Frequency-dependent sidetone calibration

• US 9,369,557 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2014
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cirrus Logic Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cirrus Logic Incorporated
• Inventors: Kaller, Roy Scott, Hendrix, Jon D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Joseph T
• Application Number:
  US14/197,814
• Publication Number:
  US 20150256660A1
• Time in Patent Office: 832 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02082 the noise being echo, reverberation of the speech
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0364 for improving intelligibility
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/58 Anti-side-tone circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/585 implemented without inductive element
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 9/08 Two-way loud-speaking telephone systems with means for conditioning the signal, e.g. for suppressing echoes for one or both directions of traffic

Abstract

A personal audio device includes a sidetone circuit with one or more adjustable coefficients that generates a sidetone signal from the output of a first microphone. The sidetone circuit has one or more adjustable coefficients for altering the relationship between the first microphone signal and the sidetone signal. The personal audio device also includes a transducer for reproducing playback audio and the sidetone signal at an ear of a listener and a second microphone for measuring the output of the transducer as delivered to the ear of the listener. The sidetone circuit includes a calibration circuit for estimating a response of the second microphone to the sidetone signal and adjusting the coefficient of the sidetone circuit according to the estimated response.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a first microphone for receiving speech and generating a first microphone signal;

a sidetone circuit for generating a sidetone signal from the first microphone signal, wherein the sidetone circuit has at least one adjustable coefficient for altering a relationship between the first microphone signal and the sidetone signal;

a transducer for reproducing downlink audio and the sidetone signal at an ear of a listener;

a second microphone for measuring an output of the transducer as delivered to the ear of the listener and generating a second microphone signal; and

a calibration circuit for estimating a response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal and adjusting the adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit in conformity with the estimated response.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit is a gain applied to the first microphone signal to generate the sidetone signal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit is a frequency-dependent response applied to the first microphone signal to generate the sidetone signal.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising an adaptive noise reduction circuit that generates an anti-noise signal for canceling ambient audio sounds using at least one adaptive filter, wherein the adaptive noise reduction circuit generates the anti-noise signal in conformity with the second microphone signal, and wherein the calibration circuit estimates the response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal from coefficients of the at least one adaptive filter.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising a reference microphone for measuring the ambient audio sounds and generating a reference microphone signal, wherein the at least one adaptive filter comprises a first adaptive filter for filtering the reference microphone signal to generate the anti-noise signal and a secondary path adaptive filter for filtering the downlink audio with an adaptive secondary path response, wherein the adaptive noise reduction circuit further comprises a combiner that removes the filtered downlink audio from the second microphone signal to produce an error signal representative of the ambient audio sounds at the transducer, wherein the calibration circuit estimates the response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal according to the secondary path response.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the transducer and the second microphone are mounted in a wearable earpiece of the system.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a second transducer for reproducing second downlink audio and a second sidetone signal at another ear of the listener; and

a third microphone for measuring an output of the second transducer as delivered to the other ear of the listener and generating a third microphone signal, wherein the sidetone circuit further generates the second sidetone signal from the first microphone signal, wherein the sidetone circuit has at least one second adjustable coefficient for altering a second relationship between the first microphone signal and the second sidetone signal, wherein the calibration circuit further estimates a second response of the third microphone signal to the second sidetone signal and adjusts the at least one second adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit in conformity with the estimated response.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the calibration circuit further adjusts a balance between the sidetone signal and the second sidetone signal.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is a telephone further comprising a housing, wherein the transducer is mounted on the housing, wherein the second microphone is mounted on the housing proximate the transducer, and wherein the first microphone is mounted on the housing.

10. An integrated circuit, comprising:

a first input for receiving a first microphone signal containing speech;

a sidetone circuit for generating a sidetone signal from the first microphone signal, wherein the sidetone circuit has at least one adjustable coefficient for altering a relationship between the first microphone signal and the sidetone signal;

an output for providing an output signal containing downlink audio and the sidetone signal to a transducer for reproduction at an ear of a listener;

a second input for receiving a second microphone signal indicative of an output of the transducer as delivered to the ear of the listener; and

a calibration circuit for estimating a response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal and adjusting the adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit in conformity with the estimated response.

11. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit is a gain applied to the first microphone signal to generate the sidetone signal.

12. The integrated circuit of claim 10, wherein the adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit is a frequency-dependent response applied to the first microphone signal to generate the sidetone signal.

13. The integrated circuit of claim 10, further comprising an adaptive noise reduction circuit that generates an anti-noise signal for canceling ambient audio sounds using at least one adaptive filter, wherein the adaptive noise reduction circuit generates the anti-noise signal in conformity with the second microphone signal, and wherein the calibration circuit estimates the response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal from coefficients of the at least one adaptive filter.

14. The integrated circuit of claim 13, further comprising a reference microphone input for receiving a reference microphone signal indicative of the ambient audio sounds, wherein the at least one adaptive filter comprises a first adaptive filter for filtering the reference microphone signal to generate the anti-noise signal and a secondary path adaptive filter for filtering the downlink audio with an adaptive secondary path response, wherein the adaptive noise reduction circuit further comprises a combiner that removes the filtered downlink audio from the second microphone signal to produce an error signal representative of the ambient audio sounds at the transducer, wherein the calibration circuit estimates the response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal according to the secondary path response.

15. The integrated circuit of claim 14, further comprising:

a second output for providing a second output signal to a second transducer for reproducing second downlink audio and a second sidetone signal at another ear of the listener; and

a third input for receiving a third microphone signal indicative of an output of the second transducer as delivered to the other ear of the listener, wherein the sidetone circuit further generates the second sidetone signal from the first microphone signal, wherein the sidetone circuit has at least one second adjustable coefficient for altering a second relationship between the first microphone signal and the second sidetone signal, wherein the calibration circuit further estimates a second response of the third microphone signal to the second sidetone signal and adjusts the at least one second adjustable coefficient of the sidetone circuit in conformity with the estimated response.

16. The integrated circuit of claim 15, wherein the calibration circuit further adjusts a balance between the sidetone signal and the second sidetone signal.

17. A method for providing sidetone in a system, the method comprising:

receiving speech with a first microphone to generate a first microphone signal;

generating a sidetone signal from the first microphone signal according to at least one adjustable coefficient for altering a relationship between the first microphone signal and the sidetone signal;

reproducing downlink audio and the sidetone signal at an ear of a listener with a transducer;

measuring an output of the transducer as delivered to the ear of the listener with a second microphone to generate a second microphone signal; and

estimating a response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal and adjusting the adjustable coefficient in conformity with the estimated response with a calibration circuit.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the adjustable coefficient is a gain applied to the first microphone signal to generate the sidetone signal.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the adjustable coefficient is a frequency-dependent response applied to the first microphone signal to generate the sidetone signal.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

generating an anti-noise signal for canceling ambient audio sounds by adapting at least one adaptive filter, wherein the generating generates the anti-noise signal in conformity with the second microphone signal, and wherein the reproducing combines the anti-noise signal with the downlink audio and the sidetone signal; and

estimating the response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal from coefficients of the at least one adaptive filter.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

measuring the ambient audio sounds with a reference microphone to generate a reference microphone signal;

adapting an adaptive filter that filters the reference microphone signal to generate the anti-noise signal;

filtering the downlink audio with an adaptive secondary path response;

removing the filtered downlink audio from the second microphone signal to produce an error signal representative of the ambient audio sounds at the transducer, wherein the adapting adapts the adaptive filter according to the error signal; and

estimating the response of the second microphone signal to the sidetone signal according to the secondary path response.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the transducer and the second microphone are mounted in a wearable earpiece of the system.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

reproducing second downlink audio and a second sidetone signal at another ear of the listener;

measuring an output of the second transducer as delivered to the other ear of the listener and generating a third microphone signal;

generating the second sidetone signal from the first microphone signal according to at least one second adjustable coefficient;

altering a second relationship between the first microphone signal and the second sidetone signal; and

estimating a second response of the third microphone signal to the second sidetone signal and adjusting the at least one second adjustable coefficient in conformity with the estimated response.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising adjusting a balance between the sidetone signal and the second sidetone signal.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein the system is a telephone further comprising a housing, wherein the transducer is mounted on the housing, wherein the second microphone is mounted on the housing proximate the transducer, and wherein the first microphone is mounted on the housing.