Managing Telephony and Entertainment Audio in a Vehicle Audio Platform

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018084344-A1
Application number	US-201715829407-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 1, 2017
Priority date	Mar 6, 2014
Publication date	Mar 22, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A signal input module receives at least one of an entertainment audio signal and a telephony audio signal from vehicle sound circuitry. A level control module executes gain level control logic to balance the entertainment audio signal and a telephony audio signal according to a ratio. A gain control signal is applied to at least one of the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal. A routing module mixes the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal and routes the mixed signal to an output channel associated with a speaker.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus comprising:
a signal input module configured to receive an entertainment audio signal and a telephony audio signal from vehicle sound circuitry; a level control module configured to execute gain level control logic to balance the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal relative to each other according to a predetermined ratio of gain levels, and to apply a gain control signal to at least one of the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal; and a routing module configured to mix the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal and route the mixed signal to an output channel associated with a speaker.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined ratio of gain levels is set to satisfy a Speech Transmission Index (STI) parameter, so as to make the presentation of the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal acceptable.

3 . The apparatus of any of the foregoing claims, wherein the level control module is configured to balance the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal in such a manner as that both the telephony and entertainment audio are audible and intelligible.

4 . The apparatus of any of the foregoing claims, adapted to be used in an automobile passenger compartment including multiple car seats and speakers, wherein the level control module is configured to balance the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal in such a manner as that both the telephony and entertainment audio are selectively presented to appropriate recipients in the automobile passenger compartment.

5 . The apparatus of any of the foregoing claims, adapted to be used in an automobile passenger compartment, wherein the level control module is configured to balance the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal so that the listening experience of all occupants is improved by intelligibly reducing audio leakage between the telephony and entertainment audio signals.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the level control module is further configured to determine the predetermined ratio of gain levels based on at least one of a first weighted average of the entertainment audio signal and an upmixed entertainment audio signal or a second weighted average of the telephony audio signal and an upmixed telephony audio signal.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an upmixing module configured to upmix at least one of the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signal input module further configured to receive a speech signal originating from a vehicle occupant.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an adaptive filter configured to remove unwanted entertainment audio from a speech signal originating from a vehicle occupant.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the speaker is a headrest speaker.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the level control module is further configured to determine a weighted average of the entertainment audio signal and an upmixed entertainment audio signal to generate an entertainment reference signal.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the level control module is further configured to determine a weighted average of the telephony audio signal and an upmixed telephony audio signal to generate a telephony reference signal.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising a speech detector module configured to update the telephony reference signal in response to detecting a speech signal originating from a vehicle occupant.

14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the level control module is further configured to apply frequency weighting to at least one of an entertainment reference signal and a telephony reference signal to generate the gain control signal.

15 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the routing module is further configured to combine the entertainment audio signal and the telephony audio signal.

Assignees

• Bose Corp

Inventors

• Vautin Jeffery R
• Salvador Eduardo T
• Maiguma Ryo
• Barksdale Tobe Z
• Holmi Douglas J
• Oswald Charles
• Song Zukui
• Cheung Shiufun
• Dublin Michael S

Classifications

• H04R3/12 Primary

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

• H04R2420/01

  Input selection or mixing for amplifiers or loudspeakers · CPC title

• H04M1/6083

  by interfacing with the vehicle audio system · CPC title

• H04B3/20 Primary

  Reducing echo effects or singing; Opening or closing transmitting path; Conditioning for transmission in one direction or the other · CPC title

• H04R2430/01

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