METHODS, APPARATUSES AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR FACILITATING DIRECTIONAL AUDIO CAPTURE WITH MULTIPLE MICROPHONES

• US 20160088392A1
• Filed: 12/01/2015
• Published: 03/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Huttunen, Anu Hannele, Makinen, Jorma Juhani
• Granted Patent: US 9,955,263 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/265 of microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/326 for microphones H04R1/34 and H04R1/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/405 Non-uniform arrays of transducers or a plurality of uniform arrays with different transducer spacing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2203/12 Beamforming aspects for stereophonic sound reproduction with loudspeaker arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/03 Synergistic effects of band splitting and sub-band processing
• 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: H04R 5/027 Spatial or constructional arrangements of microphones, e.g. in dummy heads

Abstract

An apparatus for providing directional audio capture may include a processor and memory storing executable computer program code that cause the apparatus to at least perform operations including assigning at least one beam direction, among a plurality of beam directions, in which to direct directionality of an output signal of one or more microphones. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to divide microphone signals of the microphones into selected frequency subbands wherein an analysis performed. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to select at least one set of microphones of the apparatus for selected frequency subbands. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to optimize the assigned at least one beam direction by adjusting a beamformer parameter(s) based on the selected set of microphones and at least one of the selected frequency subbands. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a directional audio capture module; and

a plurality of microphones positioned at predetermined locations of the apparatus;

the directional audio capture module is configured to;

assign at least one beam direction, among a plurality of beam directions, in which to direct directionality of an output signal of one or more of the microphones;

select a first set of microphones comprising at least two microphones, of the plurality of microphones, for a first frequency band;

select a second set of microphones comprising at least two microphones, of the plurality of microphones, for a second frequency band; and

optimize the assigned at least one beam direction by adjusting at least one beamformer parameter based on the selected first and second sets of microphones.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the directional audio capture module is further configured to:

select the first set of microphones and the second set of microphones based in part on a distance between the microphones of the first set and the microphones of the second set.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

at least a subset of the plurality of microphones support one or more of a plurality of applications comprising stereo recording, directional mono recording, surround sound recording, directional stereo recording, telephony processing or speech recognition processing.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the directional audio capture module is further configured to:

select an alternative set of microphones, of the plurality of microphones, to replace at least one of the first set of microphones or the second set of microphones in an instance in which interference is detected affecting the first frequency band or the second frequency band.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the directional audio capture module is further configured to:

detect that at least one of the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises a low frequency band in response to detecting that a respective frequency is below a frequency threshold.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the directional audio capture module is further configured to:

detect that at least one of the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises a high frequency band in response to detecting that a respective frequency is greater than or equal to a frequency threshold.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the first set of microphones or the second set of microphones are utilized for a plurality of frequency bands.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one processor wherein:

the at least one processor or the directional audio capture module is further configured to;

optimize each beam direction, of the plurality of beam directions, and each frequency band, among a plurality of frequency bands, independently.

9. A method comprising:

assigning, via a directional audio capture module of an apparatus, at least one beam direction, among a plurality of beam directions, in which to direct directionality of an output signal of one or more microphones of a plurality of microphones positioned at predetermined locations of the apparatus;

selecting, via the directional audio capture module, a first set of microphones comprising at least two microphones, of the plurality of microphones, for a first frequency band;

selecting, via the directional audio capture module, a second set of microphones comprising at least two microphones, of the plurality of microphones, for a second frequency band; and

optimizing, via the directional audio capture module, the assigned at least one beam direction by adjusting at least one beamformer parameter based on the selected first and second sets of microphones.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

selecting, via the directional audio capture module, the first set of microphones and the second set of microphones based in part on a distance between the microphones of the first set and the microphones of the second set.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

supporting, via at least a subset of the plurality of microphones, one or more of a plurality of applications comprising stereo recording, directional mono recording, surround sound recording, directional stereo recording, telephony processing or speech recognition processing.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

selecting, via the directional audio capture module, an alternative set of microphones, of the plurality of microphones, to replace at least one of the first set of microphones or the second set of microphones in an instance in which interference is detected affecting the first frequency band or the second frequency band.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

detecting, via the directional audio capture module, that at least one of the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises a low frequency band in response to detecting that a respective frequency is below a frequency threshold.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

detecting, via the directional audio capture module, that at least one of the first frequency band or the second frequency band comprises a high frequency band in response to detecting that a respective frequency is greater than or equal to a frequency threshold.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein:

at least one of the first set of microphones or the second set of microphones are utilized for a plurality of frequency bands.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

optimizing, via a processor of the apparatus or the directional audio capture module, each beam direction, of the plurality of beam directions, and each frequency band, among a plurality of frequency bands, independently.

17. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising:

program code instructions configured to assign at least one beam direction, among a plurality of beam directions, in which to direct directionality of an output signal of one or more microphones of a plurality of microphones positioned at predetermined locations of an apparatus;

program code instructions configured to select a first set of microphones comprising at least two microphones, of the plurality of microphones, for a first frequency band;

program code instructions configured to select a second set of microphones comprising at least two microphones, of the plurality of microphones, for a second frequency band; and

program code instructions configured to optimize the assigned at least one beam direction by adjusting at least one beamformer parameter based on the selected first and second sets of microphones.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code instructions configured to select the first set of microphones and the second set of microphones based in part on a distance between the microphones of the first set and the microphones of the second set.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code instructions configured to support, via at least a subset of the plurality of microphones, one or more of a plurality of applications comprising stereo recording, directional mono recording, surround sound recording, directional stereo recording, telephony processing or speech recognition processing.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

program code instructions configured to select an alternative set of microphones, of the plurality of microphones, to replace at least one of the first set of microphones or the second set of microphones in an instance in which interference is detected affecting the first frequency band or the second frequency band.