Granted Patent B2

US 12,602,446 · App. 17/508,120 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Inventors: Patrick Bergel (London, GB); Anthony James Steed (Hertfordshire, GB)

Assignee: Sonos Experience Limited

G06F16/955G06Q20/40G06Q30/0225G06Q20/32G06Q20/3272

Abstract

Claims (74)

1 . A system comprising:

(i) a first device comprising an audio output, at least one first processor, and at least one first non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one first processor such that the first device is configured to:

cause a server to store an association between a set of data and a shortcode, the shortcode comprising two or more sets of bits;

broadcast, via the audio output, an audio signal comprising the shortcode, the audio signal including two or more sets of notes corresponding to the two or more sets of bits, each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes including distinct notes of different frequencies output in a sequence, wherein a number of distinct notes in each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes corresponds to a number of bits in the two or more sets of bits, wherein each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes includes a first note having a first duration and a plurality of subsequent notes, each note of the plurality of subsequent notes having a duration that is different from the first duration;

(ii) a second device comprising a microphone, at least one second processor, and at least one second non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one second processor such that the second device is configured to:

receive, via the microphone, the audio signal comprising the shortcode; and

access, via the server, the set of data using the shortcode.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the two or more sets of bits are of equal size; and

each of the two or more sets of notes includes an arpeggio.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein causing the server to store the association between the set of data and the shortcode includes:

associating the shortcode with the set of data; and

transmitting the association to the server.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein accessing the set of data using the shortcode includes:

extracting the shortcode from the audio signal;

transmitting a request to the server, the request including the shortcode; and

receiving the set of data from the server in response to the request.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first device further includes an encoder to encode the shortcode into the audio signal; and

the second device further includes a decoder to decode the audio signal and extract the shortcode.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the set of data is associated with the first device;

the first device is configured to:

receive an input to transmit the set of data to the second device; and

broadcast, via the audio output, the audio signal based on the input.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the input comprises the set of data.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the shortcode encodes a header and a payload.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each note of the plurality of subsequent notes has a second duration that is shorter than the first duration.

10 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a system to perform functions comprising:

causing a server to store an association between a set of data and a shortcode, the shortcode comprising two or more sets of bits;

broadcasting, via an audio output of a first device, an audio signal comprising the shortcode, the audio signal including two or more sets of notes corresponding to the two or more sets of bits, each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes including distinct notes of different frequencies output in a sequence, wherein a number of distinct notes in each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes corresponds to a number of bits in the two or more sets of bits, wherein each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes includes a first note having a first duration and a plurality of subsequent notes, each note of the plurality of subsequent notes having a duration that is different from the first duration;

receiving, via a microphone of a second device, the audio signal comprising the shortcode; and

by the second device, accessing, via the server, the set of data using the shortcode.

11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein:

the two or more sets of bits are of equal size; and

each of the two or more sets of notes includes an arpeggio.

12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein causing the server to store the association between the set of data and the shortcode includes:

associating the shortcode with the set of data; and

transmitting the association to the server.

13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein accessing the set of data using the shortcode includes:

extracting the shortcode from the audio signal;

transmitting a request to the server, the request including the shortcode; and

receiving the set of data from the server in response to the request.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein:

the first device includes an encoder to encode the shortcode into the audio signal; and

the second device includes a decoder to decode the audio signal and extract the shortcode.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein:

the set of data is associated with the first device; and

the non-transitory computer-readable medium further stores instructions to cause the system to perform functions comprising:

receiving, by the first device, an input to transmit the set of data to the second device; and

broadcasting, via the audio output, the audio signal based on the input.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the input comprises the set of data.

17 . A method to be performed by a system, the method comprising:

causing a server to store an association between a set of data and a shortcode, the shortcode comprising two or more sets of bits;

broadcasting, via an audio output of a first device, an audio signal comprising the shortcode, the audio signal including two or more sets of notes corresponding to the two or more sets of bits, each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes including distinct notes of different frequencies output in a sequence, wherein a number of distinct notes in each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes corresponds to a number of bits in the two or more sets of bits, wherein each set of notes of the two or more sets of notes includes a first note having a first duration and a plurality of subsequent notes, each note of the plurality of subsequent notes having a duration that is different from the first duration;

receiving, via a microphone of a second device, the audio signal comprising the shortcode; and

by the second device, accessing, via the server, the set of data using the shortcode.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein:

the two or more sets of bits are of equal size; and

each of the two or more sets of notes includes an arpeggio.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein causing the server to store the association between the set of data and the shortcode includes:

associating the shortcode with the set of data; and

transmitting the association to the server.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein accessing the set of data using the shortcode includes:

extracting the shortcode from the audio signal;

transmitting a request to the server, the request including the shortcode; and

receiving the set of data from the server in response to the request.

21 . The method of claim 17 , wherein:

the set of data is associated with the first device; and

the method further comprises:

receiving, by the first device, an input to transmit the set of data to the second device; and

broadcasting, via the audio output, the audio signal based on the input.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the input comprises the set of data.

23 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the two or more sets of notes include notes in a frequence range that is inaudible to a human ear.

Assignments (4)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (343)