Music service selection

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for identifying a music service based on a user command. A content type is identified from a received user command and a music service is selected that supports the content type. A selected music service can then transmit audio content associated with the content type for playback.

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, to methods, systems, products, features, services, and other elements directed to media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loud setting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one of its first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing Audio Playback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a media playback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi System enables people to experience music from many sources via one or more networked playback devices. Through a software control application installed on a smartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he or she wants in any room that has a networked playback device. Additionally, using the controller, for example, different songs can be streamed to each room with a playback device, rooms can be grouped together for synchronous playback, or the same song can be heard in all rooms synchronously.

Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to be a need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhance the listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technology may be better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example media playback system configuration in which certain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device;

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device;

FIG. 4 shows an example controller interface;

FIG. 5 shows an example plurality of network devices;

FIG. 6 shows a function block diagram of an example network microphone device;

FIG. 7 is an example flow diagram related to identifying a streaming music service via a network microphone device;

FIG. 8 is another example flow diagram related to identifying a streaming music service via a network microphone device;

The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments, but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Overview

Embodiments described herein relate to identifying and accessing suitable streaming services (e.g. streaming audio tracks) based on commands.

Streaming services may be identified and accessed based upon voice commands provided by a network microphone device. The network microphone device may be a device which receives speech via a microphone and performs a function based upon the speech. As an example, the microphone network may receive a voice command “play Pandora® 70's rock radio,” determine that the speech is a command play a specific station from a specific streaming service, and then facilitate the playback of the station from that service. In other implementations, the selection of streaming service may be based upon commands input (e.g. textual input) via a user interface of a controller device. Other types of commands are also possible.

In another example, the commands may not explicitly specify which streaming service a user desires to be accessed. For example, a user may issue more generic commands such as “play Queen” or “play 70's rock.” In such an instance, existing systems are limited in their ability to distinguish what content type a user desires to be played (i.e. the artist or the album Queen, a 70's rock radio station or a “best of” album.) Additionally, such systems are unable to match a user's intended content type to the content type capabilities of the various streaming services (i.e. which services are capable of playing radio station, artists, albums.)

Given the ever increasing amount of content and number of streaming services available there is a need for a system that is capable of intelligently selecting the desired streaming service that matches the content type to provide to the user based upon the user command.

In embodiments, selection of the streaming services may be accomplished by a network configuration including a plurality of network capable devices. The network configuration may include network microphone devices, playback devices, computing devices and/or controller devices (e.g. tablet, smartphone) receiving, processing, and analyzing commands. The configuration may further involve retrieving and/or requesting audio content from one or more music content servers based on the processing and analysis of the received commands. The audio content then may then be obtained by a network microphone device, controller, and/or any number of playback devices to provide an audio playback experience based on the commands. The network configuration may take other forms as well.

In example implementations, selection of a streaming service based on a command may be determined by a number of criteria, individually or in combination. In one example, the selection of a streaming service may be dependent on the content type (e.g. song, genre, radio station) indicated by the command and whether a particular streaming service supports the indicated content type. In such a case, content type logic may be utilized to correlate the command or portions of the command to content types. The content type(s) identified via the logic may then be mapped to a streaming services having the available content types. Analysis of content types indicated via a command may be performed in various other ways.

In another instance, the selection of a streaming service may be based in part upon a user history which may take into account a user's streaming service preferences. The user preferences may be on a per zone basis, content type most played, among various other. Additionally, various forms of “external” data may be incorporated, including but not limited to, geographic, demographic, and weather type data. Other types of selection influencing criteria may exist.

In addition to selecting a music service to provide audio, the processing of the user command may cause alternate indications to be output. In such examples, the system may output a suggestion of a streaming service capable of playing a content type indicated by a command. In another example, the system may output an indication that “the content is unavailable.” Such indications may be output at a network microphone device, controller, or at one or more playback devices via the network microphone device or controller.

In another aspect, the various selection criteria may serve as inputs of an algorithm to determine confidence metrics for various streaming services. A confidence metric may be an indication whether the particular music service is what the user may desire to listen to. For example, the confidence level may be a probability value or percentage (e.g. 1-100) assigned to streaming services. In one example, the streaming service with the highest confidence metric may be provided for streaming. In another instance, an error state may be triggered if the highest calculated confidence metric does not exceed a threshold confidence value or if the top N confidence levels are within a specified range of one another. In such a case, an error state may cause the network microphone device to (1) output an indication that “the content is unavailable,” (2) ask the user to repeat/further specify the command, (3) cause audio to be played by a preferred partner or default service, among other possibilities. The confidence metric may be used in a variety of many other manners.

While some examples described herein may refer to functions performed by given actors such as “users” and/or other entities, it should be understood that this is for purposes of explanation only. The claims should not be interpreted to require action by any such example actor unless explicitly required by the language of the claims themselves. It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that this disclosure includes numerous other embodiments.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a media playback system 100 in which one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced or implemented. The media playback system 100 as shown is associated with an example home environment having several rooms and spaces, such as for example, a master bedroom, an office, a dining room, and a living room. As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the media playback system 100 includes playback devices 102-124, control devices 126 and 128, and a wired or wireless network router 130.

Further discussions relating to the different components of the example media playback system 100 and how the different components may interact to provide a user with a media experience may be found in the following sections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the example media playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limited to applications within, among other things, the home environment as shown in FIG. 1. For instance, the technologies described herein may be useful in environments where multi-zone audio may be desired, such as, for example, a commercial setting like a restaurant, mall or airport, a vehicle like a sports utility vehicle (SUV), bus or car, a ship or boat, an airplane, and so on.

a. Example Playback Devices

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device 200 that may be configured to be one or more of the playback devices 102-124 of the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1. The playback device 200 may include a processor 202, software components 204, memory 206, audio processing components 208, audio amplifier(s) 210, speaker(s) 212, a network interface 214 including wireless interface(s) 216 and wired interface(s) 218, and microphone(s) 220. In one case, the playback device 200 may not include the speaker(s) 212, but rather a speaker interface for connecting the playback device 200 to external speakers. In another case, the playback device 200 may include neither the speaker(s) 212 nor the audio amplifier(s) 210, but rather an audio interface for connecting the playback device 200 to an external audio amplifier or audio-visual receiver.

