Patent ID: 12245007

Like or identical reference numbers are used to identify common or similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments disclosed herein relate to smart speakers that receive both audio data and power over an Ethernet cable from power-sourcing equipment such as PoE enabled network switches and routers. PoE powered speakers eliminate the need to install electrical receptacles and equipment otherwise needed to power the speakers.

FIGS.1A and1Billustrate an exemplary PoE powered smart speaker100in accordance with one or more embodiments. The smart speaker100includes a sealed outer housing102. An Ethernet cable can be coupled to an Ethernet port106at the rear of the housing102, enabling the speaker to receive power and audio data transmitted over the Ethernet cable.

As shown inFIG.2, the smart speaker100can be one of a set of smart speakers100that are connected by Ethernet cables107to a PoE router108in a network. The smart speakers100access the Internet via the PoE router108in order to receive music streams from online music services109(e.g., Spotify™, Amazon Music™, Qobuz™, and Tidal™).

FIG.3is a simplified block diagram illustrating various components of an exemplary smart speaker100.

An input/output (I/O) back panel104in the housing102includes the Ethernet port106.

The smart speaker100includes one or more speaker drivers. In the exemplary embodiment, the speaker drivers comprise a tweeter108and a woofer110.

A host board112in the housing102includes a power supply subsystem114for managing the power received at the Ethernet port106.

A microprocessor subsystem116on the host board112is powered by the power supply subsystem114. The microprocessor subsystem116is configured to receive and process the audio data to generate output audio signals.

A digital audio amplifier117on the host board112is powered by the power supply subsystem114. The digital audio amplifier117amplifies the output audio signals received from the microprocessor subsystem116to drive the tweeter108and woofer110to render an audio output.

A set of heater resistors118on the host board112is powered by the power supply subsystem114. The heater resistors118are controlled by the microprocessor subsystem116to heat the interior of the housing102when the temperature inside the housing102is below a given temperature.

The smart speaker100uses several technical advancements to deliver high sound quality. The dedicated, efficient power supply subsystem114is capable of extracting significantly more energy available from an Ethernet cable by using four copper pairs of the Ethernet cable connecting the speaker to a PoE network router108. The additional energy produced by this power supply114allows the smart speaker100to provide power to the networked microprocessor subsystem116and the high-quality digital audio amplifier117. The smart speaker's ‘four-pair’ PoE power supply is an improvement over the power supplies of previous PoE speakers, which only enabled two pairs of the Ethernet cable for power delivery. Two-pair PoE power supply technology cannot deliver the energy required to simultaneously supply a networked microprocessor core and audio amplifier117with the electrical power needed to render high-resolution digital audio streams from a variety of popular music services109(e.g., Spotify™, Amazon Music™ or Qobuz™).

In one or more embodiments, a specialized digital amplifier117is used to increase power efficiency by 30% to maximize utilization of limited energy available from PoE power supply subsystem114.

The power supply subsystem114monitors the Ethernet cable connection for the availability of electrical power from the PoE-enabled network router108according to IEEE 802.3bt PoE standards. The power supply114executes this with a dedicated network power controller device120. Although the power controller device120is monitored by the microprocessor subsystem116through two simple status signals, the power supply controller120implements all functions for converting the electrical energy available from four pairs of the Ethernet cable. The network power supply controller120performs this independently from any software implementation executing in the microprocessor subsystem116. Upon connection of the smart speaker's network cable, the power supply controller120automatically requests the maximum power available from the 802.3bt PoE network switch or router. Before applying power to four pairs of the network cable, the PoE network switch or router indicates the power available through set of sequential cycles. A maximum power of 71 Watts may be supplied to the smart speaker according to the 802.3bt PoE networking standard for four-pair power delivery over Ethernet cables. The power is delivered over the cable as alternating current, which requires the smart speaker's power supply114to include a diode bridge rectifier122for converting the Ethernet line voltage to direct current (DC). The power supply subsystem's main output is approximately 26 Volts DC, which is suitable for directly supplying the smart speaker's audio amplifier117. As the microprocessor subsystem116requires 5 Volts DC, the power supply subsystem114includes a separate ‘step-down’ switch-mode power supply circuit, which converts the main 26 Volt DC voltage to 5 Volts DC. The step-down circuit is designed to operate with at least 85% efficiency to minimize waste of the energy and reserve as much useful power for the microprocessor subsystem116and the amplifier117to render music from high-resolution music services.

