/Patent Tracker
AmazonGranted patentAudio & voiceInterest 6/10

Amazon patents voice system that picks the best mic for your command

This patent describes a setup where a main speaker and a smaller, speaker-less device work together to handle voice commands. Both devices listen to you, measure the quality of the sound they capture, and the system chooses the one with the clearest signal to process your request.

Why it mattersIt could make voice assistants in larger rooms or multi-device homes more reliable by automatically using the microphone closest to you or with the least background noise.

In the filing’s own words

A distributed voice controlled system has a primary assistant and at least one secondary assistant. The primary assistant has a housing to hold one or more microphones, one or more speakers, and various computing components. The secondary assistant is similar in structure, but is void of speakers. The voice controlled assistants perform transactions and other functions primarily based on verbal interactions with a user. The assistants within the system are coordinated and synchronized to perform acoustic echo cancellation, selection of a best audio input from among the assistants, and distributed processing.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving speech input at a first device; generating first audio data representing the speech input; determining a first signal metric associated with the first audio data; receiving the speech input at a second device; generating second audio data representing the speech input; determining a second signal metric associated with the second audio data; and determining, based at least in part on the first signal metric and the second signal metric, that the first device is to be used to perform an action that is responsive to the speech input.

Facts

Company
Amazon (Amazon Technologies, Inc.)
Official title
Voice controlled system
Patent number
US12763093B1
Application number
18797287
Filed
Aug 7, 2024
Granted
Oct 13, 2026
Inventors
5
Claims
20

Classified under

G10L 25/00 Physics & computingG06F 3/167 Physics & computingH04R 3/005 Electricity & electronicsH04R 27/00 Electricity & electronicsH04R 2227/003 Electricity & electronicsH04R 2227/005 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Amazon in Audio & voice

Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.