Leakage-modeling adaptive noise canceling for earspeakers

• US 9,142,205 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cirrus Logic Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cirrus Logic Incorporated
• Inventors: Alderson, Jeffrey, Hendrix, Jon D.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, THANG V
• Application Number:
  US13/692,367
• Publication Number:
  US 20130287218A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,023 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/002 Devices for damping, suppressing, obstructing or conducting sound in acoustic devices G10K1/06 - G10K1/10 take precedence; for electro-mechanical transducers for communication H04R3/002
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17819 between the output signals and the reference signals, e.g. to prevent howling
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17823 Reference signals, e.g. ambient acoustic environment
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/1783 handling or detecting of non-standard events or conditions, e.g. changing operating modes under specific operating conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17833 by using a self-diagnostic function or a malfunction prevention function, e.g. detecting abnormal output levels
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17854 the filter being an adaptive filter
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17881 the reference signal being an acoustic signal, e.g. recorded with a microphone
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17885 additionally using a desired external signal, e.g. pass-through audio such as music or speech
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/1081 Earphones, e.g. for telephones, ear protectors or headsets
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/505 Echo cancellation, e.g. multipath-, ghost- or reverberation-cancellation
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/506 Feedback, e.g. howling

Abstract

A personal audio device, such as a headphone, includes an adaptive noise canceling (ANC) circuit that adaptively generates an anti-noise signal from a reference microphone signal that measures the ambient audio, and the anti-noise signal is combined with source audio to provide an output for a speaker. The anti-noise signal causes cancellation of ambient audio sounds that appear at the reference microphone. A processing circuit uses the reference microphone to generate the anti-noise signal, which can be generated by an adaptive filter. The processing circuit also models an acoustic leakage path from the transducer to the reference microphone and removes elements of the source audio appearing at the reference microphone signal due to the acoustic output of the speaker. Another adaptive filter can be used to model the acoustic leakage path.

Claims

1. An integrated circuit for implementing at least a portion of a personal audio device, comprising:

an output for providing an output signal to an output transducer including an anti-noise signal for countering the effects of ambient audio sounds in an acoustic output of the output transducer and source audio for playback to a listener;

a reference microphone input for receiving a reference microphone signal indicative of the ambient audio sounds;

an error microphone input for receiving an error microphone signal indicative of the acoustic output of the output transducer and the ambient audio sounds at the output transducer; and

a processing circuit that adaptively generates the anti-noise signal from a corrected reference microphone signal and in conformity with the error microphone signal such that the anti-noise signal causes substantial cancellation of the ambient audio sounds, wherein the processing circuit combines the anti-noise signal with a source audio signal to generate the output signal, wherein the processing circuit further models an acoustic leakage path from the output transducer to the reference microphone with an adaptive filter that filters the source audio signal to generate filtered source audio and removes the filtered source audio from the reference microphone signal to generate the corrected reference microphone signal.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit models the acoustic leakage path by providing source audio of a predetermined characteristic as the audio signal reproduced by the output transducer and measuring a resulting response in the reference microphone signal.

3. The personal audio device of claim 2, wherein the source audio of predetermined characteristic is a noise burst.

4. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit comprises an adaptive filter having a response that shapes the anti-noise signal to reduce the presence of the ambient audio sounds heard by the listener and another leakage path adaptive filter that models the acoustic leakage path dynamically.

5. The integrated circuit of claim 4, wherein the processing circuit comprises a secondary path adaptive filter having a secondary path response that shapes the source audio and a combiner that, in a normal operating mode, removes the source audio from the error microphone signal to provide the error signal, wherein the processing circuit generates the anti-noise signal in conformity with the error signal, wherein, in a calibration mode, the processing circuit models the acoustic leakage path by removing the source audio from the reference microphone signal to provide the error signal, wherein also in the calibration mode, the processing circuit generates the anti-noise signal from the error microphone signal, and wherein coefficients of the secondary path adaptive filter are captured during the calibration mode to provide coefficients of the leakage path adaptive filter that are subsequently applied in the normal operating mode.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 4, wherein adaptation of the leakage path adaptive filter is performed continuously except when a ratio of an amplitude of the source audio to an amplitude of the ambient audio sounds is less than a predetermined threshold.

7. The integrated circuit of claim 4, wherein the processing circuit determines that modeling of the acoustic leakage path is ineffective and, responsive to determining that the modeling of the acoustic leakage path is ineffective and determining that an amplitude of the source audio is greater than a threshold, halts adaptation of the adaptive filter that generates the anti-noise signal.

8. The integrated circuit of claim 4, wherein the processing circuit provides the source audio to a filter input of the leakage path adaptive filter.

9. The integrated circuit of claim 4, wherein the source audio includes sidetone information generated from a near speech microphone.

10. The integrated circuit of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit provides the sidetone information combined with the source audio to a filter input of the leakage path adaptive filter.

