Patent ID: 11869503
Assignee: SONOS, INC.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A playback device comprising:
at least one audio transducer;
one or more microphones;
a network interface;
at least one processor;
a housing carrying the one or more microphones, the network interface, the at least one processor, and data storage including instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
while the playback device is in an offline mode:
monitor, via a local voice assistant, a sound data stream from the one or more microphones for local keywords from a local natural language unit library of the local voice assistant, wherein in the offline mode, a voice assistant service (VAS) wake-word engine is inactive;
generate a local wake-word event corresponding to a first voice input when the local voice assistant detects sound data matching one or more local keywords in a first portion of the sound data stream, wherein the one or more local keywords comprise a local wake word;
determine, via the local voice assistant, an intent of the first voice input;
select, from among a plurality of pre-determined responses, a pre-determined response corresponding to the determined intent of the first voice input;
carry out the selected pre-determined response; and

while the playback device is in an online mode:
monitor, via the VAS wake-word engine, the sound data stream from the one or more microphones for one or more VAS wake words of a cloud-based voice assistant service, wherein in the online mode, the VAS wake-word engine is active; and
generate a VAS wake-word event corresponding to a second voice input when the VAS wake-word engine detects sound data matching a particular VAS wake word in a second portion of the sound data stream, wherein, when the VAS wake word event is generated, the playback device streams sound data representing the second voice input to one or more servers of the cloud-based voice assistant service.