Reduced latency low frequency equalization system

• US 20070019826A1
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Published: 01/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Manrique, Pedro, Horbach, Ulrich, Strauss, Adam
• Granted Patent: US 8,355,510 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/103
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/32 the control being dependent upon ambient noise level or sound level
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 5/005 of digital signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/00 Indicating arrangements; Control arrangements, e.g. balance control

Abstract

A frequency equalization system is provided that substantially equalizes the room frequency responses generated by at least one loudspeaker within a listening area so that the frequency responses in the listening area are substantially constant and flat within a desired frequency range with minimum signal latency. The frequency equalization system may use multiple microphones to measure the audio signals of one or more subwoofers to achieve an improved bass response that is flat across the relevant frequency range. The system employs an algorithm that is a closed-form, non-iterative, mathematical solution and features short computation time with reduced delays.

Claims

1. A method to equalize frequency responses within a frequency range in a listening area, comprising:

measuring frequency responses in the listening area generated by at least one acoustic transducer at an at least one listening point, resulting in a matrix of frequency responses;

inverting the matrix of frequency responses to determine a vector of correction filters for the at least one acoustic transducer;

performing a global magnitude equalization with respect to a target function on a resulting vector of frequency responses that is the result of multiplying the vector of correction filters with the matrix of frequency responses;

performing a global group delay equalization on the resulting vector of frequency responses; and

determining equalization filters in a time domain with an inverse Fourier transform of the resulting vector of frequency responses after performance of the global group delay equalization.

2. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 1, further includes performing an additional global equalization step on the equalization filters.

3. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 1, where performing the global magnitude equalization with respect to the target function further includes limiting the global magnitude equalization to maximum gains associated with the resulting vector of frequency responses.

4. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 3, where limiting the maximum gains occurs by clipping the maximum gains outside of a desired frequency range.

5. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 4 where different values of maximum gains are applied to different frequency bands.

6. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 1, where performing a global group delay equalization further includes, replacing the equalization filters by minimum-phase versions outside of the pass-band region.

7. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 6, includes obtaining the minimum-phase versions occurs with a Hilbert transform.

8. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 6, further includes applying a decreasing Butterworth type group delay response as an equalization allpass filter applied to the resulting vector of frequency responses.

9. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 1, where measuring frequency responses in the listening area is accomplished by at least one microphone.

10. The method to equalize frequency responses of claim 9 includes, placing the at least one microphone in a listening positioning within the listening room.

11. A system of low frequency equalization of an audio signal within a listening area, comprising:

an at least one means for measuring frequency responses in the listening area;

a signal block in receipt of the frequency responses that generates filter coefficients in response to the frequency responses;

a processor that implements at least one filter with the coefficients from the signal block to filter and processes the audio signal, where global equalization of the audio signal occurs in a time domain.

12. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 11, further includes a final equalization spectrum determined by the processor.

13. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 12, further includes a limit on a gain associated with the audio signal received by the measuring means.

14. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 11, where a minimum-phase version of the at least one filter replaces the at least one filter outside a predetermined frequency band.

15. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 11, where a bandpass target filter defines the predetermined frequency band.

16. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 11, where a normalization of the equalization filters group delay responses in the processor results in minimized frequency-dependent, absolute values of a delay in the audio signal such that relative phase relationships are preserved.

17. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 16, where an allpass correction filter with a decreasing Butterworth type group delay response is applied by the processor to the audio signal after the equalization filters are applied.

18. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 11, where the at least one means for measuring is at least one microphone.

19. The system of low frequency equalization of claim 18, where the at least one microphone is located in a listening position within the listening area.

20. A system to equalize frequency responses within a frequency range in a listening area, comprising:

means for measuring frequency responses in the listening area generated by at least one acoustic transducer at an at least one listening point, that results in a matrix of frequency responses;

means for inverting the matrix of frequency responses to determine a vector of correction filters for the at least one acoustic transducer;

means for performing a global magnitude equalization with respect to a target function on the resulting frequency responses that result after multiplying the vector of correction filters with the matrix of frequency responses;

means for performing a global group delay equalization on the resulting frequency responses; and

means to determine equalization filters in the time domain with an inverse Fourier transform of the resulting frequency responses.

21. The system to equalize frequency responses of claim 20, further includes a means for determining a global correction filter response that limits the resulting frequency responses to a maximum gain.

22. The system to equalize frequency responses of claim 21, where means for limiting to the maximum gain occurs by a means for clipping the maximum gain outside of a desired frequency range.

23. The system to equalize frequency responses of claim 22 where different values of maximum gains are applied to different frequency bands.

24. The system to equalize frequency responses of claim 20, where the means for performing the global group delay equalization further includes, means for replacing the equalization filters by a minimum-phase versions outside of the pass-band region.

25. The system to equalize frequency responses of claim 20, includes obtaining the minimum-phase versions with a Hilbert transform.

26. The system to equalize frequency responses of claim 20, further includes means for applying a decreasing Butterworth type group delay response as a global group delay equalization applied to the resulting frequency responses.

27. The system to equalize frequency responses of claim 20, where means for measuring frequency responses in the listening area is accomplished by at least one microphone.