Intelligibility measurement of audio announcement systems
First Claim
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1. A system comprising:
- a plurality of loud speakers that emit intelligibility test signals throughout a region;
a plurality of fixedly mountable microphones that receive audio input corresponding to the intelligibility test signals based upon their respective physical relationship with the members of the plurality of speakers;
circuits coupled to respective microphones including circuitry that automatically detects a received signal at a predetermined time, analyzes the received signal by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with a test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, evaluates intelligibility of audio received by the respective microphones based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received signal is associated with loss of intelligibility and generates an indicator of intelligibility on a per microphone basis, the circuits each include a network output port and which includes a plurality of ambient condition detectors with at least some of microphones carried by respective ones of the detectors.
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Abstract
A measurement system and method combine an audio announcement system with a plurality of spaced apart sensors to evaluate intelligibility of audio output from loudspeakers of the audio announcement system. Processing can take place at some or all of the sensors as well as at a common control element. Evaluations can be based on use of an appropriate speech intelligibility index method.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a plurality of loud speakers that emit intelligibility test signals throughout a region; a plurality of fixedly mountable microphones that receive audio input corresponding to the intelligibility test signals based upon their respective physical relationship with the members of the plurality of speakers; circuits coupled to respective microphones including circuitry that automatically detects a received signal at a predetermined time, analyzes the received signal by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with a test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, evaluates intelligibility of audio received by the respective microphones based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received signal is associated with loss of intelligibility and generates an indicator of intelligibility on a per microphone basis, the circuits each include a network output port and which includes a plurality of ambient condition detectors with at least some of microphones carried by respective ones of the detectors. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A system comprising:
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a plurality of audio output devices that audibly produce speech intelligibility test signals throughout an associated geographic region; a plurality of fixedly mountable microphones, each of the microphones is capable of receiving audio corresponding to the speech intelligibility test signals in the associated geographic region in which that microphone is located based upon the physical relationship of the microphone with respective members of the plurality of audio output devices; circuits coupled to respective microphones including circuitry that automatically detects a received signal at a predetermined time, that analyzes the received signal by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with a test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, that evaluates intelligibility of audio received by the respective microphones based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received signal is associated with loss of intelligibility and that generates an indicator of intelligibility on a per microphone basis, the circuits each include a network output port and circuitry that produces prestored speech intelligibility test signals. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. A system comprising:
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a plurality of loud speakers that emit intelligibility test signals throughout an associated region; a plurality of fixedly mountable microphones, each of the microphones is capable of receiving audio corresponding to the intelligibility test signals in the associated geographic region in which that microphone is located based upon a physical relationship of the microphone with respective loud speakers of the plurality of loud speakers; circuits coupled to respective microphones including circuitry that automatically detects a received signal of the intelligibility test signals at a predetermined time, analyzes the received signal by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with a test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, evaluates intelligibility of audio received by the respective microphones based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received signal is associated with loss of intelligibility and generates an indicator of intelligibility on a per microphone basis, the circuits each include a network output port; and a plurality of distributed detectors of airborne ambient conditions. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A system comprising:
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a plurality of loud speakers that emit intelligibility test signals throughout an associated region; a plurality of fixedly mountable microphones, each of the microphones is capable of receiving audio corresponding to the intelligibility test signals in the associated geographic region in which that microphone is located based upon a physical relationship of the microphone with respective loud speakers of the plurality of loud speakers; circuits coupled to respective microphones including circuitry that automatically detects a received signal of the intelligibility test signals at a predetermined time, analyzes the received signal by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with a test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, evaluates intelligibility of audio received by the respective microphones based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received signal is associated with loss of intelligibility and generates an indicator of intelligibility on a per microphone basis, the circuits each include a network output port and control circuits which include at least one of logic or executable instructions for producing speech intelligibility test signals to be audibly output by at least one audio output device that is separate from the microphones. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A method comprising:
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automatically generating and providing at least one machine generated speech intelligibility test signal via a plurality of loud speakers throughout a region at a predetermined time; automatically sensing the speech intelligibility test signal in a plurality of fixed locations based upon a physical relationship of each of the fixed locations with respective loud speakers of the plurality of loud speakers at the predetermined time; detecting the sensed signal, analyzing the detected signal by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with the test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, and evaluating the intelligibility of the sensed speech intelligibility test signal based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the sensed test signal is associated with loss of intelligibility. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of ambient airborne condition sensors; respective control circuits coupled to each of the sensors; a plurality of loud speakers that emit intelligibility test signals throughout an associated region; and a respective microphone associated with each of the ambient airborne condition sensors that receives signals corresponding to the intelligibility test signal at audible frequencies coupled to the control circuits, where the control circuits automatically detect received signals based upon a physical relationship of the microphone to respective loud speakers of the plurality of loud speakers at a predetermined time, analyze the received signals by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with a test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, and establish an intelligibility index based upon the comparative depth of modulation in response to signals from the microphone where reduction in modulation depth of the received signals is associated with loss of intelligibility. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system comprising:
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control circuits for automatically producing prestored electrical representations of speech intelligibility test signals at a predetermined time; a plurality of audible output devices coupled to the control circuits to audibly emit the speech intelligibility test signals throughout an associated geographic region; a plurality of spaced apart acoustic sensors, each of the acoustic sensors is capable of receiving audio corresponding to the speech intelligibility test signals in the associated geographic region in which that acoustic sensor is located based upon a physical relationship of each of the plurality of spaced apart acoustic sensors to respective audible output devices of the plurality of audio output devices; and circuits coupled to respective acoustic sensors including circuitry that automatically detects the received audio at the predetermined time, analyzes the received audio by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with a test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, evaluates intelligibility of audio audible test signals received by the respective acoustic sensors based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received audio is associated with loss of intelligibility and generates an indicator of intelligibility on a per acoustic sensor basis, wherein the at least one audible output device is separate from the acoustic sensors. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A system comprising:
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control circuits for producing electrical representations of speech intelligibility test signals; a plurality of audible output devices coupled to the control circuits to automatically audibly emit the speech intelligibility test signals throughout a region at a predetermined time; a plurality of spaced apart acoustic sensors, the acoustic sensors receive the speech intelligibility test signals based upon a physical relationship of each of the spaced apart acoustic sensors with respective audible output devices of the plurality of audible output devices; circuits coupled to respective acoustic sensors including circuitry that automatically detects the received signals at the predetermined time, analyze the received signals by comparing a depth of modulation with the test signals in each of a plurality of frequency bands, evaluate intelligibility of audio received by the respective acoustic sensors based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received signals is associated with loss of intelligibility and generate an indicator of intelligibility on a per acoustic sensor basis; and a plurality of smoke detectors, where at least some of the detectors carry respective ones of acoustic sensors.
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31. An apparatus comprising:
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a source of pre-stored intelligibility test signals; a plurality of loud speakers coupled to the source so as to broadcast selected test signals throughout an associated region at a predetermined time; a plurality of microphones which are separate from the plurality of loud speakers and which receive at least some of the broadcast test signals, each of the microphones in the plurality is capable of receiving audio in the associated geographic region in which that microphone is located based upon a physical relationship of each of the plurality of microphones with respective loud speakers of the plurality of loud speakers; and at least one detection circuit coupled to a respective microphone that automatically detects the received signals at the predetermined time, analyzes the received signals by comparing a depth of modulation thereof with the broadcast test signal in each of a plurality of frequency bands, generates a speech intelligibility indicium associated with the respective microphone based upon the comparative depth of modulation where reduction in modulation depth of the received signals is associated with loss of intelligibility and that transmits that indicium via a medium to a displaced site. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification