Processing of Multi-Device Audio Capture

• US 20120310396A1
• Filed: 02/17/2010
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Ojanperä, Juha Petteri
• Granted Patent: US 9,332,346 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/568 audio processing specific to telephonic conferencing, e.g. spatial distribution, mixing of participants echo suppression in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/02; sound field processing per se H04S7/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/406 microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/004 for microphones H04R29/007 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2400/15 Aspects of sound capture and related signal processing for recording or reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/302 Electronic adaptation of stereophonic sound system to listener position or orientation H04S7/301 takes precedence

Abstract

It is inter alia disclosed to select, by a first apparatus (21), one or more recording devices (20) to obtain a set of selected recording devices, or to receive, at the first apparatus (21), information on a set of one or more selected recording devices. The selected recording devices in the set of selected recording devices are selected from a set of recording devices at least based on relevance levels determined for the recording devices of the set of recording devices. A combination of audio signals recorded by the selected recording devices of the set of selected recording devices in an audio scene to obtain one or more combined audio signals for rendering is performed or caused by the first apparatus (21).

Claims

1-67. -67. (canceled)

68. A method comprising:

one of selecting, by a first apparatus, one or more recording devices to obtain a set of selected recording devices and receiving, at said first apparatus, information on a set of one or more selected recording devices, said selected recording devices in said set of selected recording devices selected from a set of recording devices at least based on relevance levels determined for said recording devices of said set of recording devices, and

one of performing, by said first apparatus, and causing, by said first apparatus, a combination of audio signals recorded by said selected recording devices of said set of selected recording devices in an audio scene, to obtain one or more combined audio signals for rendering.

69. The method according to claim 68, wherein said set of recording devices is derived from a plurality of recording devices at least under consideration of a position relationship between a desired listening position in said audio scene and measured/estimated positions of said recording devices.

70. The method according to claim 68, wherein said relevance levels of said recording devices are determined at least based on an analysis of a similarity between representations of audio signals recorded by said recording devices.

71. The method according to claim 68, wherein said relevance levels of said recording devices are related to delays of representations of audio signals recorded by said recording devices with respect to a reference signal.

72. The method according to claim 71, wherein said reference signal is determined from said representations of said audio signals recorded by said recoding devices as that representation that exhibits, among all of said representations, the largest sum of respective extreme values of a similarity analysis function with respect to the other representations.

73. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a second apparatus, one or more combined audio signals obtained from a combination of audio signals recorded by selected recording devices of a set of selected recording devices in an audio scene, said selected recording devices in said set of selected recording devices selected from a set of recording devices at least based on relevance levels determined for said recording devices of said set of recording devices,

providing, before said combination of said audio signals recorded by said selected recording devices in said audio scene is received, to a first apparatus that one of produces and causes said combination of said audio signals recorded by said selected recording devices, one of information on said set of selected recording devices and information allowing said recording devices to be selected by said first apparatus to obtain said set of selected recording devices.

74. The method according to claim 73, wherein said set of recording devices is derived from a plurality of recording devices at least under consideration of a position relationship between a desired listening position in said audio scene and measured/estimated positions of said recording devices.

75. The method according to claim 74, wherein information on said desired listening position is obtained at said second apparatus from one of a user of said second apparatus and an application executed by said second apparatus.

76. The method according to claim 73, wherein said relevance levels are determined at said first apparatus and provided to said second apparatus.

77. The method according to claim 73, wherein said relevance levels of said recording devices are determined at least based on an analysis of a similarity between representations of audio signals recorded by said recording devices.

78. A first apparatus comprising at least one processor;

and at least one memory including computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said first apparatus at least to;

one of select one or more recording devices to obtain a set of selected recording devices and receive information on a set of one or more selected recording devices, said selected recording devices in said set of selected recording devices selected from a set of recording devices at least based on relevance levels determined for said recording devices of said set of recording devices, and

one of perform and cause a combination of audio signals recorded by said selected recording devices of said set of selected recording devices in an audio scene, to obtain one or more combined audio signals for rendering.

79. The first apparatus according to claim 78, wherein said set of recording devices is derived from a plurality of recording devices at least under consideration of a position relationship between a desired listening position in said audio scene and measured/estimated positions of said recording devices.

80. The first apparatus according to claim 78, wherein said relevance levels of said recording devices are determined at least based on an analysis of a similarity between representations of audio signals recorded by said recording devices.

81. The first apparatus according to claim 78, wherein said relevance levels of said recording devices are related to delays of representations of audio signals recorded by said recording devices with respect to a reference signal.

82. The first apparatus according to claim 81, wherein said reference signal is determined from said representations of said audio signals recorded by said recoding devices as that representation that exhibits, among all of said representations, the largest sum of respective extreme values of a similarity analysis function with respect to the other representations.

83. A second apparatus comprising at least one processor;

and at least one memory including computer program code, said at least one memory and said computer program code configured to, with said at least one processor, cause said second apparatus at least to;

receive one or more combined audio signals obtained from a combination of audio signals recorded by selected recording devices of a set of selected recording devices in an audio scene, said selected recording devices in said set of selected recording devices selected from a set of recording devices at least based on relevance levels determined for said recording devices of said set of recording devices, and

provide, before said combination of said audio signals recorded by said selected recording devices in said audio scene is received, to a first apparatus that one of produces and causes said combination of said audio signals recorded by said selected recording devices, one of information on said set of selected recording devices and information allowing said recording devices to be selected by said first apparatus to obtain said set of selected recording devices.

84. The second apparatus according to claim 83, wherein said set of recording devices is derived from a plurality of recording devices at least under consideration of a position relationship between a desired listening position in said audio scene and measured/estimated positions of said recording devices.

85. The second apparatus according to claim 84, wherein information on said desired listening position is obtained at said second apparatus from one of a user of said second apparatus and an application executed by said second apparatus.

86. The second apparatus according to claim 83, wherein said relevance levels are determined at said first apparatus and provided to said second apparatus.

87. The second apparatus according to claim 83, wherein said relevance levels of said recording devices are determined at least based on an analysis of a similarity between representations of audio signals recorded by said recording devices.