Three-dimensional position calibration of audio sensors and actuators on a distributed computing platform

• US 20040225470A1
• Filed: 05/09/2003
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marvell Asia Pte Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kozintsev, Igor, Raykar, Vikas C., Lienhart, Rainer
• Granted Patent: US 7,035,757 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/150
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/18 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves

Abstract

A first computing device transmitting a wireless signal to a second and third computing devices, the signal requesting an actuator of the second computing device generate an acoustic signal to be received by a sensor of the third computing device, wherein the actuator and sensor are unsynchronized. The first computing device computes, based on an time estimate for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor of the third computing device, a physical location of the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the third computing device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

an actuator of a first computing device generating an acoustic signal;

a sensor of a second computing device receiving the acoustic signal;

generating an estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator to the sensor, wherein the sensor and actuator are unsynchronized; and

a third computing device computing, based on the time estimate, a physical location of at least one of a set including the sensor of the second computing device and the actuator of the first computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

a sensor of a fourth computing device receiving the acoustic signal; and

generating a second estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator to the sensor of the fourth computing device, wherein the actuator of the first computing device and the sensor of the fourth computing device are unsynchronized; and

the third computing device computing, based on the second estimate of time, a physical location of at least one of a set including the sensor of the fourth computing device and the actuator of the first computing device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further includes:

an actuator of the second computing device generating a second acoustic signal;

a sensor of a first computing device receiving the acoustic signal;

generating a third estimate of a time for the second acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor of the first computing device; and

the third computing device computing, based on the third estimate of time, a physical location of at least one of a set including the sensor of the first computing device and the actuator of the second computing device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the actuator is a speaker.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the sensor is a microphone.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the acoustic signals generated by the first and second computing devices are selected from a group comprising of maximum length sequence signal and a chirp signal.

7. The method of claim 1, further including:

estimating an emission start time of when the acoustic signal was emitted from the actuator.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the estimating of the emission start time includes the first computing device using a loopback device to estimate the emission start time;

and

using the emission start time to determine the estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the first computing device to the sensor second computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes prior to the third computing device computing the physical locations, computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the sensor of the second computer and actuator of the first computer via a video modality.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes prior to the third computing device computing the physical locations of the sensor of the second computer, computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the sensor of the second computer and actuator of the first computer via multidimensional scaling.

11. A method comprising:

a first computing device transmitting a wireless signal to a second and third computing devices, the signal requesting an actuator of the second computing device generate an acoustic signal to be received by a sensor of the third computing device, wherein the actuator and sensor are unsynchronized; and

the first computing device computing, based on a time estimate for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor of the third computing device, a physical location of at least one of a set including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the third computing device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further includes:

the first computing device transmitting the wireless signal to the second and a fourth computing devices, the signal requesting the actuator of the second computing device generate the acoustic signal to be received by a sensor of the fourth computing device, wherein the actuator and the sensor of the fourth computing device are unsynchronized; and

the first computing device computing, based on an time estimate for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor of the fourth computing device, a physical location of at least one of a set including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the fourth computing device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further includes:

the first computing device transmitting a second wireless signal to the second and third computing devices, the signal requesting an actuator of the third computing device generate an acoustic signal to be received by a sensor of the second computing device, wherein the actuator of the third computing device and a sensor of the second computing device are unsynchronized; and

the first computing device computing, based on an time estimate for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the third computing device to the sensor of the second computing device, a physical location of at least one of a set including the actuator of the third computing device and the sensor of the second computing device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the actuator is a speaker.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the sensor is a microphone.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the acoustic signals to be generated by the second and third computing devices are selected from a group comprising of maximum length sequence signal, and a chirp signal.

17. The method of claim 11, further including:

estimating an emission start time of when the acoustic signal was emitted from the actuator of the second computing device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein estimating the emission start time includes the second computing device using a loopback device to estimate the emission start time;

using emission start time to determine the estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor third computing device.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further includes:

prior to the first computer determining a physical location of at least one of the group including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the third computer, the first computer computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the actuator of the second computer and the sensor of the third computing device via video modality.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further includes:

prior to the first computer determining a physical location of at least one of the group including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the third computer, the first computer computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the actuator of the second computer and the sensor of the third computing device via video modality.

