System and method for characterizing synthesizing and/or canceling out acoustic signals from inanimate sound sources

• US 6,542,857 B1
• Filed: 12/02/1998
• Issued: 04/01/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Inventors: Ng, Lawrence C., Burnett, Greg C., Holzrichter, John F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Broda, Samuel
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAN, THAI Q
• Application Number:
  US09/205,159
• Time in Patent Office: 1,581 Days
• Field of Search: 703/2, 703/5, 704/208, 704/221, 704/228, 704/226, 704/258, 704/243, 704/259, 704/270, 704/262, 381/61, 381/103, 702/104, 846/61
• US Class Current: 703/2
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 1/12 of longitudinal or not specified vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 3/00 Measuring characteristics of vibrations by using a detector in a fluid G01H7/00, G01H9/00, G01H11/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 9/00 Measuring mechanical vibrations or ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves by using radiation-sensitive means, e.g. optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02491 Materials with nonlinear acoustic properties
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02836 Flow rate, liquid level
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02872 Pressure
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/256 of results relating to different input data, e.g. multimodal recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/10 Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/16 Methods or devices for protecting against, or for damping, noise or other acoustic waves in general G10K11/36 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/02 Feature extraction for speech recognition; Selection of recognition unit
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/24 Speech recognition using non-acoustical features
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/00 Speech or audio signals analysis-synthesis techniques for redundancy reduction, e.g. in vocoders; Coding or decoding of speech or audio signals, using source filter models or psychoacoustic analysis in musical instruments G10H
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0272 Voice signal separating

Abstract

A system and method for characterizing, synthesizing, and/or canceling out acoustic signals from inanimate sound sources is disclosed. Propagating wave electromagnetic sensors monitor excitation sources in sound producing systems, such as machines, musical instruments, and various other structures. Acoustical output from these sound producing systems is also monitored. From such information, a transfer function characterizing the sound producing system is generated. From the transfer function, acoustical output from the sound producing system may be synthesized or canceled. The methods disclosed enable accurate calculation of matched transfer functions relating specific excitations to specific acoustical outputs. Knowledge of such signals and functions can be used to effect various sound replication, sound source identification, and sound cancellation applications.

Claims

1. A method for characterizing an inanimate sound source, comprising the steps of:

generating a measured primary excitation function from excitations of the inanimate sound source;

generating a parameterized primary excitation function from the measured excitation function;

subtracting the parameterized primary excitation function from the measured primary excitation function to create an estimated secondary excitation function;

selecting a chaotic excitation function from a set of chaotic excitation functions which best fits the estimated secondary excitation function;

identifying the chaotic excitation function as a parameterized secondary excitation function;

characterizing acoustic emissions from the inanimate sound source; and

generating, from the parameterized primary excitation function, from the parameterized secondary excitation function, and from the acoustic emissions, a function which represents the inanimate sound source.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting a chaotic excitation function comprises the steps of:

deconvolving the estimated secondary excitation function with each of the set of chaotic excitation functions to generate a set of error functions; and

selecting the chaotic excitation function from the set of chaotic excitation functions associated with a smallest error function in the set of error functions.

3. A method for characterizing an inanimate sound source, comprising the steps of:

generating a parameterized primary excitation function from primary excitations of the inanimate sound source;

generating a parameterized secondary excitation function from secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source using a second EM sensor;

generating a parameterized acoustic function from acoustic emissions of the inanimate sound source;

calculating a primary transfer function from the parameterized primary excitation function and the parameterized acoustic function, whereby primary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized;

convolving the parameterized primary excitation function and the primary transfer function to generate an estimated primary acoustic function;

subtracting the estimated primary acoustic function from the parameterized acoustic function to generate an estimated secondary acoustic function; and

calculating a secondary transfer function from the parameterized secondary excitation function and the estimated secondary acoustic function, whereby secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of generating a parameterized secondary excitation function comprises the steps of:

calculating a primary time frame based on the parameterized primary excitation function; and

calculating a secondary time frame based on the primary time frame in preparation for generating the parameterized secondary excitation function.

5. A method for characterizing an inanimate sound source, comprising the steps of:

generating a parameterized primary excitation function from primary excitations of the inanimate sound source;

generating a parameterized acoustic function from acoustic emissions of the inanimate sound source;

calculating a primary transfer function from the parameterized primary excitation function and the parameterized acoustic function, whereby primary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized;

convolving the parameterized primary excitation function and the primary transfer function to generate an estimated primary acoustic function;

subtracting the estimated primary acoustic function from the parameterized acoustic function to generate an estimated secondary acoustic function;

retrieving a pre-selected excitation function; and

calculating a secondary transfer function from the pre-selected excitation function and the estimated secondary acoustic function, whereby secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized.

