Prior art — US Patent 10306389

The user requested I act as a technical patent analyst and identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 10306389, providing specific details for each. I previously gathered the claims of US10306389 and identified several key prior art patents/applications to investigate further. Now I will process the search results for each of these.

Here is the analysis of the most relevant prior art for US Patent 10306389:

US Patent 10306389: Head wearable acoustic system with noise canceling microphone geometry apparatuses and methods

Abstract of US10306389:
A head wearable acoustic system includes a main microphone positioned to optimize reception of desired audio and a reference microphone positioned to provide a lower signal-to-noise ratio with respect to the desired audio. An acoustic signal processing system is coupled to the microphones to linearly apply a multi-channel adaptive filter and a single-channel noise reduction filter to remove undesired audio. The system can include a desired voice activity detection unit and an auto-balancing unit.

Most Relevant Prior Art Citations:

US 7,386,135 B2
- Full Citation: US 7,386,135 B2, titled "Cardioid beam with a desired null based acoustic devices, systems and methods," issued June 10, 2008.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on July 14, 2005; Granted on June 10, 2008.
- Brief Description: This patent describes acoustic devices and methods using a cardioid beam with a desired null to detect acoustic signals while attenuating interference. It focuses on using multiple microphones (e.g., two omni-directional microphones) to create a directional response pattern. The system can employ noise cancellation techniques based on the directional characteristics. This patent is explicitly incorporated by reference into US10306389 in its "Definitions" section, specifically for "the implementation and operation of the main channel activity detector 2206, the reference channel activity detector 2208 and the inhibit logic 2214".
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Claim 4: "The head wearable device of claim 1, wherein the main microphone and the reference microphone are configured to have different directivity patterns." This is directly addressed by US 7,386,135 B2 which teaches creating directional patterns (like cardioid beams with nulls) using multiple microphones.
  - Claim 5: "The head wearable device of claim 4, wherein at least one of the main microphone and the reference microphone is a directional microphone." US 7,386,135 B2 discusses creating directional microphone characteristics.
  - Claim 6: "The head wearable device of claim 4, wherein the different directivity patterns are achieved by a beamformer coupled to at least two microphone elements." The concept of using multiple microphone elements to create a beam (e.g., cardioid) for desired directional characteristics is central to US 7,386,135 B2.
  - Claim 16 and 18 (Method Claims): Similar to apparatus claims 4 and 6, the method claims of configuring microphones for different directivity patterns and achieving them via beamforming are potentially anticipated.
US 9,753,311 B2
- Full Citation: US 9,753,311 B2, titled "Head wearable acoustic system with desired voice activity detection apparatuses and methods," issued September 5, 2017.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on March 13, 2014; Granted on September 5, 2017. This patent is listed as a priority document for US10306389 (Priority claimed from US14/180,994, which corresponds to US 9,753,311 B2).
- Brief Description: This patent describes a head wearable acoustic system with main and reference microphones, an acoustic signal processing system, and a desired voice activity detection (VAD) unit. The VAD unit generates a desired voice activity detection signal based on a normalized main acoustic signal, where normalization involves compressing and subtracting signals from main and reference channels. The system also includes multi-channel adaptive filtering and single-channel noise reduction.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Claim 1 (and all dependent claims): Given that US 9,753,311 B2 is a direct priority document and has a very similar title and abstract to US10306389, it is highly likely to anticipate most, if not all, of the independent and dependent claims of US10306389, especially claims related to the overall system architecture of main/reference microphones, multi-channel adaptive filtering, single-channel noise reduction, and desired voice activity detection. The core inventive concept of using different SNRs, linear application of filters, and the two-stage filtering process (multi-channel adaptive then single-channel) appears to be present.
  - Claim 7 and 8 (and dependent method claims 19 and 20): The desired voice activity detection (VAD) unit, its function of generating a desired voice activity detection signal based on a normalized main acoustic signal, and the normalization process involving compression and subtraction are directly taught by US 9,753,311 B2.
US 9,633,670 B2
- Full Citation: US 9,633,670 B2, titled "Head wearable acoustic system with noise canceling microphone geometry apparatuses and methods," issued April 25, 2017.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on March 12, 2014; Granted on April 25, 2017. This patent is also listed as a priority document for US10306389 (Priority claimed from US14/207,163, which corresponds to US 9,633,670 B2).
