PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9838811-B2
Application Number: US-201615285987-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices and accessories with media streaming control features

Abstract:
An electronic device may play audio content to a user through a pair of earphones. The audio content may be content that is stored locally on the electronic device or may be streaming content that is provided by an online service. Control circuitry in the electronic device may monitor ear presence sensor structures in the earphones to determine whether the earphones are present in the ears of the user. In response to determining that the earphones have been removed from the ears of the user, the control circuitry may communicate with the online service provider. Communicating with the online service provider may include sending media streaming control commands to the online service provider. The media streaming control commands may, for example, include media streaming pause commands that instruct the online service provider to pause the audio content in response to the earphones being removed from the ears of the user.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device configured to receive audio content from an online service provider, comprising:
 a component configured to transmit audio signals over a communications path to a pair of earphones each having sensor structures that determine whether the earphones are present on the ears of a user, wherein each earphone in the pair comprises a conductive mesh that passes sound produced by speakers in the earphones and that is divided into first and second electrodes, and wherein the sensor structures comprise a resistance-based sensor that detects changes in resistance between the first and second electrodes in each earphone in the pair; and 
 control circuitry configured to:
 monitor the sensor structures to gather information on whether the earphones are present on the ears of the user by measuring the changes in resistance between the first electrode and the second electrode in each earphone in the pair; and 
 communicate the information to the online service provider. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising:
 cellular transceiver circuitry that receives the audio content from the online service provider. 
 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the online service provider comprises an Internet radio service and wherein the earphones play the audio content from the Internet radio service based on the audio signals. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the audio content comprises streaming audio content and wherein communicating the information to the online service provider comprises sending a pause command that instructs the online service provider to pause the streaming audio content. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the audio content comprises a streaming audio advertisement. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 5  wherein communicating with the online service provider comprises sending user data to the online service provider. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 5  wherein communicating the information to the online service provider comprises communicating information indicating that the user has removed the earphones during the streaming audio advertisement. 
     
     
       8. A method for operating a pair of earphones each having a speaker housing and a resistance-based ear presence sensor structure mounted in the speaker housing, the method comprising:
 with speakers in the each of the speaker housings, playing audio content that passes through conductive mesh in each of the speaker housings, wherein the conductive mesh is split into first and second electrodes in each of the resistance-based ear presence sensor structures; 
 with control circuitry in the earphones, measuring a resistance between the first and second electrodes in each of the resistance-based ear presence structures to determine whether each of the earphones in the pair are present on the ears of a user; 
 with the control circuitry, comparing the measured resistance to a threshold; and 
 in response to determining that the measured resistance exceeds the threshold, adjusting the audio content that is being played by the speakers. 
 
     
     
       9. The method defined in  claim 8 , further comprising:
 with the control circuitry, applying a voltage across the first and second electrodes in each of the resistance-based ear presence structures. 
 
     
     
       10. The method defined in  claim 9 , wherein measuring the resistance comprises measuring current that flows between the first and second electrodes in each of the resistance-based ear presence structures as a result of the applied voltage. 
     
     
       11. The method defined in  claim 8 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the measured resistance exceeds the threshold, generating user data that indicates that the earphones are not present on the ears of the user. 
 
     
     
       12. The method defined in  claim 11 , wherein the audio content comprises streaming audio content from an online service provider and wherein adjusting the audio content comprises sending a pause command to the online service provider that instructs the online service provider to pause the streaming audio content. 
     
     
       13. The method defined in  claim 12 , further comprising:
 with communications circuitry in an electronic device, receiving the streaming audio content from the online service provider, wherein the electronic device provides the streaming audio content to the earphones; and 
 with the communications circuitry in the electronic device, transmitting the user data to the online service provider, wherein the online service provider pauses the streaming audio content in response to receiving the pause command. 
 
     
     
       14. An electronic device accessory that receives audio signals from an electronic device over a communications path, the electronic device accessory comprising:
 a component configured to form the communications path; 
 left and right earphone housings; 
 left and right speaker drivers that receive the audio signals and produce sound based on the audio signals, wherein the left speaker driver is mounted in the left earphone housing and wherein the right speaker driver is mounted in the right earphone housing; 
 ear presence sensor structures attached to each of the left and right earphone housings, wherein each of the ear presence sensor structures comprises an acoustic grill that is split into first and second conductive mesh electrodes in each of the left and right earphone housings and that passes the sound generated by the left and right speaker drivers, respectively; and 
 control circuitry that measures a resistance between the first and second conductive mesh electrodes in each of the left and right earphone housings to determine whether at least one of the left and right earphone housings is present on the ears of a user. 
 
