The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 03, 2026
Filed:
Jul. 30, 2020
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, San Francisco, CA (US);
Christopher Graham Hines, Sydney, AU;
Rowan James Katekar, Redfern, AU;
Glenn N. Dickins, Como, AU;
Richard J. Cartwright, Sydney, AU;
Jeremiha Emile Douglas, Mill Valley, CA (US);
Mark R.P. Thomas, Walnut Creek, CA (US);
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, San Francisco, CA (US);
Abstract
A method may involve receiving output signals from each microphone of a plurality of microphones in the environment, each of the plurality of microphones residing in a microphone location of the environment, the output signals corresponding to an utterance of a person. The method may involve determining, based at least in part on the output signals, a zone within the environment that has at least a threshold probability of including the person's location and generating a plurality of spatially-varying attentiveness signals within the zone. Each attentiveness signal may be generated by a device located within the zone. Each attentiveness signal may indicate that a corresponding device is in an operating mode in which the corresponding device is awaiting a command and may indicate a relevance metric of the corresponding device.