- Brief Description: This patent describes a head wearable acoustic system with main and reference microphones positioned to provide a signal-to-noise ratio difference. An acoustic signal processing system applies linear multi-channel adaptive filtering and single-channel noise reduction. It also covers aspects of microphone placement geometry, different directivity patterns, and beamforming to achieve the SNR difference.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Claim 1 (and all dependent claims): Similar to US 9,753,311 B2, US 9,633,670 B2 is a direct priority document and appears to cover the fundamental aspects of the invention of US10306389, particularly the core elements of a head wearable device with main/reference microphones, the SNR difference, and the two-stage linear filtering (multi-channel adaptive and single-channel noise reduction).
  - Claim 2 and 3 (and dependent method claims 14 and 15): The concepts of acoustic path length difference and placing the main microphone closer to the user's mouth to achieve this difference are directly taught.
  - Claim 4, 5, 6 (and dependent method claims 16, 17, 18): The use of different directivity patterns for main and reference microphones, including directional microphones and beamforming, is also directly addressed.
US 2014/0185803 A1
- Full Citation: US 2014/0185803 A1, titled "Head wearable acoustic system with desired voice activity detection apparatuses and methods," published July 3, 2014.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on March 13, 2014; Published on July 3, 2014. (Note: This is the publication of US 9,753,311 B2, the earlier application, so it is the same content).
- Brief Description: This application details a head wearable acoustic system using main and reference microphones to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio difference. It includes an acoustic signal processing system with a multi-channel adaptive filter and a single-channel noise reduction filter, both applied linearly. A desired voice activity detection (VAD) unit, using compressed and subtracted signals, controls the filtering.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As this is the publication of the same application that later became US 9,753,311 B2, it would anticipate virtually all claims of US10306389 that are common between the two, which is likely a substantial overlap given the similar titles and abstract content. It is a direct disclosure of the invention claimed in 9753311 B2.
US 2010/0195822 A1
- Full Citation: US 2010/0195822 A1, titled "Adaptive noise suppression using a plurality of microphones," published August 5, 2010.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on February 4, 2009; Published on August 5, 2010.
- Brief Description: This application describes a hands-free communication device with an array of microphones configured to pick up speech and noise. It uses adaptive noise suppression techniques, including adaptive filters, to reduce noise from the speech signal. The system can estimate speech and noise characteristics and apply appropriate filtering. It mentions a reference microphone picking up primarily noise.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102):
  - Claim 1 (Preamble and core elements): The concept of a device with a main microphone for desired audio/undesired audio and a reference microphone, and an acoustic processing system applying adaptive filtering to remove noise, is broadly taught. However, US10306389 specifically claims a head wearable device, first and second SNR difference, linear application of filters, and the combination of multi-channel adaptive and single-channel noise reduction. US 2010/0195822 A1 primarily focuses on adaptive noise suppression using microphone arrays but might not explicitly teach the specific combination of linear two-stage filtering and the SNR difference as claimed.
  - Claim 10 and 22: The use of an adaptive filter (potentially FIR) for noise suppression is a general concept that could be found in US 2010/0195822 A1.
  - Claims related to SNR difference (Claim 1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 15): While US 2010/0195822 A1 uses multiple microphones to distinguish speech from noise, it might not explicitly teach the deliberate positioning to achieve a first SNR greater than a second SNR for desired audio to anticipate these specific claim limitations.
  - Claims related to single-channel noise reduction (Claim 1, 11, 13, 23): This patent primarily focuses on adaptive multi-microphone noise suppression, and the specific combination with a subsequent single-channel noise reduction filter as defined in 10306389 may not be explicitly present.

Summary of Anticipation:

The priority documents, US 9,753,311 B2 and US 9,633,670 B2 (and their publication US 2014/0185803 A1), are the most relevant prior art and likely anticipate a significant portion of the claims of US10306389 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 due to their direct relationship and substantial overlap in claimed subject matter. These documents specifically teach the core elements of the head wearable device, the main and reference microphone configuration with SNR difference, the linear application of multi-channel adaptive and single-channel noise reduction filters, and the desired voice activity detection aspects.