     
     
       15. The electronic device accessory defined in  claim 14  wherein the control circuitry applies a voltage across the first and second conductive mesh electrodes in each of the left and right earphone housings. 
     
     
       16. The electronic device accessory defined in  claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry measures the resistance by measuring current that flows between the first and second conductive mesh electrodes in each of the left and right earphone housings as a result of the applied voltage. 
     
     
       17. The electronic device accessory defined in  claim 14 , wherein the control circuitry compares the resistance to a predetermined threshold to determine whether the earphones are present on the ears of the user, and wherein the audio signals received by the left and right speakers are adjusted in response to determining that the resistance exceeds the predetermined threshold. 
     
     
       18. The electronic device accessory defined in  claim 17 , wherein the audio signals comprise streaming audio signals from an online service provider, and wherein the online service provider pauses the streaming audio signals in response to the control circuitry determining that the resistance exceeds the predetermined threshold.

Description:
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/689,617, filed Nov. 29, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This application claims the benefit of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/689,617, filed Nov. 29, 2012. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This relates to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with accessories such as earphones. 
     Accessories such as earphones are often used with media players, cellular telephones, computers, and other electronic devices. There can be difficulties associated with using earphones. For example, a user who is using earphones to listen to streaming audio content provided by an online service may occasionally need to remove the earphones. When doing so, the user may miss content that is being played. For example, a user may not be able to manually stop audio content before removing the earphones, causing some of the content to be played without the user&#39;s full attention. Playing streaming audio content while the user is not listening is not only wasteful of the electronic device&#39;s battery life but also wasteful of cellular data usage, of which the user may only be allotted a certain amount per month. 
     This type of situation is also undesirable for online service providers, which are typically required to pay for each song played (regardless of whether or not a user is listening). 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved ways in which to control operation of an electronic device coupled to an accessory. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may receive audio content from an online service provider such as an internet radio service or other online service provider. The electronic device may play the audio content for a user through a pair of earphones. 
     The earphones may have sensor structures that determine whether or not the ears of a user are present in the vicinity of the earphones. 
     Control circuitry in the electronic device may monitor the sensor structures to determine whether the earphones are in or on the ears of the user. In response to determining that the earphones have been removed from the ears of the user, the control circuitry may communicate with the online service provider. 
     Communicating with the online service provider may include sending media streaming control commands to the online service provider. The media streaming control commands may include a media streaming pause command that instructs the online service provider to pause the streaming audio content in response to the earphones being removed from the ears of the user. 
     The audio content provided by the online service provider may include an audio advertisement. The control circuitry may send information to the online service provider indicating that the earphones have been removed from the ears of the user during the audio advertisement. 
     The electronic device may communicate with computing equipment associated with the online service provider over a communications network such as the internet. 
     Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of an illustrative system in which an electronic device with wireless communications circuitry may communicate with an online service provider in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of an illustrative electronic device and associated accessory in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device and associated accessory in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of an illustrative accessory showing how sensor signals may be conveyed from ear presence sensor structures in the accessory to an audio connector in the accessory in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an illustrative speaker housing such as an earbud speaker housing that has ear presence sensor structures in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an illustrative speaker housing such as an in-ear speaker housing that has ear presence sensor structures in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of illustrative earphones such as over-the-ear headphones that have ear presence sensor structures in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional side view of an earphone housing of the type that may be provided with sensor structures for detecting the presence of an ear or other external object in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in using an accessory and electronic device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic device accessories may be provided with the ability to sense the presence of external objects. For example, an earphone accessory may be provided with sensing structures such as user detection sensors that can determine whether or not the earphones (i.e., the earphone speakers) are located in or on the ears of a user. 