21. A machine readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which when executed, cause the machine to perform a method comprising of:

an actuator of a first computing device generating an acoustic signal;

a sensor of a second computing device receiving the acoustic signal;

generating an estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator to the sensor, wherein the sensor and actuator are unsynchronized; and

a third computing device computing, based on the time estimate, a physical location of at least one of a set including the sensor of the second computing device and the actuator of the first computing devices.

22. The machine readable medium of claim 21, wherein the method further includes:

a sensor of a fourth computing device receiving the acoustic signal; and

generating a second estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator to the sensor of the fourth computing device, wherein the actuator of the first computing device and the sensor of the fourth computing device are unsynchronized; and

the third computing device computing, based on the second estimate of time, a physical location of at least one of a set including the sensor of the fourth computing device and the actuator of the first computing device.

23. The machine readable medium of claim 22, wherein the method further includes:

an actuator of the second computing device generating a second acoustic signal;

a sensor of a first computing device receiving the acoustic signal;

generating a third estimate of a time for the second acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor of the first computing device; and

the third computing device computing, based on the third estimate of time, a physical location of at least one of a set including the sensor of the first computing device and the actuator of the second computing device.

24. The machine readable medium of claim 23, wherein the actuator is a speaker.

25. The machine readable medium of claim 24, wherein the sensor is a microphone.

26. The machine readable medium of claim 25, wherein the acoustic signals generated by the first and second computing devices are selected from a group comprising of maximum length sequence signal and a chirp signal.

27. The machine readable medium of claim 21, further including:

estimating an emission start time of when the acoustic signal was emitted from the actuator.

28. The machine readable medium of claim 27, wherein the estimating of the emission start time includes the first computing device using a loopback device to estimate the emission start time;

and

using the emission start time to determine the estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the first computing device to the sensor second computing device.

29. The machine readable medium of claim 21, wherein the method further includes:

prior to the third computing device computing the physical locations, computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the sensor of the second computer and actuator of the first computer via a video modality.

30. The machine readable medium of claim 21, wherein the method further includes:

prior to the third computing device computing the physical locations, computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the sensor of the second computer and actuator of the first computer via multidimensional scaling.

31. A machine readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which when executed, cause the machine to perform a method comprising of:

a first computing device transmitting a wireless signal to a second and third computing devices, the signal requesting an actuator of the second computing device generate an acoustic signal to be received by a sensor of the third computing device, wherein the actuator and sensor are unsynchronized; and

the first computing device computing, based on a time estimate for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor of the third computing device, a physical location of at least one of a set including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the third computing device.

32. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the method further includes:

the first computing device transmitting the wireless signal to the second and a fourth computing devices, the signal requesting the actuator of the second computing device generate the acoustic signal to be received by a sensor of the fourth computing device, wherein the actuator and the sensor of the fourth computing device are unsynchronized; and

the first computing device computing, based on an time estimate for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor of the fourth computing device, a physical location of at least one of a set including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the fourth computing device.

33. The machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the method further includes:

the first computing device transmitting a second wireless signal to the second and third computing devices, the signal requesting an actuator of the third computing device generate an acoustic signal to be received by a sensor of the second computing device, wherein the actuator of the third computing device and a sensor of the second computing device are unsynchronized; and

the first computing device computing, based on an time estimate for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the third computing device to the sensor of the second computing device, a physical location of at least one of a set including the actuator of the third computing device and the sensor of the second computing device.

34. The machine readable medium of claim 33, wherein the actuator is a speaker.

35. The machine readable medium of claim 34, wherein the sensor is a microphone.

36. The machine readable medium of claim 35, wherein the acoustic signals to be generated by the second and third computing devices are selected from a group comprising of maximum length sequence signal, and a chirp signal.

37. The machine readable medium of claim 31, further including:

estimating an emission start time of when the acoustic signal was emitted from the actuator of the second computing device.

38. The machine readable medium of claim 37, wherein estimating the emission start time includes the second computing device using a loopback device to compute the emission start time;

using emission start time to determine the estimate of a time for the acoustic signal to travel from the actuator of the second computing device to the sensor third computing device.

39. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the method further includes:

prior to the first computer determining a physical location of at least one of the group including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the third computer, the first computer computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the actuator of the second computer and the sensor of the third computing device via video modality.

40. The machine readable medium of claim 31, wherein the method further includes:

prior to the first computer determining a physical location of at least one of the group including the actuator of the second computing device and the sensor of the third computer, the first computer computing an initial estimation of the physical location of the actuator of the second computer and the sensor of the third computing device via video modality.