Auto-equalization, in-room low-frequency sound power optimization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10469046-B2
Application number	US-201715806991-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2017
Priority date	Mar 10, 2017
Publication date	Nov 5, 2019
Grant date	Nov 5, 2019

Abstract

One embodiment provides a device comprising a speaker driver, a microphone configured to obtain a measurement of a near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine a velocity of a diaphragm of the speaker driver, and automatically calibrate sound power levels of audio reproduced by the speaker driver based on the velocity and the measurement of the near-field sound pressure to automatically adjust the sound power levels to an acoustic environment of the device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
a speaker driver;
a microphone configured to obtain a measurement of a near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver; and
a controller configured to:
receive data indicative of a current sensed through the speaker driver;
determine a velocity of a diaphragm of the speaker driver based on the current sensed through the speaker driver;
correct for a propagation delay between the microphone and the diaphragm; and
automatically adjust sound power levels of audio reproduced by the speaker driver based on an acoustic environment of the device and a location of the device in the acoustic environment by automatically calibrating the sound power levels based on the velocity subsequent to correcting for the propagation delay and based on the measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sensor connected to the speaker driver, wherein the sensor is configured to detect the current sensed through the speaker driver.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller determines the velocity utilizing one of an accelerometer or a laser beam.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the microphone is positioned as close as possible or attached to the diaphragm.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
automatically detect a change in one or more acoustic conditions of the acoustic environment based on a set of measurements of the near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the set of measurements of the near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver is obtained on a periodic basis or a continuous basis.

7. The device of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
automatically adjust to the detected change by dynamically adjusting the sound power levels based on an updated velocity of the diaphragm and an updated measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein the acoustic environment includes a room, and the detected change in the one or more acoustic conditions of the acoustic environment comprises one of: a change to a physical dimension or a layout of the room, a change to a physical structure in the room, or a change to the location of the device.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
correct for the propagation delay between the microphone and the diaphragm by adjusting a phase of the velocity to correct for a phase mismatch resulting from the propagation delay; and
estimate the sound power levels based on the adjusted phase of the velocity and the measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
equalize the sound power levels to attenuate one or more peaks in sound distribution of the device, wherein the one or more peaks are associated with resonances in the acoustic environment.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive information indicative of a listening position in the acoustic environment from an external device, wherein the sound power levels are equalized based on the information.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
automatically determine a position of the device in the acoustic environment based on the measurement of the near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver, wherein the sound power levels are optimized based on the position of the device.

13. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
automatically determine a best position in the acoustic environment that the device should be positioned in based on different measurements of the near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver, wherein the different measurements are obtained at different positions in the acoustic environment.

14. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
identify a total Q factor and a resonant frequency for the device using system identification in the frequency domain or in the time domain based on input voltage to terminals of the speaker driver and the measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

15. A method comprising:
obtaining a measurement of a near-field sound pressure of a speaker driver using a microphone;
receiving data indicative of a current sensed through the speaker driver;
determining a velocity of a diaphragm of the speaker driver based on the current sensed through the speaker driver;
correcting for a propagation delay between the microphone and the diaphragm; and
automatically adjusting sound power levels of audio reproduced by the speaker driver based on an acoustic environment of the speaker driver and a location of the speaker driver in the acoustic environment by automatically calibrating the sound power levels based on the velocity subsequent to correcting for the propagation delay and based on the measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
detecting the current sensed through the speaker driver using a sensor connected to the speaker driver.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
automatically detect a change in one or more acoustic conditions of the acoustic environment based on a set of measurements of the near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver, wherein the set of measurements of the near-field sound pressure of the speaker driver is obtained on a periodic basis or a continuous basis; and
automatically adjust to the detected change by dynamically adjusting the sound power levels based on an updated velocity of the diaphragm and an updated measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
correcting for the propagation delay between the microphone and the diaphragm by adjusting a phase of the velocity to correct for a phase mismatch resulting from the propagation delay; and
estimating the sound power levels based on the adjusted phase of the velocity and the measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
equalizing the sound power levels to attenuate one or more peaks in sound distribution of the speaker driver, wherein the one or more peaks are associated with resonances in the acoustic environment.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions to perform a method comprising:
obtaining a measurement of a near-field sound pressure of a speaker driver using a microphone;
receiving data indicative of a current sensed through the speaker driver;
determining a velocity of a diaphragm of the speaker driver based on the current sensed through the speaker driver;
correcting for a propagation delay between the microphone and the diaphragm; and
automatically adjusting sound power levels of audio reproduced by the speaker driver based on an acoustic environment of the speaker driver and a location of the speaker driver in the acoustic environment by automatically calibrating the sound power levels based on the velocity subsequent to correcting for the propagation delay and based on the measurement of the near-field sound pressure.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Celestinos Arroyo Adrian

Classifications

• H04R3/04

  for correcting frequency response · CPC title

• H04R3/002

  Damping circuit arrangements for transducers, e.g. motional feedback circuits · CPC title

• H04S2400/13

  Aspects of volume control, not necessarily automatic, in stereophonic sound systems · CPC title

• H03G5/165

  Equalizers; Volume or gain control in limited frequency bands · CPC title

• H04R29/001

  for loudspeakers (H04R29/007 takes precedence) · CPC title