Patent Document ID: 9319816
Application ID: 13627862

Base Claim:
1. An apparatus comprising: a speaker; a microphone unit; a control module configured to: produce a pilot tone for output by the speaker within an environment that includes the apparatus; subsequent to producing the pilot tone, generate, by the microphone unit, a first audio signal related to the pilot tone based on sound captured by the microphone unit, at least a portion of the sound comprising the pilot tone as reflected by one or more surfaces within the environment, the first audio signal including one or more characteristics; analyze the first audio signal to determine if the one or more characteristics of the first audio signal have been altered with respect to one or more characteristics of the pilot tone; generate, by the microphone unit, a second audio signal; based at least in part upon the analyzing, at least one of (i) select a signal processing model for performing speech recognition on the second audio signal, or (ii) alter a signal processing model for performing speech recognition on the second audio signal; and perform speech recognition on the second audio signal using the at least one of the selected or altered signal processing model.

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Claim 5:
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to produce a pilot tone periodically and a periodicity for producing a pilot tone is based upon at least one of (i) time of day, (ii) people in the vicinity of the apparatus, (iii) furniture in the vicinity of the apparatus, (iv) appliances in the vicinity of the apparatus, or (v) a predetermined timing.