     Information gathered by the sensor structures may be used to control audio content that is provided to the user through the earphones. For example, information gathered by the sensor structures may be used to control audio content provided by online services such as internet radio and other streaming content providers. Controlling the playback of streaming content from an electronic device based on whether or not the user is wearing earphones associated with the electronic device may optimize the electronic device&#39;s battery life, may optimize the electronic device&#39;s cellular data usage, and may also prove beneficial for the online service provider by reducing the amount of content played without a user listening. 
     An illustrative system in which an electronic device may communicate with an online service provider such as an online streaming content provider is shown in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , system  60  may include a communications network such as network  48 . Communications network  48  may include wired and wireless local area networks and wide area networks (e.g., the internet). Equipment such as computing equipment  46  may be used in implementing online services. Computing equipment  46  may include one or more networked computers (e.g., servers) on which software is run to implement software-based services. The services that are hosted using computing equipment such as computing equipment  46  may include video server services, audio server services, web page services, communications services, media playback services, online storage services, social networking services, games, etc. Online service computing equipment  46  may, for example, include a streaming content provider such as an internet radio service or other streaming content provider). The servers that are used in implanting online services may be implemented using one or more computers that are located at one or more different geographic locations. 
     Electronic devices  10  may communicate with online service computing equipment  46  over communications network  48 . In a typical wired connection arrangement, an electronic device may be connected to network  48  using a cable. The cable may connect the electronic device to equipment in network  48 . For example, link such as link  50  of  FIG. 1  may be used to interconnect an electronic device to network  48  (e.g., using a modem). Wireless links may also be formed as part of links  50  or other links in system  60 . 
     For example, an electronic device may have a wireless local area network adapter that allows the device to communicate wirelessly with wireless local area network equipment such as wireless local area network equipment  52 . Wireless local area network equipment  52  may, for example, be a router or access point that supports IEEE 802.11 communications (sometimes referred to as WiFi®). As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , one or more electronic devices  10  may be connected to the network by forming a local wireless link such as one of links  56  with equipment  52 . 
     In addition to forming local wireless links, electronic devices  10  may form remote wireless links (i.e., links that may cover distances of a mile or more). Links of this type may be made, for example, with cellular telephone base stations such as cellular telephone base stations  54 . In the example of  FIG. 1 , one of cellular base stations  54  is shown as forming a remote wireless communications link  56  with an associated one of electronic devices  10 . 
     Wireless local area network equipment  52  and cellular base stations  54  may be connected to other equipment in network  48  using wired or wireless links (shown as links  50  in  FIG. 1 ). Because wireless local area network equipment  52  and cellular base stations  54  serve to provide access to network  48 , equipment  52  and cellular base stations  54  may serve as part of communications network  48  and are sometimes referred to as forming wireless network equipment. Other wireless equipment may also be used in network  48  and in forming wireless connections to network  48 . The example of  FIG. 1  is merely illustrative. 
     A perspective view of a system of the type that may be used in system  60  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , system  8  may include electronic device  10  and accessory  20 . Device  10  of  FIG. 2  may be portable electronic equipment such as a cellular telephone, a tablet computer, a media player, a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, an earpiece device, a notebook computer, other compact portable devices, or other electronic equipment such as a computer monitor with an integrated computer, a computer monitor, a desktop computer, a set-top box, or a television. 
     Electronic device  10  may include a display such as display  14 . Display  14  may be a touch screen that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Display  14  may include an array of display pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic display pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode display pixels, an array of electrowetting display pixels, or display pixels based on other display technologies. Configurations in which display  14  includes display layers that form liquid crystal display (LCD) pixels may sometimes be described herein as an example. This is, however, merely illustrative. Display  14  may include display pixels formed using any suitable type of display technology. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass or clear plastic. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer. For example, an opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a button such as button  16  and an opening such as opening  18  may be used to form a speaker port. 
