Acoustic Transducer Array Signal Processing

• US 20080031474A1
• Filed: 08/04/2006
• Published: 02/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Inventors: Freeman, Eric J., Stark, Michael W., Berardi, William
• Granted Patent: US 7,995,778 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/99
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/341 Circuits therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/403 loud-speakers
• 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

Abstract

A set of filters is configured to distribute input signals representing a single perceptual axis to first and second physically separate arrays of loudspeakers comprising at least first and second transducers, such that the arrays of loudspeakers will create an array pattern corresponding to the input signals when the input signals are between a first frequency and a second frequency.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

first and second arrays of transducers; and

filters to operate on an input signal to provide output signals and cross-feed signals to the transducers of the first and second arrays so that

(a) a plurality of transducers of the first array produce destructive interference in a first frequency range;

(b) the transducers of the first array do not produce destructive interference in a second frequency range; and

(c) a first transducer of the first array and a first transducer of the second array produce destructive interference in the second frequency range.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the first frequency range comprises a range of frequencies for which the corresponding wavelengths are greater than twice a spacing between the transducers in the first array.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which the range of frequencies is also one for which the corresponding wavelengths are less than twice a spacing between the first and second array.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the second frequency range comprises a range of frequencies for which the corresponding wavelengths are greater than twice a spacing between the first and second array.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the first frequency range comprises frequencies between about 1 kHz and about 3 kHz.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the second frequency range comprises frequencies below about 1 kHz.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 in which in which the first frequency range comprises frequencies between an upper frequency and a lower frequency and the filters comprise:

in series, an inverting low-pass filter having a corner frequency at the upper frequency and a high-pass filter having a corner frequency at the lower frequency, providing output signals to the first transducer of the first array; and

an all-pass filter phase-matched to the high-pass filter and providing output signals to the second transducer of the first array.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the filters are configured to delay the output signal to the first transducer of the first array relative to the output signal to the second transducer of the first array.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the filters attenuate the cross-feed signals to the transducers of the second array when the input signal is in the first frequency range.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 in which the first frequency range comprises frequencies between an upper frequency and a lower frequency and the filters comprise:

a low-pass filter having a corner frequency at the lower frequency and providing cross-feed signals to the second array; and

an all-pass filter phase-matched to the low-pass filter and providing output signals to the first array.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the second frequency range comprises frequencies below a first upper frequency and the filters comprise:

in inverting low-pass filter having a corner frequency at the upper frequency and providing cross-feed signals to the second array; and

an all-pass filter phase-matched to the inverting low-pass filter and providing output signals to the first array.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 in which

the filters attenuate the output signals to a second transducer of the first array when the input signal is in the second frequency range.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 in which the second frequency range comprises frequencies below a first upper frequency and the filter comprise:

a first high-pass filter having a corner frequency at the first upper frequency and providing output signals to the second transducer of the fist array;

a first all-pass filter phase-matched to the high-pass filter and providing output signals to the first transducer of the first array; and

a second all-pass filter phase-matched to the first all-pass filter and providing cross-feed signals to the first transducer of the second array.

14. The apparatus of claim 16 in which the filters also comprise:

a second high-pass filter having a corner frequency at the first upper frequency, providing cross-feed signals to a second transducer of the second array, and phase matched to the second all-pass filter.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 in which

the filters provide output signals and cross-feed signals to the second transducer of the first and second array in a third frequency range comprising frequencies below a second upper frequency that is lower than the first upper frequency.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 in which the filters comprise:

first and second low-pass filters having corner frequencies at the second upper frequency and providing output signals and cross-feed signals to the second transducer of each of the first and second arrays, respectively; and

first and second all-pass filters phase matched to the first and second low-pass filters, respectively, and to each other, and providing output signals and cross-feed signals to the first transducer of each of the first and second arrays, respectively.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the filters also provide the output signals and cross-feed signals to the transducers of the first and second arrays so that

(d) no destructive interference is produced in a third frequency range.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 in which the third frequency range comprises a range of frequencies for which the corresponding wavelengths are less than twice a spacing between the transducers in the first array.

19. The apparat us of claim 17 in which the third frequency range comprises frequencies above about 3 kHz.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 in which the third frequency range comprises frequencies above a lower frequency, and the filters are configured to cause the first transducer of the first array to be to be active, and to attenuate the output signals to the second transducer of the first array when an input signal is above the lower frequency.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 in which the filters comprise

a low-pass filter having a corner frequency at the lower frequency and providing output signals to the second transducer of the first array.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 in which the filters are also configured to attenuate the cross-feed signals to the transducers of the second array when the input signal is in the third frequency range.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 in which the filters comprise:

a first low-pass filter having a corner frequency at the lower frequency and providing output signals to the second transducer of the first array;

a second low-pass filter having a corner frequency at or lower than the lower frequency and providing cross-feed signals to the second array; and

an all-pass filter phase-matched to the second low-pass filter and providing output signals to the first array.

