US5764512A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Intelligent acoustic systems peripheral
Assignee: Nokia of America Corp
•
Filing: 1996-10-04
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Granted: 1998-06-09
•
Expires: 2016-10-04
Abstract
Abstract A personal computer (PC) incorporates a speaker/microphone peripheral, which includes a digital-signal-processor (DSP) based acoustic echo canceler and supports a plurality of modes of operation. One mode is a video/telecommunications mode. In this mode, the acoustic echo canceler is enabled and the speaker/microphone peripheral provides a monaural dual speaker and microphone for use in video, internet telephony, etc., communications. Another mode of operation is a multi-media, or wide-band stereo, mode. In this multi-media mode, the acoustic echo canceler is disabled and the stereo loudspeakers provides high fidelity stereo output signals. In addition, in this latter arrangement an optional sub-woofer may be additionally coupled to the stereo loudspeakers. The speaker/microphone peripheral switches between the operating modes by detecting a predefined sequence of dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) digits. The DTMF sequences are played from wave-type files stored on the PC.
Inventors
- 👤 Alan Dean Michel
- 👤 Wayne Allen Weise
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 19:10
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04R; H04R5/00; H04R5/04; G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/16; G06F3/162; H04M; H04M1/00; H04M1/60; H04M1/6033
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 40
Claim 1
Independent Claim
39 words
A sound system comprising: a speaker arrangement for providing acoustical signals; and a processor for detecting from an electrical representation of the acoustical signals in-band signaling for selecting one of a number of operating modes for the sound system.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
39 words
A sound system comprising: a speaker arrangement for providing acoustical signals; and a processor for detecting from an electrical representation of the acoustical signals in-band signaling for selecting one of a number of operating modes for the sound system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor controls the speaker arrangement to produce said acoustical signals.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the operating modes include at least a telecommunications mode and a non-telecommunications mode.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the speaker arrangement comprises a main speaker mounted into a main speaker housing and a satellite speaker mounted into a satellite speaker housing, and wherein the processor is incorporated within the main speaker housing.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the main speaker housing incorporates an audio interface line-in port, and wherein the processor receives the in-band signaling via said line-in port.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is included on a sound board for insertion into a workstation.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the in-band signaling comprises a predefined sequence of dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) signals and the processor further comprises a DTMF detector for detecting the predefined sequence of DTMF signals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
64 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the in-band signaling comprises a predefined sequence of DTMF signals and the processor further comprises: a DTMF processing element responsive to a received signal for providing an estimate of a DTMF signal received in a time interval, T; and a sequence detector responsive to N DTMF estimates for selecting one of the number of operating modes, where N>0.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 8 where the sequence detector is responsive to the most recent N DTMF estimates for selecting the one of the number of operating modes.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus of claim 8 where the sequence detector is responsive to a previous K received DTMF estimates for matching a predefined preamble and then selects one of the number of operating modes as a function of the Nth received DTMF symbol subsequent to a preamble match, where K<N.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
61 words
Apparatus comprising: a computer system adapted for executing programs such as telecommunications-related programs and other non-telecommunications-related programs; and a sound system responsive to in-band signaling received from the computer system for selecting one of a number of operating modes, where at least one operating mode is used for the telecommunications-related programs and another operating mode is used for the non-telecommunications-related programs.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
61 words
Apparatus comprising: a computer system adapted for executing programs such as telecommunications-related programs and other non-telecommunications-related programs; and a sound system responsive to in-band signaling received from the computer system for selecting one of a number of operating modes, where at least one operating mode is used for the telecommunications-related programs and another operating mode is used for the non-telecommunications-related programs.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the in-band signaling comprises a predefined sequence of dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) signals and the sound system further comprises a DTMF detector for detecting the predefined sequence of DTMF signals.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
64 words
The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the in-band signaling comprises a predefined sequence of DTMF signals and the sound system further comprises: a processing element responsive to a received signal for providing an estimate of a DTMF signal received in a time interval, T; and a sequence detector responsive to N DTMF estimates for selecting one of the number of operating modes, where N>0.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 13 where the sequence detector is responsive to the most recent N DTMF estimates for selecting the one of the number of operating modes.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
49 words
The apparatus of claim 13 where the sequence detector is responsive to a previous K received DTMF estimates for matching a predefined preamble and then selects one of the number of operating modes as a function of the Nth received DTMF symbol subsequent to a preamble match, where K<N.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
56 words
