Methods and systems for automatically equalizing audio output based on room characteristics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10734963-B2
Application number	US-201816058820-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 8, 2018
Priority date	Oct 4, 2017
Publication date	Aug 4, 2020
Grant date	Aug 4, 2020

Abstract

The various implementations described herein include methods, devices, and systems for automatic audio equalization. In one aspect, a method is performed at a computing system that includes speaker(s), microphones, processors and memory. The computing system outputs audio user content and automatically equalizes the audio output of the computing system. The equalizing includes: (1) receiving the outputted audio content at each microphone of the plurality of microphones; (2) based on the received audio content, determining an acoustic transfer function for the room; (3) based on the determined acoustic transfer function, obtaining a frequency response for the room; and (4) adjusting one or more properties of the speakers based on the determined frequency response.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for equalizing audio output performed at a computing system having one or more speakers, an electronic device including three or more microphones, one or more processors, and memory, wherein each of the microphones has a fixed location on the electronic device and wherein at least two of the microphones are located on different surfaces of the electronic device, the method comprising:
outputting audio content from the one or more speakers located in a room;
determining an operating mode of the computing system, the operating mode including a monophonic mode; and
automatically and without user input, equalizing an audio output of the computing system based on the operating mode and one or more characteristics of the audio content, including frequency and/or phase characteristics, the equalizing including:
receiving the outputted audio content at each microphone of the three or more microphones;
based on the received audio content:
determining phase differences of the audio received via pairs of the three or more microphones;
determining a feature vector based on the phase differences; and
determining an acoustic transfer function for the room based on the feature vector;

based on the determined acoustic transfer function, obtaining a frequency response for the room;
adjusting one or more acoustic properties of the speakers based on the determined frequency response; and
outputting the audio content using the adjusted properties.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending the determined acoustic transfer function to a server system remote from the computing system; and
wherein obtaining the frequency response comprises receiving the frequency response from the server system in response to sending the determined acoustic transfer function.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more acoustic properties includes a frequency property and/or a phase property.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to determining the acoustic transfer function, determining that the audio content includes audio having a frequency below a transition frequency for the room; and
wherein equalizing the audio output of the computing system comprises equalizing the audio output of the computing system in accordance with the determination that the audio content includes audio having a frequency below the transition frequency for the room.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more speakers comprises a plurality of speakers;
the method further comprises determining relative positioning of the plurality of speakers; and
wherein adjusting the one or more properties of the speakers is further based on the relative positioning of the plurality of speakers.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of speakers comprises one or more speakers wirelessly coupled to the computing system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining relative positioning of the three or more microphones;
wherein determining the acoustic transfer function comprises determining the acoustic transfer function based on the relative positioning of the three or more microphones.

8. A computing system comprising:
one or more speakers;
an electronic device including three or more microphones, wherein each of the microphones has a fixed location on the electronic device and wherein at least two of the microphones are located on different surfaces of the electronic device;
one or more processors; and
memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
outputting audio content from the one or more speakers located in a room;

determining an operating mode of the computing system, the operating mode including a monophonic mode; and
automatically and without user input, equalizing an audio output of the computing system based the operating mode and on one or more characteristics of the audio content, including frequency and/or phase characteristics, the equalizing including:
receiving the outputted audio content at each microphone of the three or more microphones;
based on the received audio content:
determining phase differences of the audio received via pairs of the three or more microphones;
determining a feature vector based on the phase differences; and
determining an acoustic transfer function for the room based on the feature vector;

based on the determined acoustic transfer function, obtaining a frequency response for the room;
adjusting one or more acoustic properties of the speakers based on the determined frequency response; and
outputting the audio content using the adjusted properties.

9. The computing system of claim 8 , wherein determining the acoustic transfer function for the room comprises determining the acoustic transfer function by utilizing one or more machine learning techniques.

10. The computing system of claim 8 , wherein the equalizing is continuously performed while the audio content is outputted.

11. The computing system of claim 8 , wherein the equalizing is periodically performed while the audio content is outputted.

12. The computing system of claim 8 , wherein the audio content comprises music.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computing system having one or more speakers, an electronic device including three or more microphones, one or more processors, and memory, wherein each of the microphones has a fixed location on the electronic device and wherein at least two of the microphones are located on different surfaces of the electronic device, cause the computing system to:
output audio content from the one or more speakers located in a room;
determine an operating mode of the computing system, the operating mode including a monophonic mode; and
automatically and without user input, equalize an audio output of the computing system based on the operating mode and one or more characteristics of the audio content, including frequency and/or phase characteristics, the equalizing including:
receiving the outputted audio content at each microphone of the three or more microphones;
based on the received audio content:
determine phase differences of the audio received via pairs of the three or more microphones;
determine a feature vector based on the phase differences; and
determine an acoustic transfer function for the room based on the feature vector;

based on the determined acoustic transfer function, obtain a frequency response for the room;
adjust one or more acoustic properties of the speakers based on the determined frequency response; and
output the audio content using the adjusted properties.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the three or more microphones and the one or more speakers are arranged within a same device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein determining the acoustic transfer function includes determining whether the one or more speakers are in proximity to one or more boundaries of the room.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the audio user content comprises audible output from a voice assistant application executing on the computing system.

17. The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the machine learning is performed at a server system remote from the com

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Shaya Benjamin Louis
• Larsen Rasmus Munk
• Lyon Richard F
• Smedegaard Michael

Classifications

• G06N3/0499

  Feedforward networks · CPC title

• G06N3/09

  Supervised learning · CPC title

• G06N3/092

  Reinforcement learning · CPC title

• H04R3/005

  for combining the signals of two or more microphones (specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407) · CPC title

• H03G5/165 Primary

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