24. The apparatus of claim 17 in which the filters comprise

a first all-pass filter providing output signals to a first summing input of the first array,

a second all-pass filter providing output signals to an input to the first transducer of the first array,

a first low-pass filter and a first high-pass filter in series and providing outputs signals to a first summing input to the second transducer of the first array,

a second low-pass filter providing output signals to a second summing input to the second transducer of the first array,

a third low-pass filter providing cross-feed signals to a first summing input of the second array,

a third all-pass filter providing cross-feed signals to an input to the first transducer of the second array,

a fourth low-pass filter and a second high-pass filter in series and providing cross-feed signals to a first summing input to the second transducer of the second array, and

a fifth low-pass filter providing cross-feed signals to a second summing input to the second transducer of the second array.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 in which

the second and fifth low-pass filter have corner frequencies at a lower frequency;

the third low-pass filter and the first and second high-pass filters have corner frequencies at an intermediate frequency; and

the first and fourth low-pass filter have corner frequencies at an upper frequency.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 in which the filters also comprise

a sixth low-pass filter providing a cross-feed signal to a second summing input of the first array;

a fourth all-pass filter providing an output signal to a second summing input of the second array;

and in which a first signal input is coupled to the first all-pass filter and the third low-pass filter, and

a second signal input is coupled to the fourth all-pass filter and the sixth low-pass filter.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 in which the first input signal is a left-channel input and the second input signal is a right-channel input.

28. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the filters also provide the output signals and cross-feed signals to the transducers of the first and second arrays to that

(d) the transducers of the first array do not produce destructive interference in a an additional frequency range;

and

(e) a plurality of transducers of the first array and a plurality of transducer of the second array produce destructive interference in the additional frequency range.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 in which the additional frequency range comprises frequencies below about 550 Hz.

30. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the filters also operate on a second input signal to provide output signals and cross-feed signals to the transducers of the second and first arrays so that

(d) a plurality of transducers of the second array produce destructive interference in the first frequency range;

(c) the transducers of the second array do not produce destructive interference in the second frequency range; and

in (c), the first transducer of the first array and the first transducer of the second array produce destructive interference based on both the first input signal and the second input signal in the second frequency range.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 in which the first input signal is a left-side signal and the second input signal is a right-side signal.

32. A method comprising

filtering input signals and distributing the filtered signals as output signals and cross-feed signals to first and second physically separate arrays of transducers to drive transducers of the first and second arrays so that

(a) transducers of the first array produce destructive interference in a first frequency range;

(b) transducers of the first array do not produce destructive interference in a second frequency range; and

(c) a first transducer of the first array and a first transducer of the second array produce destructive interference in the second frequency range.

33. The method of claim 32 in which the first frequency range comprises a range of frequencies for which the corresponding wavelengths are greater than twice a spacing between the transducers in the first array.

34. The method of claim 33 in which the range of frequencies is also one for which the corresponding wavelengths are less than twice a spacing between the first and second array.

35. The method of claim 32 in which the second frequency range comprises a range of frequencies for which the corresponding wavelengths are greater than twice a spacing between the first and second array.

36. The method of claim 32 in which the first frequency range comprises frequencies between about 1 kHz and about 3 kHz.

37. The method of claim 32 in which the second frequency range comprises frequencies below about 1 kHz.

38. The method of claim 32 in which the output signals and cross-feed signals also drive transducers of the first and second array so that

(d) no destructive interference is produced in a third frequency range.

39. The method of claim 38 in which the third frequency range comprises a range of frequencies for which the corresponding wavelengths are less than twice a spacing between the transducers in the first array.

40. The method of claim 38 in which the third frequency range comprises frequencies above about 3 kHz.

41. The method of claim 32 in which the output signals and cross-feed signals also drive transducers of the first and second array so that

(d) transducers of the first array do not produce destructive interference in a an additional frequency range;

and

(e) transducers of the first array and transducers of the second array produce destructive interference in the additional frequency range.

42. The method of claim 41 in which the additional frequency range comprises frequencies below about 550 Hz.

43. An apparatus comprising:

first and second arrays of transducers; and

filters to operate on an input signal to provide output signals and cross-feed signals to drive transducers of the first and second arrays so that

(a) transducers of the first array produce substantially different degrees of destructive interference in respectively first and second frequency ranges; and

(b) a transducer of the first array and a transducer of the second array produce destructive interference in the second frequency range;

in which first signals driving the first array and second signals driving the second array are not identical.

44. An apparatus comprising:

filters to operate on an input signal to provide output signals and cross-feed signals to drive transducers of first and second arrays to that

(a) a plurality of transducers of the first array produce destructive interference in a first frequency range;

(b) the transducers of the first array do not produce destructive interference in a second frequency range; and

(c) a transducer of the first array and a transducer of the second array produce destructive interference in the second frequency range.