Dynamic sound adjustment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9615185-B2
Application number	US-201414224745-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 25, 2014
Priority date	Mar 25, 2014
Publication date	Apr 4, 2017
Grant date	Apr 4, 2017

Abstract

Among other things, one or more non-transitory machine-readable media storing instructions are described. The stored instructions are executable by one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising analyzing an effect of noise in a spatial unit on sound in the spatial unit, at least part of the sound being produced by audio signals; selecting an adjustment curve among a group of adjustment curves based on one or more characteristics of the noise; and determining an amount of adjustment to be made to the audio signals based on the analyzed effect and the selected adjustment curve.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. One or more non-transitory machine-readable media storing instructions that are executable by one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:
analyzing an effect of noise in an interior of a vehicle on sound in the interior of the vehicle, at least part of the sound being produced by audio signals;
accessing a group of adjustment curves, wherein each adjustment curve in the group corresponds to a different noise spectrum, and has a slope that represents a ratio between magnitudes of (i) noise energy in a low frequency band, and (ii) noise energy in a high frequency band that includes frequencies larger than frequencies in the low frequency band
selecting an adjustment curve among the group of adjustment curves based on one or more characteristics of the noise; and
determining an amount of adjustment to be made to the audio signals based on the analyzed effect and the selected adjustment curve.

2. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the effect of noise on the sound comprises calculating a signal to noise ratio.

3. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise determining the characteristics of the noise.

4. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 3 , wherein the characteristics of the noise comprise a first level of noise energy in a first frequency band and a second level of noise energy in a second frequency band.

5. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 4 , wherein the adjustment curve is selected based on a ratio of the first level to the second level.

6. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the noise comprises wind noise.

7. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the audio signals span a spectral frequency range, and selecting an adjustment curve comprises selecting a first adjustment curve from a first group of adjustment curves for a first band of the frequency range and selecting a second adjustment curve from a second group of adjustment curves for a second band of the frequency range.

8. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 7 , wherein determining an adjustment comprises determining a first adjustment for the audio signals in the first band and a second adjustment for the audio signals in the second band, the first and second adjustments being determined independently.

9. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the analyzing, the selecting, and the determining are performed in real time.

10. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 7 , wherein selecting an adjustment curve comprises selecting a third adjustment curve from a third group of adjustment curves for a third band of the frequency range, and wherein the first, second and third bands form the spectral frequency range.

11. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the operations comprise performing the adjustment to the audio signals.

12. A controller comprising:
a processor; and
a storage device that stores a program for execution by the processor, the program comprising instructions configured to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
analyzing an effect of noise in an interior of a vehicle on sound in the interior of the vehicle, at least part of the sound being produced by audio signals,
accessing a group of adjustment curves, wherein each adjustment curve in the group corresponds to a different noise spectrum, and has a slope that represents a ratio between magnitudes of (i) noise energy in a low frequency band, and (ii) noise energy in a high frequency band that includes frequencies larger than frequencies in the low frequency band,
selecting an adjustment curve among the group of adjustment curves based on one or more characteristics of the noise, and
determining an amount of adjustment to be made to the audio signals based on the analyzed effect and the selected adjustment curve.

13. The controller of claim 12 , wherein analyzing the effect of noise on the sound comprises calculating a signal to noise ratio.

14. The controller of claim 12 , wherein the operations comprise determining the characteristics of the noise, and determining the characteristics of the noise comprises identifying first noise energy in a first frequency band and second noise energy in a second frequency band.

15. The controller of claim 14 , wherein the adjustment curve is selected based on a ratio of the first noise energy to the second noise energy.

16. The controller of claim 12 , wherein the audio signals span a spectral frequency range and selecting an adjustment curve comprises selecting a first adjustment curve from a first group of adjustment curves for a first band of the frequency range, and selecting a second adjustment curve from a second group of adjustment curves for a second band of the frequency range.

17. The controller of claim 16 , wherein determining an adjustment comprises determining a first adjustment for the audio signals in the first band and a second adjustment for the audio signals in the second band, the first and second adjustments being determined independently.

18. The controller of claim 16 , wherein the analyzing, selecting, and determining are performed in real time.

19. The controller of claim 16 , wherein selecting an adjustment curve further comprises selecting a third adjustment curve from a third group of adjustment curves for a third band of the frequency range, and the first, second and third bands form the spectral frequency range.

20. A system comprising:
an acoustic system for producing audio signals;
a detector for detecting sound, at least part of the sound being produced by the audio signals and the sound comprising noise; and
a controller configured to perform operations comprising:
analyzing an effect of noise in interior of a vehicle on sound in the of the vehicle,
accessing a representation of a group of adjustment curves, wherein each adjustment curve in the group corresponds to a different noise spectrum, and has a slope that represents a ratio between magnitudes of (i) noise energy in a low frequency band, and (ii) noise energy in a high frequency band that includes frequencies larger than frequencies in the low frequency band,
selecting an adjustment curve among the group of adjustment curves based on one or more characteristics of the noise, and
determining an amount of adjustment to be made to the audio signals based on the analyzed effect and the selected adjustment curve.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein analyzing the effect of noise on the sound comprises calculating a signal to noise ratio.

22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the one or more characteristics of the noise.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the noise comprise a first level of noise energy in a first frequency band and a second level of noise energy in a second frequency band.

24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the adjustment curve is selected based on a ratio of the first level to the second level.

25. The system of claim 20 , wherein the spatial unit comprises a cabin of a moving vehicle and the noise comprises wind noise.

26. The system of c

Assignees

• Bose Corp

Inventors

• Song Zukui
• Cheung Shiufun
• Dublin Michael S

Classifications

• H04R2430/00

  Signal processing covered by H04R, not provided for in its groups · CPC title

• H03G3/32 Primary

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

• H03G5/165

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

• H04R2430/01

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

• H04R2499/13

  Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles · CPC title