In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computing component configured to process input data according to instructions stored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangible computer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable by the processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage that can be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executable by the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, the functions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data from an audio source or another playback device. In another example, the functions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data to another device or playback device on a network. In yet another example, the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one or more playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.

Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizing playback of audio content with one or more other playback devices. During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able to perceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content by the playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizing operations among a plurality of independently clocked digital data processing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, provides in more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization among playback devices.

The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated with the playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groups the playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by the playback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200 (or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may be stored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated and used to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206 may also include the data associated with the state of the other devices of the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices so that one or more of the devices have the most recent data associated with the system. Other embodiments are also possible.

The audio processing components 208 may include one or more digital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, an audio enhancement component or a digital signal processor (DSP), and so on. In one embodiment, one or more of the audio processing components 208 may be a subcomponent of the processor 202. In one example, audio content may be processed and/or intentionally altered by the audio processing components 208 to produce audio signals. The produced audio signals may then be provided to the audio amplifier(s) 210 for amplification and playback through speaker(s) 212. Particularly, the audio amplifier(s) 210 may include devices configured to amplify audio signals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 212. The speaker(s) 212 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”) or a complete speaker system involving an enclosure with one or more drivers. A particular driver of the speaker(s) 212 may include, for example, a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), a mid-range driver (e.g., for middle frequencies), and/or a tweeter (e.g., for high frequencies). In some cases, each transducer in the one or more speakers 212 may be driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of the audio amplifier(s) 210. In addition to producing analog signals for playback by the playback device 200, the audio processing components 208 may be configured to process audio content to be sent to one or more other playback devices for playback.

Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device 200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audio line-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-in connection) or the network interface 214.

The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flow between the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a data network. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receive audio content over the data network from one or more other playback devices in communication with the playback device 200, network devices within a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide area network such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content and other signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may be transmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an Internet Protocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses. In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse the digital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device 200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.

As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s) 216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 to wirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playback device(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s) within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standard including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218 may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 to communicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordance with a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the network interface 214 shown in FIG. 2 includes both wireless interface(s) 216 and wired interface(s) 218, the network interface 214 may in some embodiments include only wireless interface(s) or only wired interface(s).

The microphone(s) 220 may be arranged to detect sound in the environment of the playback device 200. For instance, the microphone(s) may be mounted on an exterior wall of a housing of the playback device. The microphone(s) may be any type of microphone now known or later developed such as a condenser microphone, electret condenser microphone, or a dynamic microphone. The microphone(s) may be sensitive to a portion of the frequency range of the speaker(s) 220. One or more of the speaker(s) 220 may operate in reverse as the microphone(s) 220. In some aspects, the playback device 200 might not have microphone(s) 220.

In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback device may be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content. For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a left channel audio component, while the other playback device may be configured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing or enhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playback devices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further play audio content in synchrony with other playback devices.

In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonically consolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single, consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may be configured to process and reproduce sound differently than an unconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired, because a consolidated playback device may have additional speaker drivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, if the playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render low frequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device 200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render full frequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency range playback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playback device 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequency components of audio content, while the low frequency range playback device 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. The consolidated playback device may further be paired with a single playback device or yet another consolidated playback device.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered) for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,” “PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any other past, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally or alternatively be used to implement the playback devices of example embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that a playback device is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 or to the SONOS product offerings. For example, a playback device may include a wired or wireless headphone. In another example, a playback device may include or interact with a docking station for personal mobile media playback devices. In yet another example, a playback device may be integral to another device or component such as a television, a lighting fixture, or some other device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Zone Configurations

Referring back to the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, the environment may have one or more playback zones, each with one or more playback devices. The media playback system 100 may be established with one or more playback zones, after which one or more zones may be added, or removed to arrive at the example configuration shown in FIG. 1. Each zone may be given a name according to a different room or space such as an office, bathroom, master bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, and/or balcony. In one case, a single playback zone may include multiple rooms or spaces. In another case, a single room or space may include multiple playback zones.

As shown in FIG. 1, the balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, office, and bedroom zones each have one playback device, while the living room and master bedroom zones each have multiple playback devices. In the living room zone, playback devices 104, 106, 108, and 110 may be configured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playback devices, as one or more bonded playback devices, as one or more consolidated playback devices, or any combination thereof. Similarly, in the case of the master bedroom, playback devices 122 and 124 may be configured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playback devices, as a bonded playback device, or as a consolidated playback device.

In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG. 1 may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the user may be grilling in the balcony zone and listening to hip hop music being played by the playback device 102 while another user may be preparing food in the kitchen zone and listening to classical music being played by the playback device 114. In another example, a playback zone may play the same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. For instance, the user may be in the office zone where the playback device 118 is playing the same rock music that is being playing by playback device 102 in the balcony zone. In such a case, playback devices 102 and 118 may be playing the rock music in synchrony such that the user may seamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly) enjoy the audio content that is being played out-loud while moving between different playback zones. Synchronization among playback zones may be achieved in a manner similar to that of synchronization among playback devices, as described in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system 100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the media playback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if a user physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone, the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate the change(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playback device 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone may now include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102. The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zone and/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the control devices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playback devices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that is not already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for the particular area.

Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 may be dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individual playback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone 114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such that playback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. On the other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zone including playback device 104, and a listening zone including playback devices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in the living room space while another user wishes to watch television.

c. Example Control Devices

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device 300 that may be configured to be one or both of the control devices 126 and 128 of the media playback system 100. As shown, the control device 300 may include a processor 302, memory 304, a network interface 306, a user interface 308, microphone(s) 310, and software components 312. In one example, the control device 300 may be a dedicated controller for the media playback system 100. In another example, the control device 300 may be a network device on which media playback system controller application software may be installed, such as for example, an iPhone™, iPad™ or any other smart phone, tablet or network device (e.g., a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™).

The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant to facilitating user access, control, and configuration of the media playback system 100. The memory 304 may be data storage that can be loaded with one or more of the software components executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions. The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback system controller application software and other data associated with the media playback system 100 and the user.

In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industry standard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3, wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). The network interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 to communicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In one example, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may be communicated between control device 300 and other devices via the network interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone group configurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by the control device 300 from a playback device or another network device, or transmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device or network device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the other network device may be another control device.

Playback device control commands such as volume control and audio playback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 to a playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above, changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also be performed by a user using the control device 300. The configuration changes may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/from a zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forming a bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devices from a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, the control device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whether the control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device on which media playback system controller application software is installed.

Control device 300 may include microphone(s) 310. Microphone(s) 310 may be arranged to detect sound in the environment of the control device 300. Microphone(s) 310 may be any type of microphone now known or later developed such as a condenser microphone, electret condenser microphone, or a dynamic microphone. The microphone(s) may be sensitive to a portion of a frequency range. Two or more microphones 310 may be arranged to capture location information of an audio source (e.g., voice, audible sound) and/or to assist in filtering background noise.

The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured to facilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, by providing a controller interface such as the controller interface 400 shown in FIG. 4. The controller interface 400 includes a playback control region 410, a playback zone region 420, a playback status region 430, a playback queue region 440, and an audio content sources region 450. The user interface 400 as shown is just one example of a user interface that may be provided on a network device such as the control device 300 of FIG. 3 (and/or the control devices 126 and 128 of FIG. 1) and accessed by users to control a media playback system such as the media playback system 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats, styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented on one or more network devices to provide comparable control access to a media playback system.

The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way of touch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in a selected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward, rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode, enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback control region 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalization settings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playback zones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, the graphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zones in the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones, creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zone groups, among other possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of the graphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon provided within a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectable to bring up options to select one or more other zones in the media playback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped, playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particular zone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with the playback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” icon may be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. In this case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options to deselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zone group. Other interactions and implementations for grouping and ungrouping zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 are also possible. The representations of playback zones in the playback zone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zone group configurations are modified.

The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations of audio content that is presently being played, previously played, or scheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. The selected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished on the user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/or the playback status region 430. The graphical representations may include track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length, and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to know when controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.

The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations of audio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playback zone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zone group may be associated with a playback queue containing information corresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playback zone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queue may comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resource locator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playback device in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve the audio item from a local audio content source or a networked audio content source, possibly for playback by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in which case information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may be added to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in a playback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, a playback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when the playback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audio content, such as Internet radio that may continue to play until otherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playback durations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can include Internet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “in use” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Other examples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,” playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zone groups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playback zone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playback zone including a second playback queue, the established zone group may have an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that contains audio items from the first playback queue (such as if the second playback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audio items from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zone was added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio items from both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if the established zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zone may be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audio items from the playback queue associated with the established zone group before the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, the resulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previous second playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue that is empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associated with the established zone group before the established zone group was ungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

Referring back to the user interface 400 of FIG. 4, the graphical representations of audio content in the playback queue region 440 may include track titles, artist names, track lengths, and other relevant information associated with the audio content in the playback queue. In one example, graphical representations of audio content may be selectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/or manipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in the playback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removed from the playback queue, moved to a different position within the playback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after any currently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playback queue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in a memory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zone group, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zone group, and/or some other designated device.

The audio content sources region 450 may include graphical representations of selectable audio content sources from which audio content may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone or zone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be found in the following section.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zone group may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g. according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from a variety of available audio content sources. In one example, audio content may be retrieved by a playback device directly from a corresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). In another example, audio content may be provided to a playback device over a network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or more playback devices in a media playback system such as the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, local music libraries on one or more network devices (such as a control device, a network-enabled personal computer, or a networked-attached storage (NAS), for example), streaming audio services providing audio content via the Internet (e.g., the cloud), or audio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in input connection on a playback device or network devise, among other possibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added or removed from a media playback system such as the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1. In one example, an indexing of audio items may be performed whenever one or more audio content sources are added, removed or updated. Indexing of audio items may involve scanning for identifiable audio items in all folders/directory shared over a network accessible by playback devices in the media playback system, and generating or updating an audio content database containing metadata (e.g., title, artist, album, track length, among others) and other associated information, such as a URI or URL for each identifiable audio item found. Other examples for managing and maintaining audio content sources may also be possible.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices, playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide only some examples of operating environments within which functions and methods described below may be implemented. Other operating environments and configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, and network devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicable and suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.

e. Example Plurality of Networked Devices

FIG. 5 shows an example plurality of devices 500 that may be configured to provide an audio playback experience based on voice control. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the devices shown in FIG. 5 are for illustrative purposes only, and variations including different and/or additional devices may be possible. As shown, the plurality of devices 500 includes computing devices 504, 506, and 508; network microphone devices (NMDs) 512, 514, and 516; playback devices (PBDs) 532, 534, 536, and 538; and a controller device (CR) 522.

Each of the plurality of devices 500 may be network-capable devices that can establish communication with one or more other devices in the plurality of devices according to one or more network protocols, such as NFC, Bluetooth, Ethernet, and IEEE 802.11, among other examples, over one or more types of networks, such as wide area networks (WAN), local area networks (LAN), and personal area networks (PAN), among other possibilities.

As shown, the computing devices 504, 506, and 508 may be part of a cloud network 502. The cloud network 502 may include additional computing devices. In one example, the computing devices 504, 506, and 508 may be different servers. In another example, two or more of the computing devices 504, 506, and 508 may be modules of a single server. Analogously, each of the computing device 504, 506, and 508 may include one or more modules or servers. For ease of illustration purposes herein, each of the computing devices 504, 506, and 508 may be configured to perform particular functions within the cloud network 502. For instance, computing device 508 may be a source of audio content for a streaming music service.

As shown, the computing device 504 may be configured to interface with NMDs 512, 514, and 516 via communication path 542. NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be components of one or more “Smart Home” systems. In one case, NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be physically distributed throughout a household, similar to the distribution of devices shown in FIG. 1. In another case, two or more of the NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be physically positioned within relative close proximity of one another. Communication path 542 may comprise one or more types of networks, such as a WAN including the Internet, LAN, and/or PAN, among other possibilities.

In one example, one or more of the NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be devices configured primarily for audio detection. In another example, one or more of the NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be components of devices having various primary utilities. For instance, as discussed above in connection to FIGS. 2 and 3, one or more of NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be the microphone(s) 220 of playback device 200 or the microphone(s) 310 of network device 300. Further, in some cases, one or more of NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be the playback device 200 or network device 300. In an example, one or more of NMDs 512, 514, and/or 516 may include multiple microphones arranged in a microphone array.