In the exemplary embodiment, the microprocessor subsystem116includes a 1 GHz ARM A53 processing core124and supports a minimum of 256 Megabytes of high-speed random-access memory (RAM). The processing capacity of this microprocessor124facilitates processing of high-resolution audio data streams pulled from music services109through the connected PoE networking router108and its Internet connection. The processing power enables high-resolution audio, as it can require as much four times the bandwidth of standard definition or ‘compact disc’ quality audio. This includes emerging, specialty high-resolution audio formats such as MQA™, which requires further post-processing to fully authenticate and render this format.

The microprocessor subsystem's operating power budget allows execution of an advanced operating system such as, e.g., the full BluOS™ networked operating system available from Lenbrook. BluOS™ facilitates connection to iOS™ and Android™ devices running a BluOS™ software app. This app allows users to easily select high-resolution music for playback across one or more PoE smart speakers100connected to the network. As the microprocessor subsystem116has sufficient power, it allows the user to quickly search and select from thousands of songs available either from Internet music services or local music libraries stored on dedicated music servers connected to the same local area network as the PoE smart speaker(s)100. Power supplied to the microprocessor subsystem116by PoE allows effective use of flash memory, e.g., up to 64 Gigabytes of flash memory. Flash memory allows for storage or ‘caching’ of the most popular music and can be essential in commercial audio installations (e.g., restaurants and hotels) that must maintain continuous music playback in the event of Internet or music service outages. At least one commercial-grade Internet service actually requires memory caching in the smart speakers it certifies to meet music uptime specifications it guarantees to its corporate customers.

To delivery high sound quality, the microprocessor and amplifier chipsets116,117should have sufficient digital capacity to support high-resolution or ‘HiRes’ digital audio sampling rates. Compact disc (CD) quality at 44.1 kHz sampling rate and 16 bits per sample (‘bit depth’) is considered ‘standard’ digital resolution and high-resolution is anything greater than this. In the exemplary embodiment, the microprocessor subsystem116and audio amplifier117support 4× the sampling (192 kHz) rate and 1.3× the bit depth (24 bits) of a CD. Analogous to High-Definition television, this extended HiRes audio data capacity provides wide-band frequency response and extended dynamic range at the PoE speaker's output.

The PoE router108can also include a Wi-Fi network function to provide standard wireless access on the same local area network (LAN) as the PoE speaker100. Users can install a BluOS™ software app on iOS and Android mobile devices and wirelessly connect their iOS or Android devices to this network. The app uses a discovery software mechanism (LSDP) to automatically ‘discover’ the PoE speaker and list one or more of the installed PoE speakers within the BluOS™ app, allowing them to browse music available on a selected music service and either select individual songs for playback or compile custom music playlists. Popular Internet radio streams—typically delivered at less than HiRes quality—may also be selected within the BluOS™ app for playback from the PoE speaker from a popular radio stream look-up portal services such as, e.g., TuneIn Radio™.

Multiple PoE speakers100operating on the same network may play a single selected audio stream in synchrony. In one or more embodiments, this is implemented by setting each PoE speaker's real-time clock to a common Internet source clock through the Network Time Protocol (NTP) and compensating for differences among the hardware crystal clock source installed in each PoE speaker100. If a PoE speaker's real-time clock is measured to be advancing faster than those of other PoE speakers100, its audio clock rate is reduced proportionally by gradually adjusting the microprocessor's phase-locked loop output frequency.

The materials and components of smart speaker100that are exposed to its external environment are selected for ruggedness to withstand harsh commercial installation environments. In one or more embodiments, the outer housing102of the smart speaker100comprises polypropylene material. Polypropylene has advantages over wood, even weatherproof specialty wood materials that are often used in speaker housings. Polypropylene can be molded at much lower cost into two simple pieces for the entire speaker enclosure. The two polypropylene enclosure components are fastened together with a single sealed seam103(FIG.1A). On the other hand, non-moldable wood materials require fastening of multiple pieces (in many cases, at least six pieces), which presents multiple seams. This dramatically increases common points of failure for the enclosure weather sealing. Polypropylene is inert at a molecular level. It is unaffected by moisture and ultraviolet light, and maintains a new appearance. It remains dimensionally stable across a wide ambient temperature range. Polypropylene is also much more thermally insulative than other non-wood materials such as polycarbonate. This is a significant benefit in keeping the system's electronics warm when operating in cold outdoor environments, and helps conserve the electrical power of a thermostatic heating circuit discussed in further detail below.

