Orientation-responsive acoustic array control

• US 9,049,518 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2014
• Issued: 06/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Inventors: Freeman, Eric J., Joyce, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Goins, Davetta W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ojo, Oyesola C
• Application Number:
  US14/221,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20140205133A1
• Time in Patent Office: 438 Days
• Field of Search: 381/17, 381/352, 381/120, 381/386, 381/305, 381/300
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/02 Casings; Cabinets ; Supports therefor; Mountings therein H04R1/28 takes precedence ; attachments for microphones H04R1/08; mounting of transducers in earpieces H04R1/1075
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/24 Structural combinations of separate transducers or of two parts of the same transducer and responsive respectively to two or more frequency ranges
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2807 Enclosures comprising vibrating or resonating arrangements for the reduction of undesired resonances or vibrations H04R1/2869
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/2811 for loudspeaker transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/34 by using a single transducer with sound reflecting, diffracting, directing or guiding means specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/402
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/025 Transducer mountings or cabinet supports enabling variable orientation of transducer of cabinet
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2203/12 Beamforming aspects for stereophonic sound reproduction with loudspeaker arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/022 Plurality of transducers corresponding to a plurality of sound channels in each earpiece of headphones or in a single enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/024 Positioning of loudspeaker enclosures for spatial sound reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/25 Array processing for suppression of unwanted side-lobes in directivity characteristics, e.g. a blocking matrix
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/13 Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/15 Transducers incorporated in visual displaying devices, e.g. televisions, computer displays, laptops
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/005 Microphone arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/14 Cross-over networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/02 Spatial or constructional arrangements of loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/04 Circuit arrangements, e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments combinations of amplifiers H03F3/68; stereophonic systems H04S
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 3/008 in which the audio signals are in digital form, i.e. employing more than two discrete digital channels data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/307 : Frequency adjustment, e.g. tone control H04S7/301 takes precedence

Abstract

An audio device includes a casing configured for operation in a first orientation and a second orientation different from the first orientation, an orientation input device disposed on the casing to detect an orientation of the casing relative to the direction of the force of gravity, and a plurality of acoustic drivers disposed on the casing and operable to form a plurality of acoustic interference arrays, each of which is associated with one of a plurality of audio channels. The acoustic drivers of the audio device operate in a first frequency range and modify at least one of the acoustic interference arrays in response to a change in the orientation detected by the orientation input device.

Claims

1. An audio device comprising:

a casing comprising an array of at least three acoustic drivers, each driver operating in a first frequency range and located along an elongate axis of the casing, the array configured to form a plurality of acoustic interference arrays operating over the first frequency range, each acoustic interference array being associated with one of a plurality of audio channels, the casing positionable between a first orientation and a second orientation different from the first orientation;

an orientation input device to detect the orientation of the casing relative to the direction of the force of gravity;

and a controller that alters a radiation pattern of at least one of the plurality of acoustic interference arrays based on the orientation of the casing detected by the input device by selecting a first plurality of coefficients to configure a plurality of filters in response to determining that the casing is in the first orientation, and selecting a second plurality of coefficients to configure the plurality of filters in response to determining that the casing is in the second orientation,

the audio device further comprising a first infrared sensor and a second infrared sensor;

wherein;

in response to the audio device being positioned in the first orientation, the first sensor is enabled so that it is configured to receive infrared signals from an external control device, and the second sensor is disabled; and

in response to the audio device being positioned in the second orientation, the second sensor is enabled so that it is configured to receive infrared signals from the external control device, and the first sensor is disabled.

2. The audio device of claim 1, wherein the array of acoustic drivers is disposed along the elongate axis of the casing and form a laterally extending row.

3. The audio device of claim 1, wherein:

the audio device is a portion of an audio system comprising the audio device and a subwoofer comprising a separate casing; and

the audio device and the subwoofer cooperate to acoustically output audio received from another device;

wherein the subwoofer acoustically outputs a portion of the received audio comprising sounds in a second frequency range lower than the first frequency range.

4. The audio device of claim 3, wherein the audio device comprises a wireless transmitter to provide the subwoofer with at least sounds in the second frequency range.

5. The audio device of claim 1, wherein the orientation input device comprises a gravity detector comprising an accelerometer.

6. The audio device of claim 1, further comprising a first visual indicator and a second visual indicator, the first visual indicator configured to be viewable to a listener when the audio device is positioned in the first orientation, the second visual indicator configured to be viewable to a listener when the audio device is positioned in the second orientation.

7. The audio device of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of digital-to-analog converters accessible by the controller;

a plurality of audio amplifiers, of which each audio amplifier is coupled to an output of one of the digital-to-analog converters, and of which each audio amplifier is coupled to one of the acoustic drivers;

wherein each filter of the plurality of filters is accessible by the controller and an output of each filter of the plurality of filters is provided as an input to one of the digital-to-analog converters;

a storage accessible by the controller in which is stored a control routine comprising a sequence of instructions that when executed by the controller processing device, causes the controller to;

monitor the orientation input device to determine the orientation of the casing;

provide the first plurality of coefficients to the plurality of filters in response to determining that the casing is in the first orientation,

and provide the second plurality of coefficients to the plurality of filters in response to determining that the casing is in the second orientation.

8. The audio device of claim 7, wherein the controller is further caused by execution of the sequence of instructions to instantiate each filter of the plurality of filters.