As shown, the computing device 506 may be configured to interface with CR 522 and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 via communication path 544. In one example, CR 522 may be a network device such as the network device 200 of FIG. 2. Accordingly, CR 522 may be configured to provide the controller interface 400 of FIG. 4. Similarly, PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may be playback devices such as the playback device 300 of FIG. 3. As such, PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may be physically distributed throughout a household as shown in FIG. 1. For illustration purposes, PBDs 536 and 538 may be part of a bonded zone 530, while PBDs 532 and 534 may be part of their own respective zones. As described above, the PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may be dynamically bonded, grouped, unbonded, and ungrouped. Communication path 544 may comprise one or more types of networks, such as a WAN including the Internet, LAN, and/or PAN, among other possibilities.

In one example, as with NMDs 512, 514, and 516, CR522 and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may also be components of one or more “Smart Home” systems. In one case, PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may be distributed throughout the same household as the NMDs 512, 514, and 516. Further, as suggested above, one or more of PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may be one or more of NMDs 512, 514, and 516.

The NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be part of a local area network, and the communication path 542 may include an access point that links the local area network of the NMDs 512, 514, and 516 to the computing device 504 over a WAN (communication path not shown). Likewise, each of the NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may communicate with each other via such an access point.

Similarly, CR 522 and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may be part of a local area network and/or a local playback network as discussed in previous sections, and the communication path 544 may include an access point that links the local area network and/or local playback network of CR 522 and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 to the computing device 506 over a WAN. As such, each of the CR 522 and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may also communicate with each over such an access point.

In one example, communication paths 542 and 544 may comprise the same access point. In an example, each of the NMDs 512, 514, and 516, CR 522, and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may access the cloud network 502 via the same access point for a household.

As shown in FIG. 5, each of the NMDs 512, 514, and 516, CR 522, and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may also directly communicate with one or more of the other devices via communication means 546. Communication means 546 as described herein may involve one or more forms of communication between the devices, according to one or more network protocols, over one or more types of networks, and/or may involve communication via one or more other network devices. For instance, communication means 546 may include one or more of for example, Bluetooth™ (IEEE 802.15), NFC, Wireless direct, and/or Proprietary wireless, among other possibilities.

In one example, CR 522 may communicate with NMD 512 over Bluetooth™, and communicate with PBD 534 over another local area network. In another example, NMD 514 may communicate with CR 522 over another local area network, and communicate with PBD 536 over Bluetooth. In a further example, each of the PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may communicate with each other according to a spanning tree protocol over a local playback network, while each communicating with CR 522 over a local area network, different from the local playback network. Other examples are also possible.

In some cases, communication means between the NMDs 512, 514, and 516, CR 522, and PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538 may change depending on types of communication between the devices, network conditions, and/or latency demands. For instance, communication means 546 may be used when NMD 516 is first introduced to the household with the PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538. In one case, the NMD 516 may transmit identification information corresponding to the NMD 516 to PBD 538 via NFC, and PBD 538 may in response, transmit local area network information to NMD 516 via NFC (or some other form of communication). However, once NMD 516 has been configured within the household, communication means between NMD 516 and PBD 538 may change. For instance, NMD 516 may subsequently communicate with PBD 538 via communication path 542, the cloud network 502, and communication path 544. In another example, the NMDs and PBDs may never communicate via local communications means 546. In a further example, the NMDs and PBDs may communicate primarily via local communications means 546. Other examples are also possible.

In an illustrative example, NMDs 512, 514, and 516 may be configured to receive voice inputs to control PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538. The available control commands may include any media playback system controls previously discussed, such as playback volume control, playback transport controls, music source selection, and grouping, among other possibilities. In one instance, NMD 512 may receive a voice input to control one or more of the PBDs 532, 534, 536, and 538. In response to receiving the voice input, NMD 512 may transmit via communication path 542, the voice input to computing device 504 for processing. In one example, the computing device 504 may convert the voice input to an equivalent text command, and parse the text command to identify a command. Computing device 504 may then subsequently transmit the text command to the computing device 506. In another example, the computing device 504 may convert the voice input to an equivalent text command, and then subsequently transmit the text command to the computing device 506. The computing device 506 may then parse the text command to identify one or more playback commands.

For instance, if the text command is “Play ‘Track 1’ by ‘Artist 1’ from ‘Streaming Service 1’ in ‘Zone 1’,” The computing device 506 may identify (i) a URL for “Track 1” by “Artist 1” available from “Streaming Service 1,” and (ii) at least one playback device in “Zone 1.” In this example, the URL for “Track 1” by “Artist 1” from “Streaming Service 1” may be a URL pointing to computing device 508, and “Zone 1” may be the bonded zone 530. As such, upon identifying the URL and one or both of PBDs 536 and 538, the computing device 506 may transmit via communication path 544 to one or both of PBDs 536 and 538, the identified URL for playback. One or both of PBDs 536 and 538 may responsively retrieve audio content from the computing device 508 according to the received URL, and begin playing “Track 1” by “Artist 1” from “Streaming Service 1.”

One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the above is just one illustrative example, and that other implementations are also possible. In one case, operations performed by one or more of the plurality of devices 500, as described above, may be performed by one or more other devices in the plurality of device 500. For instance, the conversion from voice input to the text command may be alternatively, partially, or wholly performed by another device or devices, such as NMD 512, computing device 506, PBD 536, and/or PBD 538. Analogously, the identification of the URL may be alternatively, partially, or wholly performed by another device or devices, such as NMD 512, computing device 504, PBD 536, and/or PBD 538.

f. Example Network Microphone Device

FIG. 6 shows a function block diagram of an example network microphone device 600 that may be configured to be one or more of NMDs 512, 514, and 516 of FIG. 5. As shown, the network microphone device 600 includes a processor 602, memory 604, a microphone array 606, a network interface 608, a user interface 610, software components 612, and speaker(s) 614. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other network microphone device configurations and arrangements are also possible. For instance, network microphone devices may alternatively exclude the speaker(s) 614 or have a single microphone instead of microphone array 606.