11. A method of countering effects of ambient audio sounds by a personal audio device, the method comprising:

first measuring ambient audio sounds with a reference microphone to produce a reference microphone signal;

second measuring an output of the transducer and the ambient audio sounds at the transducer with an error microphone;

adaptively generating an anti-noise signal from a corrected reference microphone signal in conformity with a result of the second measuring for countering the effects of ambient audio sounds in an acoustic output of a transducer;

providing the anti-noise signal to the transducer;

combining the anti-noise signal with a source audio signal to generate the output signal;

modeling an acoustic leakage path from the output transducer to the reference microphone with an adaptive filter that filters the source audio signal to generate filtered source audio; and

removing the filtered source audio from the reference microphone signal to generate the corrected reference microphone signal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the modeling of the acoustic leakage path comprises:

providing source audio of predetermined characteristic as a portion of an audio signal reproduced by the output transducer; and

measuring a resulting response to the providing in the reference microphone signal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the source audio of predetermined characteristic is a noise burst.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

shaping the anti-noise with an adaptive filter to reduce the presence of the ambient audio sounds heard by the listener; and

modeling the acoustic leakage path dynamically with a leakage path adaptive filter.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

in a normal operating mode, removing the source audio from the error microphone signal to generate the error signal and modeling the acoustic leakage path by removing the source audio from the reference microphone signal to provide an error signal, wherein the adaptively generating generates the anti-noise signal in conformity with the error signal;

in a calibration mode, removing the source audio from the reference microphone signal, generating the anti-noise signal from the error microphone signal, and capturing coefficients of the secondary path adaptive filter to provide coefficients of the leakage path adaptive filter; and

in the normal operating mode, subsequently applying the captured coefficients in the modeling of the acoustic leakage path by the leakage path adaptive filter.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the modeling of the acoustic leakage path adapts the leakage path adaptive filter continuously except when a ratio of an amplitude of the source audio to an amplitude of the ambient audio sounds is less than a predetermined threshold.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the determining comprises modeling of the acoustic leakage path is ineffective and, responsive to the determining that the modeling of the acoustic leakage path is ineffective and determining that an amplitude of the source audio is greater than a threshold, halting adaptation of the adaptive filter that generates the anti-noise signal.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing the source audio to a filter input of the leakage path adaptive filter.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the source audio includes sidetone information generated from a near speech microphone.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing the sidetone information combined with the source audio to a filter input of the leakage path adaptive filter.

21. A personal audio device, comprising:

a personal audio device housing;

a transducer mounted on the housing for reproducing an audio signal including an anti-noise signal for countering effects of ambient audio sounds in an acoustic output of the output transducer and source audio for playback to a listener;

a reference microphone mounted on the housing for providing a reference microphone signal indicative of the ambient audio sounds;

an error microphone mounted on the housing in proximity to the transducer for providing an error microphone signal indicative of the acoustic output of the transducer and the ambient audio sounds at the transducer; and

a processing circuit within the housing that adaptively generates the anti-noise signal from a corrected reference microphone signal and in conformity with the error microphone signal such that the anti-noise signal causes substantial cancellation of the ambient audio sounds, wherein the processing circuit combines the anti-noise signal with a source audio signal to generate the output signal, wherein the processing circuit further models an acoustic leakage path from the output transducer to the reference microphone with an adaptive filter that filters the source audio signal to generate filtered source audio and removes the filtered source audio from the reference microphone signal to generate the corrected reference microphone signal.

22. The personal audio device of claim 21, wherein the processing circuit models the acoustic leakage path by providing source audio of a predetermined characteristic as the audio signal reproduced by the output transducer and measuring a resulting response in the reference microphone signal.

23. The personal audio device of claim 22, wherein the source audio of predetermined characteristic is a noise burst.

24. The personal audio device of claim 22, wherein the processing circuit comprises an adaptive filter having a response that shapes the anti-noise signal to reduce the presence of the ambient audio sounds heard by the listener and another leakage path adaptive filter that models the acoustic leakage path dynamically.

25. The personal audio device of claim 24, wherein the processing circuit comprises a secondary path adaptive filter having a secondary path response that shapes the source audio and a combiner that, in a normal operating mode, removes the source audio from the error microphone signal to provide the error signal, wherein, in a calibration mode, the processing circuit models the acoustic leakage path by removing the source audio from the reference microphone signal to provide the error signal, wherein also in the calibration mode, the processing circuit generates the anti-noise signal from the error microphone signal, wherein the processing circuit generates the anti-noise signal in conformity with the error signal, and wherein coefficients of the secondary path adaptive filter are captured during the calibration mode to provide coefficients of the leakage path adaptive filter that are subsequently applied in the normal operating mode.

26. The personal audio device of claim 24, wherein adaptation of the leakage path is performed continuously except when a ratio of an amplitude of the source audio to an amplitude of the ambient audio sounds is less than a predetermined threshold.

27. The personal audio device of claim 24, wherein the processing circuit determines that modeling of the acoustic leakage path is ineffective and, responsive to determining that the modeling of the acoustic leakage path is ineffective and determining that an amplitude of the source audio is greater than a threshold, halts adaptation of the adaptive filter that generates the anti-noise signal.

28. The personal audio device of claim 24, wherein the processing circuit provides the source audio to a filter input of the leakage path adaptive filter.

29. The personal audio device of claim 24, wherein the source audio includes sidetone information generated from a near speech microphone mounted on the housing.

30. The personal audio device of claim 29, wherein the processing circuit provides the sidetone information combined with the source audio to a filter input of the leakage path adaptive filter.