     Device  10  may have a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. 
     Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). The periphery of housing  12  may, if desired, include walls. One or more openings may be formed in housing  12  to accommodate connector ports, buttons, and other components. For example, an opening may be formed in the wall of housing  12  to accommodate audio connector  24  and other connectors (e.g., digital data port connectors, etc.). Audio connector  24  may be a female audio connector (sometimes referred to as an audio jack) that has two pins (contacts), three pins, four pins, or more than four pins (as examples). Audio connector  24  may mate with male audio connector  22  (sometimes referred to as an audio plug) in accessory  20 . 
     Accessory  20  may be a pair of earphones (e.g., earbuds or earphones with other types of speakers), other audio equipment (e.g., an audio device with a single earphone unit), or other electronic equipment that communicates with electronic device  10 . The use of a pair of earphones in system  8  is sometimes described herein as an example. This is, however, merely illustrative. Accessory  10  may be implemented using any suitable electronic equipment. 
     It should be understood that the term “earphones” may refer to any suitable type of audio headset (e.g., headphones, over-the-ear headphones, earbuds, earbud-type headphones with ear hooks, in-ear headphones that extend partially into the ear canal, etc.). 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , accessory  20  may include a communications path such as cable  26  that is coupled to audio plug  22 . Cable  26  may contain conductive lines (e.g., wires) that are coupled to respective contacts (pins) in audio connector  22 . The conductive lines of cable  26  may be used to route audio signals from device  10  to speakers in earphone units  28 . Earphone units  28  (which may sometimes be referred to as speakers, speaker housings, or earphone housings) may include sensor structures for determining when earphone units  28  have been placed within the ears of a user. Microphone signals may be gathered using a microphone mounted in controller unit  30 . Controller unit  30  may also have buttons that receive user input from a user of system  8 . A user may, for example, manually control the playback of media by pressing button  30 A to play media or increase audio volume, by pressing button  30 B to pause or stop media playback, and by pressing button  30 C to reverse media playback or decrease audio volume (as examples). 
     The circuitry of controller  30  may communicate with the circuitry of device  10  using the wires or other conductive paths in cable  26  (e.g., using digital and/or analog communications signals). The paths in cable  26  may also be coupled to speaker drivers in earphones  28 , so that audio signals from device  10  may be played through the speakers in speaker housings  28 . Electronic device  10  may regulate the volume of sound produced by earphones  20  by controlling the audio signal strength used in driving the speakers in speaker housings  28 . 
     Sensor signals from sensor structures in earphones  20  may be conveyed to device  10  using the conductive paths of cable  26 . Electronic device  10  may process the sensor signals and take suitable action based on a determination of whether or not earphones  20  are in or on the ears of a user. 
     A schematic diagram showing illustrative components that may be used in device  10  and accessory  20  of system  8  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , electronic device  10  may include control circuitry  32  and input-output circuitry  34 . Control circuitry  32  may include storage and processing circuitry that is configured to execute software that controls the operation of device  10 . Control circuitry  32  may be implemented using one or more integrated circuits such as microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, memory, and other storage and processing circuitry. 
     Input-output circuitry  34  may include components for receiving input from external equipment and for supplying output. For example, input-output circuitry  34  may include user interface components for providing a user of device  10  with output and for gathering input from a user. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , input-output circuitry  34  may include communications circuitry  36 . Communications circuitry  36  may be used to form local and remote wireless links such as links  56  of  FIG. 1 . Local wireless links may be formed using wireless local area network transceiver  64  (e.g., IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth™. Remote wireless links may be formed using cellular telephone transceiver  62 . Communications circuitry  36  may be used to handle wireless signals in communications bands such as the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi®) bands, cellular telephone bands, and other wireless communications frequencies of interest. Communications circuitry  36  may also include wired communications circuitry such as circuitry for communicating with external equipment over serial and/or parallel digital data paths. 
     Input-output devices  38  may include buttons such as sliding switches, push buttons, menu buttons, buttons based on dome switches, keys on a keypad or keyboard, or other switch-based structures. Input-output devices  38  may also include status indicator lights, vibrators, display touch sensors, speakers, microphones, camera sensors, ambient light sensors, proximity sensors, and other input-output structures. 
     Electronic device  10  may be coupled to components in accessory  20  using cables such as cable  26  of accessory  20 . Accessory  20  may include speakers such as a pair of speaker drivers  40  (e.g., a left speaker and a right speaker). If desired, accessory  20  may include more than one driver per speaker housing  28 . For example, each speaker housing  28  in accessory  20  may have a tweeter, a midrange driver, and a bass driver (as an example). Speaker drivers  40  may be mounted in earbuds or other speaker housings. The use of left and right speaker housings to house respective left and right speaker drivers  40  is sometimes described herein as an example. 
