Voice Announcement Relaying for Secure Multi-Device Targeting

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems face challenges in efficiently transmitting voice messages to multiple devices within a home environment, particularly when information about recipient devices is unknown, and ensuring privacy and security in such transmissions.

Innovation Solution

A resident device within the home environment identifies and relays announcements to appropriate devices based on user profiles and account types, using natural language processing to determine message content and network connectivity, ensuring secure and targeted message delivery.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a device transmits voice messages to multiple recipient devices, then message delivery capability is improved, but device complexity and information management requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemessage delivery capabilityVSAvoidinformation management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

A server acts as an intermediary between the sending device and multiple recipient devices. The server receives the voice message, manages recipient device information, and distributes the message to appropriate devices. This intermediary approach enables multi-device message delivery without increasing the complexity of individual devices, as the server handles the information management burden.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If recipient device information is stored and processed, then targeted message delivery is improved, but privacy and security risks increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemessage targeting accuracyVSAvoidprivacy and security risks
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system moves device information management to a different dimension - from local device storage to centralized server storage. This dimensional shift allows for secure, centralized management of recipient information with proper access controls, enabling accurate message targeting while reducing privacy and security risks associated with distributed device-level storage.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Adaptability or versatility

If voice messages are transmitted to devices outside the home environment, then communication versatility is improved, but network traffic and resource consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication rangeVSAvoidnetwork traffic and computing resources
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The server performs preliminary actions by pre-managing recipient device information and determining message routing before actual message transmission. This preliminary organization of information enables efficient message distribution, reducing redundant network traffic and computing resources when transmitting messages both within and outside the home environment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP4150887B1Techniques for relaying audio messages to devices
Publication Date: 2025.08.06 APPLE INC
  • EP4150887B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4150887B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4150887B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Techniques are disclosed for transmitting an announcement to one or more devices. In one example, a first device receives a first message that includes an announcement, the announcement associated with a voice that spoke the announcement. The first device may determine the announcement from the first message, and then identify one or more devices for receiving the announcement. The one or more devices may have a particular device type of a plurality of different device types comprising at least a mobile device. The first device may then transmit a second message to the one or more devices for presentation of the announcement by the one or more devices.