9. The audio device of claim 7, wherein:

the first and second pluralities of coefficients are stored within the storage; and

the controller is further caused by the execution of the sequence of instructions to retrieve one or the other of the first and second pluralities of coefficients in response to determining the orientation of the casing to be in one of the first and second orientations.

10. An audio device comprising:

an elongate casing operating in a first orientation and a second orientation different from the first orientation;

an orientation input device disposed on the casing to detect an orientation of the casing relative to the direction of the force of gravity;

and a plurality of acoustic drivers disposed on the casing and operable to form a plurality of acoustic interference arrays, each acoustic interference array being associated with one of a plurality of audio channels,

the acoustic drivers operate in a first frequency range and modify at least one of the acoustic interference arrays in response to a change in the orientation detected by the orientation input device, wherein;

the audio device is a portion of an audio system comprising the audio device and a subwoofer comprising a separate casing; and

the audio device and the subwoofer cooperate to acoustically output audio received from another device,

wherein the subwoofer acoustically outputs a portion of the received audio comprising sounds in a second frequency range lower than the first frequency range;

the audio device further comprising a first infrared sensor and a second infrared sensor;

wherein;

in response to the audio device being positioned in the first orientation, the first sensor is enabled so that it is configured to receive infrared signals from an external control device, and the second sensor is disabled; and

in response to the audio device being positioned in the second orientation, the second sensor is enabled so that it is configured to receive infrared signals from the external control device, and the first sensor is disabled.

11. The audio device of claim 10, wherein the plurality of acoustic drivers are disposed on the casing and form a laterally extending row.

12. The audio device of claim 10 wherein the audio device comprises a wireless transmitter to provide the subwoofer with at least sounds in the second frequency range.

13. The audio device of claim 10, wherein the orientation input device comprises a gravity detector comprising an accelerometer.

14. The audio device of claim 10, wherein the casing comprises a mounting surface, the mounting surface configured to be substantially horizontal when the casing is positioned in the first orientation and configured to be substantially vertical when the casing is positioned in the second orientation.

15. The audio device of claim 10, wherein the first sensor is configured to receive infrared signals from the external control device when the orientation input device detects the casing of the audio device in the first orientation, and the second sensor is configured to receive infrared signals from the external control device when the orientation input device detects the casing of the audio device in the second orientation.

16. The audio device of claim 10, further comprising a first visual indicator and a second visual indicator, the first visual indicator configured to be viewable to a listener when the audio device is positioned in the first orientation, the second visual indicator configured to be viewable to a listener when the audio device is positioned in the second orientation.

17. An audio device comprising:

a casing capable of operating in a first orientation and a second orientation different from the first orientation;

an orientation input device to detect an orientation of the casing relative to the direction of the force of gravity;

a plurality of acoustic drivers, each driver operating in a first frequency range;

a controller comprising a plurality of filters having associated filter coefficients;

wherein the plurality of acoustic drivers and the plurality of filters cooperate to form a plurality of acoustic interference arrays, each acoustic interference array being associated with one of a plurality of audio channels;

wherein the controller changes at least one filter coefficient to change the plurality of interference arrays in response to the orientation of the casing detected by the orientation input device;

the audio device further comprising;

a subwoofer separate from the casing, the audio device and the subwoofer cooperate to acoustically output audio received from another device;

wherein the subwoofer acoustically outputs a portion of the received audio comprising sounds in a second frequency range lower than the first frequency range; and

a wireless transmitter to provide the subwoofer with at least sounds in the second frequency range.

18. The audio device of claim 17, wherein the plurality of acoustic drivers are disposed along an elongate axis of the casing and form a laterally extending row.

19. The audio device of claim 17, further comprising a first infrared sensor and a second infrared sensor, wherein:

in response to the audio device being positioned in the first orientation, the first sensor is enabled so that it is configured to receive infrared signals from an external control device, and the second sensor is disabled; and

in response to the audio device being positioned in the second orientation, the second sensor is enabled so that it is configured to receive infrared signals from the external control device, and the first sensor is disabled.

20. The audio device of claim 19, wherein the first sensor is configured to receive infrared signals from the external control device when the orientation input device detects the casing of the audio device in the first orientation, and the second sensor is configured to receive infrared signals from the external control device when the orientation input device detects the casing of the audio device in the second orientation.

21. The audio device of claim 17, further comprising a first visual indicator and a second visual indicator, the first visual indicator configured to be viewable to a listener when the audio device is positioned in the first orientation, the second visual indicator configured to be viewable to a listener when the audio device is positioned in the second orientation.

22. An audio system comprising:

a casing comprising an array of at least three acoustic drivers located along an elongate axis of the casing, each driver operating in a first frequency range,

wherein the casing comprises an elongate shape extending along the axis, and the array of acoustic drivers are disposed on the casing and form a laterally extending row;

the array configured to acoustically output audio in a first frequency range and form a plurality of acoustic interference arrays, each acoustic interference array being associated with one of a plurality of audio channels;

an orientation input device to detect the orientation of the casing relative to the direction of the force of gravity;

a controller that alters the radiation pattern of at least one of the plurality of acoustic interference arrays based on the orientation of the casing detected by the input device;

the audio device further comprising;

a subwoofer separate from the casing, the subwoofer comprising at least one acoustic driver to acoustically output audio in a second frequency range lower the first frequency range; and

a wireless transmitter to provide the subwoofer with audio signals to be acoustically outputted in the second frequency range.

23. The audio device of claim 22, wherein the input device comprises a gravity detector comprising an accelerometer.