The processor 602 may include one or more processors and/or controllers, which may take the form of a general or special-purpose processor or controller. For instance, the processing unit 602 may include microprocessors, microcontrollers, application-specific integrated circuits, digital signal processors, and the like. The memory 604 may be data storage that can be loaded with one or more of the software components executable by the processor 602 to perform those functions. Accordingly, memory 604 may comprise one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums, examples of which may include volatile storage mediums such as random access memory, registers, cache, etc. and non-volatile storage mediums such as read-only memory, a hard-disk drive, a solid-state drive, flash memory, and/or an optical-storage device, among other possibilities.

The microphone array 606 may be a plurality of microphones arranged to detect sound in the environment of the network microphone device 600. Microphone array 606 may include any type of microphone now known or later developed such as a condenser microphone, electret condenser microphone, or a dynamic microphone, among other possibilities. In one example, the microphone array may be arranged to detect audio from one or more directions relative to the network microphone device. The microphone array 606 may be sensitive to a portion of a frequency range. In one example, a first subset of the microphone array 606 may be sensitive to a first frequency range, while a second subset of the microphone array may be sensitive to a second frequency range. The microphone array 606 may further be arranged to capture location information of an audio source (e.g., voice, audible sound) and/or to assist in filtering background noise. Notably, in some embodiments the microphone array may consist of only a single microphone, rather than a plurality of microphones.

The network interface 608 may be configured to facilitate wireless and/or wired communication between various network devices, such as, in reference to FIG. 5, CR 522, PBDs 532-538, computing device 504-508 in cloud network 502, and other network microphone devices, among other possibilities. As such, network interface 608 may take any suitable form for carrying out these functions, examples of which may include an Ethernet interface, a serial bus interface (e.g., FireWire, USB 2.0, etc.), a chipset and antenna adapted to facilitate wireless communication, and/or any other interface that provides for wired and/or wireless communication. In one example, the network interface 608 may be based on an industry standard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3, wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on).

The user interface 610 of the network microphone device 600 may be configured to facilitate user interactions with the network microphone device. In one example, the user interface 608 may include one or more of physical buttons, graphical interfaces provided on touch sensitive screen(s) and/or surface(s), among other possibilities, for a user to directly provide input to the network microphone device 600. The user interface 610 may further include one or more of lights and the speaker(s) 614 to provide visual and/or audio feedback to a user. In one example, the network microphone device 600 may further be configured to playback audio content via the speaker(s) 614.

III. Example Methods

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may involve identifying and accessing suitable streaming services (e.g. streaming audio tracks) based on commands.

Methods 700 and 800 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 present embodiments of methods that can be implemented within an operating environment involving, for example, the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, one or more of the playback device 200 of FIG. 2, and one or more of the control device 300 of FIG. 3. Methods 700 and 800 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 702-714 and 802-808. Although the blocks are illustrated in sequential order, these blocks may also be performed in parallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also, the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.

In addition, for the methods 700, 800, and other processes and methods disclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of one possible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, each block may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code, which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. The program code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, for example, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. The computer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readable medium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores data for short periods of time like register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may also include non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long term storage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks, compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computer readable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storage systems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computer readable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. In addition, for the methods 700, 800 and other processes and methods disclosed herein, each block in FIGS. 5 and 6 may represent circuitry that is wired to perform the specific logical functions in the process.

FIG. 7 is an example flow diagram related to a process for identifying a music service for streaming.

At 702, NMDs 512-516 or CR 522 may receive an indication of a command which may indicate audio content to be provided for playback from a streaming service. In some instances, a command received by NMDs 512-516 may take the form of a voice command, whereas a command received by CR 522 may be a textual command input on a user interface.

Typically, the received command may include information relating to one or more audio content types. In some cases, the command may include the name of an artist, song, album, or genre (i.e. “play Led Zeppelin,” “play 70's rock”.) Additionally, the command may include pre-fix and/or suffix type information (e.g. “best of . . . ,” “ . . . radio,” “ . . . playlist”) that may be further indicative of content type. For example, a command “play Led Zeppelin radio” may indicate a user's desire to listen to a specific artist's music in a radio format. The received command may include various other forms of information indicative of content type as well.

The received indication of a command at 702 may be processed in various ways. In one implementation, the processing of a command may be accomplished via cloud network 502. In such a case, a voice command received by NMDs 512-516 may cause the voice input to be transmitted via communication network 546 to one or more of computing device 504-508 for processing. The cloud computing device may convert the voice input to an equivalent text command and parse the text command to identify the command. In another configuration the cloud computing device may only convert the voice input to an equivalent text format and send the equivalent text to a second computing device for parsing and command identification. In other instances, the NMDs 512-516 may convert the voice input to text prior to transmission via communication network 546 or both convert a voice input to text and perform the parsing to identify the command. In the case of CR 522 receiving a textual command, the text input may be transmitted via communication network 546 to one of computing devices 504-508 for parsing and command identification. In another instance, CR 522 may perform the parsing of the text input to identify the command.

In another implementation, the processing of a command may be accomplished locally over a local network. In such a case, a voice command received by NMDs 512-516 may cause the voice input to be transmitted via a local network to one or more local computing devices for processing. The local computing device may convert the voice input to an equivalent text command and parse the text command to identify the command. In another configuration local computing device may only convert the voice input to equivalent text format and send the the equivalent text format to a second local computing device for parsing and command identification. In other instances, the NMDs 512-16 may convert the voice input to text prior to transmission via the local network or both convert a voice input to text and perform the parsing to identify the command. In the case of CR 522 receiving a textual command, the text input may be transmitted via the local network to a local computing device for parsing and command identification. In another instance, CR 522 may perform the parsing of the text input to identify the command. Other configurations for processing a command may exist.

At 704, a computing device may identify a content type indicated by the command. The identification of content type may be accomplished via cloud network 502 or locally over a local network.

In one implementation a computing device may use content type logic to correlate the commands or portions of the commands to content type(s). Using the aforementioned example of “Play Led Zeppelin radio,” a computing device may identify the content type as “Artist/Radio Station.” In another example, the command “Play Electronic Dance Music” may cause the content type to be identified as “Genre.” Similar identifications may be made for the various other content types. The identification of content type may be accomplished for instance through inputting a keyword of the command such as “Dance Music” and the database may map the keyword to an indication for content type such as the Genre. The database may reside on the computing device or on the network microphone device in some examples.