A computer system comprising: a stored-program controlled processor; a sound system; and a storage system; wherein the stored-program-controlled processor causes at least one file representing acoustical information to be retrieved from the storage system for playback via the sound system such that upon playback the sound system switches to one of a number of operating modes.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
56 words
A computer system comprising: a stored-program controlled processor; a sound system; and a storage system; wherein the stored-program-controlled processor causes at least one file representing acoustical information to be retrieved from the storage system for playback via the sound system such that upon playback the sound system switches to one of a number of operating modes.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the stored-program-controlled processor causes the retrieval of the acoustical information as a result of a user selecting a program for execution.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
17 words
The apparatus of claim 17 where the selected program is an applet stored on the storage system.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 17 where the selected program is an applications program stored on the storage system.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
61 words
Apparatus for use in a computer for controlling the state of a computer, the apparatus comprising: a sound system for playing acoustical signals; and a processing element for a) detecting control signals in an electrical representation of the acoustical signals, and b) selecting one of a number of operating modes for the computer as a function of the detected control signals.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
61 words
Apparatus for use in a computer for controlling the state of a computer, the apparatus comprising: a sound system for playing acoustical signals; and a processing element for a) detecting control signals in an electrical representation of the acoustical signals, and b) selecting one of a number of operating modes for the computer as a function of the detected control signals.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the control signals are represented by dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) symbols.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
54 words
A method for use in a computer for controlling the computer, the method comprising the steps of: playing acoustical signals through a sound system of the computer; detecting in the acoustical signals control signals; and selecting one of a number of operating modes for the computer as a function of the detected control signals.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
54 words
A method for use in a computer for controlling the computer, the method comprising the steps of: playing acoustical signals through a sound system of the computer; detecting in the acoustical signals control signals; and selecting one of a number of operating modes for the computer as a function of the detected control signals.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 22 wherein one operating mode for the computer is a telecommunications mode and another operating mode of the computer is a multimedia mode.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 22 wherein the operating mode for the computer controls an operating mode of the sound system.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 22 wherein the control signals are represented by dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) symbols.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method of claim 22 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: detecting a dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) symbol in a time interval; matching N detected DTMF symbols to a predefined list of M DTMF sequences, where each one of the M DTMF sequences comprises N DTMF symbols; and selecting one of the number of operating modes that corresponds to the matched DTMF sequence.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 26 wherein the matching step matches the most recent N detected DTMF symbols.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 22 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: detecting a dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) symbol in a time interval; matching K previously detected DTMF symbols to a predefined preamble sequence; and if a match occurs in the previous step, selecting one of the number of operating modes that corresponds to the current detected DTMF symbol.
Claim 34
Independent Claim
47 words
A method for use in controlling a sound system, the method comprising the steps of: playing acoustical signals via the sound system; detecting in the acoustical signals a control signal; selecting a mode of operation of the sound system as a function of the detected control signal.
Claim 35
Independent Claim
47 words
A method for use in controlling a sound system, the method comprising the steps of: playing acoustical signals via the sound system; detecting in the acoustical signals a control signal; selecting a mode of operation of the sound system as a function of the detected control signal.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 29 wherein one mode of operation for the sound system is a telecommunications mode and another mode of operation for operation of the sound system is a non-telecommunications mode.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method of claim 29 wherein the control signal comprises at least one dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) signal.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
64 words
The method of claim 29 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: detecting a dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) symbol in a time interval; matching N detected DTMF symbols to a predefined list of M DTMF sequences, where each one of the M DTMF sequences comprises N DTMF symbols; and selecting one of the number of operating modes that corresponds to the matched DTMF sequence.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 32 wherein the matching step matches the most recent N detected DTMF symbols.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 29 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: detecting a dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) symbol in a time interval; matching K previously detected DTMF symbols to a predefined preamble sequence; and if a match occurs in the previous step, selecting one of the number of operating modes that corresponds to the current detected DTMF symbol.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-06-08 | 2001-12-08 | 2002-06-09 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-06-08 | 2005-12-08 | 2006-06-09 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-06-08 | 2009-12-08 | 2010-06-09 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |