# US 2021/0241759 A1 · Wake suppression for audio playing and listening devices > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0241759 A1 - Document ID: US20210241759A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/781,214 - Filed: 2020-02-04 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-02-04 - Assignees: SoundHound, Inc. - Applicants: SoundHound, Inc. - Inventors: Hsuan Yang; Qìndí Zhäng; Warren S. Heit - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210241759A1 ## CPC - G06F 3/167: {Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback} - G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue - G10L 15/08: Speech classification or search - G10L 15/30: Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications - G10L 25/51: for comparison or discrimination - G10L 2015/088: {Word spotting} - G10L 2015/223: {Execution procedure of a spoken command} - 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 A system and method are disclosed for ignoring a wakeword received at a speech-enabled listening device when it is determined the wakeword is reproduced audio from an audio-playing device. Determination can be by detecting audio distortions, by an ignore flag sent locally between an audio-playing device and speech-enabled device, by and ignore flag sent from a server, by comparison of received audio played audio to a wakeword within an audio-playing device or a speech-enabled device, and other means. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A speech-enabled device configured to listen for a wakeword, comprising: a microphone configured to receive audio; and a processor configured to execute software code to: receive a first audio signal from the microphone including the wakeword, switch the speech-enabled device from an idle state to an active state in response to detecting the wakeword in the first audio signal, receive a second audio signal from the microphone including the wakeword, determine that the second audio signal is reproduced audio, and leave the speech-enabled device in the idle state in response to detecting the second wakeword in the second audio signal and determining that the second audio signal is reproduced audio. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The speech-enabled device of claim 1, wherein the processor determines that the second audio signal is reproduced audio by discerning differences between the reproduced audio and live audio spoken by a user to the speech-enabled device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The speech-enabled device of claim 1, wherein the processor determines that the second audio signal is reproduced audio by analyzing a stream of the second audio signal from a source configured to broadcast reproduced audio before the second audio signal is received from the microphone, and spotting the wakeword in the analyzed stream. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The speech-enabled device of claim 3, wherein the source is an audio-playing device having a network connection to the speech-enabled device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The speech-enabled device of claim 4, wherein network connection is a local connection between the speech-enabled device and the audio-playing device. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The speech-enabled device of claim 4, wherein network connection is the Internet. ### Claim 7 A first device having a connection to a second, speech-enabled device, the speech-enabled device including a microphone and the speech-enabled device configured to listen for a wakeword, the first device comprising: a network interface; and a processor configured to execute software code to: analyze audio to be broadcast to a microphone of the speech-enabled device, spot, in the audio to be broadcast, a wakeword known to be used to activate the speech-enabled device, and transmit, upon spotting the wakeword, an ignore signal to the speech-enabled device configured to have the speech-enabled device ignore the wakeword upon receipt of the wakeword at the microphone of the speech-enabled device. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The first device of claim 7, wherein the first device is an audio-playing device configured to broadcast the audio to the microphone of the speech-enabled device. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The first device of claim 7, wherein the first device is a server connected to the speech-enabled device via the Internet, the server further capable of directing a third, audio-playing device to broadcast the audio to the microphone of the speech-enabled device. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The first device of claim 7, wherein the first device transmits the ignore signal via the network connection. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The first device of claim 7, wherein the first device transmits the ignore signal via an audio-playing device within audio range of the speech-enabled device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The first device of claim 7, wherein the speech-enabled device and the first device are part of a common walled garden of devices, wherein the wakeword is shared between devices of the common walled garden including the speech-enabled device and the first device. ### Claim 13 A speech-enabled device having a connection to an audio-playing device, the speech-enabled device configured to listen for a wakeword, the speech-enabled device comprising: a processor configured to execute software code to: receive audio, including the wakeword, from the audio-playing device, analyze the received audio to spot the wakeword, and ignore the wakeword spotted in the audio, to leave the speech-enabled device in an idle state, upon determining the audio came from the audio-playing device. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The speech-enabled device of claim 13, wherein the audio analyzed by the processor comprises an audio stream received via the connection. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The speech-enabled device of claim 13, wherein the speech-enabled device further comprises a microphone, wherein the speech-enabled device receives the audio at a first time from the audio-playing device via the connection and at a second time from the audio-playing device via the microphone. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The speech-enabled device of claim 15, wherein the speech-enabled device is able to determine the audio received at the second time comes from the audio-playing device by spotting the wakeword in the audio at the first and second times and given a proximity of the first and second times. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The speech-enabled device of claim 15, wherein the speech-enabled device is able to determine the audio received at the second time comes from the audio-playing device by storing a segment of the audio received at the first time and comparing it to the audio received at the second time. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The speech-enabled device of claim 13, wherein the connection is a local connection between the speech-enabled device and the audio-playing device. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The speech-enabled device of claim 13, wherein the connection is a wide area connection connecting the speech-enabled device and the audio-playing device to each other and the Internet. ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The speech-enabled device of claim 13, wherein the speech-enabled device and the audio-playing device are part of a single device, and wherein the connection comprises electrical connections within the single device. ### Claim 21 A speech-enabled device having a connection to an audio-playing device, the speech-enabled device configured to listen for a wakeword, the speech-enabled device comprising: a microphone configured to receive audio; and a processor configured to execute software code to: receive a stream of audio, including the wakeword, from the audio-playing device via the connection, analyze the received audio stream to spot the wakeword, receive a broadcast of the audio at the microphone, including the wakeword, from the audio-playing device, analyze the received audio broadcast to spot the wakeword, ignore the wakeword spotted in the broadcast of the audio received at the microphone to leave the speech-enabled device in an idle state. ### Claim 22 A speech-enabled device configured to listen for a wakeword, comprising: a microphone configured to receive audio; and means for ignoring the wakeword received at the microphone, to leave the speech-enabled device in an idle state, upon determining the audio is reproduced audio. ### Claim 23 A device for producing a media stream based on original audio content provided in an audio elementary stream the audio content having speech of a wakeword at an identifiable time, comprising: a stream formatter configured to generate a second elementary stream with a signal of the time of the wakeword within the original audio content; and a server configured to provide the audio elementary stream and the second elementary stream to a playing device; wherein said stream formatter is configured to detect the wakeword in the audio elementary stream, identify its time position, and encode the time position into the second elementary stream to produce a media stream.