Wearable Audio Voice Modification via Bluetooth Offloading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wearable devices, such as wireless earpieces, face challenges in performing real-time voice modulation due to processing power limitations and increased battery usage, especially when connected via Bluetooth protocols, particularly in telephony use cases where Hands-Free Profile (HFP) is used, making it impractical to implement voice modification directly on the earpiece.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that involve encoding voice sound signals using a digital signal processor in the wearable device, routing them over a Bluetooth parallel simultaneous transport channel to a remote processor for modification, and then communicating the modified signals back through the HFP channel, allowing for real-time app-based voice modification without additional transcoding on the earpiece, thus optimizing processing and reducing battery usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If voice modulation is performed directly on the wireless earpiece, then voice modification capability is achieved, but processing power is monopolized and battery usage increases to undesired levels
Solution Approach 1:
The voice modulation processing function is extracted from the wireless earpiece and relocated to an external device (smartphone or computer). The earpiece retains only the essential audio processing functions while the computationally intensive voice modulation is performed externally, thereby reducing power consumption and heat generation in the earpiece.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a digital signal processor as an intermediary component in the audio processing chain. This DSP acts as a mediator between the microphone and the voice modulation software, enabling efficient audio encoding and transmission while offloading the heavy processing tasks to the external device with higher computational capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If voice modulation is performed directly on the wireless earpiece, then voice modification capability is achieved, but processing power is monopolized
Solution Approach 1:
The complex voice modulation processing algorithms are extracted from the limited resources of the wireless earpiece and implemented on an external device with superior processing capabilities. This extraction allows the earpiece to maintain simplicity while still providing advanced voice modification features through the external device's computational power.
Solution Approach 2:
The external device (smartphone or computer) serves multiple functions: it acts as the audio source, performs voice modulation processing, and communicates with the earpiece. This multi-functional approach consolidates processing requirements on a single device with sufficient computational resources, avoiding the need for the earpiece to have dedicated voice modulation hardware.
3Use of energy by moving object
If voice modification is not performed at the wireless earpiece during HFP telephony use, then battery usage is optimized, but voice modification appears infeasible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the digital signal processor as an intermediary that enables voice modification to work seamlessly with the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) telephony standard. The DSP processes audio in a manner compatible with HFP requirements while allowing external voice modulation software to modify the audio stream, thus maintaining both battery efficiency and voice modification functionality during phone calls.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts audio processing parameters to accommodate voice modification during HFP telephony use. By changing how audio is encoded and transmitted through the Bluetooth connection, the system enables voice modification without requiring additional processing power at the earpiece, maintaining battery optimization while achieving voice modification feasibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for audio modification for a wearable device in operative Bluetooth communication with a device includes receiving a sound signal at a microphone of the wearable device, encoding the sound signal at a digital signal processor of the wearable device using a codec to provide an encoded audio stream, routing the encoded audio stream from the digital signal processor over a Bluetooth parallel simultaneous transport channel to the device, modifying the encoded audio stream using an audio modification software application executing at a processor external to the wearable device to provide an encoded modified audio stream, communicating the encoded modified audio stream from the audio modification software application executing on the processor over the Bluetooth parallel simultaneous transport channel back to the wearable device, and communicating the encoded modified audio stream from the wearable device over a Bluetooth hands free profile (HFP) channel to the device.