As the PoE speaker's woofer and tweeter driver components108,110are also exposed to the external environment, waterproof versions of these components provide longevity of the PoE speaker in rugged installation environments.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the wall thickness of the polypropylene housing is about 6-11 mm to increase rigidity. The polypropylene also provides higher damping of acoustic vibration and reduced distortion.

The set of heater resistors118on the host board112inside the speaker housing102dissipates sufficient thermal energy to prevent the overall system circuitry's temperature from dropping below 0 degrees Celsius. This allows the PoE speaker system hardware to boot in cold weather conditions. A thermostatic monitoring circuit124on the host board112regulates the power supplied to the heating circuit. This circuit is monitored in real-time by the microprocessor software to automatically enable power delivery to the heater resistors118when the system's temperature falls close to 0 degrees Celsius, as this is the minimum operating temperature of the system's microprocessor and microchip silicon. Although microchip silicon chips that operate at temperatures much lower than 0 degrees Celsius are available, this would substantially increase the overall PoE speaker electronics materials cost beyond the cost of the thermostatic monitoring and resistor heater circuitry. The thermostatic circuit and the microprocessor software disable power to the heater resistors118at 10 degrees Celsius to conserve as much electrical power as possible for the system's audio amplifier117and microprocessor subsystem116.

FIG.4is a rear perspective view of the smart speaker100depicting additional features of the device. A three-piece mounting plate130is attached to the speaker housing102using an arched mounting band132. The mounting band132is adjustably secured to the housing102by two threaded fastening knobs134. The knobs134include ratcheting teeth that securely fix the speaker's forward angle direction, relative to mounting band132. The mounting plate130can be positioned anywhere along the arched mounting band132, enabling precise adjustment of the angle of the speaker's vertical axis. The three-piece mounting plate130also facilitates ease of installation of the smart speaker100. A technician can anchor the lightweight plate130to a surface before maneuvering the heavier speaker100into position for fastening to plate130. The mounting plate130includes an attachment feature136enabling a steel cord to anchor the speaker100to a wall or ceiling surfaces as a safety provision. The speaker housing102includes ribs138to add strength to the housing wall, as well as to enhance design appeal. The eggshell shape of the housing102adds organic design appeal and increases compressive strength.

FIG.5is a cross-section view of the smart speaker100depicting further features of the device.

A siliconized rubber grommet150with molded ribs at the Ethernet port106prevents moisture ingress into the housing102. The grommet150is slotted to slide around the Ethernet cable jacket during installation. The installer does not need to attach Ethernet RJ45 to cable107while standing on ladder.

The cable pocket152in the housing102is angled to prevent any pooling of water around Ethernet cable107in most common speaker cabinet mounting positions.

The housing102includes an acoustic bass reflex port tube154. This feature is screened to prevent or inhibit ingress of insects and detritus. The acoustic bass reflex port tube154is acoustically tuned for maximum Bass output with minimum speaker excursion. An optional port plug provides alternate acoustic characterization and maximum environmental resilience.

The bass driver design includes a cone156that is affixed by compressive assembly, rather than adhesion. This provides increased reliability, as adhered cones can be prone to failure. A plastic driver basket can be used to reduce weight compared to steel baskets.

A metal heat sink158is provided on the tweeter108to inhibit or prevent overheating at high volumes and permanent demagnetization.

Having thus described several illustrative embodiments, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to form a part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. While some examples presented herein involve specific combinations of functions or structural elements, it should be understood that those functions and elements may be combined in other ways according to the present disclosure to accomplish the same or different objectives. In particular, acts, elements, and features discussed in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from similar or other roles in other embodiments.

Additionally, elements and components described herein may be further divided into additional components or joined together to form fewer components for performing the same functions.

Accordingly, the foregoing description and attached drawings are by way of example only, and are not intended to be limiting.