     If desired, accessory  20  may include user input devices  42  such as buttons (see, e.g., the buttons associated with button controller  30  of  FIG. 2 ), touch-based input devices (e.g., touch screens, touch pads, touch buttons), a microphone to gather voice input, and other user input devices. 
     To determine whether or not the speaker housings in which speaker drivers  40  have been mounted are located in or on the ears of a user, accessory  20  may be provided with user detection sensor structures  44 . User detection sensor structures  44  may be configured to detect whether or not earphones  20  have been placed in or on the ears of a user. User detection sensors  44  may be formed from acoustic-based sensors such as ultrasonic acoustic-based sensors, from capacitive sensors, from temperature sensors, from force sensors, from resistance-based sensors, from light-based sensors, and/or from switch-based sensors or other mechanical sensors (as examples). Control circuitry  45  in accessory  20  (e.g., storage and processing circuits formed from one or more integrated circuits or other circuitry) and/or control circuitry  32  of electronic device  10  may use information from sensor structures  44  in determining which actions should be automatically taken by device  10 . 
     In force-based sensor schemes, the resistance of a compressible foam may be measured or a strain gauge output can be monitored. When force is present, electronic device  10  can conclude that earphones  20  have been inserted into or mounted on a user&#39;s ears, whereas when force is not present, electronic device  10  can conclude that earphones  20  are not being worn by the user. Force indicative of a user&#39;s ear pressing against earphones  20  may also be monitored using piezo-electric force sensors or other force sensors. 
     A diagram of accessory  20  illustrating how sensor signals may be conveyed from ear presence sensor structures  44  to an electronic device such as device  10  is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , accessory  20  may include left speaker driver  40 L with associated left ear presence sensor  44 L and right speaker driver  40 R with associated right ear presence sensor  44 R. If desired, only one of speaker drivers  40 L and  40 R may have an associated ear presence sensor. The example of  FIG. 4  in which both left and right speaker drivers have an associated ear presence sensor is merely illustrative. 
     Cable  26  may include common cable segment  35  that branches into two cable segments  33 L and  33 R. Cable segments  33 L,  33 R, and  35  may each include any suitable number of wires. For example, cable segment  33 L may include a first wire associated with left channel audio and a second wire that serves as ground. Cable segment  33 R may include a first wire associated right channel audio and a second wire that serves as ground. Cable segment  35  may, for example, include a first wire associated with left channel audio, a second wire associated with right channel audio, a third wire that serves as ground, and a fourth wire associated with microphone signals (e.g., microphone signals from a voice microphone in controller unit  30  of  FIG. 2 ). 
     If desired, there may be additional wires in cable  26 . For example, segment  33 L may include a wire associated with sensor signals from left ear presence sensor  44 L and segment  33 R may include a wire associated with sensor signals from right ear presence sensor  44 R. 
     If desired, sensor signals from ear presence sensors  44  may be conveyed over the electrical paths used for analog audio. For example, sensor signals may encoded as digital signals using a modulation scheme (e.g., amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, phase modulation, other suitable modulation techniques, etc.). With this type of configuration, accessory  20  may include a controller such as controller  31  having communications circuitry configured to receive sensor signals from ear presence sensors  44  and to modulate the sensor signals on the existing audio paths in cable segment  35 . For example, circuitry  31  may receive sensor signals from sensor  44 L and  44 R and may modulate the sensor signals on a right channel audio wire, a left channel audio wire, and/or a microphone wire (as examples). 
     Audio connector  22  may have any suitable number of contacts. For example, connector  22  may be a three-contact audio connector (sometimes referred to as a tip-ring-sleeve (TRS) connector) or connector  22  may be a four-contact audio connector (sometimes referred to as a tip-ring-ring-sleeve (TRRS) connector). In configurations where cable  26  includes a designated wire for sensor signals from ear presence sensors  44 , connector  22  may include an additional contact to be used for handling the sensor signals. In configurations where sensor signals are modulated on existing audio wires, connector  22  need not include additional contacts for handling sensor signals. 
     An illustrative earbud speaker housing with an ear presence sensor is shown in  FIG. 5 . In the example of  FIG. 5 , earbud  28  has a housing such as housing  66  in which one or more speaker drivers such as speakers  40  of  FIG. 3  are mounted. 
     Conductive structures such as conductive mesh structures  68  and  70  may be mounted in housing  66 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , for example, mesh structures  68  and  70  may be mounted in the front of housing  66  so that sound from the speakers inside earbud housing  66  may pass through the holes of the mesh. If desired, earbud  28  may contain microphone structures (e.g., when implementing noise cancellation features in earbud  28 ). The use of mesh when forming electrode structures  68  and  70  may allow ambient sound to be picked up by the noise cancellation microphones in housing  66 . 