6. A system for characterizing an inanimate sound source, comprising:

means for generating a measured primary excitation function from excitations of the inanimate sound source;

means for generating a parameterized primary excitation function from the measured excitation function;

means for subtracting the parameterized primary excitation function from the measured primary excitation function to create an estimated secondary excitation function;

means for selecting a chaotic excitation function from a set of chaotic excitation functions which best fits the estimated secondary excitation function;

means for identifying the chaotic excitation function as a parameterized secondary excitation function;

means for characterizing acoustic emissions from the inanimate sound source; and

means for generating, from the parameterized primary excitation function, from the parameterized secondary excitation function, and from the acoustic emissions, a function which represents the inanimate sound source.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the means for selecting a chaotic excitation function comprises:

means for deconvolving the estimated secondary excitation function with each of the set of chaotic excitation functions to generate a set of error functions; and

means for selecting the chaotic excitation function from the set of chaotic excitation functions associated with a smallest error function in the set of error functions.

8. A system for characterizing an inanimate sound source, comprising:

means for generating a parameterized primary excitation function from primary excitations of the inanimate sound source;

means for generating a parameterized secondary excitation function from secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source using a second EM sensor;

means for generating a parameterized acoustic function from acoustic emissions of the inanimate sound source;

means for calculating a primary transfer function from the parameterized primary excitation function and the parameterized acoustic function, whereby primary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized;

means for convolving the parameterized primary excitation function and the primary transfer function to generate an estimated primary acoustic function;

means for subtracting the estimated primary acoustic function from the parameterized acoustic function to generate an estimated secondary acoustic function; and

means for calculating a secondary transfer function from the parameterized secondary excitation function and the estimated secondary acoustic function, whereby secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized.

9. A system for characterizing an inanimate sound source, comprising:

means for generating a parameterized primary excitation function from primary excitations of the inanimate sound source;

means for generating a parameterized acoustic function from acoustic emissions of the inanimate sound source;

means for calculating a primary transfer function from the parameterized primary excitation function and the parameterized acoustic function, whereby primary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized;

means for convolving the parameterized primary excitation function and the primary transfer function to generate an estimated primary acoustic function;

means for subtracting the estimated primary acoustic function from the parameterized acoustic function to generate an estimated secondary acoustic function;

means for retrieving a pre-selected excitation function; and

means for calculating a secondary transfer function from the pre-selected excitation function and the estimated secondary acoustic function, whereby secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized.

10. A computer-usable medium embodying computer program code for causing a computer to characterize an inanimate sound source, by performing the steps of:

generating a measured primary excitation function from excitations of the inanimate sound source;

generating a parameterized primary excitation function from the measured excitation function;

subtracting the parameterized primary excitation function from the measured primary excitation function to create an estimated secondary excitation function;

selecting a chaotic excitation function from a set of chaotic excitation functions which best fits the estimated secondary excitation function;

identifying the chaotic excitation function as a parameterized secondary excitation function;

characterizing acoustic emissions from the inanimate sound source; and

generating, from the parameterized primary excitation function, from the parameterized secondary excitation function, and from the acoustic emissions, a function which represents the inanimate sound source.

11. The computer-usable medium of claim 10 wherein the step of selecting a chaotic excitation function comprises the steps of:

deconvolving the estimated secondary excitation function with each of the set of chaotic excitation functions to generate a set of error functions; and

selecting the chaotic excitation function from the set of chaotic excitation functions associated with a smallest error function in the set of error functions.

12. A computer-usable medium embodying computer program code for causing a computer to characterize an inanimate sound source, by performing the steps of:

generating a parameterized primary excitation function from primary excitations of the inanimate sound source;

generating a parameterized secondary excitation function from secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source using a second EM sensor;

generating a parameterized acoustic function from acoustic emissions of the inanimate sound source;

calculating a primary transfer function from the parameterized primary excitation function and the parameterized acoustic function, whereby primary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized;

convolving the parameterized primary excitation function and the primary transfer function to generate an estimated primary acoustic function;

subtracting the estimated primary acoustic function from the parameterized acoustic function to generate an estimated secondary acoustic function; and

calculating a secondary transfer function from the parameterized secondary excitation function and the estimated secondary acoustic function, whereby secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized.

13. A computer-usable medium embodying computer program code for causing a computer to characterize an inanimate sound source, by performing the steps of:

generating a parameterized primary excitation function from primary excitations of the inanimate sound source;

generating a parameterized acoustic function from acoustic emissions of the inanimate sound source;

calculating a primary transfer function from the parameterized primary excitation function and the parameterized acoustic function, whereby primary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized;

convolving the parameterized primary excitation function and the primary transfer function to generate an estimated primary acoustic function;

subtracting the estimated primary acoustic function from the parameterized acoustic function to generate an estimated secondary acoustic function;

retrieving a pre-selected excitation function; and

calculating a secondary transfer function from the pre-selected excitation function and the estimated secondary acoustic function, whereby secondary excitations of the inanimate sound source are characterized.