Spatial selectivity noise reduction tradeoff for multi-microphone systems

• US 8,606,571 B1
• Filed: 07/15/2010
• Issued: 12/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Audience Corporation
• Inventors: Every, Mark, Murgia, Carlo
• Primary Examiner(s): COLUCCI, MICHAEL C
• Application Number:
  US12/837,340
• Time in Patent Office: 1,244 Days
• Field of Search: 704/233, 704/200.1, 704/226, 704/246, 704/500, 375/285, 375/341, 381/111, 381/71.11, 381/71.6, 381/92, 381/94.3, 381/94.7, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 704/233
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02166 Microphone arrays; Beamforming
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0232 Processing in the frequency domain
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 9/082 using echo cancellers echo cancellers per se H04B3/23
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2410/05 Noise reduction with a separate noise microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

The present technology provides noise reduction of an acoustic signal using a configurable classification threshold which provides a sophisticated level of control to balance the tradeoff between positional robustness and noise reduction robustness. The configurable classification threshold corresponds to a configurable spatial region, such that signals arising from sources within the configurable spatial region are preserved, and signals arising from sources outside it are rejected. In embodiments, the configurable classification threshold can be automatically and dynamically adjusted in real-time based on evaluated environmental conditions surrounding an audio device implementing the noise reduction techniques described herein.

Claims

1. A method for controlling adaptivity of noise reduction in an acoustic signal, the method comprising:

receiving a primary acoustic signal at a first microphone and a secondary acoustic signal at a second microphone;

determining a spatial coefficient based on a difference between the primary and secondary acoustic signals, the spatial coefficient indicating a positional orientation of the first and second microphones relative to a speech source; and

reducing an energy level of a noise component in the primary acoustic signal based on the spatial coefficient when the spatial coefficient satisfies a configurable threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech source is a source of speech components in the primary and secondary acoustic signals.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the configurable threshold is based on an estimated signal-to-noise ratio of the primary acoustic signal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the configurable threshold defines a positional range for the first microphone relative to the speech source.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the positional range has a spatial volume proportional to the estimated signal-to-noise ratio of the primary acoustic signal.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the configurable threshold from a plurality of configurable thresholds.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein reducing the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal comprises multiplying the primary acoustic signal by a reduction value based on the spatial coefficient.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein reducing the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal comprises:

suppressing a speech component in the secondary acoustic signal correlated with a speech component in the primary acoustic signal based on the spatial coefficient, thereby forming a noise reference signal; and

reducing the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal based on the noise reference signal.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for controlling adaptivity of noise reduction in an acoustic signal, the method comprising:

receiving a primary acoustic signal at a first microphone and a secondary acoustic signal at a second microphone;

determining a spatial coefficient based on a difference between the primary and secondary acoustic signals, the spatial coefficient indicating a positional orientation of the first and second microphones relative to a speech source; and

reducing an energy level of a noise component in the primary acoustic signal based on the spatial coefficient when the spatial coefficient satisfies a configurable threshold.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the speech source is a source of speech components in the primary and secondary acoustic signals.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the configurable threshold is based on an estimated signal-to-noise ratio of the primary acoustic signal.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the configurable threshold defines a positional range for the first microphone relative to the speech source.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the positional range has a spatial volume proportional to the estimated signal-to-noise ratio of the primary acoustic signal.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising selecting the configurable threshold from a plurality of configurable thresholds.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein reducing the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal comprises multiplying the primary acoustic signal by a reduction value based on the spatial coefficient.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein reducing the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal comprises:

suppressing a speech component in the secondary acoustic signal correlated with a speech component in the primary acoustic signal based on the spatial coefficient, thereby forming a noise reference signal; and

reducing the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal based on the noise reference signal.

17. A system for controlling adaptivity of noise reduction in an acoustic signal, the system comprising:

a first microphone to receive a primary acoustic signal;

a second microphone to receive a secondary acoustic signal; and

a noise reduction module to;

determine a spatial coefficient based on a difference between the primary and secondary acoustic signals, the spatial coefficient indicating a positional orientation of the first and second microphones relative to a speech source; and

reduce an energy level of a noise component in the primary acoustic signal based on the spatial coefficient when the spatial coefficient satisfies a configurable threshold.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the speech source is a source of speech components in the primary and secondary acoustic signals.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the configurable threshold is based on an estimated signal-to-noise ratio of the primary acoustic signal.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the configurable threshold defines a positional range for the first microphone relative to the speech source.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the positional range has a spatial volume proportional to the estimated signal-to-noise ratio of the primary acoustic signal.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the noise reduction module, when executed by a processor, selects the configurable threshold from a plurality of configurable thresholds based on input received via an application program interface for the noise reduction module.

23. The system of claim 17, wherein the noise reduction module, when executed by a processor, multiplies the primary acoustic signal by a reduction value based on the spatial coefficient to reduce the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal.

24. The system of claim 17, wherein the noise reduction module, when executed by a processor, further:

suppresses a speech component in the secondary acoustic signal correlated with a speech component in the primary acoustic signal based on the spatial coefficient, thereby forming a noise reference signal; and

reduces the energy level of the noise component in the primary acoustic signal based on the noise reference signal.