Patent ID: 12229470

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described hereinafter are exemplary systems and methods by which a hearing device, such as wireless headphones, can be automatically paired with a preferred appliance, such as a television or a stereo. The described systems and methods are particularly useful in circumstances where the hearing device is capable of being paired to two or more appliances within a given environment and/or in circumstances where a user of the hearing device moves from one environment to another. To facilitate such pairing, the described systems and methods use priority values and/or priority rules (hereinafter individually and collectively referred to as “priority information”) which priority information may be stored within the hearing device and/or a smart device, such as a tablet or smart phone, that may be included as a component part of the system. In this manner, when a hearing device is capable of being paired with two or more appliances, one of the appliances is selected for pairing with the hearing device based upon the priority information that has been associated with the appliances.

With reference toFIG.1, an exemplary system is illustrated which includes a hearing device10and two or more appliances (two or more of appliances12a-12d) that are located within an environment (such as a building2, rooms2a,2band2c, etc.). As will be appreciated, an environment (and, accordingly, the appliances within an environment) is generally defined by the communicative range of the hearing device10and each of the appliances12. Furthermore, while the illustrated system is shown as including devices such as a television, a computer, and audio systems, this is not intended to be limiting. Rather, appliances that may be paired with the headset10may include non-illustrated appliances such as VCRs, DVRs, DVD players, cable converter boxes, amplifiers, CD players, game consoles, home lighting devices, fans, HVAC systems, thermostats, personal computers, parametric sound systems, smart devices, such as cell phones, tablets, smart watches, smart clothing, activity trackers, and the like without limitation.

Within the system ofFIG.1, the hearing device10may operate as a stand-alone device and/or may operate in cooperation with a smart device16containing an app. When the hearing device10and a smart device16are used in the system, one or both of the smart device16and the hearing device10may function to provide to the other of the smart device16and the hearing device10a connection notification message whereupon the device receiving the notification message will function to provide a visual, vibrating motion, and/or audible message to a user, as appropriate for a given set of circumstances, to inform the user of the various appliances12that have been determined to be within pairing range of the hearing device10. In some circumstances, the notification message can also be used to inform a user of the appliance with which the hearing device10is currently paired. Such notification messages can be caused to be sent when, for example, it is determined that the user has changed environments, it is sensed that the user has turned on (or otherwise starts to wear) the hearing device10, etc. The information that is to be provided to the user may include one or more of an indication of a type for the appliance (e.g., that the appliance is a personal computer, TV, CD player, etc.) and an indication of a brand for the appliance (e.g., that the appliance is branded as “Sony,” “Samsung,” etc.). Once a user is provided with the information, the user will be able to interact with the user interface provided by the device to select an appliance for pairing with the hearing device10, to update and/or edit the priority information for the appliance(s), change a pairing, and/or the like, again as appropriate for a given set of circumstances.

When an audible interface is to be provided, the device (e.g., hearing device10and/or smart device16) would also be provisioned with appropriate speech generating capabilities (and speech recognition capabilities as needed). Using such capabilities, the device would use identifying information obtained from the appliances (and/or from another device) to inform the user of the appliances within the environment. Meanwhile, tactile notifications can be provided via use of a vibrating means, such as a vibration motor, which causes a device to vibrate on one or both sides. While visual and audible information may provide a user with more detailed information, e.g., the information may inform the user that hearing device10can be paired with (or is currently paired with) a “Sony” branded TV in the living room, it will be appreciated that less information will be capable of being conveyed via use of tactile notifications. Accordingly, the information that is to be conveyed via use of tactile notifications may simply serve to inform the user that the hearing device10is currently paired to an appliance on the left or right hand side of a device by vibrating the left side or right side of the device, respectively, for a predetermined period of time.

It will also be appreciated that, in circumstances where the hearing device10and/or the smart device16are, in turn, communicatively coupled with another device (either directly or indirectly via use of an intermediate device, such as a smart routing device), the appliance information may alternatively, or in addition to, be provided to that device for presentation to a user as appropriate given the capabilities of that device and as desired.

