IP Library Granted Patent US 11,793,453
Granted Patent B2
US 11,793,453 · App. 16/890,931 · Granted Oct 24, 2023

Detecting and measuring snoring

Inventors: Hao-Wei Su (Cambridge, MA); Logan Niehaus (Alameda, CA); Conor Joseph Heneghan (Campbell, CA); Jonathan David Charlesworth (San Francisco, CA); Subramaniam Venkatraman (Lafayette, CA); Shelten Gee Jao Yuen (Berkeley, CA)
Assignee: Fitbit, Inc.
A61B5/4809A61B5/02416A61B5/0816A61B5/1102A61B5/681A61B5/742G10L25/51
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,793,453
App. No.
16/890,931
Granted
Oct 24, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

Approaches described herein can capture an audio signal using at least one microphone while a user of an electronic device is determined to be asleep. At least one audio frame can be determined from the audio signal. The at least one audio frame represents a spectrum of frequencies detected by the at least one microphone over some period of time. One or more sounds associated with the at least one audio frame can be determined. Sleep-related information can be generated. The information identifies the one or more sounds as potential sources of sleep disruption.

Claims (26)

1. An electronic device comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to perform:

activating and deactivating at least one microphone according to a breathing phase pattern determined for a user that is determined to be asleep;

capturing an audio signal while the at least one microphone is activated;

determining an audio frame of the audio signal includes one or more sounds indicative of snoring;

in response to determining the audio frame includes the one or more sounds indicative of snoring, discarding the audio frame; and

generating sleep-related information, wherein the information identifies the one or more sounds as an instance of snoring.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein determining the audio frame of the audio signals includes one or more sounds indicative of snoring occurs while the audio signal is being captured.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one microphone used to capture the audio signal is included in one or both of the electronic device or a computing device separate from the electronic device.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the electronic device to perform:

providing the generated sleep-related information through an interface accessible through the electronic device or a computing device separate from the electronic device.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the sleep-related information provides one or more of: a total amount of time the user was determined to be sleeping, one or more periods of time during which the user was determined to be awake, or one or more periods of time during which the user was determined to be snoring.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the sleep-related information provides one or more of: a total amount of time during which the user was snoring, a percentage of time during which the user was snoring relative to the total amount of time the user was determined to be sleeping, or a percentage range of time during which the user was snoring relative to the total amount of time the user was determined to be sleeping.

7. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the sleep-related information provides a categorization of the one or more periods of time during which the user was determined to be snoring based on snoring intensity.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the categorization labels the one or more periods of time during which the user was determined to be snoring as a first level of snoring, a second level of snoring, or a third level of snoring.

9. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the sleep-related information identifies a correlation between one or more periods of time during which the user was determined to be awake and the one or more sounds identified as potential sources of sleep disruption.

10. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the sleep-related information provides one or more of: a baseline noise level while the user was asleep, an average noise level while the user was asleep, a highest noise level while the user was asleep, or a total count of sounds detected while the user was asleep.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein activating and deactivating the at least one microphone based on a breathing phase pattern determined for a user determined to be asleep comprises:

activating the at least one microphone when the user inhales according to the breathing phase pattern; and

deactivating the at least one microphone when the user exhales according to the breathing phase pattern.

12. A method, comprising:

capturing, via one or more microphones, an audio signal while a user is asleep;

determining, via one or more processors, an audio frame of the audio signal includes one or more sounds that are potentially disruptive to sleep;

in response to determining the audio frame includes one or more sounds that are potentially disruptive to sleep, discarding, via the one or more processors, the audio frame; and

generating, via the one or more processors, sleep-related information for the user, the sleep-related information identifying one or more sources of the one or more sounds.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 3, 2021
From: SU, HAO-WEI; NIEHAUS, LOGAN; HENEGHAN, CONOR JOSEPH; CHARLESWORTH, JONATHAN DAVID; VENKATRAMAN, SUBRAMANIAM; YUEN, SHELTEN GEE JAO
To: FITBIT, INC.
Reel/Frame 057069/0188 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation In Part 16431576 · Jun 4, 2019
Related Publication 20200383633A1 · Dec 10, 2020
Cited By (1)
US 12,201,442