Data-driven software architecture for digital sound processing and equalization

• US 6,804,565 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2001
• Issued: 10/12/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Eid, Bradley F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harvey, Minsun Oh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Grier, Laura A.
• Application Number:
  US09/850,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20020181717A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,254 Days
• Field of Search: 381/86, 381/302, 381/103, 381/310, 381/307, 381/61, 381/119, 381/107, 700/94
• US Class Current: 700/94
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/32 the control being dependent upon ambient noise level or sound level
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/13 Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 3/002 Non-adaptive circuits, e.g. manually adjustable or static, for enhancing the sound image or the spatial distribution control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field H04S7/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 3/02 of the matrix type, i.e. in which input signals are combined algebraically, e.g. after having been phase shifted with respect to each other
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 5/005 of the pseudo five- or more-channel type, e.g. virtual surround
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/00 Indicating arrangements; Control arrangements, e.g. balance control
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/307 Frequency adjustment, e.g. tone control H04S7/301 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/40 Visual indication of stereophonic sound image

Abstract

A digital sound processing design system for a vehicle audio system includes a computer and a design tool that is run by the computer. The design tool allows a user to define sound processing criteria that is stored in a template file. An audio signal processor is connected to the first and second real channel inputs of an audio source. Memory that is coupled to the audio signal processor stores the template file. The sound processing engine that is coupled to the audio signal processor and the memory reads the template file at run-time to obtain the sound processing criteria. The sound processing engine applies the sound processing criteria to the first and second real channel inputs. The design tool allows a user to create virtual channel inputs and outputs that are based, in part, on the first and second real channel inputs.

Claims

1. A digital sound processing design system for a vehicle audio system, comprising:

a computer; and

a design tool run by said computer that allows a user to define sound processing criteria in a matrix for first and second real channel inputs of an audio source, wherein said sound processing criteria also define a virtual input channel and a virtual output channel to be part of said matrix,

said virtual output channel is configurable with said sound processing criteria in said matrix to be partially based on said first and second real input channels,

said virtual output channel is also configurable with said sound processing criteria in said matrix to be defined as said virtual input channel, wherein said virtual input channel is configurable with said sound processing criteria to be an input to said matrix.

2. The digital sound processing design system of claim 1 further comprising:

an audio signal processor that is connected to said first and second real channel inputs.

3. The digital sound processing design system of claim 2 wherein said design tool stores said sound processing criteria in a template file.

4. The digital sound processing design system of claim 3, further comprising:

a sound processing engine that is coupled to said audio signal processor and that reads said template file at run time to obtain said sound processing criteria.

5. The digital sound processing design system of claim 4 further comprising:

memory that is associated with said audio signal processor and said sound processing engine and that stores said template file, wherein said memory is removably connected to said computer to receive said template file.

6. The digital sound processing design system of claim 5 wherein said memory includes flash memory.

7. The digital sound processing design system of claim 1 wherein said sound processing criteria includes a speed/gain function that varies a gain factor of at least one output channel as a function of vehicle speed.

8. The digital sound processing design system of claim 1 wherein said sound processing criteria includes filter profiles that are applied to one of said first and second real channel inputs.

9. The digital sound processing design system of claim 1 wherein said sound processing criteria includes gain settings that are applied to one of said first and second real channel inputs.

10. The digital sound processing design system of claim 1 wherein said sound processing criteria includes vehicle identification number (VIN) selectors.

11. The digital sound processing design system of claim 1 wherein said sound processing criteria includes audio source selectors.

12. The digital sound processing design system of claim 1 further comprising a channel copier for copying filters from a first channel to a second channel.

13. A sound processing design system for configuring sound processing parameters of a vehicle audio system having a processing block that receives a plurality of real input channels and generates a plurality of real output channels in response to the real input channels, the sound processing design system comprising:

a processor; and

a design tool executable by the processor that is configurable to define sound processing criteria for a vehicle audio system, where the design tool comprises;

a virtual output data set that is transmittable to a processing block in the vehicle audio system, where the virtual output data set is configurable to create a virtual output channel in the processing block as a function of specification of a gain of at least one of a plurality of real input channels to the processing block; and

a real output data set that is transmittable to the processing block, where the real output data set is configurable to selectively specify in the processing block a gain of each of the real input channels and a gain of the virtual output channel so that the virtual output channel appears as an input of the processing block and is combinable with the real input channels to form a real output channel of the processing block.

14. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where a plurality of available filters are selectable with the design tool to filter the virtual output channel.

15. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where the design tool is configured to indicate filters designated in one of the real output data set and the virtual output data set to filter one of the real output channel and the virtual output channel, respectively, and where the design tool is further configured to provide for designation of an additional filter that is selectable from a plurality of available filters.

16. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where a plurality of available delay settings to delay one of the virtual output channel and the real output channel are selectable with the design tool.

17. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where the virtual output data set is a first virtual output data set and the design tool further includes a second virtual output data set, where the second virtual output data set is configurable to selectively specify a gain of the virtual output channel and the real input channels to create another virtual output channel.

18. The sound processing design system of claims 13, where the virtual output data set is also configurable to specify a filter and a delay for the virtual output channel.

19. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where the real output data set is also configurable to specify a filter and a delay for the real output channel.

20. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where each of the real input channels include one of a plurality of surround sound decoded elements.

21. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where the real input channels include a right channel and a left channel.

22. The sound processing design system of claim 13, where the real output channel includes a plurality of real output channels and the number of real input channels is equal to the number of real output channels.

23. A sound processing design system for configuring sound processing parameters of a vehicle audio system that receives a real input channel and generates a real output channel in response to the real input channel, the sound processing design system comprising:

a processor;

a memory in communication with the processor; and

a design tool storable in the memory and executable by the processor to configure sound processing criteria for a vehicle audio system, where the design tool includes;

a first set of data inputs configurable to specify a gain setting of a real input channel to form a virtual channel, and

a second set of data inputs that are different from the first set of data inputs, where the second set of data inputs are configurable to specify a gain setting of the real input channel and a gain setting of the virtual channel,

the real input channel and the virtual channel to be combined as a function of the second set of data inputs to form only a real output channel.

24. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool is configured to generate a dataset to modify the gains within a crossbar matrix included in the vehicle audio system, where the dataset is generated as a function of the first and second sets of data inputs.

25. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool is configurable to generate a different dataset for each of a plurality of audio sources selectable in the vehicle audio system.

26. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool is configured to calculate the sound processing criteria as a function of the first and second sets of data inputs, the sound processing criteria storable with the design tool as a template file in the memory.

27. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool is configured to transmit the signal processing criteria to the vehicle audio system to customize signal processing on the real output channel, the signal processing criteria generated as a function of the first and second sets of data inputs.

28. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the real input channel includes at least two real input channels and the real output channel includes at least eight real output channels.

29. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the virtual channel includes a plurality of virtual channels generated as a function of the real input channel.

30. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the real input channel includes a left front channel input, a right front channel input, a left rear channel input and a right rear channel input.

31. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the real input channel is a plurality of real input channels and the second set of data inputs is configurable to combine at least two of the real input channels to create the virtual channel.

32. The sound processing design system of claim 31, where the second set of data inputs is configurable to combine a portion of the frequency range from each of the at least two real input channels so that virtual channel is representative of a summed frequency range of the real input channels.

33. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool further includes a speed gain setting that is configurable to set a gain of the real output channel based on a vehicle speed.

34. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool further includes specification of a dynamic gain setting that is configurable to dynamically set a gain of the real output channel as function of a vehicle input signal.

35. The sound processing design system of claim 34, where polynomial smoothing of the gain setting over a range of the vehicle input signal is configurable with the design tool.

36. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the real output channel includes a first output channel and a second output channel, and where the design tool is configured to enable copying of data entered for the first output channel to create data for the second output channel.

37. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the virtual channel is a plurality of virtual channels and the design tool is configured to enable copying data in the second set of data inputs for a first virtual channel to create data in the second set of data inputs for a second virtual channel.

38. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where each of the first and second sets of data inputs includes specification of a linear gain applied to the real input channel.

39. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where each of the first and second sets of data inputs includes specification of a decibel gain applied to the real input channel.

40. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool is configured to be capable of independently muting each of the real input channel, the virtual channel, and the real output channel without changes to an associated gain setting.

41. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool is configured to specify a delay of the real output channel.

42. The sound processing design system of claim 23, where the design tool is configured to plot characteristics of a filter that is selectable to filter the real output channel.

43. In a sound processing design system having a graphical user interface that includes a display and an input device, a method of configuring sound processing parameters of a vehicle audio system with the display, the method comprising:

retrieving a design tool graphical user interface;

displaying a real output dialog box and a virtual output dialog box in the design tool graphical user interface;

receiving data in the virtual output dialog box that includes a gain setting of a real input channel;

in response to receipt of the data in the virtual output dialog box, defining a virtual channel based at least in part on the gain setting of the real input channel; and

receiving data in the real output dialog box that sets a gain of the virtual channel and a gain of the real input channel to define the proportion of the virtual channel and the real input channel that are to be mixed to produce a summed signal on a real output channel.

44. The method of claim 43, where receiving data includes displaying a mix dialog box in the design tool graphical user interface in response to selection of a gain setting, the mix dialog box configured to receive a gain setting.

45. The method of claim 44, where the mix dialog box is also configured to select between receipt of a decibel and a linear gain setting.

