Audio system with configurable zones

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017374465-A1
Application number	US-201715684790-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 23, 2017
Priority date	Sep 26, 2014
Publication date	Dec 28, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

An audio system is described that includes one or more speaker arrays that emit sound corresponding to one or more pieces of sound program content into associated zones within a listening area. Using parameters of the audio system (e.g., locations of the speaker arrays and the audio sources), the zones, the users, the pieces of sound program content, and the listening area, one or more beam pattern attributes may be generated. The beam pattern attributes define a set of beams that are used to generate audio beams for channels of sound program content to be played in each zone. The beam pattern attributes may be updated as changes are detected within the listening environment. By adapting to these changing conditions, the audio system is capable of reproducing sound that accurately represents each piece of sound program content in various zones.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for driving speaker arrays, comprising:
receiving one or more pieces of sound program content associated with one or more audio sources within an audio system, wherein each piece of sound program content is designated to be played in one zone of a plurality of zones within a listening area; determining parameters describing the zones and the audio system; generating one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes based on the determined parameters for the zones and the audio system; and driving corresponding speaker arrays of the audio system with the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes such that audio beams corresponding to one or more channels of the one or more pieces of sound program content are played in corresponding zones in the listening area.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each set of the audio beam pattern attributes in the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes includes one or more of gain values, delay values, beam type pattern values, and beam angle values that are used to generate corresponding audio beams for each channel of the one or more pieces of sound program content.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameters of the audio system include 1) the location of each of the speaker arrays relative to each zone and 2) the location of each audio source relative to corresponding zones.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining parameters for the pieces of sound program content, wherein the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes are generated based on the parameters for the pieces of sound program content, wherein the parameters for the pieces of sound program content include one or more of the number of channels in each piece of sound program content, the frequency range of each piece of sound program content, and the content type of each piece of sound program content.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining parameters for the listening area, wherein the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes are generated based on the parameters for the listening area, wherein the parameters of the listening area include one or more of 1) the size and geometry of the listening area; 2) the reverberation characteristics of the listening area; and 3) the location of users in the listening area.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
defining each of the plurality of zones in the listening area, wherein the definition of each zone includes one or more of the location of the zone in the listening area, the size of zone, the shape of the zone, and a piece of sound program content from the one or more pieces of sound program content associated with the zone.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein each zone is defined based on one or more of 1) the location of one or more of the users in the listening area and 2) the location one or more of the audio sources in the listening area.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a change to the zones or the audio system; determining, in response to detecting a change to the zones or the audio system, new parameters describing the zones and the audio system; generating one or more new sets of audio beam pattern attributes based on the determined new parameters for the zones and the audio system; and driving corresponding speaker arrays of the audio system with the one or more new sets of audio beam pattern attributes such that audio beams corresponding to one or more channels of the one or more pieces of sound program content are played in corresponding zones in the listening area.

9 . A computing device for driving speaker arrays, comprising:
an interface for receiving one or more pieces of sound program content associated with one or more audio sources within an audio system, wherein each piece of sound program content is designated to be played by the audio system in one zone of a plurality of zones within a listening area; a hardware processor; and a memory unit for storing instructions, which when executed by the hardware processor:
determine parameters describing the zones and the audio system;
generate one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes based on the determined parameters for the zones and the audio system; and
generate one or more drive signals for driving corresponding speaker arrays of the audio system with the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes such that audio beams corresponding to one or more channels of the one or more pieces of sound program content are played in corresponding zones in the listening area.

10 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein each set of the audio beam pattern attributes in the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes includes one or more of gain values, delay values, beam type pattern values, and beam angle values that are used to generate corresponding audio beams for each channel of the one or more pieces of sound program content.

11 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the parameters of the audio system include 1) the location of each of the speaker arrays relative to each zone and 2) the location of each audio source relative to corresponding zones.

12 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the memory unit includes further instructions which when executed by the hardware processor: determine parameters for the pieces of sound program content, wherein the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes are generated based on the parameters for the pieces of sound program content, wherein the parameters for the pieces of sound program content include one or more of the number of channels in each piece of sound program content, the frequency range of each piece of sound program content, and the content type of each piece of sound program content.

13 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the memory unit includes further instructions which when executed by the hardware processor:
determine parameters for the listening area, wherein the one or more sets of audio beam pattern attributes are generated based on the parameters for the listening area, wherein the parameters of the listening area include one or more of 1) the size and geometry of the listening area; 2) the reverberation characteristics of the listening area; and 3) the location of users in the listening area.

14 . The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the memory unit includes further instructions which when executed by the hardware processor:
define each of the plurality of zones in the listening area, wherein the definition of each zone includes one or more of the location of the zone in the listening area, the size of zone, the shape of the zone, and a piece of sound program content from the one or more pieces of sound program content associated with the zone.

15 . The computing device of claim 14 , wherein each zone is defined based on one or more of 1) the location of one or more of the users in the listening area and 2) the location one or more of the audio sources in the listening area.

16 . The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the memory unit includes further instructions which when executed by the hardware processor:
detect a change to the zones or the audio system; determine, in response to detecting a change to the zones or the audio system, new parameters describing the zones and the audio system; generate one or more new sets of audio beam pattern attributes based on the determined new parameters for the zones and the audio system; and generate one or more drive signals for drivin

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Family Afrooz
• Bidmead Anthony P
• Wang Erik L
• Geaves Gary P
• Johnson Martin E
• Brown Matthew I
• Howes Michael B
• Choisel Sylvain J
• Holman Tomlinson M

Classifications

• H04S7/302

  Electronic adaptation of stereophonic sound system to listener position or orientation (H04S7/301 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04R27/00

  Public address systems (circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; {monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007}; amplifiers H03F) · CPC title

• H04S7/303

  Tracking of listener position or orientation · CPC title

• H04R3/12 Primary

  for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers {(specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407)} · CPC title

• G10L19/008

  Multichannel audio signal coding or decoding using interchannel correlation to reduce redundancy, e.g. joint-stereo, intensity-coding or matrixing · CPC title