Sound event detector system

• US 7,499,553 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2004
• Issued: 03/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2002
• 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: Griesinger, David H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin; Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): SUTHERS, DOUGLAS JOHN
• Application Number:
  US10/810,989
• Publication Number:
  US 20040179697A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,803 Days
• Field of Search: 381/58, 381/59, 381/56, 381/92, 381 19- 23, 381 17- 18, 348 1401- 1416
• US Class Current: 381/56
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/8083 determining direction of source
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 1/001 Acoustic presence detection

Abstract

The beginning detection, accommodation and frequency bias properties of the human hearing mechanism have been modeled to create systems that can detect directional transients (“sound events”) in a sound field and localize them. These systems break down a sound field into sound events and non-sound events and separately localize the sound events and non-sound events. Sound events are generally identified according to the frequency bias and beginning detection properties. Once detected, the sound events are generally localized according to differential steering angles (steering angles to which the steady-state signals have been accommodated) or ordinary steering angles, both of which reflect the direction of a sound event indicated during the rise-time of the sound event. When no sound events are detected, non-sound events are localized according to a steering angle that does not reflect rapid motion.

Claims

1. A method for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one channel pair comprising a pair of audio channels or a plurality of channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio channels, comprising:

detecting one or more sound events in the sound;

analyzing at least one aspect of power in one or more channel pairs to determine a comparative indicator of the power of the sound in the one or more channel pairs, when any of the one or more sound events are detected;

determining a number of instances in which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result;

determining whether the number of instances exceeds a predetermined value; and

determining that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of channel pairs, if the number of instances exceeds the value.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the sound is intended for production in the one channel pair, if the number of instances does not exceed the value.

3. The method of claim 1, where detecting the one or more sound events in the sound includes detecting the one or more sound events in an input channel pair.

4. The method of claim 3, where the input channel pair is a center-surround input channel pair.

5. The method of claim 1, where the predetermined result is a rear direction.

6. The method of claim 1, where the predetermined value is about 2 to about 3.

7. The method of claim 1, where the predetermined result is between about zero degrees and about −

22.5 degrees.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a duration of the one or more sound events.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining whether the duration of the one or more sound events exceed about a predetermined duration.

10. The method of claim 9, where the one or more sound events include a sound event type and the predetermined duration is that of the detected sound event type.

11. The method of claim 9, where the predetermined duration is about 50 ms.

12. The method of claim 9, where the predetermined duration is about 200 ms to about 300 ms.

13. The method of claim 9, where determining the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes determining the comparative indicator of the power of the sound when the duration of the one or more sound events exceed about the predetermined duration.

14. The method of claim 9, where determining the number of instances includes determining the number of instances in which the power of the sound for the one or more sound events that exceed about the predetermined duration, exceeds the value.

15. The method of claim 1, where detecting the one or more sound events includes detecting the one or more sound events in a time period.

16. The method of claim 15, where the time period is about 10 seconds to about 15 seconds.

36. The method of claim 1, where analyzing at least one aspect of power comprises comparing the at least one aspect of the power in one audio channel with the at least one aspect of the power in another audio channel.

37. The method of claim 1, where power in the one audio channel comprises squaring a voltage signal in the one audio channel;

where power in the another audio channel comprises squaring a voltage signal in the another audio channel; and

where comparing the at least one aspect of the power in one audio channel with the at least one aspect of the power in another audio channel comprises comparing the squared voltage signal in the one audio channel with the squared voltage signal in the another audio channel.

17. A method for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one channel pair comprising a pair of audio channels or a plurality of channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio channels, comprising:

detecting a plurality of sound event types in the sound;

analyzing at least one aspect of power in one or more channel pairs to determine a comparative indicator of the power of the sound in the one or more channel pairs, when any of the plurality of sound event types is detected;

determining a number of instances in which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result;

determining whether the number of instances exceeds a predetermined value; and

determining that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of channel pairs, if the number of instances exceeds the predetermined value.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining that the sound is intended for production in one channel pair, if the number of instances does not exceed a value.

19. The method of claim 17, where the one of the plurality of sound event types that is detected defines a detected sound event type and the method further comprises determining the duration of the detected sound event.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising determining whether the duration of the detected sound event type exceeds about a predetermined duration.

21. The method of claim 20, where the predetermined duration is that of the detected sound event type.

22. The method of claim 20, where determining the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes determining the comparative indicator of the power of the sound when the duration of the detected sound event type exceeds about the predetermined duration.

23. The method of claim 17, where detecting the plurality of sound event types includes detecting the plurality of sound event types in a time period.

24. A computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a method for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one input channel pair comprising a pair of audio input channels or a plurality of input channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio input channels, comprising the steps of:

detecting one or more sound events in the sound;

analyzing at least one aspect of power in one or more channel pairs to determine a comparative indicator of the power of the sound in the one or more channel pairs, when any of the one or more sound events are detected;

determining a number of instances in which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result;

determining whether the number of instances exceeds a predetermined value; and

determining that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of input channel pairs, if the number of instances exceeds the predetermined value.

