Patent Application
20180035250
The present disclosure generally relates to receiving and presenting audio over a Bluetooth connection to a user, and more particularly to receiving audio at a Smartphone that is connected by Bluetooth™ to a device transmitting audio and receiving the video on a different display device using a different connection, other than Bluetooth.
In one embodiment, a set top box receives audiovisual programming content, for example multiple channels of content coming from a satellite or cable provider. The set top box decodes those multiple channels of content and enables a user to select a particular channel to be displayed on a display device, for example a television set. Set top boxes that contain Bluetooth transceivers also enable a user to listen to audio portion of the displayed audiovisual content by pairing a Bluetooth listening device with the Bluetooth transceiver in the set top box. Examples of user listening devices include Bluetooth earpieces and Bluetooth headsets. Disclosed herein are systems and methods to enable a user to receive audio content by pairing a Bluetooth-enabled Smartphone device with a Bluetooth-enabled set-top box, or other device, so that the user can listen to audio using headphones connected to the Smartphone.
In addition, an audio processing module on the Smartphone is able to provide additional functionality as audio content is sent to the listener, including but not limited to pausing the presented content if the user receives a phone call, to adjusting the sound for optimal user listening, or, to analyzing the audio content and to display information related to the audio content on the Smartphone display.
In one or more embodiments, a Bluetooth module 50 within display device 26 may be paired with other Bluetooth-enabled devices. Therefore, in one or more embodiments the audio that corresponds to audiovisual content presented on display area 44 or display area 48 may be transmitted either by the Bluetooth transmitter 63 in receiving device 24, or the Bluetooth transmitter 50 in display device 26. In some embodiments, separate Bluetooth connections may be established to transmit the separate audio associated with content presented in display area 44 and display area 48 to separate Bluetooth devices.
To listen to the audio of the content presented by receiving device 24, Smartphone 52 would be connected via Bluetooth module 62 to Bluetooth modules 50 or 63, so that the audio from either device would be sent directly to the Smartphone 52. Examples of Smartphones are the iPhone™ and Galaxy™ Smartphones, that includes the ability to run applications, support Bluetooth and have full mobile and cell phone capability.
There are many advantages to sending audio to a Smartphone 52. Wireless Bluetooth headphones are expensive. Not everyone has them, and those people that do, often find that those headphones do not hold a charge for long, and must be frequently recharged. In some instances, the battery life of Bluetooth headphones are less than the length of a feature movie. In contrast, Smartphones 52 typically have a long battery life, are typically sold with earbuds 56, are typically kept alongside their users, and typically have Bluetooth capability 62. Also, users typically carry earbuds 56 or other listening devices 58 to hear audio play on the smart phone 52 without disturbing people around the user. This way, most Smartphone users have the hardware to connect to and receive audio from Bluetooth devices without having to buy a special Bluetooth headset.
Once Smartphone 52 is paired with the Bluetooth device to send the audio portion of the presented audiovisual content, users 54, 59 may listen to audio on Smartphone 52 in at least two different ways. In one embodiment, user 54 is connected to Smartphone 52 via earbuds 56 that are plugged directly into the Smartphone 52 audio jack. In a second embodiment, user 59 has paired Bluetooth earpiece 58 with Smartphone 52 to listen to audio, for example to participate in a phone conversation while driving. In this embodiment, user 59 may always keep Bluetooth earpiece 58 paired with Smartphone 52 to listen to audio, and pair Smartphone 52 with Bluetooth in other devices 50, 63 only when Smartphone 52 is to receive audio from those devices. In other words, if a user always wore their Bluetooth earpiece for their Smartphone 52, and the user wanted to watch television with Bluetooth-enabled receiving device 24, the user would not re-pair their Bluetooth earpiece 58 with Bluetooth component 63 in receiving device 24, but instead would Bluetooth pair Smartphone 52 Bluetooth component 62 to receiving device 24. This way, the user's Bluetooth earpiece device 58 does not have to be re-paired. In other embodiments, a user's Smartphone 52 would be paired in one of the manners above, but the user would listen to audio over the Smartphone 52 speakers.
The description above has focused on a series of embodiments related to presentation of audiovisual content. However, Smart phone 52 may be used to play audio when paired to other devices, such as a car radio, satellite radio, or the like.
In addition to receiving audio, the Bluetooth component 62 within Smart phone 52, may also be used as a way to wake up nearby devices 26, 24 and 68 when the user 54, 59 walk within range of the devices. For example, the devices may be configured to go into a standby mode automatically if Smartphone 52 is not within a threshold proximity of the paired device for certain period of time. For example, suppose user 54 was listening to the audio of a program displayed on device 26 in the user's living room. If the user 54 gets up and leaves during the program for a 20 minute period, then display device 26 may go into standby mode until user 54 returns to the living room with Smartphone 52, at which time the display device 26 will recognize that the Bluetooth module 62 of Smartphone 52 is within proximity and will restart.
The Smartphone 52 itself contains significant computing power that is able to do more than just present audio data received from a Bluetooth connection 50 to a user 54, 59. The Smartphone 52 may contain program modules that are able to gather, analyze, transform and present information. One example is an audio processing module 60 that monitors audio and other data signals received from devices 26, 24 and 68, and provides added capability to users 54, 59 using the Smartphone 52 as a listening device.