While not required, it is additionally contemplated that the hearing device10may further comprise a universal remote control app, which allows the hearing device10to communicate with a variety of appliances12that utilize different communication protocols, frequencies, technologies, etc., and the necessary hardware to enable transmission of commands to, and responses from (if needed), the appliances12. Commands15from the hearing device10may be issued using infrared signal protocols and/or radio frequency protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi, RF4CE, Bluetooth, etc.). Commands sent by the hearing device10for controlling functional operations of one or more of the appliances12may also be issued indirectly to the one or more of the appliances12via an associated relay device14a,14b,14cand14dwhich may be responsive to a predetermined radio frequency format and each of which may be located in a different location than the hearing device10. Thus, for example, the relay device14a, located in environment2a, may be provisioned by the app contained in a smart device16to perform a relay operation when a signal is detected from the hearing device10for intended receipt by the appliance12a.

For use in transmitting command codes to one or more of the appliances12, the hearing device10of the exemplary system may include, as needed for a particular application and as illustrated inFIG.2, a processor24coupled to a memory device (such as ROM memory26, RAM memory27, and a non-volatile memory34), a key matrix28(e.g., physical buttons), an internal clock and timer30, transmission circuit(s)32, receiver circuit(s)33, and/or transceiver circuit(s) (e.g., IR and/or RF), a means36to provide feedback to a user (e.g., LED, display, speaker, accelerometer, and/or the like), one or more speakers40and a power supply38. As will be understood by those of skill in the art, the memory device26,27or34may include executable instructions that are intended to be executed by the processor24to control the operation of the hearing device10. In this manner, the processor24may be programmed to control the various electronic components within the hearing device10, (e.g., to communicate with appliances, to cause the transmission of signals, etc.).

The non-volatile read/write memory34, for example an EEPROM, battery-backed up RAM, Smart Card, memory stick, or the like, may be provided to store setup data and parameters as necessary. It is to be additionally understood that the memory devices may take the form of any type of readable media, such as, for example, ROM, RAM, SRAM, FLASH, EEPROM, Smart Card, memory stick, a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk, and/or an optical disk. Still further, it will be appreciated that some or all of the illustrated memory devices26,27, and34may be physically incorporated within the same IC chip as the microprocessor24(a so called “microcontroller”) and, as such, they are shown separately inFIG.2only for the sake of clarity.

FIG.3illustrates an exemplary system in which an intermediate adapter5is optionally provided to allow communications to be exchanged between the hearing device10(and/or smart device16) and one or more of the appliances12, e.g., appliances12a,12band12clocated within environment3aand appliances12d,12eand12flocated within environment3b. The adapter5may also be used to facilitate communication exchanges amongst the appliances12. To this end, intermediate adapter5comprises the necessary hardware and software to support such communication exchanges. For example, the intermediate adapter5may include a universal control engine operating in cooperation with a smart device app executed by smart device16, which may be used to identify one or more of the appliances12and which may use identity information to configure the intermediate adapter (as well as the hearing device10) as appropriate for communicating with an appliance12. In addition, the identity information may be used to provision the intermediate adapter5(as well as the hearing device10) with code sets in order for the device to control operations of one or more appliances12. Examples of the foregoing universal control engine and associated technologies may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,558,676, 8,552,832, 8,812,629 and 8,659,400, all of which are of like assignee and all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

While the foregoing describes using a universal control engine to obtain appliance identifying information, it will also be understood that device identifying information may be included within an appliance generated pairing signal, e.g., in a Bluetooth pairing signal, that is to be received by one or more of the hearing device10, the smart device16, and the adaptor5. In addition, appliance identifying information may be manually provided by a user to one or more of the hearing device10, the smart device16and the adaptor5as appropriate. For example, such information may be provided when a user is required to manually configure a remote control application of a device to control operations of a specific appliance12. Still further, home appliances12may be identified by using a single-line HDMI-CEC (High Definition Multimedia Interface-Consumer Electronic Control) protocol, by using Extended Display Identification Data (EDID), and/or by using like data from a standard published by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). In this regard and by way of example only, if an appliance12is coupled to an AV system via an HDMI-CEC cable, the AV system can automatically query the appliance12using an HDMI protocol to identify itself with the appliance12automatically responding to the query by sending the identifying information back across the HDMI-CEC bus.