46. The method of claim 43, further comprising creating a template file that includes the data received in the virtual output dialog box and the real output dialog box.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising receiving a transmit request from an input device in one of the virtual output dialog box and the real output dialog box and transmitting the template file for receipt by a vehicle audio system in response to the transmit request.

48. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving a filter command from an input device in the virtual output dialog box for selection of a filter, and in response to the filter command displaying in the design tool graphical user interface a filter setting dialog box indicating filters available to filter the virtual channel.

49. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving a filter command in the real output dialog box for selection of a filter, and in response to the filter command displaying in the design tool graphical user interface a filter setting dialog box indicating filters available to filter the real channel.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising receiving a filter-add command and displaying in the design tool graphical user interface a filter-add dialog box in response to the filter-add command.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of a plurality of filter profiles with the filter-add dialog box;

enabling specification of at least two of a filter order, center frequency, gain, and Q settings for the selected filter; and

enabling the selected filter profile to be at least one of added to an output channel and plotted as a gain response for the output channel.

52. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving a plot command from an input device in one of the virtual output dialog box and the real output dialog box, and in response to the plot command, displaying in the design tool graphical user interface a plot of a response of one of the virtual channel and the real output channel, respectively, as a function of frequency and phase angle.

53. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving a delay command from an input device, and in response to the delay command, displaying in the design tool graphical user interface a delay selection screen that is enabled to receive a delay value.

54. The method of claim 53, where the delay selection screen is enabled to receive the delay value as a number of samples.

55. The method of claim 53, where the delay selection screen is enabled to receive the delay value as a time.

56. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving a request for selection of a speed compensation from an input device, and in response to the speed compensation request, displaying in the design tool graphical user interface a speed compensation screen.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising enabling receipt of a gain of the real output channel and a corresponding vehicle speed in the speed compensation screen.

58. The method of claim 57, where the gain of the real output channel is a plurality of gains and the corresponding vehicle speed is a plurality of corresponding vehicle speeds, further comprising applying polynomial line fitting to smooth a speed-gain function.

59. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving an audio source selection command in the design tool graphical user interface, and in response to the audio source selection command displaying in the design tool graphical user interface an audio source dialog box with a plurality of audio sources selectable to be associated with the received data.

60. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving a copy filters command from an input device in the design tool graphical user interface, and in response to the copy filters command displaying in the design tool graphical user interface a copy filters dialog box enabled to receive a source channel and a destination channel, where the source channel is the source for a filter and the destination channel is the destination for the filter to be copied.

61. A sound processing design system for configuring a vehicle audio system to receive a real input channel and generate a real output channel in response to the real input channel, the sound processing design system comprising:

a memory device;

instructions stored in the memory device to generate a design tool graphical user interface displayable on a display;

instructions stored in the memory device to generate a first output dialog box in the design tool graphical user interface, the first output dialog box configurable with a gain setting of a real input channel to create a virtual channel;

instructions stored in the memory device to generate a second output dialog box in the design tool graphical user interface, the second output dialog box configurable with a gain setting for each of the real input channel and the virtual channel; and

instructions stored in the memory device to configure a template file that defines a real output channel by the summation of the real input channel and the virtual channel as a function of the respective gain settings configurable with the second output dialog box.

62. The sound processing design system of claim 61, further comprising instructions stored in the memory device to store the configuration of the first and second output dialog boxes as coefficients in the template file.

63. The sound processing design system of claim 62, further comprising instructions stored in the memory device to initiate transmission of the template file for receipt by an audio signal processor to configure a crossbar mixer.

64. The sound processing design system of claim 61, further comprising instructions stored in the memory device to enable association of an audio source with the template file.

65. The sound processing design system of claim 61, further comprising instructions stored in the memory device to generate a filter dialog box in the design tool graphical user interface, the filter dialog box configurable to add and delete a filter profile for one of the virtual channel and the real output channel.

66. The sound processing design system of claim 61, further comprising instructions stored in the memory device to generate a speed gain dialog box in the design tool graphical user interface, the speed gain dialog box configurable to set the gain of the real output channel as a function of a vehicle speed.

67. The sound processing design system of claim 61, where the real output channel comprises a plurality of real output channels and the sound processing design system further comprises instructions stored in the memory device to enable copying of settings that define a filter for a first real output channel to settings that define a filter for a second real output channel.

68. The sound processing design system of claim 61, further comprising instructions stored in the memory device to create another virtual channel as a function of the real input channel and the virtual channel.

69. The sound processing design system of claim 61, where the first output dialog box is configured with the capability to receive a gain setting of the real input channel, the capability to configure a filter for the virtual channel, and the capability to initiate configuration of a delay for the virtual channel.

70. The sound processing design system of claim 61, where the second output dialog box is configured with the capability to receive gain settings of the real input channel and the virtual channel, the capability to configure a filter for the real output channel, and the capability to initiate configuration of a delay for the real output channel.