If it is determined that no content type is identified at 708 the method may proceed directly to 714. A content type may be unidentifiable for a number of reasons including user input error, poor speech input quality, background noise, or simply no such content type is known. For example, the content type of a command indicating an obscure artist name may be unable to be identified.

At 714, an indication may be output by a computing device and transmitted via the communication network 546 to any or all of NMDs 512-516, PBDs 532-538, or CR 522 indicating that “the content is unavailable”. The indication that no content is available may then be presented audibly or visually to a user. For example, the NMDs and PBDs may output audible indications, whereas the CR may be capable of outputting both audible and visual indications. The indication sent may, additionally or alternatively, cause a suggestion to be output to a user instructing he or she to re-input the command. For instance, the suggestion might be for the user to specify some additional identifying characteristic so as to assist in identifying the content type.

However, if it is determined at 706 that a content type has been identified the method may proceed to 708 to identify a streaming service that is able to play the content type identified at 704. Generally, particular streaming services may vary significantly from other streaming services not only in what audio content they provide but also in how they present the content. For instance, each streaming service may possess relatively exclusive rights to stream the music content of certain artists or albums. In another instance, some streaming services, such as Pandora®, may only stream in radio station format, whereas others like Spotify® may be capable of streaming music on demand by artist, song, album, or radio station. In view of this fact, it is apparent that not all streaming services may be capable of streaming a content type identified at 704.

In one instance, a computing device may identify a suitable streaming service by comparing metadata of the identified content type to a look-up table(s) that may contain entries for the content available and in what format the content is capable of being provisioned for various streaming services. In some cases, the computing device may direct the query to the entire universe of streaming services available. In other cases, the computing device may only query a sub-set of available streaming services. Such a sub-set may be chosen by the computing device based on a number of factors alone or in combination including streaming services a user is registered with, the amount of days since a user has last used a streaming service, streaming service popularity, user settings, among others. For example, if a user has only registered with Pandora®, Spotify®, and Deezer®, the computing device may only query those streaming services to determine which are suitable.

Such look-up table(s) may be stored in memory on a computing device or at an external location such as the computing device or at the music service. Given that the various look-up tables may be distributed amongst a variety of music services, a computing device may query each music service simultaneously or sequentially in order to find a match. Other manners of identifying a suitable streaming service are possible.

In one implementation the identification of a streaming service at 708 may further involve determining a currently available playback capacity of a streaming service that a user is registered with. Generally, some streaming services may limit the number of active streams available for a registered account at any given time. For example, Spotify® may only allow a single active stream per a registered account. In one instance, a computing device may determine the currently available playback capacity by querying the services a user is registered with for a usage status (i.e. how many active streams) and then comparing the usage status to capacity restriction data (i.e. Spotify=1 active stream only). In another example, the streaming services may output a binary value in response to the query to indicate whether or not a stream is available. The available playback capacity may be determined in other ways.

In this implementation, the computing device at 708 may identify a registered service as supporting the content type indicated by the command and further determine the registered service does not have a stream available. For example, if a user and their spouse both share a Spotify® account and music is being streamed to the spouse's smartphone device at the gym when the user issues the command “Play Eye of the Tiger,” the computing device may identify Spotify® as being able to play the song and also that a stream is unavailable. Such a case may cause the computing device to identify another streaming service capable of supporting the content type, such as Apple Music®

In another instance, the computing device may be unable identify another streaming service that may support the content type. This may occur for example, if a user requests content exclusively provided by a single streaming service, the computing device only considers sub-set of streaming services, among other examples. In such an instance, the computing device may cause a currently active stream to be “stolen” for use in providing the content corresponding to the command. Using the aforementioned, example if no other streaming service is capable of supporting “Eye of the Tiger,” the stream to spouse at the gym may be canceled and provided to the user.

In one instance, on the occurrence that an available streaming service is identified at 710 as capable of supporting the identified content type, the process may proceed to 714 to cause any combination of PBDs 532-538 to playback the audio content. The music service may be accessed, in one instance through querying the service API for content and causing the content to be streamed. The audio content may be streamed directly from computing device 508 or from various other computing devices associated with streaming music services directly to PBDs 532-538 upon a request from either PBDs 532-538 or computing devices 504-506. Other ways of initiating and causing the playback of streaming media content also exist.

In another instance, if a streaming service identified at 710 is not presently available (i.e. application not installed, user not registered) a computing device may cause, at 714, the output of an indication pertaining to a suggestive course of action to enable the music service to used. The indication may be sent any combination of NMDs 512-516, PBDs 532-538, or CR 522 and may cause an audible and/or visual suggestion indicating the identified music service capable of supporting the content type and/or present instructions on how to sign up for, download, or otherwise utilize the music service.

FIG. 8 is another example flow diagram related to an example process for identifying a streaming music service in blocks 710 and 712 of FIG. 6.

At 802 a computing devices may cause a confidence metrics or metrics to be determined for streaming service(s) based at least in part on the content type identified by the command. In general, a confidence metric may be a numerical or percentage value (e.g. 1-100) calculated for a streaming service or services. Such confidence metric(s) may reflect the likelihood that a selection of a particular music service for providing streaming audio will result in providing the user with the content he or she desires. For example, a streaming service assigned a confidence metric of 80 may be more suitable for content provision than a streaming service with a confidence metric of 45, where a higher number indicates a higher confidence level of suitability.

The calculated confidence metrics for streaming services may be based on a number criterion such as content type, playback capacity, usage history, external data, among others. Such criteria may be constituted by various data types and may be retrieved from various sources such as the NMDs, CRs, PBDs, computing devices, music services, and various external sources. The data may be aggregated and stored in a central location such as a database associated with computing devices 504 or 506 or in a distributed fashion.

In one instance, the confidence metric may take into account a streaming service's suitability to support the content type indicated by a command. Determining suitability of various streaming services to provide a content type may involve mapping metadata relating to an identified content type to a look-up table or querying the tables of the various music services and assigning a value to the number of fields that match. As an example, a command that specifies “play Jackson 5 playlist” may have the content type “Artist/playlist.” In such a case, the look-up table(s) of two streaming services such as Pandora® and Spotify® may both contain references to Jackson 5 in an artist field. However, only Spotify® may contain a playlist field identifying Jackson 5, as Pandora® does not support the content type playlist. In such a case, Pandora® may be afforded content type value of 2 and Spotify® a value of 1.