Additional information pertaining to the set up and control of control devices and appliances—by which identifying information for an appliance may be obtained—may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,614,906, 6,225,938, 9,215,394, 9,219,874, and 4,623,887 all of which are of like assignee and all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

It will also be appreciated that such appliance identifying information that is obtained by, captured by, or otherwise provided to one device within the system may, in turn, be provided to another device within the system.

Once the hearing device10and/or the smart device16is made aware of the identity of the appliances12with which the hearing device10may be paired, the hearing device10and/or the smart device will use a priority value402and/or a priority rule406associated with identified appliances12to cause the hearing device10to be automatically paired with a one of the appliances12in accordance with the priority value402and/or priority rule406.

More particularly, as shown inFIGS.4A and4B, communication prioritization tables400and/or404are provided to associate prioritization values402and/or prioritization rules406with the various appliances12. This priority information may be stored within a memory of the hearing device10, the intermediate adapter5, and/or the smart device16for use as needed. Preferably, each of the various environments in which the hearing device10may be paired with an appliance12is provided with its own priority value table400and/or priority rule table404, e.g., a priority value table400and a priority rule table404associated with environment3awill be considered when hearing device10is present in environment3awhile a priority value table400and a priority rule table404associated with environment3bwill be considered when hearing device10is present in environment3b. Thus, because plural priority tables400and plural priority rule tables404may be used, each of the plural priority tables400and plural priority rules tables is associated with information that serves to uniquely identify a one of the environments3aand3bin which the hearing device10may be located. By way of example only, such environment identifying information may be obtained by using signals received from intermediate devices5as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,363,028, 8,942,726 and 9,026,141 all of which are of like assignee and all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, by use of GPS positioning signals, and the like without limitation.

It will be further understood that the environment identifying information may be provided directly to/obtained directly be the hearing device10and/or the smart device16as needed. When such information is provided to/obtained by the smart device16, the smart device16can, in turn, provide such information to the hearing device10as again needed. In any case, when the location of hearing device10changes to a different environment (e.g., a user moves from the bedroom3ato the living room3b), the hearing device10or, alternatively, the app running on the smart device16, may determine that hearing device10has changed location and that appliances12d,12eand12f, contained within the new environment3b, are now in range of hearing device10. Once it has been determined that the user has changed locations from environment3ato environment3b, the priority value table400and/or the priority rule table404for appliances12d,12e, and12fis selected for use in determining which of the appliances12d,12e, and12fthe hearing device10is to be paired. For example, when the hearing device10is moved into environment3b, the hearing device10will then be caused (either by itself or under the direction of the smart device16) to attempt to pair with an appliance12having the highest priority within the priority value table400and/or with an appliance12as dictated by the priority rule table404.

While the use of multiple priority tables has been described, it will be understood that a single priority value table400and/or a single priority rule table404having priority values and rules, respectively, for all appliances12in all environments may be used for this same purpose.

For use in managing the one or more priority value tables400and/or the one or more priority rule tables404, the hearing device16and/or the smart device16may comprise an app. The app, which provides the programming software and a user interface needed for this purpose, functions to provide a user with a listing of appliances12, for example by make, model, and/or other identification information associated with the appliances12, which appliances have been previously paired with (or which can be newly paired with if displaying such is desired) the hearing device10. For example, the app may be adapted to display a graphical representation (e.g., an icon, widget, brand, etc.) of the appliances12. As noted, when the hearing device10has been previously paired with an appliance12which is included within a priority and/or rules table, the priority and/or rules table will be consulted when determining which appliance the hearing device10should be paired with when the hearing device10is to be newly paired with an appliance, such as when the user changes environments or the hearing device10is turned on.

