US 9235259

A concise summary of US Patent 9,235,259 is as follows:

Title: Method for detecting audio ticks in a noisy environment

Assignee: The current assignee of record is K Mizra LLC. The original assignee was Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO.

Inventors: Mark van Staalduinen, Victor Bastiaan Klos, and Peter Jan Otto Doets.

Filing Date: November 26, 2010.

Issue Date: January 12, 2016.

Abstract: The patent describes a method for detecting short "tick" sounds in a noisy audio environment. The process involves a two-step approach. First, a "coarse" detection processor analyzes the audio signal to identify potential ticks. If a likely tick is found, a "fine" detection processor is enabled to perform a more thorough analysis to confirm the tick. The coarse step involves buffering audio samples, determining their local range, and comparing changes in this range to a threshold. The fine step involves more computationally intensive processing, such as a Fast Fourier Transform, to compare the audio signal's characteristics with a pre-trained "fingerprint" of a tick. This two-stage method aims to be efficient in terms of processing power and battery use, making it suitable for mobile devices.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

Independent Claim 1: This claim outlines a method for detecting a "tick" sound on a specific device. The method first uses a computationally simple "coarse" processor to listen for any sound that might be a tick. Only when this coarse processor identifies a potential tick does it activate a more sophisticated "fine" processor. This fine processor then compares the sound to a pre-recorded set of sound properties that are unique to that specific device to confirm if it was a genuine tick.

Independent Claim 9: This claim describes a system, rather than a method, for detecting ticks. The system includes both a coarse tick detector and a fine tick detector. Similar to the method in claim 1, the coarse detector first identifies a likely tick. Only then does it enable the fine detector to perform a more detailed analysis by comparing the sound against a set of properties characteristic of the device to confirm the tick.

Independent Claim 20: This claim details another method for detecting ticks that also uses a two-step (coarse then fine) process. A key aspect of this claim is how the fine detection process suppresses background noise. It does this by taking Fourier transforms of the audio in different time windows (buffers), calculating the differences in energy between frequency components of these successive windows, and then comparing these differences to a pre-trained reference set.

Independent Claim 22: This claim describes a system that implements the method outlined in claim 20. The system has a coarse processor to first flag a potential tick and a fine processor that is then enabled. This fine processor is configured to reduce the influence of background noise by computing Fourier transforms of the audio, determining the energy differences in various frequencies between consecutive time segments, and comparing these differences to a stored reference set to confirm the tick.

It should be noted that K.Mizra LLC is a patent licensing company and has been involved in patent litigation. Recent reports from April 2026 indicate that prior art has been identified against U.S. Patent 9,235,259. I do not have access to CAFC dockets to confirm any ongoing legal proceedings.