# US 9,485,577 B2 · Audio output device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,485,577 B2 - Document ID: US9485577B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/227,369 - Filed: 2014-03-27 - Published: 2014-07-31 - Granted: 2016-11-01 - Earliest claimed: 2010-08-26 - Assignees: Rohm Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Rohm Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Yasutomo Yokoyama - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9485577B2 ## CPC - H04R 3/02: for preventing acoustic reaction {, i.e. acoustic oscillatory feedback (specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/453)} - H03M 3/346: {by suppressing active signals at predetermined times, e.g. muting, using non-overlapping clock phases} - H03M 3/454: {with distributed feedback, i.e. with feedback paths from the quantiser output to more than one filter stage} - G11B 2020/00065: {Sigma-delta audio encoding} - 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) - H03M: CODING; DECODING; CODE CONVERSION IN GENERAL (using fluidic means F15C4/00; optical analogue/digital converters G02F7/00; coding, decoding or code conversion, specially adapted for particular applications, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. G01D, G01R, G06F, G06T, G09G, G10L, G11B, G11C, H04B, H04L, H04M, H04N; ciphering or deciphering for cryptography or other purposes involving the need for secrecy G09C) - G11B: INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER (recording measured values in a way that does not require playback through a transducer G01D9/00; recording or playback apparatus using mechanically marked tape, e.g. punched paper tape, or using unit records, e.g. punched or magnetically marked cards G06K; transferring data from one type of record carrier to another G06K1/18; circuits for coupling output of reproducer to radio receiver H04B1/20; gramophone pick-ups or like acoustic electromechanical transducers or circuits therefor H04R) ## Abstract Provided is an audio output device capable of preventing noises and improving the S/N ratio even if no audio signal is inputted in the middle of the input of audio signals, or even if an audio-signal input state and a no-signal state are alternately repeated. In the provided audio output device, a multiplier is provided on the input side of each of the delayers. Each multiplier multiplies the addition output of the corresponding one of adders by a multiplier coefficient supplied by the coefficient counter. If there is no input of digital audio signals into a ΔΣ modulator, the counter control circuit decreases the output of the coefficient counter down to 0 stepwise at predetermined intervals. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An audio output device comprising a ΔΣ modulator including: a quantizer configured to quantize a signal; a subtractor configured to subtract a feedback signal from the quantizer from an inputted digital audio signal; an accumulator configured to accumulate output signals from the subtractor and to output the accumulated output signals to the quantizer side; a delayer included in the accumulator; and a multiplier included in the accumulator and connected to an input side of the delayer, wherein in the ΔΣ modulator, an output of the multiplier is set to 0 if there is no input of the digital audio signal during a predetermined period. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The audio output device according to claim 1, further comprising a multiplier coefficient control circuit configured to supply a multiplier coefficient to the multiplier, wherein the output of e multiplier is set to 0 by setting the multiplier coefficient to 0 if there is no input of the digital audio signal during the predetermined period. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The audio output device according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the accumulators are cascaded between an input terminal for digital audio signals and the quantizer, the feedback signal from the quantizer is fed back to each of the plurality of accumulators, and the multiplier coefficient of the multiplier coefficient control circuit is supplied to each of the multipliers provided respectively in the plurality of accumulators. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The audio output device according to, claim 2, wherein if an input of the digital audio signal restarts, the multiplier coefficient control circuit increases the multiplier coefficient up to 1 stepwise at predetermined intervals. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The audio output device according to claim 1, further comprising an input level detector circuit judging the presence of the digital audio signal, wherein the input level detector circuit judges that there is no digital audio signal if the input level of the digital audio signal that is not over a predetermined threshold continues for a certain length of time. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The audio output device according to claim 5, wherein a the multiplier coefficient control circuit includes a counter control circuit and a coefficient counter, and a judgment signal by the input level detector circuit is supplied to the counter control circuit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The audio output device according to claim 6, wherein the counter control circuit performs a count-down control on the coefficient counter by the judgment signal indicating no digital audio signal from the input level detector circuit. ### Claim 8 (depends on 3) The audio output device according to claim 3, further comprising a multiplier for an attenuation wherein the multiplier for an attenuation is connected between the each accumulator. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The audio output device according to claim 1, wherein the accumulator includes the delayer and the multiplier and an adder.