METHOD, USER TERMINAL, AND AUDIO SYSTEM, FOR SPEAKER LOCATION DETECTION AND LEVEL CONTROL USING MAGNETIC FIELD

• US 20160007118A1
• Filed: 07/01/2015
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: LEE, Byeong-hu, PARK, Yong-hee, OH, Hun-sok
• Granted Patent: US 9,906,864 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/02 Measuring direction or magnitude of magnetic fields or magnetic flux G01R33/20 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/024 Positioning of loudspeaker enclosures for spatial sound reproduction
• 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 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/40 Visual indication of stereophonic sound image

Abstract

Provided is a control method of a user terminal apparatus and device, for speaker location detection and level control using a magnetic field. The method includes receiving reference magnetic field information generated by at least one speaker, in response to a magnetic field being generated based on the reference magnetic field information by the at least one speaker, detecting the magnetic field generated by the at least one speaker, acquiring location information of the at least one speaker using the detected magnetic field information and the reference magnetic field information, and transmitting the location information of each of the at least one speaker to a source apparatus.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a user terminal apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving reference magnetic field information generated by at least one speaker;

detecting a magnetic field generated by the at least one speaker, the magnetic field being generated based on the reference magnetic field information of the at least one speaker; and

acquiring location information of each of the at least one speaker using information of the detected magnetic field and the reference magnetic field information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring location information comprises detecting a direction of a magnetic field with a largest scale, to acquire direction information of the speaker using a three-axis magnetic field detection sensor, and finding distance information of the speaker, using the detected magnetic field information and the reference magnetic field information.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the location information of each of the at least one speaker to a source apparatus,

wherein the receiving comprises receiving the reference magnetic field information generated by the at least one speaker from the source apparatus, in response to the user terminal apparatus being connected to the source apparatus for controlling the at least one speaker.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the location information of each of the at least one speaker to a source apparatus,

wherein the receiving comprises receiving the reference magnetic field information generated by the at least one speaker from the at least one speaker in response to the user terminal apparatus being connected directly to the at least one speaker.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the source apparatus maps audio channels of the at least one speaker based on the location information of each of the at least one speaker and controls output levels of the at least one speaker in response to the location information of each of the at least one speaker being received from the user terminal apparatus.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the source apparatus displays a user interface (UI) for setting location information of a speaker, and

in response to the location information of each of the at least one speaker being received from the user terminal apparatus, the source apparatus displays a message indicating that at least one received location information is acquired, in the UI.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference magnetic field information comprises correlation between a magnetic field scale and a distance from the speaker.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference magnetic field information comprises a mathematical function correlating a magnetic field scale and a distance from the speaker.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting the location information of the speaker to a source apparatus.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the reference magnetic field information is sent to a device from the speaker.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the reference magnetic field information is sent to a device from the source apparatus.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the location information comprises a direction of the generated magnetic field and a distance from the speaker.

7. A user terminal apparatus comprising:

a communicator configured to communicate with an external device;

a magnetic field detector configured to detect a magnetic field generated by a speaker; and

a controller configured to acquire reference magnetic field information generated by at least one speaker through the communicator and to acquire location information of each of the at least one speaker using the magnetic field information detected through the magnetic field detector and the reference magnetic field information.

8. The user terminal apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller is further configured to detect a direction of a magnetic field with a largest scale to acquire direction information of a speaker using the magnetic field detector comprising a three-axis magnetic field detection sensor and acquires distance information of the speaker using the detected magnetic field information and the reference magnetic field information.

9. The user terminal apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller is further configured to control the communicator to transmit the location information of each of the at least one speaker to a source apparatus and to control the communicator to receive the reference magnetic field information generated by the at least one speaker from the at least one speaker in response to the user terminal apparatus being connected directly to the at least one speaker through the communicator.

10. The user terminal apparatus of claim 7, wherein:

the controller is further configured to control the communicator to transmit the location information of each of the at least one speaker to a source apparatus, and

the source apparatus maps audio channels of the at least one speaker based on the location information of each of the at least one speaker and controls output levels of the at least one speaker in response to the location information of each of the at least one speaker being received from the user terminal apparatus.

11. The user terminal apparatus of claim 7, wherein a source apparatus displays a user interface (UI) for setting location information of a speaker, and

in response to the location information of each of the at least one speaker being received from the user terminal apparatus, the source apparatus displays a message indicating that at least one received location information is acquired, in the UI.

12. An audio system for use with a user terminal apparatus, the audio system comprising:

at least one speaker; and

a source apparatus configured to transmit reference magnetic field information generated by the at least one speaker to the user terminal apparatus, in response to the user terminal apparatus being connected to the source apparatus for controlling the at least one speaker,

wherein the source apparatus is configured to transmit a control command for generation of a magnetic field based on the reference magnetic field information to the at least one speaker,

wherein the at least one speaker is configured to generate a magnetic field based on reference magnetic field information in response to the control command, and

wherein the user terminal apparatus is configured to detect the magnetic field generated by the at least one speaker, acquire location information of each of the at least one speaker using the detected magnetic field information and the reference magnetic field information, transmit the location information of each of the at least one speaker to the source apparatus, and process audio data based on the location information of each of the at least one speaker and transmitting the audio data to the at least one speaker.

13. The audio system of claim 12, wherein the source apparatus maps audio channels of the at least one speaker based on the location information of each of the at least one speaker and controls output levels of the at least one speaker in response to the location information of each of the at least one speaker being received from the user terminal apparatus.

14. The audio system of claim 12, wherein:

the source apparatus displays a user interface (UI) for setting location information of a speaker, and

in response to the location information of each of the at least one speaker being received from the user terminal apparatus, the source apparatus displays a message indicating that at least one received location information is acquired, in the UI.

17. A method of locating a speaker in an audio system, the method comprising:

receiving reference magnetic field information of the speaker, the reference magnetic field information comprising correlation between a magnetic field scale and a distance from the speaker;

detecting a magnetic field generated by the speaker; and

acquiring location information of the speaker by using information of the detected magnetic field and the reference magnetic field information.