     Mesh electrodes  68  and  70  (e.g., metal screen structures) or other conductive structures in earbud  28  may be used as first and second terminals in a resistive (resistance-based) sensor. Control circuitry in housing  66  may be used to apply a voltage across the first and second terminals while measuring how much current flows as a result. The control circuitry may use information on the voltage and current signals that are established between electrodes  68  and  70  to determine whether or not earbud  28  has been placed in the ear of a user. In the absence of the user&#39;s ear, the resistance between electrodes  68  and  70  will be relatively high. When, however, earbud  28  has been placed into a user&#39;s ear, contact between electrodes  68  and  70  and the flesh of the ear will give rise to a lower resistance path between electrodes  68  and  70 . To determine whether or not earbud  28  has been placed within the user&#39;s ear, the control circuitry of earbud  28  (and/or control circuitry  32  of  FIG. 3 ) may measure the resistance between electrodes  68  and  70  and may compare the measured resistance to a predetermined threshold. When the measured resistance is below the predetermined threshold, device  10  can conclude that earbud  28  has been placed in the ear of the user. When the measured resistance exceeds the predetermined threshold, device  10  can conclude that earbud  28  is out of the ear. 
     In addition to or instead of using mesh  68  and  70  to measure the resistance of the user&#39;s ear, mesh electrodes  68  and  70  may be used as capacitive sensor electrodes (e.g., to make mutual capacitance measurements or to make self capacitance measurements). Different capacitance values may be detected in the presence and absence of the user&#39;s ear in the vicinity of electrodes  68  and  70 . This allows device  10  to use the capacitance measurements to determine whether or not earbud  28  is in, on, or out of the user&#39;s ear. 
     If desired, earbud  28  may include a sealing member such as sealing member  72 . Sealing member  72  may be used to form a seal between user&#39;s ear and earbud  28  that helps block ambient noise while also forming an enclosed cavity adjacent to the ear canal. In addition to or instead of using mesh  68  and  70  to detect the presence of a user&#39;s ear, an ear presence sensor such as ear presence sensor  74  may be embedded in or formed on sealing member  72 . 
     As an example, ear presence sensor  74  may be a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature adjacent to sealing member  72 . Different temperature values may be detected in the presence and absence of the user&#39;s ear in the vicinity of sealing member  72 . Device  10  may use temperature information provided by temperature sensor  74  to determine whether or not earbud  28  is in, on, or out of the user&#39;s ear. 
     As an additional example, ear presence sensor  74  may be a pressure or force sensor configured to measure a pressure or force against sealing member  72 . Different pressure or force values may be detected in the presence and absence of the user&#39;s ear in the vicinity of sealing member  72 . Device  10  may use information provided by sensor  74  to determine whether or not earbud  28  is in, on, or out of the user&#39;s ear. 
     These examples are, however, merely illustrative. If desired, sensor  74  may be a capacitive sensor, a switch-based sensor (e.g., sensor  74  may be a mechanical switch that is actuated when a user&#39;s ear is present or absent), or any other suitable type of sensor configured to detect the presence and/or absence of a user&#39;s ear. 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an illustrative in-ear speaker housing with an ear presence sensor. In the example of  FIG. 6 , in-ear earbud  28  includes sealing members  76  configured to extend partially into the ear canal of a user&#39;s ear. Earphones of the type shown in  FIG. 6  are sometimes referred to as ear-canal headphones. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , ear presence sensor  74  may be embedded in or formed on one of sealing members  76 . Ear presence sensor  74  may be a temperature sensor, a pressure or force sensor, a capacitive sensor, a switch-based sensor (e.g., sensor  74  may be a mechanical switch that is actuated when earbud  28  is inserted or removed from a user&#39;s ear), or any other suitable type of sensor configured to detect the presence and/or absence of a user&#39;s ear. 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of illustrative over-the-ear headphones having one or more user detection sensors. In the example of  FIG. 7 , accessory  20  includes a headband such as headband  78  with left and right over-the-ear speaker housings  28 . A sealing member such as sealing member  80  may be a ring or layer of foam or may be any other suitable type of ear pad configured to form a seal around the user&#39;s ear to block out ambient noise. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , accessory  20  may include one or more user detection sensors such as user detection sensors  82  and  84 . User detection sensors  84  may be embedded in or formed on sealing members  80  and may be configured to detect the presence and absence of a user&#39;s ears in the vicinity of speaker housings  28 . User detection sensor  82  may be embedded in or formed on headband portion  78  and may be configured to detect the presence and absence of a user&#39;s head adjacent to headband  78 . When information from sensor  82  indicates that a user&#39;s head is not present, device  10  can conclude that the user is not wearing headphones  20 . When information from sensor  82  indicates that a user&#39;s head is present, device  10  can conclude that the user is wearing headphones  20 . 
     User detection sensors  82  and  84  may be temperature sensors, pressure or force sensors, capacitive sensors, acoustic-based sensors, switch-based sensors (e.g., sensors formed form mechanical switches that are actuated when a user&#39;s ear or head is present or absent), or any other suitable type of sensor configured to detect the presence and/or absence of a user&#39;s ear. 
     A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative earbud with a speaker driver and an associated ear presence sensor is shown in  FIG. 8 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , earbud  28  may have a housing such as housing  66 . Speaker  40  may be mounted within housing  66  overlapping an acoustic grill formed from structures such as mesh  68  and  70  or other acoustic mesh. During operation, sound  88  may pass through the acoustic mesh. For example, speaker  40  may produce sound that is received by a user&#39;s ear or other external object  80 . 
     When external object  80  is sufficiently close to earbud  28 , the presence of external object  80  may be detected. For example, control circuitry  45  (or control circuitry  32  in device  10 ) may measure the resistance between mesh electrodes  68  and  70  using conductive paths  83  or may use capacitance measurements in monitoring for the presence of object  80 . The measured resistance (or capacitance) may then be used to determine whether earbud  28  is in the user&#39;s ear or is out of the user&#39;s ear. Control circuitry  45  (or control circuitry  32  in device  10 ) may also use sensors such as sensor  44  of  FIG. 8  to monitor for the presence or absence of external objects such as the user&#39;s ear. As shown in  FIG. 8 , sensor  44  may have a transmitter such as transmitter  44 TX and may have a receiver such as receiver  44 RX. During operation of sensor  44 , sensor  44  may transmit signals such as signal  84  and may gather reflected signals such as signal  86 . The strength of received signal  86  may be used to measure whether or not external object  80  is in the presence of earbud  28 . 
     Sensor  44  may, for example, be a sensor that emits and receives acoustic signals. For example, transmitter  44 TX may be a signal transducer that transmits acoustic signals  84 . Receiver  44 RX may be a signal receiver that measures the amount or quality of acoustic signal  84  that is reflected as reflected signal  86  from external object  80 . When the amount or quality of acoustic signal that is reflected from external object  80  is low or fits a specific profile, circuitry  45  can conclude that earbud  28  is not in the user&#39;s ear. When the amount or quality of acoustic signal that is reflected from external object  80  is high or fits a specific profile, circuitry  45  can conclude that earbud  28  is currently in the user&#39;s ear. 
     Signal transducer  44 TX may be configured to transmit ultrasonic signals and/or acoustic signals in the audible range. Signal transducer  44 TX may, for example, transmit ultrasonic signals during audio playback (e.g., while speaker driver  40  is playing audio content for a user), whereas acoustic signals in the audible range may be transmitted when audio content is not being played by speaker driver  40  (e.g., between songs). 
     If desired, signal receiver  44 RX may be used to receive acoustic signals that have been transmitted by speaker driver  40  and reflected from external object  80 . With this type of configuration, signal transmitter  44 TX may not be required. The echo of the audio content transmitted by speaker driver  40  and received by receiver  44 RX may be indicative of whether or not earbud  28  is present at the user&#39;s ear. 
     Device  10  may use information from sensor structures  44  ( FIG. 3 ) to control audio content that is provided to the user through the earphones. For example, device  10  may control content from an online service provider (e.g., online service computing equipment  46  of  FIG. 1 ) based on whether or not earphones  20  are being worn by a user. Device  10  may communicate with the online service provider in response to receiving information from sensor structures  44 . When information from sensor structures  44  indicates that earphones  20  are not in or on a user&#39;s ears, device  10  may pause, stop, or mute content playback, may lower the playback volume (i.e., audio signal drive strength), may close the application providing the content, and/or may take other suitable actions. 
     If desired, information gathered by user detection sensors  44  may be provided to the online service that is providing the audio content. For example, device  10  may send user data to the online content provider indicating when a user removes earphones  20  while listening to content provided by the online content provider (e.g., during an advertisement, during a particular song, etc.). This type of information may allow the online service provider to optimize the services and advertisements it provides to the user. 
     A flow chart of illustrative steps involved in in using system  8  is shown in  FIG. 9 . During the operations of step  92 , earphones  20  may be located in or on the ears of a user and device  10  may be operated normally while using sensor circuitry  44  to monitor for the presence or absence of speaker housings  28  of accessory  20  in or on the ears of a user. In configurations where earphones  20  are over-the-ear headphones ( FIG. 7 ), sensor circuitry  44  may be used to monitor the presence or absence of the user&#39;s head near headband  78  or the presence or absence of the user&#39;s ears near over-the-ear speaker housings  28 . Circuitry  32  (and/or circuitry  45 , if desired) may be used in evaluating sensor data and taking appropriate action. Configurations in which control circuitry  32  is used in taking action based on sensor data are sometimes described herein as an example. 
