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:
May. 24, 2016
Filed:
Jul. 31, 2013
Apparatus with adaptive microphone configuration based on surface proximity, surface type and motion
Google Technology Holdings Llc, Mountain View, CA (US);
Plamen A Ivanov, Schaumburg, IL (US);
Kevin J Bastyr, Milwaukee, WI (US);
Joel A Clark, Woodridge, IL (US);
Rivanaldo S Oliveira, Grayslake, IL (US);
Snehitha Singaraju, Gurnee, IL (US);
Jincheng Wu, Naperville, IL (US);
Google Technology Holdings LLC, Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus includes a group of microphones and a surface compensator that is operatively coupled to switch logic and to a signal conditioner that provides a control channel to voice recognition logic. The surface compensator may detect surfaces in proximity to the apparatus as well as the surface's acoustic reflectivity or acoustic absorptivity and may accordingly configure the group of microphones including selecting appropriate signal conditioning and beamforming based on the surface acoustic reflectivity or acoustic absorptivity and the orientation of the apparatus. Voice recognition performance is thus improved when microphones are impeded or occluded by proximate surfaces. A group of sensors of the apparatus is used by the surface compensator to detect surfaces and surface type, and to determine apparatus orientation and motion.