Ear-mountable listening device having a ring-shaped microphone array for beamforming
US11632648B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 10, 2022 |
| Grant date | Apr 18, 2023 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 10, 2042 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04S2420/01
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An ear-mountable listening device includes an adaptive phased array of microphones, a speaker, and electronics. The microphones are physically arranged into a ring pattern to capture sounds emanating from an environment. Each of the microphones is configured to output one of a plurality of first audio signals that is representative of the sounds captured by a respective one of the microphones. The speaker is arranged to emit audio into an ear. The electronics are coupled to the adaptive phased array and the speaker and include logic that when executed causes the ear-mountable listening device receive a user input identifying a first sound for cancelling or amplifying, steer a null or a lobe of the adaptive phased array based upon the user input, and generate a second audio signal that drives the speaker based upon a combination of one or more of the first audio signals.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.