Additionally, or alternatively, strength of field matching may be employed. Using the aforementioned example and assuming that the Spotify® service does not contain an artist field corresponding to Jackson 5 but have artist entry for Michael Jackson, who may be identified by a computing device utilizing music metadata as having been a former member of Jackson 5. In such, a case the Spotify® service may not be given a value of 0 for the artist field, but rather the service may be afforded an adjusted value less than 1. Other forms of determining streaming service content type suitability value are possible.

In another instance, the confidence metrics may be calculated in part on various forms of historical usage data. The various historical data types may be retrieved from various sources such as the NMDs, CRs, PBDs, computing devices, music services, and various external sources. The data may be aggregated and stored in a central location such as a database associated with computing devices 504 or 506 or in a distributed fashion.

For example, the usage data may indicate how frequently a user accesses a given streaming service. As another example, the usage data may include time based data to identify the service a user normally uses at various times of the day, days of the week, and months of the year. For example, a user may prefer to listen to iHeartRadio® in the morning and to Tidal® in the evenings. As another example, in a multi-zone environment such usage data may indicate user preferences regarding streaming services on a per zone basis. For example, if a user typically accesses Spotify® 90% of the time in a bathroom zone and Deezer® 80% of the time in a living area zone the confidence metrics corresponding to Spotify® and Deezer® may vary significantly depending on which zone the user intends to stream audio to. In such, a case if the user desired to listen to music in the bathroom, Spotify® would be the much better choice. Various other types of historical usage data may exist as well.

Additionally, the confidence metrics may be determined in part based on various “external” data types. Such data may include macro type data that may take into account geographic location or demographic data, among other possibilities. For example, such macro data may indicate that a particular streaming service is not available or is unpopular in certain regions of the world or sub-regions of a country, which may result in a lower confidence metric. In such a case, the confidence metric for that streaming service may vary dependent on the geographic location. Types of “external” data may further include weather data, which may be taken into account, for example a user's preference to listen to Spotify® on the patio on cool, dry summer evenings. Additionally, calendar data may be considered to identify holidays and the music service typically streamed on those days. Other forms of external data may exist.

Furthermore, it is possible to combine the various criteria to determine a confidence metric for a given streaming service. For instance, a user may prefer to use Pandora® to listen to a wide variety of classical music in the living room but may exclusively use Apple Music® to listen to full albums of their favorite artist in the bedroom. In such a case, content type(s) (genre, artist) may be combined with a user history relating to location of use of particular music services to determine a confidence metric for a particular music service. Numerous other combinations may exist.

A computer implemented algorithm may map the criterion described above to a confidence metric for streaming service. For instance, one or more criterion may be mapped into a table which outputs the confidence metric. In some embodiments, the algorithm may involve weighting of various criteria such as content types, usage history, and/or “external data.” The algorithm may assign different weights to the various criteria based on relative importance. For example, a user preference may be deemed more influential and afforded more weight than demographic data. The weighting of inputs may be defined by the system, by user settings, or adjustable dynamically based on user feedback. Each of weighted inputs may be input into a table, for example, for mapping to confidence metrics which are then combined to form an aggregated confidence metric for a music service as a whole.

At 804 either computing device 504 or 506 may determine whether a given streaming service satisfies a confidence condition. The confidence condition may be satisfied in a number of ways. In one instance, the confidence condition may be satisfied if the confidence metric for a given streaming service exceeds a confidence level threshold, which may be a default system setting or adjustable by a user. For example, if three confidence metrics are calculated as Service1=85, Service2=83, Service3=25 with the threshold confidence level being 80, may cause Service1 to be output for streaming or suggested to a user at 806 (as discussed above in reference to 714).

In another instance, the confidence condition may only be satisfied upon (1) a streaming service with a calculated confidence metric above the threshold confidence level and (2) the two highest calculated confidence metrics are not within a threshold range of one another. For example, if the confidence level range were 3 in the case mentioned directly above the confidence condition would not be satisfied due to confidence metrics of Service1 and Service2. The confidence condition may additionally or alternatively incorporate various other rules.

At 808 an error state may be triggered by either computing device 504 or 506 if the confidence condition is found not to be satisfied at 808. An error state may trigger certain events to be caused, such as outputting an indication that the content is unavailable, as discussed in reference to 716. In another instance, a triggered error state may cause content to be streamed via a default streaming service or a preferred partner service. In yet another instance, the error state may cause a computing device to output an indication to one or all of NMDs 512-516, PBDs 532-538, or CR 522 to cause an audible or visual presentation of an instruction or query directed at obtaining more information in relation to the already received command.

In one instance, a user may be instructed to provide an additional content type such as artist or album. For example, if an initial command were “Play radio station” a user may be instructed “Please provide genre.”

In another instance, a user may be asked a question or series of questions that may help further tune the initial command and thereby the confidence metrics for the various streaming services. For example, if an initial command were directed to the the broad genre of “Electronic,” the user may be asked whether they prefer certain sub-genres such as “Drum and Bass” or “Trance.” Additionally or alternatively, the user may be asked questioned unrelated to music such as “What are you doing?” or “How do you feel?” to infer what sub-genre a user may want to listen to. For example, if the user answered “Reading” and/or “Relaxed” to the aforementioned questions it may be inferred that the user is interested in the sub-genre Trance. Various other examples of queries are possible.

The user responses to the instructions or questions may take the form of speech input which may be received by an NMD or a textual input via a graphical interface of a CR. The user responses may cause process 700 to repeat which may result in the confidence condition being satisfied or an additional error state being triggered.

IV. CONCLUSION

The description above discloses, among other things, various example systems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including, among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware. It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or components can be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the only way(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture.

Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of an invention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly and implicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined with other embodiments.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrative environments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble the operations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These process descriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it is understood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than the forgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at least one example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible, non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on, storing the software and/or firmware.