     Examples of operations that may be performed by device  10  during step  92  include audio-based operations such as playing media content using an audio signal strength that results in a playback volume that is appropriate for listening through earphones  20 , providing a user with audio associated with a telephone call, providing audio associated with a video chat session to the user, or otherwise presenting audio content through earphones  20 . Audio may be played in stereo so that left and right earbuds receive corresponding left and right channels of audio, may be played using a multi-channel surround sound scheme, or may be played using a monophonic (mono) sound scheme in which both the left and right channels of audio are identical. 
     The media content may be media content that is stored locally on electronic device  10  or may be streaming media content that is provided by an online service (e.g., an online radio service or other internet-based content provider such as online service computing equipment  46  of  FIG. 1 ). For example, electronic device  10  may receive streaming audio content from computing equipment associated with an online service provider over a communications network. 
     During the monitoring operation of step  92 , device  10  can use user detection sensors  44  to determine whether or not earphones  20  are in or on the user&#39;s ears. 
     If, during the operations of step  92 , it is determined that earphones  20  have been removed from the user&#39;s ears, device  10  may take suitable action at step  94 . For example, device  10  may communicate with the online service provider in response to determining that the earphones are out of the user&#39;s ears. Communicating with the online service provider may include sending media streaming control commands to the online service provider. The media streaming control commands may, for example, include a media streaming pause command that instructs the online service provider to pause the audio content that is being transmitted to the electronic device over the communications network. Communicating with the online service provider may also include sending user data to the online service provider indicating that the earphones have been removed from the user&#39;s ears during an audio advertisement. 
     Other suitable actions that may be taken by device  10  in response to the user removing earphones  20  from the user&#39;s ears include pausing, stopping, or muting the media playback, adjusting the playback volume (audio signal drive strength), closing the application on device  10  that is running the online service that is providing the media, and/or sending user data to the online service (as examples). User data that may be sent to the online service may include information about when the user removes earphones  20  (e.g., during what type of content the user removes earphones  20 , how often the user removes earphones  20 , how long the earphones  20  are removed from the user&#39;s ears, etc.). For example, electronic device  10  may send user data to the online service provider indicating that the earphones have been removed from the user&#39;s ears during an audio advertisement. In configurations where the audio content to which the user is listening is received from the online service over a wireless communications link, step  94  may include terminating the audio content to which the user is listening in response to the earphones being removed from the user&#39;s ears. 
     After taking suitable actions at step  94 , device  10  can be operated in an earphones-off mode (step  96 ). For example, device  10  may operate with paused, stopped, or muted audio playback during step  94 . In situations where the actions taken during step  94  included sending user data to the online service without pausing, stopping, muting, or otherwise adjusting the audio content provided by the online service, step  96  may include operating device  10  normally (e.g., continuing to provide audio content from the online service). 
     During the operations of step  96 , ear presence sensor structures  44  may be used to monitor for the presence of earphones  20  in or on the ears of the user. 
     If, during the operations of step  96 , sensor structures  44  determine that earphones  20  have been placed in or on the user&#39;s ears, appropriate action may be taken at step  98 . Suitable actions that may be taken by device  10  in response to earphones  20  being placed in or on the user&#39;s ears include resuming media playback, restoring a previous volume level of the media playback, opening the application on device  10  that runs the online service that provides the media, and/or sending user data to the online service (as examples). Operations may then proceed to step  92 , where device  10  may operate in an earphones-on mode while monitoring sensor structures  44  to determine when earphones  20  are removed from the user&#39;s ears. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20161005
Publication Date: 20171205
Grant Date: 20171205
Priority Date: 20121129
Inventors: PELOSI ALESSANDRO
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G06F3/165", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R29/001", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1016", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1041", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1008", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1091", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1041", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1041", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1016", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1008", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1016", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/165", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1008", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R29/001", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04R1/1091", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 50773333