US 7,386,135 B2 is highly relevant for claims related to creating different directivity patterns through beamforming, as it's explicitly referenced for that technology.

US 2010/0195822 A1 represents earlier general adaptive noise suppression technology using multiple microphones but may lack the specific combination of features and limitations claimed in US10306389, particularly the two-stage linear filtering and the explicit SNR difference between main and reference channels for desired audio.Here are the details of the most relevant prior art for US Patent 10,306,389, identified by reviewing its citations from the Google Patents database and mentions within the patent text itself. The analysis considers potential anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

US Patent 10,306,389: Head wearable acoustic system with noise canceling microphone geometry apparatuses and methods

Most Relevant Prior Art Citations:

US 9,753,311 B2
- Full Citation: US 9,753,311 B2, titled "Head wearable acoustic system with desired voice activity detection apparatuses and methods," issued September 5, 2017.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on March 13, 2014; Granted on September 5, 2017. This patent is a direct priority document for US10306389, specifically identified as a patent resulting from application Ser. No. 14/180,994, which US10306389 claims priority from.
- Brief Description: This patent describes a head wearable acoustic system with main and reference microphones, an acoustic signal processing system, and a desired voice activity detection (VAD) unit. The VAD unit generates a desired voice activity detection signal based on a normalized main acoustic signal, where normalization involves compressing the main and reference acoustic signals and subtracting the compressed reference signal from the compressed main signal. The system also includes multi-channel adaptive filtering and single-channel noise reduction for noise cancellation.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): US 9,753,311 B2 is highly relevant as a direct priority document. It likely anticipates a significant number of claims in US10306389.
  - Claim 1: The independent claim describing a head wearable device with main and reference microphones providing different SNRs, and an acoustic signal processing system applying a linear multi-channel adaptive filter followed by a linear single-channel noise reduction filter. This core system architecture and processing method appear to be present in US 9,753,311 B2.
  - Claim 7 & 8 (and dependent method claims 19 & 20): These claims relate to the desired voice activity detection (VAD) signal generation based on a normalized main acoustic signal, specifically mentioning compression and subtraction. These features are central to US 9,753,311 B2.
  - Claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24: Many of the dependent claims, which further define aspects like microphone placement for acoustic path length difference, different directivity patterns, beamforming, auto-balancing, types of filters (FIR, Wiener, MMSE), and the nature of the head wearable device (eyeglasses, goggles, etc.), are also likely taught or rendered obvious by US 9,753,311 B2, given its broad scope as a parent application.
US 9,633,670 B2
- Full Citation: US 9,633,670 B2, titled "Head wearable acoustic system with noise canceling microphone geometry apparatuses and methods," issued April 25, 2017.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on March 12, 2014; Granted on April 25, 2017. This patent is also a direct priority document for US10306389, specifically identified as a patent resulting from application Ser. No. 14/207,163, which US10306389 claims priority from.
- Brief Description: This patent describes a head wearable acoustic system having main and reference microphones positioned to provide a signal-to-noise ratio difference for desired audio relative to undesired audio. An acoustic signal processing system linearly applies a multi-channel adaptive filter and a single-channel noise reduction filter to process the acoustic signals. The patent emphasizes microphone placement geometry and the use of different directivity patterns (including beamforming) to achieve the desired SNR difference.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): As another direct priority document with a highly similar title and abstract, US 9,633,670 B2 is also highly likely to anticipate a significant portion of the claims of US10306389.
  - Claim 1: The independent claim concerning the head wearable device with main and reference microphones providing different SNRs, and the two-stage linear filtering approach (multi-channel adaptive followed by single-channel noise reduction), appears to be directly taught.
  - Claims 2 & 3 (and dependent method claims 14 & 15): These claims specifically describe achieving the SNR difference through microphone placement geometry, such as placing the main microphone closer to a user's mouth. This is a primary focus of US 9,633,670 B2.
  - Claims 4, 5, 6 (and dependent method claims 16, 17, 18): These claims relate to configuring microphones for different directivity patterns, using directional microphones, and achieving these patterns via beamforming. These concepts are also central to US 9,633,670 B2.
