Ear proximity detection
AssigneeCirrus Logic, Inc.
InventorJohn Paul Lesso
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the disclosure include methods, apparatus and computer programs for detecting the proximity of an ear to an audio device. In one embodiment, the disclosure provides a system for detecting the presence of an ear in proximity to an audio device. The system comprises: an input for obtaining a data signal from the environment of the audio device; and an ear biometric authentication module configured to: compare one or more ear biometric features, extracted from the data signal, to an ear biometric template; and generate a first output indicative of the presence or absence of any ear in proximity to the audio device based on the comparison of the one or more extracted ear biometric features to the ear biometric template.
Claims17
A system for detecting the presence of an ear in proximity to an audio device, the system comprising:
- an input for obtaining an audio data signal from a transducer of the audio device;
- and
- an ear biometric authentication module configured to:
- compare one or more ear biometric features, extracted from the audio data signal, to an ear biometric template of an authorised user;
- calculate one or more scores based on the comparison, the one or more scores being indicative of a distance between the one or more extracted ear biometric features and the ear biometric template;
- compare the same one or more scores to each of a first threshold and a second thresholds, wherein the first and second thresholds are different to each other;
- generate a first output indicative of the presence or absence of any ear in proximity to the audio device based on the comparison of the same one or more scores to the first threshold;
- and
- generate a second output indicative of the presence or absence of an ear of the authorised user in proximity to the audio device based on the comparison of the same one or more scores to the second threshold;
- wherein the one or more biometric features comprises one or more of:
- one of more resonant frequencies;
- one or more anti-resonant frequencies;
- oto-acoustic emissions;
- heart-rate variability;
- bone-conducted signals.
A method of detecting the presence of an ear in proximity to an audio device, the method comprising:
- comparing one or more ear biometric features, extracted from an audio data signal obtained from a transducer of the audio device, to an ear biometric template of an authorised user;
- calculating one or more scores based on the comparison, the one or more scores being indicative of a distance between the one or more extracted ear biometric features and the ear biometric template;
- comparing the same one or more scores to each of a first threshold and a second threshold, wherein the first and second thresholds are different to each other;
- generating a first output indicative of the presence or absence of any ear in proximity to the audio device based on the comparison of the same one or more scores to the first threshold;
- and
- generating a second output indicative of the presence or absence of an ear of the authorised user in proximity to the audio device based on the comparison of the same one or more scores to the second threshold;
- wherein the one or more biometric features comprises one or more of:
- one of more resonant frequencies;
- one or more anti-resonant frequencies;
- oto-acoustic emissions;
- heart-rate variability;
- bone-conducted signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.