When an appliance12is first added to a one of the priority and/or rules table10, identification information associated with the appliance12can be used to automatically assign a predetermined priority value and/or rule for that appliance. For example, when a user initially pairs a Bluetooth capable sound bar with the hearing device10, a priority value402predetermined for the appliance type for the device, e.g., “sound bar,” and/or for the brand of the device, e.g., “Sony,” may be associated with the sound bar within the priority table400. Priorities may also be automatically assigned based upon pairing order, e.g., a first paired appliance may be given a higher priority than a second paired appliance, either globally or within specific appliance categories, such as appliance type or brand. It will also be appreciated that a user may additionally or alternatively be requested to manually assign a priority to and/or create a rule for a newly added appliance via use of the user interface. Still further, a priority and/or a rule may be pre-assigned to appliances at a time of manufacture and such pre-assigned priority and/or rule may be conveyed to the app for use in the priority table and/or rule table as a part of the appliance identity process discussed above. To the extent conflicts in priorities and/or rules may occur as a result of the use of the described automated procedures, any such conflicts may be handled by using, for example, the aforementioned first in, higher priority and/or rule assignment steps discussed above. Alternatively, or in addition to, when there are multiple paired appliances12and one or more of the appliances12are set to the same pairing priority value or rule, a user may be provided with the ability to manually adjust the priority values and/or rules to set which appliance12connects to the hearing device10when both are in range.

Turning toFIG.5, illustrated is an exemplary method for use in manually pairing the hearing device10with an appliance12in response to the hearing device10being moved from a first environment to a second environment. To this end, when it is detected500that the hearing device10has moved from environment2ato environment2c, for example, by the hearing device10detecting a reoccurring signal loss or detecting a complete signal loss within a predetermined period of time while in communication with appliance12a, the hearing device10(or smart device16) may be caused510to automatically broadcast one or more signals to the appliances12, simultaneously or within a predetermined amount of time, to determine which appliances are within the current environment in which the hearing device10is located. If the system were configured for automatic pairing, one of the appliances would be selected for pairing considering the priority values402and/or the priority rules406as described above. However, in the case of manual selection, the hearing device may initiate a notification message to the app running on the smart device16which app would function to provide the user with a visual notification of the appliances with which the hearing device10may be paired, such as by displaying a list of appliances12. The user may then select the desired appliance12from the list to complete the pairing process530with the hearing device10. While not required, the appliances12can be ordered within the list considering the priority values402and/or priority rules406that have been established for the appliances within the given environment.

As further discussed above, it is also contemplated that the hearing device10may initiate an audible notification message, wherein the message comprises the type or brand of the appliances12and/or the location of the appliances12, and the user can speak into a microphone and/or interact with user interface elements to select the appliance12with which the hearing device10is to be paired. It is additionally contemplated that the system may inform the user that an automatic pairing will occur within a given amount of time unless overridden by the user. For example, the user may be notified that TV-1 will be paired with the hearing device and such pairing will occur unless the user presses a hard key, speaks a command, or the like, to pair the hearing device10with another device, such as TV-2.

It is understood that unless otherwise stated to the contrary herein, one or more functions may be integrated in a single physical device or a software module in a software product, or one or more functions may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The actual implementation is well within the routine skill of a programmer and system engineer, given the disclosure herein of the system attributes, functionality, and inter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system. A person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill can practice the present invention without undue experimentation.

While the subject system and method has been described with respect to one or more embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements may be made to such described embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention hereinafter claimed. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention hereinafter claimed is not intended to be limited by the described embodiments.

All patents and applications for patent cited within this document are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.