Duty-cycling microphone/sensor for acoustic analysis

A system, comprising:

• a first switch having a first terminal operable to receive an analog input signal capacitively coupled from an acoustic sensor, the first switch operable to selectively couple the received analog input signal to a second terminal of the first switch during a first on-time, the analog input signal including a DC (direct current) component for powering the acoustic sensor and including an AC (alternating current) component for conveying information quantities received when the acoustic sensor is powered by the DC component;
• a second switch having a first terminal coupled to a second terminal of the first switch, the second switch operable to selectively couple the first-switch coupled analog input signal to ground during a first settling time that occurs during the first on-time;
• an amplifier having an input coupled to a second terminal of the first switch, the amplifier operable to amplify the AC component during the first on-time and after the first settling-time;
• and
• feature extraction circuitry for extracting sparse sound parameter information from the amplified AC components, the sparse sound parameter information being associated with the first on-time;
• including feature pre-screen logic circuitry for determining whether a match exists between the extracted sparse sound parameter information and stored truncated sound signatures, where the determination whether a match exists is made in response to the analog input signal exceeding a reference voltage.