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GoogleGranted patentAudio & voiceInterest 6/10

Google patents smart speakers that decide who hears your voice command

Google has patented a system for multiple networked devices in the same room to listen for a wake word like "Hey Google." The devices compare the audio quality of the sound they captured and share this data to decide which one should process the command, ignoring lower-quality inputs to avoid errors.

Why it mattersThis improves the reliability of voice assistants in homes with multiple speakers by ensuring the clearest device handles the request.

In the filing’s own words

Provided are methods, systems, and apparatuses for detecting, processing, and responding to audio signals, including speech signals, within a designated area or space. A platform for multiple media devices connected via a network is configured to process speech, such as voice commands, detected at the media devices, and respond to the detected speech by causing the media devices to simultaneously perform one or more requested actions. The platform is capable of scoring the quality of a speech request, handling speech requests from multiple end points of the platform using a centralized processing approach, a de-centralized processing approach, or a combination thereof, and also manipulating partial processing of speech requests from multiple end points into a coherent whole when necessary.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer-implemented method executed on data processing hardware of a first computing device that causes the data processing hardware to perform operations comprising: receiving audio data captured by the first computing device that corresponds to a hotword spoken by a user, wherein the first computing device is located in a same room as a second computing device; detecting the hotword in the received audio data; determining a quality of the received audio data captured by the first computing device; broadcasting, to the second computing device located in the same room as the first computing device and that also detected the hotword in corresponding audio data, the quality of the received audio data; and based on the quality of the received audio data captured by the first computing device, determining to not perform an action specified by a voice command following the hotword spoken by the user.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Methods and systems for detecting and processing speech signals
Patent number
US12770625B2
Application number
18780309
Filed
Jul 22, 2024
Granted
Oct 20, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
20

Classified under

G10L 15/30 Physics & computingG10L 15/22 Physics & computingG10L 15/32 Physics & computingG10L 15/02 Physics & computingG10L 2015/088 Physics & computingG10L 2015/223 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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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.