Vehicle accessory microphone

• US 8,682,005 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2008
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Inventors: Watson, Alan R., Poe, G. Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao, Lun-See
• Application Number:
  US12/250,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20090097674A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,989 Days
• Field of Search: 381/86, 381/91, 381/92, 381/113, 381/114, 381/111, 381/58, 381/71.4, 381 941- 944, 381/369, 381/355, 704/212, 704/261, 704/267, 704/268, 704/233
• US Class Current: 381/86
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/12 Mirror assemblies combined with other articles, e.g. clocks
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/0247 for microphones or earphones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2001/1284 with communication systems other than radio-receivers, e.g. keyless entry systems, navigation systems; with anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/0005 Dashboard
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2011/0033 Rear-view mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/083 Special constructions of mouthpieces
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/13 Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles

Abstract

A microphone assembly includes one or more transducers (2210) that are positioned in one or more housings. A preprocessing circuit (2215) includes a inverted comb filter (2245) for eliminating predetermined frequencies between harmonics of the human voice in a predetermined frequency range. A processing circuit (2220) coupled to the preprocessing circuit (2215) is used for outputting an electrical signal such that the transducers (2210) used in combination with the processing circuit (2220) very effectively cancels noise. The microphone assembly can be employed in a vehicle accessory such as a vehicular mirror.

Claims

1. A vehicle accessory comprising:

an accessory housing for attaching to a vehicle;

at least one transducer carried by the accessory housing; and

a microphone interface circuit electrically coupled between the transducers and a remote processing circuit located remote from the vehicle accessory where the microphone interface circuit includes an inverted comb filter for eliminating predetermined frequencies between harmonics of the human voice in a predetermined frequency range.

2. The vehicle accessory of claim 1, wherein the accessory housing is a mirror housing.

3. The vehicle accessory of claim 2, the microphone interface circuit further comprising:

a noise level detector for adjusting the amplitude of the signal output by the inverted comb filter.

4. The vehicle accessory of claim 3, wherein the noise level detector samples audio from an analog-to-digital converter that receives audio from the at least one transducer.

5. The vehicle accessory of claim 1, wherein the inverted comb filter utilizes a fast Fourier transform for determining a fundamental audio frequency of audio received at the at least one transducer.

6. The vehicle accessory of claim 5, wherein the fundamental audio frequency is used to generate a plurality of adaptive filter coefficients for determining the predetermined frequencies that are to be eliminated.

7. The vehicle accessory as in claim 1, wherein audio from the inverted comb filter is converted to analog for use by the remote processing circuit.

8. The vehicle accessory of claim 1, wherein a reference line extends between the at least one transducer and the remote processing circuit for providing induced noise used in noise cancellation from the at least one transducer.

9. A vehicle accessory comprising:

an accessory housing for attaching to a vehicle;

a first transducer carried by the accessory housing and generating a first audio signal;

a second transducer carried by the accessory housing and generating a second audio signal; and

a microphone interface circuit electrically coupled between the transducers and a remote processing circuit located remote from the vehicle accessory, the microphone interface circuit including an inverted comb filter for eliminating noise located between harmonics of the human voice in a predetermined frequency range.

10. The vehicle accessory of claim 9, wherein the accessory housing is a mirror housing.

11. The vehicle accessory of claim 10, the microphone interface circuit further comprising:

a noise level detector for adjusting the amplitude of the signal output by the inverted comb filter.

12. The vehicle accessory of claim 11, wherein the noise level detector samples audio from an analog-to-digital converter that receives audio from the first transducer and second transducer.

13. The vehicle accessory of claim 9, wherein the inverted comb filter utilizes a fast Fourier transform for determining a fundamental audio frequency of a user'"'"'s voice.

14. The vehicle accessory of claim 13, wherein the fundamental audio frequency is used to generate a plurality of adaptive filter coefficients for determining the predetermined frequencies that are to be eliminated by the inverted comb filter.

15. The vehicle accessory of claim 9, wherein the remote processing circuit utilizes time of arrival of speech at the first transducer and second transducer for processing at least one lower frequency band and at least one higher frequency band in a different manner.

16. A vehicle accessory comprising:

an accessory housing for attaching to a vehicle;

a first transducer carried by the accessory housing and generating a first audio signal;

a second transducer carried by the accessory housing and generating a second audio signal;

a high frequency boost circuit coupled to the first transducer and second transducer for receiving the first audio signal and second audio signal and for boosting the frequency response at high frequencies to compensate for the effect of noise in the vehicle; and

a microphone interface circuit electrically coupled between the first transducer and second transducer and a remote processing circuit located remote from the vehicle accessory where the microphone interface circuit includes an inverted comb filter for eliminating noise located between harmonics of the human voice in a predetermined frequency range.

17. The vehicle accessory of claim 16, wherein the accessory housing is a vehicular mirror housing.

18. The vehicle accessory of claim 16, the microphone interface circuit further comprising:

a noise level detector for adjusting the amplitude of a signal output by the inverted comb filter.

19. The vehicle accessory of claim 18, wherein the noise level detector samples audio from an analog-to-digital converter that receives audio from the first transducer and second transducer.

20. The vehicle accessory of claim 16, wherein the inverted comb filter utilizes a fast Fourier transform for determining a fundamental audio frequency of the user'"'"'s voice in the frequency domain.

21. The vehicle accessory of claim 20, wherein the fundamental audio frequency is used to generate a plurality of adaptive filter coefficients for determining the predetermined frequencies that are to be eliminated by the inverted comb filter.

22. The vehicle accessory of claim 16, wherein the high frequency boost circuit boosts the frequency response such that a frequency response curve associated with the first transducer and second transducer is not flat and independent of the effect of the vehicle.

23. The vehicle accessory of claim 16, wherein the high frequency boost circuit boosts the frequency response between about 3.5 and 5 KHz.

24. The vehicle accessory of claim 16, wherein a reference line extends between the first transducer, second transducer and the remote processing circuit for providing induced noise used in noise cancellation from the first transducer and second transducer.

25. A vehicle accessory comprising:

an accessory housing for attaching to a vehicle;

a plurality of transducers carried by the accessory housing and generating a plurality of respective audio signals;

a microphone interface circuit electrically coupled between the plurality of transducers and a remote processing circuit located remote from the vehicle accessory, the microphone interface circuit including at least one inverted comb filter for eliminating predetermined frequencies between harmonics of the human voice in a predetermined frequency range; and

a noise level detector for adjusting the amplitude of a signal output of the inverted comb filter.

26. The vehicle accessory of claim 25, wherein the accessory housing is a rearview mirror assembly housing.

27. The vehicle accessory of claim 25, wherein the at least one inverted comb filter utilizes a fast Fourier transform for determining a fundamental audio frequency of a user'"'"'s voice in the frequency domain.

28. The vehicle accessory of claim 27, wherein the fundamental audio frequency is used to generate a plurality of adaptive filter coefficients for determining the predetermined frequencies that are to be eliminated by the inverted comb filter.

29. The vehicle accessory of claim 25, wherein the microphone interface circuit further comprises:

a digital-to-analog converter for converting audio adjusted in amplitude from the at least one inverted comb filter into an analog signal for use by the remote processing circuit.

30. The vehicle accessory of claim 25, wherein a reference line extends between the first transducer, second transducer and the remote processing circuit for providing induced noise used in noise cancellation from the first transducer and second transducer.

31. The vehicle accessory of claim 25, wherein the remote processing circuit utilizes time of arrival of speech at the plurality of transducers for processing at least one lower frequency band and at least one higher frequency band in a different manner.