Bose Corporation

Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Mihir D Shetye

Ryan Christopher Silvestri

Wontak Kim

Dale McElhone

Binu K Oommen

Zhen Sun

Yuancheng Luo

Eric Matthew Wallace

Kevin Paul Annunziato

Roman Sapiejewski

Jason Harlow

Ole Mattis Nielsen

Tristan Edward Taylor

Mark R Bergeron

Eric Douglas Curtiss

Andrew Jackson Stockton X

A wearable audio output device (e.g., headphones) having an open design that allows ambient noise to pass to a listener without physically isolating the listener from a surrounding environment. The device may include an open earcup design that may partially or completely surround the listener's ear, and in some examples a portion of the listener's head may be uncovered by the open earcup. To improve comfort, the device includes a floating audio component configured to generate output audio in a direction of the listener's ear without contacting the listener's ear. To reduce audio leakage into the environment, the floating audio component may include two audio transducers and perform beamforming to target the output audio toward the listener's ear and cancel the output audio in other directions. For example, the beamforming may cause constructive interference in one direction and destructive interference in all other directions.

Beamforming output audio using open headphones

A wearable audio output device (e.g., headphones) having an open design that allows ambient noise to pass to a listener without physically isolating the listener from a surrounding environment. The device may include an open earcup design that may partially or completely surround the listener's ear, and in some examples a portion of the listener's head may be uncovered by the open earcup. To improve comfort, the device includes a floating audio component configured to generate output audio in a direction of the listener's ear without contacting the listener's ear. To reduce an amount of ambient noise, the device may be configured to perform active noise cancellation (ANC) processing using feedforward and/or feedback microphones. The device may include an acoustic structure configured to direct the output audio in the direction of the listener's ear and/or position the feedback microphone(s) closer to the listener's ear.

Open headphones with active noise cancellation

A system configured to improve spatial coverage of output audio and a corresponding user experience by performing upmixing and loudspeaker beamforming to stereo input signals. The system can perform upmixing to the stereo (e.g., two channel) input signal to extract a center channel and generate three-channel audio data. The system may then perform loudspeaker beamforming to the three-channel audio data to enable two loudspeakers to generate output audio having three distinct beams. The user may interpret the three distinct beams as originating from three separate locations, resulting in the user perceiving a wide virtual sound stage despite the loudspeakers being spaced close together on the device.

Loudspeaker beamforming for improved spatial coverage

A method of controlling a personal acoustic device includes generating a first electrical signal responsive to an acoustic signal incident at a microphone disposed at a location on an earpiece of the personal acoustic device such that the microphone is acoustically coupled to an environment external to the earpiece. A characteristic of a transfer function based on the first electrical signal and a second electrical signal provided to a speaker in the earpiece is determined. An operating state of the personal acoustic device is determined form the characteristic of the transfer function. The operating state include a state in which the earpiece is positioned in the vicinity of an ear of a user and a second state in which the earpiece is absent from the vicinity of the ear of the user.

On/off head detection of personal acoustic device using an earpiece microphone

A headset includes at least one ear cup having front and rear cavities separated by a driver. The cup includes a pressure equalization port coupling the front cavity to space outside the cup, the pressure equalization port having a cross-sectional area greater than 2 mmand being significantly longer than it is wide, providing a principally reactive acoustic impedance, such that the pressure response of the front cavity including the port to signals input via the driver may be effectively linear over a wide range of pressure levels within the front cavity.

Headset porting

A headphone includes an electroacoustic transducer and a support structure for suspending the transducer adjacent to a user's ear when worn by the user such that the headphone is acoustically open. A first microphone is coupled to one or more of the transducer and the support structure such that the first microphone is located in a substantially broadband acoustic null of the transducer. A processor is coupled to the headphone. The microphone receives sound pressure waves and outputs a related electronic signal to the processor. The processor uses the electronic signal to operate the transducer to reduce targeted sound pressure waves at the user's ear.

Acoustically open headphone with active noise reduction

A method of controlling a personal acoustic device includes generating a first electrical signal responsive to an acoustic signal incident at a microphone disposed on an earpiece of the personal acoustic device. A characteristic of a transfer function based on the first electrical signal and a second electrical signal provided to a speaker in the earpiece is determined. An operating state of the personal acoustic device is determined form the characteristic of the transfer function. The operating state include a state in which the earpiece is positioned in the vicinity of an ear of a user and a second state in which the earpiece is absent from the vicinity of the ear of the user. Examples of a microphone that may be used include feedback and feedforward microphones in an acoustic noise reduction circuit.

A headphone that has a support structure that is adapted to sit on a head or upper torso of a user, a first acoustic driver carried by the support structure such that the first acoustic driver is located off of an ear of the user, wherein the first acoustic driver has front and rear sides and sound is radiated from both sides of the first acoustic driver, and a structure that defines a first acoustic chamber on the front side of the first acoustic driver and with at least one opening therein, and a second acoustic chamber on the rear side of the first acoustic driver and with at least one opening therein. At low frequencies a polar pattern of the first acoustic driver behaves approximately like a dipole, and at high frequencies a polar pattern of the first acoustic driver exhibits a higher order directional pattern. A second acoustic driver can be included.

Headphone

A convertible headphone system with headphones having a transducer with a front and a rear, and a back cavity that is fluidly coupled to the rear of the transducer, and an external acoustic structure that defines an acoustic volume. The headphones and the external acoustic structure are configured to be coupled together so as to fluidly couple the back cavity of the headphones to the acoustic volume of the external acoustic structure, to form an expanded back cavity volume.

Convertible headphone system

A headphone includes an electro-acoustic transducer dividing an enclosed volume into a front volume and a rear volume, a first port in the housing coupling the front volume to an ear canal of a user, a second port in the housing coupling the front volume to space outside the ear, a third port in the housing coupling the rear volume to space outside the ear, and an ear tip configured to surround the first port and including a flap to seal the ear canal from space outside the ear. The second port has a diameter and a length that provide an acoustic mass with an acoustic impedance with a high reactive component and a low resistive component, reducing the occlusion effect that otherwise results from sealing the ear.

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Framingham, MA, United States of America

Mihir D Shetye