Adjusting the beam pattern of a speaker array based on the location of one or more listeners

• US 10,021,506 B2
• Filed: 03/04/2014
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Johnson, Martin E., Isaac, Ronald N., Family, Afrooz
• Primary Examiner(s): Monikang, George C
• Application Number:
  US14/771,475
• Publication Number:
  US 20160021481A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,589 Days
• Field of Search: 381 92, 381122, 381 77, 381 59, 381 66, 381 63- 64
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/403 loud-speakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/401 2D or 3D arrays of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/403 Linear arrays of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2203/12 Beamforming aspects for stereophonic sound reproduction with loudspeaker arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/04 Circuit arrangements, e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments combinations of amplifiers H03F3/68; stereophonic systems H04S
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2400/01 Multi-channel, i.e. more than two input channels, sound reproduction with two speakers wherein the multi-channel information is substantially preserved
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 3/008 in which the audio signals are in digital form, i.e. employing more than two discrete digital channels data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/303 Tracking of listener position or orientation
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/305 Electronic adaptation of stereophonic audio signals to reverberation of the listening space H04S7/301 takes precedence

Abstract

A directivity adjustment device that maintains a constant direct-to-reverberant ratio based on the detected location of a listener in relation to the speaker array is described. The directivity adjustment device may include a distance estimator, a directivity compensator, and an array processor. The distance estimator detects the distance between the speaker array and the listener. Based on this detected distance, the directivity compensator calculates a directivity index form a beam produced by the speaker array that maintains a predefined direct-to-reverberant sound energy ratio. The array processor receives the calculated directivity index and processes each channel of a piece of sound program content to produce a set of audio signals that drive one or more of the transducers in the speaker array to generate a beam pattern with the calculated directivity index.

Claims

1. A method for driving a speaker array to output audio content to a listener, the method comprising:

detecting a distance of a listener from the speaker array;

computing a beam pattern directivity index for an audio channel based on (1) the detected distance of the listener from the speaker array and (2) a predefined direct-to-reverberant sound ratio;

determining a change in the detected distance of the listener from the speaker array;

responsive to determining the change in the detected distance, computing a new beam pattern directivity index that maintains the predefined direct-to-reverberant sound ratio at the listener; and

playing the audio channel through the speaker array using the computed beam pattern directivity index.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined direct-to-reverberant sound ratio is variable based on the content of the audio channel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein playing the audio channel using the computed beam pattern directivity index comprises:

outputting one or more beam patterns based on the computed beam pattern directivity index.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the beam pattern directivity index indicates the horizontal width of the one or more beam patterns.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the width of the beam patterns increase as the distance between the listener and the speaker array decreases and the width of the beam patterns decrease as the distance between the listener and the speaker array increases.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the distance of the listener from the speaker array is performed by one of (1) a user input device;

(2) a microphone;

(3) an infrared sensor; and

(4) a camera.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting the volume of the audio channel to maintain a constant sound pressure at the listener.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising computing the direct-to-reverberant ratio based on 1/r² as part of direct sound energy and (100π

T₆₀)/(V*DI) as part of reverberant sound energy, wherein

r is the distance between the listener and the speaker array,

T₆₀ is a reverberation time in the room,

V is a volume of the room, and

DI is the beam pattern directivity index.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio is predefined to be the same for at least two different distances of the listener from the speaker array.

10. A directivity adjustment device, comprising:

a distance estimator for detecting a distance between a listener and a speaker array, and then determining a change in the detected distance between the listener and the speaker array;

a directivity compensator for calculating a directivity index for a beam pattern emitted by the speaker array based on the detected distance and based on a direct-to-reverberant sound ratio, and responsive to the determined change in the detected distance computing a new beam pattern directivity index to hold the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio at a constant value; and

an array processor for driving the speaker array to emit a beam pattern with the calculated directivity index for an audio channel.

11. The directivity adjustment device of claim 10, wherein the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio is variable based on the content of the audio channel.

12. The directivity adjustment device of claim 10, wherein the beam pattern directivity index indicates the horizontal width of the beam pattern.

13. The directivity adjustment device of claim 12, wherein the width of the beam pattern increases as the distance between the listener and the speaker array decreases and the width of the beam pattern decreases as the distance between the listener and the speaker array increases.

14. The directivity adjustment device of claim 10 further comprising one of (1) a user input device;

(2) a microphone;

(3) an infrared sensor; and

(4) a camera to assist the distance estimator in detecting the distance between the listener and the speaker array.

15. The directivity adjustment device of claim 10, wherein the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio is predefined to be the same for at least two different distances between the listener and the speaker array.

16. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that stores instructions which, when executed by a processor in a computer, cause the computer to;

determine a location of a listener in relation to a speaker array;

calculate a beam pattern directivity index for an audio channel based on the determined location of the listener in relation to the speaker array and based on a direct-to-reverberant sound ratio wherein the direct-to-reverberant ratio is variable based on content of the audio channel; and

play the audio channel through the speaker array using the calculated beam pattern directivity index.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor

determine a change in the location of the of the listener in relation to the speaker array, and responsive to the determined change in the location of listener compute a new beam pattern directivity index to hold the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio at a constant value.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein the instructions to be executed by the processor to play the audio channel comprises:

instructions to output one or more beam patterns based on the calculated beam pattern directivity index.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein the beam pattern directivity index indicates the horizontal width of the one or more beam patterns.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 19, wherein the width of the beam patterns increase as the distance between the listener and the speaker array decreases and the width of the beam patterns decrease as the distance between the listener and the speaker array increases.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein determining the location of the listener in relation to the speaker array is performed by one of (1) a user input device;

(2) a microphone;

(3) an infrared sensor; and

(4) a camera.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein the direct-to-reverberant sound ratio is predefined to be the same for at least two different locations of the listener in relation to the speaker array.