Power limiter configuration for audio signals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10826441-B2
Application number	US-201916721654-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 19, 2019
Priority date	Feb 4, 2019
Publication date	Nov 3, 2020
Grant date	Nov 3, 2020

Abstract

Example embodiments provide a process that includes one or more of receiving an audio signal at a feedback compressor circuit, determining how much to attenuate the audio signal when a power level of the audio signal exceeds a threshold power level, combining the audio signal with an auxiliary attenuation signal from an auxiliary attenuation source and a compressed attenuation signal from the feedback compressor circuit to create a combination signal, and generating an audio output signal of the feedback compressor circuit based on the combination signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving an audio signal at a feedback compressor circuit;
determining how much to attenuate the audio signal when a power level of the audio signal exceeds a threshold power level;
combining the audio signal with an auxiliary attenuation signal from an auxiliary attenuation source and a compressed attenuation signal from the feedback compressor circuit to create a combination signal; and
generating an audio output signal of the feedback compressor circuit based on the combination signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary attenuation signal comprises a composite of attenuation signals received from a plurality of sensors.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the composite of attenuation signals comprises one or more of an excessive heat signal, an excessive output current signal and a power supply voltage sag signal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining the audio signal with the auxiliary attenuation signal comprises one or more of multiplying the audio signal by the auxiliary attenuation signal, and converting the auxiliary attenuation signal to the log domain and adding the auxiliary attenuation signal to the compressed attenuation signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
filtering the audio output signal via a low pass filter (LPF).

6. The method of claim 5 , comprising:
providing a feedback signal to the LPF prior to combining the auxiliary attenuation signal and the compressed attenuation signal.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the feedback signal is used to combine the audio signal with the auxiliary attenuation signal and the compressed attenuation signal to create the combination signal, and wherein the combination signal is combined with the audio signal to create the audio output signal.

8. An apparatus comprising:
a receiver configured to receive an audio signal at a feedback compressor circuit;
a processor configured to
determine how much to attenuate the audio signal when a power level of the audio signal exceeds a threshold power level;
combine the audio signal with an auxiliary attenuation signal from an auxiliary attenuation source and a compressed attenuation signal from the feedback compressor circuit to create a combination signal; and
generate an audio output signal of the feedback compressor circuit based on the combination signal.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the auxiliary attenuation signal comprises a composite of attenuation signals received from a plurality of sensors.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the composite of attenuation signals comprises one or more of an excessive heat signal, an excessive output current signal and a power supply voltage sag signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor combines the audio signal with the auxiliary attenuation signal by being further configured to perform one or more of multiply the audio signal by the auxiliary attenuation signal, and convert the auxiliary attenuation signal to the log domain and add the auxiliary attenuation signal to the compressed attenuation signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to filter the audio output signal via a low pass filter (LPF).

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to provide a feedback signal to the LPF prior to the auxiliary attenuation signal and the compressed attenuation signal being combined.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the feedback signal is used to combine the audio signal with the auxiliary attenuation signal and the compressed attenuation signal to create the combination signal, and wherein the combination signal is combined with the audio signal to create the audio output signal.

15. A gate array configured to perform:
receiving an audio signal at a feedback compressor circuit;
determining how much to attenuate the audio signal when a power level of the audio signal exceeds a threshold power level;
combining the audio signal with an auxiliary attenuation signal from an auxiliary attenuation source and a compressed attenuation signal from the feedback compressor circuit to create a combination signal; and
generating an audio output signal of the feedback compressor circuit based on the combination signal.

16. The gate array of claim 15 , wherein the auxiliary attenuation signal comprises a composite of attenuation signals received from a plurality of sensors.

17. The gate array of claim 16 , wherein the composite of attenuation signals comprises one or more of an excessive heat signal, an excessive output current signal and a power supply voltage sag signal.

18. The gate array of claim 15 , wherein the combining the audio signal with the auxiliary attenuation signal comprises one or more of multiplying the audio signal by the auxiliary attenuation signal, and converting the auxiliary attenuation signal to the log domain and adding the auxiliary attenuation signal to the compressed attenuation signal.

19. The gate array of claim 15 , wherein the gate array is further configured to perform:
filtering the audio output signal via a low pass filter (LPF).

20. The gate array of claim 19 , wherein the gate array is further configured to perform:
providing a feedback signal to the LPF prior to combining the auxiliary attenuation signal and the compressed attenuation signal.

Assignees

• Biamp Sys Llc

Inventors

• Faulstich Aaron

Classifications

• H03G2201/708

  being temperature · CPC title

• H03G11/008

  of digital or coded signals · CPC title

• H03G7/08

  incorporating negative feedback · CPC title

• H03G7/007

  of digital or coded signals · CPC title

• H03G7/002

  in untuned or low-frequency amplifiers, e.g. audio amplifiers (H03G7/007, H03G7/001, H03G7/008, H03G7/02, H03G7/06 take precedence) · CPC title