Patent ID: 9305458
Filing Date: 2016-04-05
CPC Classification: G08C,H04W

Claim Text:
1. A computer-implemented method for determining that remote devices share an acoustic environment without the need for any of the remote devices to specifically emit an identifiable audio signal, the method comprising: obtaining, by the computer, a first digital audio signal representing a first incidental-ambient soundscape that is incidental to a first acoustic environment, as sampled during a first time period by a first remote device; analyzing, by the computer, said first digital audio signal to identify a portion of said first digital audio signal that includes a non-predetermined plurality of salient frequency components across a first plurality of time windows; determining, by the computer based at least in part on said non-predetermined plurality of salient frequency components and said first plurality of time windows, an incidental-audio signature specific to said first incidental-ambient soundscape and said first time period; obtaining, by the computer, a second digital audio signal representing a second incidental-ambient soundscape that is incidental to a second acoustic environment, as sampled during a second time period by a second remote device, wherein at least a portion of said second time period overlaps said first time period; identifying, by the computer, a temporal portion of said second digital audio signal that matches said incidental-audio signature more closely than other temporal portions of said second digital audio signal; determining, by the computer, a similarity measure comparing said temporal portion of said second digital audio signal with said incidental-audio signature; when said similarity measure exceeds a threshold, identifying, by the computer, an acoustic link between said first acoustic environment and said second acoustic environment; and consequently facilitating, by the computer, said first remote device and said second remote device to access a shared computing resource.