25. A computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a method for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one input channel pair comprising a pair of audio input channels or a plurality of input channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio input channels, comprising the steps of:

detecting a plurality of sound event types in the sound;

analyzing at least one aspect of power in one or more channel pairs to determine a comparative indicator of the power of the sound in the one or more channel pairs, when any of the plurality of sound event types is detected;

determining a number of instances in which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result;

determining whether the number of instances exceeds a value; and

determining that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of channel pairs, if the number of instances exceeds the predetermined value.

26. An apparatus for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one channel pair comprising a pair of audio channels or a plurality of channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio channels, comprising:

a sound event detector in communication with the sound and producing a first signal indicating when a sound event is detected;

a sound event localizer in communication with the sound event detector, where when the first signal indicates that the sound event is detected, the sound event localizer produces a second signal indicating a comparative indicator of a power of the sound, the comparative indicator of the power of the sound being based on analyzing at least one aspect of the power in one or more channel pairs;

a detector in communication with the sound event detector and producing a third signal indicating whether the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result; and

a counter in communication with the detector and producing a fourth signal indicating whether a number of instances for which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound that includes the predetermined result exceeds a predetermined value, and if the number of instances exceeds the predetermined value, the counter produces the fourth signal indicating that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of channel pairs.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising, if the number of instances does not exceed the value, the counter produces the fourth signal indicating that the sound is intended for production in the one channel pair.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, where the sound event detector is in communication with a center-surround input channel pair.

29. An apparatus for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one channel pair comprising a pair of audio channels or a plurality of channel pairs, each comprising audio channels, comprising:

a sound event detector in communication with the sound and producing a first signal indicating when any of a plurality of sound events is detected;

a sound event localizer in communication with the sound event detector and when the first signal indicates that one of the plurality of sound events is detected, the sound event localizer produces a second signal indicating a comparative indicator of a power of the sound, the comparative indicator of the power of the sound being based on analyzing at least one aspect of the power in one or more channel pairs;

a detector in communication with the sound event detector and producing a third signal indicating whether the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result; and

a counter in communication with the detector, where the counter produces a fourth signal indicating whether a number of instances of the comparative indicator of the power of the sound that includes the predetermined result exceeds a value, where if the number of instances exceeds the predetermined value, the counter produces the fourth signal indicating that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of channel pairs.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising, if the number of instances does not exceed the value, the counter produces the fourth signal indicating that the sound is intended for production in the one channel pair.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, where the sound event detector is in communication with a center-surround input channel pair.

32. An apparatus for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one input channel pair comprising a pair of audio input channels or a plurality of input channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio input channels, comprising:

means for detecting one or more sound events in the sound;

means for determining a comparative indicator of the power of the sound in communication with the means for detecting, and analyzing at least one aspect of power in one or more channel pairs to determine a comparison of the power of the sound when the means for detecting indicates that the sound event is detected;

means for determining a number of instances in communication with the means for determining a direction, where the means for determining the number of instances determines the number of instances in which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result; and

means for determining whether the number of instances exceeds a predetermined value in communication with the means for determining the number of instances.

33. A computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for implementing an apparatus for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one channel pair comprising a pair of audio channels or a plurality of channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio channels, the apparatus comprising:

a sound event detector in communication with one of the plurality of input channel pairs and producing a first signal indicating when a sound event is detected;

a sound event localizer in communication with the sound event detector, where when the first signal indicates that the sound event is detect of a power of the sound, the comparative indicator of the power of the sound being based on analyzing at least one aspect of the power in one or more channel pairs;

a detector in communication with the sound event detector and producing a third signal indicating whether the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result; and

a counter in communication with the detector and producing a fourth signal indicating whether a number of instances for which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound that includes the predetermined result exceeds a predetermined value, and if the number of instances exceeds the predetermined value, the counter produces the fourth signal indicating that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of channel pairs.

34. A computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for implementing an apparatus for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one channel pair comprising a pair of audio channels or a plurality of channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio channels, the apparatus comprising:

a sound event detector in communication with the sound and producing a first signal indicating when any of a plurality of sound events is detected;

a sound event localizer in communication with the sound event detector and when the first signal indicates that one of the plurality of sound events is detected, the sound event localizer produces a second signal indicating a comparative indicator of a power of the sound, the comparative indicator of the power of the sound being based on analyzing at least one aspect of the power in one or more channel pairs;

a detector in communication with the sound event detector and producing a third signal indicating whether the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result; and

a counter in communication with the detector and producing a fourth signal indicating whether a number of instances of the comparative indicator of the power of the sound that includes the predetermined result exceeds a predetermined value, where if the number of instances exceeds the predetermined value, the counter produces the fourth signal indicating that the sound is intended for production in the plurality of channel pairs.

35. A computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions for implementing an apparatus for determining whether a sound is intended for production in one channel pair comprising a pair of audio channels or a plurality of channel pairs, each comprising a pair of audio channels, the apparatus comprising:

means for detecting one or more sound events in the sound;

means for determining a comparative indicator of the power of the sound in communication with the means for detecting, and analyzing at least one aspect of power in one or more channel pairs to determine a comparison of the power of the sound when the means for detecting indicates that any of the one or more sound events are detected;

means for determining a number of instances in communication with the means for determining a direction, where the means for determining a number of instances determines the number of instances in which the comparative indicator of the power of the sound includes a predetermined result; and

means for determining whether the number of instances exceeds a predetermined value in communication with the means for determining the number of instances.