Claims

1. A network device comprising: a network interface;at least one processor;non-transitory computer-readable medium; andprogram instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to: receive, via the network interface, (i) data indicating a request for audio content, wherein the request for audio content is based on a voice utterance, and (ii) data indicating a particular playback device for playback of the requested audio content from among at least a first playback device and a second playback device of a media playback system, wherein each of the first playback device and the second playback device is programmed with the capability to receive and play back audio content from either a first music service provider or a second music service provider;parse the data indicating the request for audio content to identify at least a segment of data indicating a content identification;select one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider based on the data indicating the particular playback device, wherein selecting one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider comprises: determining a first confidence metric corresponding to the first music service provider and a second confidence metric corresponding to the second music service provider, wherein the first confidence metric is based on a history of accesses to the first music service provider by the particular playback device and wherein the second confidence metric is based on a history of accesses to the second music service provider by the particular playback device;determining that a given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric better satisfies a confidence condition; andselecting whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric;after selecting the one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider, identify a uniform resource identifier corresponding to the content identification and the selected one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider; andtransmit, via the network interface to the particular playback device, the uniform resource identifier to cause the particular playback device to retrieve audio content from the selected one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider according to the uniform resource identifier.

2. The network device of claim 1, wherein the media playback system comprises a plurality of playback zones, wherein a first playback zone of the plurality of playback zones comprises the first playback device, and wherein a second playback zone of the plurality of playback zones comprises the second playback device.

3. The network device of claim 1, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to: receive, via the network interface, data indicating the second music service, wherein the second confidence metric is further based on the data indicating the second music service.

4. The network device of claim 1, further comprising: one or more microphones; andprogram instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to receive the voice utterance via the one or more microphones.

5. The network device of claim 1, wherein the network device comprises the first playback device.

6. The network device of claim 1, wherein: the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to determine that the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric better satisfies the confidence condition comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to: determine that one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric has a higher value; andthe program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to select whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to: select whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric having the higher value.

7. The network device of claim 1, wherein the content identification indicates one or more of an of artist, genre, song, or album of the requested audio content.

8. The network device of claim 1, wherein the voice utterance indicates the particular playback device.

9. The network device of claim 1, wherein: the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to determine that the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric better satisfies the confidence condition comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to: determine that the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric exceeds a confidence level threshold; andthe program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to select whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to: select whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric that exceeds the confidence level threshold.

10. The network device of claim 9, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the network device is configured to: in response to determining that one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric exceeds the confidence level threshold, determine that a difference between the first confidence metric and the second confidence metric is outside of a predetermined range; andin response to determining that the difference between the first confidence metric and the second confidence metric is outside of the predetermined range, select the given one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider that exceeds the confidence level threshold.

11. The network device of claim 9, wherein the confidence level threshold is one of (i) a default system setting or (ii) adjustable by a user.

12. A method carried out by a network device, the method comprising: receiving, via a network interface of the network device, (i) data indicating a request for audio content, wherein the request for audio content is based on a voice utterance, and (ii) data indicating a particular playback device for playback of the requested audio content from among at least a first playback device and a second playback device of a media playback system, wherein each of the first playback device and the second playback device is programmed with the capability to receive and play back audio content from either a first music service provider or a second music service provider;parsing the data indicating the request for audio content to identify at least a segment of data indicating a content identification;selecting one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider based on the indicated particular playback device, wherein selecting one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider comprises: determining a first confidence metric corresponding to the first music service provider and a second confidence metric corresponding to the second music service provider, wherein the first confidence metric is based on a history of accesses to the first music service provider by the particular playback device and wherein the second confidence metric is based on a history of accesses to the second music service provider by the particular playback device;determining that a given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric better satisfies a confidence condition; and selecting whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric;after selecting the one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider, identifying a uniform resource identifier corresponding to the content identification and the selected one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider; andtransmitting, via the network interface to the particular playback device, the uniform resource identifier to cause the particular playback device to retrieve audio content from the selected one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider according to the uniform resource identifier.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the media playback system comprises a plurality of playback zones, wherein a first playback zone of the plurality of playback zones comprises the first playback device, and wherein a second playback zone of the plurality of playback zones comprises the second playback device.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: receiving, via the network interface, data indicating the second music service, wherein the second confidence metric is further based on the data indicating the second music service.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the network device comprises the first playback device.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein determining that the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric better satisfies the confidence condition comprises: determining that the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric exceeds a confidence level threshold; andwherein selecting whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric comprises: selecting whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric that exceeds the confidence level threshold.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: in response to determining that one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric exceeds the confidence level threshold, determining that a difference between the first confidence metric and the second confidence metric is outside of a predetermined range; andin response to determining that the difference between the first confidence metric and the second confidence metric is outside of the predetermined range, selecting the given one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider that exceeds the confidence level threshold.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the confidence level threshold is one of (i) a default system setting or (ii) adjustable by a user.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a network device to: receive, via a network interface of the network device, (i) data indicating a request for audio content, wherein the request for audio content is based on a voice utterance, and (ii) data indicating a particular playback device for playback of the requested audio content from among at least a first playback device and a second playback device of a media playback system, wherein each of the first playback device and the second playback device is programmed with the capability to receive and play back audio content from either a first music service provider or a second music service provider;parse the data indicating the request for audio content to identify at least a segment of data indicating a content identification;select one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider based on the data indicating the particular playback device, wherein selecting one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider comprises: determining a first confidence metric corresponding to the first music service provider and a second confidence metric corresponding to the second music service provider, wherein the first confidence metric is based on a history of accesses to the first music service provider by the particular playback device and wherein the second confidence metric is based on a history of accesses to the second music service provider by the particular playback device;determining that a given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric better satisfies a confidence condition; andselecting whichever one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider corresponds to the given one of the first confidence metric or the second confidence metric;after selecting the one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider, identify a uniform resource identifier corresponding to the content identification and the selected one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider; andtransmit, via the network interface to the particular playback device, the uniform resource identifier to cause the particular playback device to retrieve audio content from the selected one of the first music service provider or the second music service provider according to the uniform resource identifier.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is also provisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the network device to: receive, via the network interface, data indicating the second music service, wherein the second confidence metric is further based on the data indicating the second music service.