Ambient volume control in open audio device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11295718-B2
Application number	US-201816179592-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2018
Priority date	Nov 2, 2018
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are provided for automatically adjusting, by an audio device, the SPL of its audio output. As described herein, the SPL is adjusted based on detected ambient noise. According to aspects, audio device iteratively adjusts the SPL based on the ambient noise. According to aspects, the SPL is adjusted to be greater than the ambient noise by a threshold SPL amount. According to aspects, the audio device outputs sound in substantially a first direction and the microphone detects sound substantially outside of the first direction. The adjusted sounds are output by the audio device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method performed by a wearable audio device comprising:
outputting an audio signal;
detecting ambient noise;
comparing a sound pressure level of the audio signal with a sound pressure level of the ambient noise;
continuously adjusting the sound pressure level of the audio signal to be greater than the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise based, at least in part, on the comparison to generate an adjusted audio signal by boosting sound pressure level for both lower frequencies and higher frequencies of the audio signal and boosting the sound pressure level more for the lower frequencies of the audio signal as compared to the higher frequencies of the audio signal, wherein sound pressure level boosts for both the lower frequencies and the higher frequencies of the audio signal are dependent upon the detected ambient noise, wherein the dependency varies among the lower frequencies and the higher frequencies; and
outputting the adjusted audio signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
after outputting the adjusted audio signal, re-detecting the ambient noise;
comparing a sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal and a sound pressure level of the re-detected ambient noise;
further adjusting the sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal based, at least in part, on the comparison of the sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal and the sound pressure level of the re-detected ambient noise to generate a further adjusted audio signal; and
outputting the further adjusted audio signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein continuously adjusting the sound pressure level of the audio signal to be greater than the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise comprises:
continuously adjusting the sound pressure level of the audio signal until the sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal is greater than the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise by at least a sound pressure threshold amount.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
comparing the sound pressure level of the audio signal with the sound pressure level of the ambient noise comprises determining the absolute value of the difference between the sound pressure level of the audio signal and the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise is greater than a first sound pressure threshold amount, and
responsive to the determination, continuously adjusting the sound pressure level of the audio signal to be greater than the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein continuously adjusting the sound pressure level of the audio signal to be greater than the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise comprises:
continuously adjusting the sound pressure level of the audio signal until the sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal exceeds the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise by more than a second sound pressure threshold amount, wherein the first and second sound pressure threshold amounts are different.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a microphone on the wearable audio device is configured to detect the ambient noise, and wherein the microphone is further configured for detecting speech of a user wearing the wearable audio device.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the microphone is located in an acoustic null of a speaker configured to output the adjusted audio signal.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wearable audio device comprises an off-ear headphone or audio eyeglasses.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lower frequencies of the audio signal comprise frequencies below 100 Hz and the higher frequencies of the audio signal comprise frequencies at or above 100 Hz.

10. A wearable audio device comprising:
a speaker configured to output an audio signal;
a microphone configured to detect ambient noise; and
a processor configured to continuously adjust a sound pressure level of the audio signal to be greater than the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise based, at least in part, on the detected ambient noise to generate an adjusted audio signal by boosting sound pressure level for both lower frequencies and higher frequencies of the audio signal and boosting the sound pressure level more for the lower frequencies of the audio signal as compared to the higher frequencies of the audio signal, wherein sound pressure level boosts for both the lower frequencies and the higher frequencies of the audio signal are dependent upon the detected ambient noise, wherein the dependency varies among the lower frequencies and the higher frequencies,
wherein the speaker is further configured to output the adjusted audio signal.

11. The wearable audio device of claim 10 , wherein the microphone is further configured for detecting speech of a user wearing the wearable audio device.

12. The wearable audio device of claim 10 , wherein the wearable audio device comprises audio eyeglasses, and wherein the microphone is housed in a frame configured to rest on a user.

13. The wearable audio device of claim 12 , wherein the microphone is housed proximate a temple region above a user's ear.

14. The wearable audio device of claim 12 , wherein the microphone is located in an acoustic null of the speaker, such that the microphone substantially only detects the ambient noise and substantially does not detect the audio signal and the adjusted audio signal.

15. The wearable audio device of claim 14 , wherein the speaker outputs the audio signal and the adjusted audio signal in a first direction, and the microphone is oriented to detect sound substantially outside of the first direction.

16. The wearable audio device of claim 10 , wherein after outputting the adjusted audio signal:
the microphone is configured to re-detect the ambient noise; and
the processor is configured to:
compare the sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal and a sound pressure level of the re-detected ambient noise; and
further adjust the sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal based, at least in part, on the comparison to generate a further adjusted audio signal, wherein the difference between a sound pressure level of the further adjusted audio signal and the sound pressure level of the re-detected ambient noise is greater than or equal to the sound pressure threshold amount, and

wherein the speaker is configured to output the further adjusted audio signal.

17. The wearable audio device of claim 10 ,
wherein the processor is further configured to determine the difference between the sound pressure level of the audio signal and the sound pressure level of the ambient noise is less than a delta sound pressure amount, and
wherein the processor is configured to continuously adjust the sound pressure level of the audio signal to generate the adjusted audio signal in response to the determination.

18. The wearable audio device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to continuously adjust the sound pressure level of the audio signal to be greater than the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise by:
increasing or decreasing the sound pressure level of the audio signal until the sound pressure level of the adjusted audio signal exceeds the sound pressure level of the detected ambient noise by a sound pressure threshold amount.

19. The wearable audio device of claim 10 , wherein the lower frequencies of the audio signal comprise frequencies below 100 Hz and the higher frequencies of the audio sign

Assignees

• Bose Corp

Inventors

• Trivedi Mehul
• Lee Vincent
• Roberts Cory
• Mulvey James P
• Torio Guy Anthony

Classifications

• H03G5/165

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

• G10K2210/1081

  Earphones, e.g. for telephones, ear protectors or headsets · CPC title

• H04R3/00

  Circuits for transducers (arrangements for producing a reverberation or echo sound G10K15/08; amplifiers H03F) · CPC title

• G06F1/163

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title

• H03G3/32

  the control being dependent upon ambient noise level or sound level · CPC title