H04R29/00

Smart audio system capable of determining speaker type and position
11582555 · 2023-02-14 · ·

There is provided a smart audio system including multiple audio devices and a central server. The central server confirms a model of every audio device and a position thereof in an operation area in a scan mode. The central server confirms a user position or a user state to accordingly control output power of a speaker of each of the multiple audio devices in an operation mode.

Acoustic monitoring using a sound masking emitter as a sensor

Example embodiments may include one or more of receiving an electrical sound emission signal from a sound controller, interrupting reception of the electrical sound emission signal, by a sound emission interruption circuit connected to a sound emitter, and receiving an electrical ambient sound signal via a sound detection circuit, based on ambient sound sensed by the sound emitter when the reception of the electrical sound emission signal is interrupted by the sound emission interruption circuit.

Echo based room estimation
11579275 · 2023-02-14 · ·

A method for estimating an acoustic influence of walls of a room, comprising emitting a known excitation sound signal, receiving a set of measurement signals, each measurement signal being received by one microphone in a microphone array and each measurement signal including a set of echoes caused by reflections by the walls, solving a linear system of equations to identify locations of image source and estimating the acoustic influence based these image sources. The signal model includes a convolution of: the excitation signal, a multichannel filter (M) representing the relative delays of the microphones in the microphone array, the relative delays determined based on a known geometry of the microphone array, and a directivity model ν(n, p) of the driver(s) in the form of an anechoic far-field impulse response as a function of transmit angle.

Fitting agent and method of determining hearing device parameters
11582569 · 2023-02-14 · ·

A fitting agent for a hearing device and related method is disclosed, wherein the fitting agent is configured to initialize a user model comprising a user preference function; obtain a primary test setting for the hearing device; obtain a secondary test setting for the hearing device; present the primary test setting and the secondary test setting to a user; detect a user input of a preferred test setting indicative of a preference for either the primary test setting or the secondary test setting; and update the user model based on hearing device parameters of the preferred test setting, wherein to obtain the secondary test setting comprises: obtain a candidate set of candidate test settings; determine an uncertainty parameter for each candidate test setting; and select the secondary test setting from the candidate set of candidate test settings based on the uncertainty parameters of the candidate test settings.

MATCHED AND EQUALIZED MICROPHONE OUTPUT OF AUTOMOTIVE MICROPHONE SYSTEMS

A vehicle microphone system may include at least two microphones forming a microphone array, at least one loudspeaker configured to emit audio signals. a processor coupled to a memory and programmed to receive incoming audio signals from the microphone array, determine at least one parameter for each channel of the microphone array, determine at least one filter to apply to at least one channel based on a difference between the parameters of each channel, and store the at least one filter in the memory.

Apparatus and method for estimation of eardrum sound pressure based on secondary path measurement
11558703 · 2023-01-17 · ·

Secondary path measurements and associated acoustic transducer-to-eardrum responses are obtained from test subjects. Both a least squares estimate and a reduced dimensionality estimate are determined that both estimate a relative transfer function between the secondary path measurements and the associated acoustic transducer-to-eardrum responses. An individual secondary path measurement for a user is performed based on a test signal transmitted via a hearing device into an ear canal of the user. An individual cutoff frequency for the individual secondary path measurement is determined. First and second acoustic transducer-to-eardrum responses below and above the cutoff frequency are determined using the individual secondary path measurement and the least squares estimate. A sound pressure level at an eardrum of the user can be predicted using the first and second receiver-to-eardrum responses.

Apparatus and method for estimation of eardrum sound pressure based on secondary path measurement
11558703 · 2023-01-17 · ·

Secondary path measurements and associated acoustic transducer-to-eardrum responses are obtained from test subjects. Both a least squares estimate and a reduced dimensionality estimate are determined that both estimate a relative transfer function between the secondary path measurements and the associated acoustic transducer-to-eardrum responses. An individual secondary path measurement for a user is performed based on a test signal transmitted via a hearing device into an ear canal of the user. An individual cutoff frequency for the individual secondary path measurement is determined. First and second acoustic transducer-to-eardrum responses below and above the cutoff frequency are determined using the individual secondary path measurement and the least squares estimate. A sound pressure level at an eardrum of the user can be predicted using the first and second receiver-to-eardrum responses.

Activity detection
11558706 · 2023-01-17 · ·

This application relates an activity detector (100) for detecting signal activity in an input audio signal (S.sub.IN), such as may be used for always-on speech detection. The activity detector has a first time-encoding modulator (TEM) 101 including a first hysteretic comparator (201) for generating a PWM (pulse-width modulation) signal based on the input audio signal. A second TEM (103) having a second hysteretic comparator (401) is arranged to receive a reference voltage (V.sub.MID) and generate a clock signal (S.sub.CLK). A time-decoding converter (102) receives the clock signal and generates count values of a number of cycles of the clock signal in periods defined by the PWM signal. An activity monitor (104) is responsive to a count signal (S.sub.CT) from the TDC 102 to determine whether the input audio signal comprises signal activity above a defined threshold.

System and method for a digital calibration filter device

In accordance with an embodiment, a system includes a digital calibration filter device configured to receive a digital input signal based on a sensor output signal from a sensor, receive a sensor-specific control signal, and perform digital filter processing of the digital input signal to produce a calibrated output signal, wherein the digital filter processing is based on the sensor-specific control signal; and a control device configured to select the sensor-specific control signal from a plurality of sensor-specific control signals based on an ascertained influencing parameter, and provide the sensor-specific control signal to the digital calibration filter device.

Media content based on playback zone awareness
11556998 · 2023-01-17 · ·

Systems and methods are provided for providing media content based on playback zone awareness. In one aspect, a computing system receives, via a network interface, zone data from the media playback system, wherein the zone data includes an indication of a particular zone of the media playback system, and wherein the particular zone comprises at least one playback device. The computing system identifies audio content based on (i) the indication of the particular zone and (ii) contextual data associated with the particular zone, and provides, via the network interface, an indication of the identified audio content to the media playback system.