  - Claims 9, 10, 11, 12, 21, 22, 23, 24: Other dependent claims regarding auto-balancing, filter types, and types of head wearable devices would also likely be anticipated or rendered obvious by this patent.
US 7,386,135 B2
- Full Citation: US 7,386,135 B2, titled "Cardioid beam with a desired null based acoustic devices, systems and methods," issued June 10, 2008.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on July 14, 2005; Granted on June 10, 2008. This patent is explicitly incorporated by reference into US10306389 for its teachings on "Cardioid Beam With A Desired Null Based Acoustic Devices, Systems and Methods" and "the implementation and operation of the main channel activity detector 2206, the reference channel activity detector 2208 and the inhibit logic 2214."
- Brief Description: This patent describes acoustic devices and methods for detecting acoustic signals while attenuating interference by using a cardioid beam with a desired null. It details how multiple microphones (e.g., two omni-directional microphones) can be used to create directional response patterns and employs noise cancellation techniques based on these directional characteristics.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): While not covering the entire system of US10306389, it directly anticipates specific aspects.
  - Claim 4 (and dependent method claim 16): "wherein the main microphone and the reference microphone are configured to have different directivity patterns." The core of US 7,386,135 B2 is creating specific directional patterns (like cardioid) from microphone inputs.
  - Claim 5 (and dependent method claim 17): "wherein at least one of the main microphone and the reference microphone is a directional microphone." The patent describes forming directional microphone characteristics.
  - Claim 6 (and dependent method claim 18): "wherein the different directivity patterns are achieved by a beamformer coupled to at least two microphone elements." The use of multiple microphone elements to create a beam with desired directional characteristics through beamforming is fundamental to US 7,386,135 B2.
  - Claim 7 (partially): Specifically, the "generating a desired voice activity detection signal" and "control filtering" based on main and reference channel activity, as US10306389 references this patent for "main channel activity detector 2206, the reference channel activity detector 2208 and the inhibit logic 2214."
US 2014/0185803 A1
- Full Citation: US 2014/0185803 A1, titled "Head wearable acoustic system with desired voice activity detection apparatuses and methods," published July 3, 2014.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on March 13, 2014; Published on July 3, 2014. This is the publication of the same patent application (Ser. No. 14/180,994) that later matured into US 9,753,311 B2.
- Brief Description: This application describes a head wearable acoustic system using main and reference microphones to achieve a signal-to-noise ratio difference. It includes an acoustic signal processing system with a multi-channel adaptive filter and a single-channel noise reduction filter, both applied linearly. A desired voice activity detection (VAD) unit, using compressed and subtracted signals, controls the filtering.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Since US 2014/0185803 A1 is the publication of the application that became US 9,753,311 B2, it effectively anticipates the same claims as US 9,753,311 B2. Its earlier publication date makes it prior art for US10306389.
US 2010/0195822 A1
- Full Citation: US 2010/0195822 A1, titled "Adaptive noise suppression using a plurality of microphones," published August 5, 2010.
- Publication/Filing Date: Filed on February 4, 2009; Published on August 5, 2010.
- Brief Description: This application describes a hands-free communication device with an array of microphones configured to pick up speech and noise. It uses adaptive noise suppression techniques, including adaptive filters, to reduce noise from the speech signal. The system can estimate speech and noise characteristics and apply appropriate filtering. It mentions a reference microphone picking up primarily noise.
- Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent represents a more general prior art in adaptive noise suppression.
  - Claim 1 (partially): The broad concept of a device with multiple microphones (main and reference), and an acoustic processing system applying adaptive filtering to remove noise, could be seen as broadly taught.
  - Claim 10 & 22: The use of an adaptive filter, such as an adaptive finite impulse response (FIR) filter, for noise suppression is a general technique that could be found in this prior art.
  - However, US 2010/0195822 A1 may not explicitly teach the combination of a head wearable device, the specific first SNR greater than second SNR for desired audio, the linear application of both a multi-channel adaptive filter followed by a single-channel noise reduction filter, which are key limitations of US10306389. Therefore, it would likely not anticipate the full scope of Claim 1 or subsequent dependent claims that rely on these specific combinations, but could serve as a basis for obviousness challenges (not requested in this prompt).