In one embodiment, if user 54 is listening to a television program presented on display area 44 and a telephone call from phone service 72 comes into Smartphone 52, the audio processing module 60 may, for example, pause the audio sent to Smartphone 52 so that the user 54 can take the phone call. Once the phone call is complete, the audio will resume playing. In a related example, audio processing module 60 may send commands back to their paired display device 26, 24 and 68 to pause the entire audiovisual content presentation until the user's phone call is over. This gives the user 54, 59 the option of listening to audiovisual content as it is presented while maintaining the flexibility of receiving a phone call. It should be noted that in related embodiments, other functions or communications to the user may pause the presentation of audio content onto Smartphone 52, for example text messages, alert notifications, email messages, and the like. Similarly, in other related embodiments, other commands may be sent to the presentation devices 24, 26 and 68 when the audio processing module 60 detects an activity that would conflict with the audio played on Smartphone 52. Examples of these commands include begin to record the content, rewind the presented content, move the video presentation from the display device 26 to the Smartphone display 64, or raise or lower the volume of the content, while the interrupting event is occurring. For example, if a user 54, 59 was listening to audio on smartphone 52 while watching display device 26 and a Skype™ call came in, the audio processing module 60 would immediately send a command to receiving device 24 to begin to record the video and audio being played, and the user would be available to take the Skype call. When audio processing module 60 determines the Skype call was over, it would send a command to receiving device 24 to begin to play the recorded content so that the user can continue to watch the movie at the point the Skype call came in.
In other embodiments, the audio processing module 60 may monitor the received audio or data content and provide additional information to user 54, 59 depending upon the content received. For example, if the audio processing module 60 determines that an advertisement is being played, audio processing module 60 may alert the user with a notification of “you are listening to a commercial, would you also like to hear a related commercial?” Module 60 may also ask if the user would like to play a related YouTube video, watch some other related content, search for price comparisons of the advertised product or perform other search-related functions in the Internet 66 such as lookup in IMDB™, provide an coupon for the product a commercial is promoting, and the like.
In another embodiment, if audio processing module 60 determines that the user 54, 59 is watching a movie, the audio processing module may search for and provide background information on the movie being watched such as the genre, director, actors, filming locations, and the like.
In these two embodiments, the results of the additional information determined by audio processing module 60 may be displayed on Smartphone 52 display 64. In this way, Smartphone 52 becomes a private second screen application that operates in conjunction with the display device 26. In conjunction with audio processing module 60, the second screen knows what the user 54, 59 is watching and provides the user with additional information.
In another embodiment, the audio processing module 60 recognizes incoming audio and modifies the audio for a better experience for user 54, 59. For example, the audio processing module 60 may perform an audio-leveling function, such as adjusting the volume so that it is always within a certain decibel range, so that the audio as listened to by user 54, 59 is never too soft nor too loud.
In another example, audio processing module 60 may use the computing resources of Smartphone 52 to provide a translation of the incoming audio into another language, which is then presented to the user 54, 59. In one embodiment, this may be done by analyzing the incoming audio signal, decoding it to determine the words spoken to actors, translating the words or phrases into the final language, and sending the audio to the user. Translating the audio signal into a series of words or phrases may be done on Smartphone 52. The identification of different actors and the words or phrases spoken may be determined in a number of different ways. For example, the differing tone, pitch, and/or tenor of the voices may be used to identify which words are spoken by which actor. The translations are then made and the translated audio played to user 54, 59 such that the translated audio and video are substantially in sync. In a related example, closed captioned information may be read and converted into translated audio which is then presented to user 54, 59.
In another example, audio processing module 60 may use the significant computing and data processing resources of Smartphone 52 by performing an audio equalization function to better enable the user 54, 59 to hear sounds or understand words spoken in the audio. For example, people can hear some frequencies better than other frequencies, such as older people that have more difficulty hearing higher frequencies and may need the volume of these frequencies increased. Without equalization, the only way to make these higher frequencies louder is to turn up the volume of the entire audio spectrum, which could cause lower frequencies to become too loud for the user. Equalization breaks up the auditory spectrum into different frequency bands that correspond to, for example, high-range sounds including high-pitched sounds or wind sounds, mid-range sounds such as conversation-level voices, or low-pitched sounds such as base notes. Each of these ranges can then be adjusted for volume, and then recombined back into a single audio signal. This process allows a user 54, 59 to customize the spectrum profile of the audio they listen to that will give them the most enjoyment. This may be particularly helpful in a group of people that includes one person with hearing problems who needs sound equalization while listening to a movie using Smartphone 52 using Bluetooth earpiece 58, while others in the group watch the same movie with no audio equalization.
In addition, the audio processing module 60 may also receive closed captioning information, and present the decoded closed captioning text on the Smartphone display 64 for the user to read as a movie is playing. This closed captioned data may be embedded either in the audio stream, or in a data stream and sent to Smartphone 52 and decoded and presented by audio processing module 60.
The audio processing module 60 may also be used to adjust any delay between the audio and the video as it is presented on display device 26. For example, if an actor's words are heard in a scene before the actor begins to speak. In this example, the audio processing module would delay presentation of the audio to the user 54, 59 so that the audio and video would appear in sync.
The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.
These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15409051 | Jan 2017 | US |
| Child | 15730595 | US | |
| Parent | 14134088 | Dec 2013 | US |
| Child | 15409051 | US |
