IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,871,942
Granted Patent B2
US 10,871,942 · App. 16/103,487 · Granted Dec 22, 2020

Audio command interface for a multimedia device

Inventor: Frank Llewellyn Maker, III (Livermore, CA)
Assignee: Roku, Inc.
G06F3/167H04N21/42203H04N21/42222H04N21/4394H04N21/6581H04N21/64322
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,871,942
App. No.
16/103,487
Filed
Aug 14, 2018
Granted
Dec 22, 2020
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2659
USPC
704/275
Abstract

System, method, and computer product embodiments for processing audio commands are described. A multimedia device receives a digitized audio sequence from a control device. The digitized audio sequence is associated with a display command for controlling a display device. Then, the digitized audio sequence is converted into an audio signature that corresponds to the digitized audio sequence. The multimedia device sends the audio signature to a platform server configured to use the audio signature to process the display command. After, the multimedia device receives content information from the platform server resulting from processing the display command. Then, the multimedia device causes the display device to provide media content related to the content information.

Claims (54)

1. A method, comprising:

downloading, by a mobile device, an audio command application;

enabling, by the audio command application, an identifier to be accessible as an audio command;

receiving, by the mobile device, a confirmation message;

converting, responsive to receiving the confirmation message, the identifier into a digitized audio sequence, wherein converting the identifier comprises determining, using an association table, a mapping between information in the identifier to the digitized audio sequence;

activating, responsive to receiving the confirmation message, an audio sensor of the mobile device;

issuing, by a speaker of the mobile device, the digitized audio sequence;

detecting, by the audio sensor, the digitized audio sequence; and

extracting, by the audio sensor, the audio command from the digitized audio sequence.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the audio command application is a plug-in for a content-accessing application stored on the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the content-accessing application includes a messaging application or a browser application.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

queuing, by the audio command application, the audio command for later transmission.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

forwarding, by the mobile device, the audio command to a multimedia device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping is between at least one ASCII character in the identifier and a sub-sequence of the digitized audio sequence.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing, after the extracting, the audio command in a playlist of audio commands; and

transmitting the playlist of audio commands to a multimedia device.

8. A system, comprising:

a mobile device including a memory, a wireless network interface, and a processor configured to:

download, by the mobile device, an audio command application;

enable, by the audio command application, an identifier to be accessible as an audio command;

receive, by the mobile device, a confirmation message;

convert, responsive to receiving the confirmation message, the identifier into a digitized audio sequence, wherein converting the identifier comprises determining, using an association table, a mapping between information in the identifier to the digitized audio sequence;

activate, responsive to receiving the confirmation message, an audio sensor of the mobile device;

issue, by a speaker of the mobile device, the digitized audio sequence;

detect, by the audio sensor, the digitized audio sequence; and

extract, by the audio sensor, the audio command from the digitized audio sequence.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the audio command application is a plug-in for a content-accessing application stored on the mobile device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the content-accessing application includes a messaging application or a browser application.

11. The system of claim 8 , the mobile device further configured to:

queue, by the audio command application, the audio command for later transmission.

12. The system of claim 8 , the mobile device further configured to:

forward, by the mobile device, the audio command to a multimedia device.

13. The system of claim 8 wherein the mapping is between at least one ASCII character in the identifier and a sub-sequence of the digitized audio sequence.

14. The system of claim 8 , the processor further configured to: store, after the extracting, the audio command in a playlist of audio commands; and transmit the playlist of audio commands to a multimedia device.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable device having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one computing device, cause the at least one computing device to perform operations comprising:

downloading, by a mobile device, an audio command application;

enabling, by the audio command application, an identifier to be accessible as an audio command;

receiving, by the mobile device, a confirmation message;

converting, responsive to receiving the confirmation message, the identifier into a digitized audio sequence, wherein converting the identifier comprises determining, using an association table, a mapping between information in the identifier to the digitized audio sequence;

activating, responsive to receiving the confirmation message, an audio sensor of the mobile device;

issuing, by the mobile device, the digitized audio sequence;

detecting, by the audio sensor, the digitized audio sequence; and

extracting, by the audio sensor, the audio command from the digitized audio sequence.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable device of claim 15 , wherein the audio command application is a plug-in for a content-accessing application stored on the mobile device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable device of claim 16 , wherein the content-accessing application includes a messaging application or a browser application.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable device of claim 15 , further comprising:

forwarding, by the mobile device, the audio command to a multimedia device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable device of claim 15 , wherein the mapping is between at least one ASCII character in the identifier and a sub-sequence of the digitized audio sequence.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable device of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:

storing, after the extracting, the audio command in a playlist of audio commands; and

transmitting the playlist of audio commands to a multimedia device.

Assignments (4)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 18, 2024
From: ROKU, INC.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 068982/0377 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT (REEL/FRAME 048385/0375) Recorded Feb 22, 2023
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
To: ROKU, INC.
Reel/Frame 062826/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 29, 2020
From: MAKER, FRANK LLEWELLYN, III
To: ROKU, INC.
Reel/Frame 053345/0160 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 20, 2019
From: ROKU, INC.
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
Reel/Frame 048385/0375 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 14857876 · Sep 18, 2015
Provisional Application 62212423 · Aug 31, 2015
Related Publication 20190129689A1 · May 2, 2019