Noise reduction audio reproducing device and noise reduction audio reproducing method

• US 9,595,252 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2015
• Issued: 03/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Asada, Kohei, Suzuki, Shiro, Itabashi, Tetsunori, Ohkuri, Kazunobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Monikang, George
• Application Number:
  US14/960,187
• Publication Number:
  US 20160086594A1
• Time in Patent Office: 466 Days
• Field of Search: 381 711- 712, 381 715- 718, 381/71.11, 381/71.14
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17821 characterised by the analysis of the input signals only
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17823 Reference signals, e.g. ambient acoustic environment
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17827 Desired external signals, e.g. pass-through audio such as music or speech
• 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 11/17853 of the filter
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17857 Geometric disposition, e.g. placement of microphones
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17873 using a reference signal without an error signal, e.g. pure feedforward
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/17875 using an error signal without a reference signal, e.g. pure feedback
• 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 2210/1053 Hi-fi, i.e. anything involving music, radios or loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/1081 Earphones, e.g. for telephones, ear protectors or headsets
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/065 Aids for the handicapped in understanding
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2460/01 Hearing devices using active noise cancellation
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/004 for microphones H04R29/007 takes precedence

Abstract

A noise reduction audio reproducing method includes the steps of: generating, from an audio signal of collected and obtained noise, an audio signal for noise cancellation to cancel the noise by synthesizing the audio signal for noise cancellation and the noise in an acoustic manner, reproducing the audio signal for noise cancellation acoustically to synthesize this with the noise in an acoustic manner; emphasizing an audio component to be listened to, of collected audio; synthesizing an audio signal with the audio component to be listened to being emphasized, and the audio signal for noise cancellation to supply the synthesized signal thereof to an electro-acoustic converting unit; and controlling so as to supply an audio signal, with the audio component to be listened to having been emphasized, to a synthesizing unit, regarding only a section based on a control signal.

Claims

1. A noise reduction audio reproducing device comprising:

headphones including a left ear headphone casing configured to provide audio to the left ear of a user and a right ear headphone casing configured to provide audio to the right ear of the user, wherein the left ear headphone casing comprises a first acousto-electric converting unit arranged so as to collect an audio signal external to the left ear headphone casing and wherein the right ear headphone casing comprises a second acousto-electric converting unit arranged so as to collect an audio signal external to the right ear headphone casing, wherein each of the first acousto-electric converting unit and the second acousto electric converting unit are configured to collect an audio signal including a signal to be listened to and noise;

a first noise cancel processing unit configured to generate, based on the noise in the audio signal collected from the first acousto-electric converting unit, a left ear audio signal for noise cancellation;

a second noise cancel processing unit configured to generate, based on the noise in the audio signal collected from the second acousto-electric converting unit, a right ear audio signal for noise cancellation;

an audio emphasizing unit configured to generate an emphasized audio signal by emphasizing an audio component to be listened to, of audio signals collected by said first and second acousto-electric converting units, wherein the audio emphasizing unit comprises a common audio emphasizing unit arranged to receive both audio signals collected by said first and second acousto-electric converting units;

a first synthesizing unit arranged to synthesize a first output audio signal with unit, based on the emphasized audio signal and said left ear audio signal for noise cancellation and to supply the first output audio signal to a first electro-acoustic converting unit provided in the left ear headphone casing, a second synthesizing unit arranged to synthesize a second output audio signal based on the emphasized audio signal and said right ear audio signal for noise cancellation and to supply the second output audio signal to a second electro-acoustic converting unit provided in the right ear headphone casing; and

a control unit configured to perform control so as to supply the emphasized audio signal, to said first synthesizing unit and said second synthesizing unit, based on a control signal.

2. The noise reduction audio reproducing device according to claim 1, said audio emphasizing unit comprising:

a unit configured to divide each of the audio signal from said first acousto-electric converting unit, and the audio signal from said second acousto-electric converting unit into a plurality of frequency band signals;

a gain control unit configured to detect a phase difference between signals having a same frequency band, of the plurality of frequency band signals of said audio signal from the first acousto-electric converting unit and said audio signal from the second acousto-electric converting unit, and to increase a gain of a frequency band signal exhibiting a predetermined phase difference, thereby performing audio emphasis; and

a unit configured to synthesize said plurality of frequency band signals gain-controlled by said gain control unit, and configured to output the synthesized signal as said emphasized audio signal.

3. The noise reduction audio reproducing device according to claim 1, said audio emphasizing unit comprising:

a unit configured to emphasize said audio component to be listened to by subtracting a power spectrum of the noise stored in a storage unit from a power spectrum of one or both of the audio signals from said first and second acousto-electric converting units.