Acoustic pairing

1. A first acoustic pairing device, comprising:

an acoustic processor configured to receive both a first acoustic signal and a second acoustic signal from a second device;

a signal comparison module configured to identify a propagation delay or amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals received from the second device; and

a pairing module configured to output a pairing signal when the propagation delay or amplitude difference is between a first value and a second value;

wherein the propagation delay is translated into a direction-of-arrival from an acoustic transmitter; and

wherein pairing between an acoustic receiver and the acoustic transmitter is limited to when the direction-of-arrival is within an angular range.

2. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the acoustic processor is configured to receive the first and second acoustic signals from a single acoustic receiver.

3. The device of claim 2 :

wherein the first and second acoustic signals are received from a pair of in-line acoustic transmitters; and wherein the pairing signal is generated when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals is greater than a preselected delay or amplitude value.

4. The device of claim 2 :

wherein the first and second acoustic signals are received from a pair of side-by-side acoustic transmitters; and wherein the pairing signal is generated when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals is less than a preselected delay or amplitude value.

5. The device of claim 2 :

wherein the first and second acoustic signals are received from a pair of variably-arranged acoustic transmitters; and wherein the pairing signal is generated when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals is either between a first delay value and a second delay value, or a first amplitude value and a second amplitude value.

6. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the acoustic processor is configured to receive the first and second acoustic signals, respectively, from first and second acoustic receivers.

7. The device of claim 6 :

wherein the first and second acoustic receivers are in-line; and wherein the pairing signal is generated when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals is greater than a preselected delay or amplitude value.

8. The device of claim 6 :

wherein the first and second acoustic receivers are side-by-side; and wherein the pairing signal is generated when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals is less than a preselected delay or amplitude value.

9. The device of claim 6 :

wherein the first and second acoustic receivers are variably-arranged; and wherein the pairing signal is generated when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals is either between a first delay value and a second delay value, or a first amplitude value and a second amplitude value.

10. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the pairing module configured to output a pairing signal when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference is greater than a first value.

11. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the pairing module configured to output a pairing signal when the propagation delay or the amplitude difference is less than a second value.

12. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the first and second acoustic signals are ultrasonic signals.

13. The device of claim 1 :

wherein at least one of the first and second acoustic signals include at least one of: an identifier, additional data, OOB communication, authentication data, or an encryption key.

14. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the acoustic signal input is configured to receive the first and second acoustic signals from at least one of: a microphone, a speaker, or a pressure sensor.

15. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the a signal comparison module is configured to identify a distance between the acoustic pairing device and another acoustic device based on the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals.

16. The device of claim 1 :

wherein in response to the pairing signal, the acoustic pairing device at least one of: pairs with a second device; wakes-up a second device; ignores a second device; or sorts a list of devices wherein a second device is ranked first on the list.

17. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the acoustic receiver is substantially omni-directional at a preselected ultrasound operating frequency.

18. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the pairing signal is at least one of: an ultrasonic signal, an electromagnetic signal, or an optical signal.

19. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the first acoustic signal includes a first signal identifier and the second acoustic signal includes a second signal identifier; and

wherein the signal comparison module is configured to identify a direction of the acoustic pairing device based on a difference between the first and second signal identifiers.

20. The device of claim 1 :

wherein the acoustic processor configured to receive a third and fourth acoustic signal; and

wherein the signal comparison module is configured to identify a direction of two acoustic pairing devices based on a comparison between the first, second, third, and fourth acoustic signals.

21. The device of claim 1 :

further comprising a control module configured, in response to the pairing signal, to select or manipulate a menu item.

22. The device of claim 21 :

wherein the control module is configured to enable or trigger additional control features based on a Doppler shift between the acoustic pairing device and a second acoustic pairing device.

23. A method for acoustic pairing between a first device and a second device, executed by a computer programmed with non-transient executable instructions, comprising:

receiving, at the first device, a propagation delay or amplitude difference between a first acoustic signal and a second acoustic signal;

wherein the first and second acoustic signals are received from the second device;

pairing the first and second devices when the propagation delay or amplitude difference is between a first value and a second value;

translating the propagation delay into a direction-of-arrival from the first device to the second device; and

pairing the first and second devices when the direction-of-arrival is within an angular range.

24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

receiving a second propagation delay or amplitude difference between a third acoustic signal and a fourth acoustic signal; and

pairing the first and second devices when the second propagation delay or amplitude difference is between a third value and a fourth value.

25. A first acoustic pairing device, comprising:

an acoustic processor configured to receive both a first acoustic signal and a second acoustic signal from a second device;

a signal comparison module configured to identify a propagation delay or amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals received from the second device; and

a pairing module configured to output a pairing signal when the propagation delay or amplitude difference is between a first value and a second value;

wherein the a signal comparison module is configured to identify a distance between the acoustic pairing device and another acoustic device based on the amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals.

26. A first acoustic pairing device, comprising:

an acoustic processor configured to receive both a first acoustic signal and a second acoustic signal from a second device;

a signal comparison module configured to identify a propagation delay or amplitude difference between the first and second acoustic signals received from the second device; and

a pairing module configured to output a pairing signal when the propagation delay or amplitude difference is between a first value and a second value;

wherein the first acoustic signal includes a first signal identifier and the second acoustic signal includes a second signal identifier; and

wherein the signal comparison module is configured to identify a direction of the acoustic pairing device based on a difference between the first and second signal identifiers.