communicate via at least one of the additional communication protocols; and
disable the active listening mode.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The speaker of claim 6, further comprising a user interface comprising a set of user interface buttons comprising at least one of:
a pairing button for controlling an additional communication protocol connection,
a virtual personal assistant (VPA) button for controlling the active listening mode, or
a microphone control button for at least one of enabling or disabling the set of microphones.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The speaker of claim 6, wherein prior to establishing any Wi-Fi connection, the speaker is configured to operate in only two modes based upon the power up command and the power down command, respectively, and
after establishing a Wi-Fi connection, the speaker is configured to operate in at least one additional mode including the standby mode based upon the power up command or the power down command.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The speaker of claim 1, further comprising:
an application processor (AP) coupled with the controller; and
a low power microcontroller (LPM) coupled with the AP and the controller,
wherein in response to detecting that the speaker is disconnected from a power source, the controller is configured to adjust between two or more of the following power states:
an active state whereby audio output is provided at the transducer and the set of microphones remain in the active listening mode;
an idle state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer and the set of microphones remain in the active listening mode;
a parking state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer and the set of microphones are in the standby mode;
a first sleep state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer, the AP is suspended and the set of microphones are disabled; and
a second sleep state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer, the AP is powered off, and the set of microphones are disabled.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The speaker of claim 10, wherein in response to the power up command, a transition from the first sleep state to the idle state requires approximately 5 seconds to approximately 10 seconds and a transition from the second sleep state to the idle state requires approximately 10 seconds to approximately 20 seconds, and wherein the speaker can operate for up to approximately the following periods without requiring additional power for each of the power states:
9-15 hours in the active state;
25-35 hours in the idle state;
25-35 days in the first sleep state; and
35-45 days in the second sleep state.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The speaker of claim 1, further comprising a digital signal processor (DSP) coupled with the controller, wherein the DSP is configured to process user voice commands for distinct virtual personal assistant (VPA) platforms with approximately a same delay between receiving a user voice signal and initiating playback of a VPA response.

### Claim 13

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a computer program product, which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to control a speaker having an acoustic transducer for providing an audio output, and a set of microphones for detecting a user voice command, wherein controlling the speaker comprises:
in response to detecting a power down command for the speaker, switching the set of microphones from an active listening mode to a standby mode for a parking period,
in response to detecting a power up command during the parking period, switching the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a first time period, and
in response to detecting the power up command after expiration of the parking period, switch the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a second time period that is greater than the first time period.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein controlling the speaker further comprises:
maintaining the set of microphones in the active listening mode in response to detecting that the portable smart speaker maintains a connection to a power source that is external to the speaker, and
while the speaker is disconnected from the power source external to the speaker:
after expiration of an additional period without detecting the power up command after expiration of the parking period, switching the speaker from a first sleep mode to a second sleep mode requiring less power than the first sleep mode.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein while in the second sleep mode, the speaker requires a delay of a third time period to switch the set of microphones to the active listening mode, wherein the third time period is greater than the second time period, and
wherein the parking period is at most approximately 5 minutes to approximately 10 minutes, wherein the additional period is at most approximately 12 to approximately 24 hours, wherein the second time period is at most approximately 5 seconds to approximately 15 seconds, and wherein the first time period is at least approximately 15 seconds.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the speaker further comprises a power storage device, and a communications module configured to communicate over both wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication protocol and at least one additional communication protocol selected from: Bluetooth (BT) communication protocol, and Airplay communication protocol, and wherein controlling the speaker further comprises:
in response to failing to detect a previously configured Wi-Fi connection:
causing the communications module to communicate via the at least one additional communication protocol; and
disabling the active listening mode.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein prior to establishing any Wi-Fi connection, the speaker is configured to operate in only two modes based upon the power up command and the power down command, respectively, and
after establishing a Wi-Fi connection, the speaker is configured to operate in at least one additional mode including the standby mode based upon the power up command or the power down command.

### Claim 18 (depends on 13)

The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the speaker further includes an application processor (AP) coupled with the controller, and a low power microcontroller (LPM) coupled with the AP and the controller,
wherein in response to detecting that the speaker is disconnected from a power source, controlling the speaker includes adjusting between two or more of the following power states:
an active state whereby audio output is provided at the transducer and the set of microphones remain in the active listening mode;
an idle state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer and the set of microphones remain in the active listening mode;
a parking state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer and the set of microphones are in the standby mode;
a first sleep state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer, the AP is suspended and the set of microphones are disabled; and
a second sleep state whereby audio output is not provided at the transducer, the AP is powered off, and the set of microphones are disabled,
wherein in response to the power up command, a transition from the first sleep state to the idle state requires approximately 5 seconds to approximately 10 seconds and a transition from the second sleep state to the idle state requires approximately 10 seconds to approximately 20 seconds, and wherein the speaker can operate for up to approximately the following periods without requiring additional power for each of the power states:
9-15 hours in the active state;
25-35 hours in the idle state;
25-35 days in the first sleep state; and
35-45 days in the second sleep state.

### Claim 19

A speaker, comprising:
an acoustic transducer for providing an audio output;
a set of microphones for detecting a user voice command; and
a controller coupled with the acoustic transducer and the set of microphones, wherein the controller is configured to:
in response to detecting an extended power down command, switch the set of microphones from an active listening mode to a standby mode for a parking period,
in response to detecting a short power down command, switch the speaker to an idle state whereby audio output is not provided at the acoustic transducer and the set of microphones remain in the active listening mode,
in response to detecting a power up command during the parking period, switch the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a first time period, and
in response to detecting the power up command after expiration of the parking period, switch the set of microphones from the standby mode to the active listening mode after a second time period that is greater than the first time period.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The speaker of claim 19, further comprising:
a communications module coupled with the controller,
wherein in the idle state, the controller is further configured to switch the set of microphones to the standby mode for the parking period in response to detecting that the communications module is not connected with a local network.