Apparatus and method for measuring a plurality of loudspeakers and microphone array

• US 9,661,432 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2015
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forsching E.V.
• Original Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forsching E.V.
• Inventors: Silzle, Andreas, Thiergart, Oliver, Del Galdo, Giovanni, Lang, Matthias
• Primary Examiner(s): Paul, Disler
• Application Number:
  US14/946,388
• Publication Number:
  US 20160150336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 551 Days
• Field of Search: 381 91- 92, 381122, 381375, 381361, 381366
• 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 1/08 Mouthpieces; Microphones; Attachments therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/406 microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/02 Details casings, cabinets or mounting therein for transducers covered by H04R1/02 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/401 2D or 3D arrays of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/05 Detection of connection of loudspeakers or headphones to amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/21 Direction finding using differential microphone array [DMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/002 Loudspeaker 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 5/027 Spatial or constructional arrangements of microphones, e.g. in dummy heads
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2400/03 Aspects of down-mixing multi-channel audio to configurations with lower numbers of playback channels, e.g. 7.1 -> 5.1 H04S2400/01 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2400/15 Aspects of sound capture and related signal processing for recording or reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2420/03 Application of parametric coding in stereophonic audio systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone

Abstract

An apparatus for measuring a plurality of loudspeakers arranged at different positions includes a generator of a test signal for a loudspeaker; a microphone device configured for receiving a plurality of different sound signals in response to one or more loudspeaker signals emitted by one of the loudspeakers in response to the test signal; a controller for controlling emissions of the loudspeaker signals by the loudspeakers and for handling the different sound signals so that a set of sound signals recorded by the microphone device is associated with each loudspeaker in response to the test signal; and an evaluator for evaluating the set of sound signals for each loudspeaker to determine at least one loudspeaker characteristic for each loudspeaker and for indicating a loudspeaker state using the at least one loudspeaker characteristic. This scheme allows automatic, efficient and accurate measurement of loudspeakers arranged in a three-dimensional configuration.

Claims

1. A microphone array comprising:

three pairs of microphones;

a mechanical support for supporting each pair of microphones at one spatial axis of three orthogonal spatial axes, the three orthogonal spatial axes comprising two horizontal spatial axes and one vertical spatial axis; and

a seventh microphone placed at the position in which the three orthogonal spatial axes intersect each other,

wherein the mechanical support comprises a first horizontal mechanical axis, a second horizontal mechanical axis, and a third vertical mechanical axis being placed off-center with respect to the vertical spatial axis and intersecting, at a cross-point, the first horizontal mechanical axis or the second horizontal mechanical axis,

wherein an upper horizontal rod and a lower horizontal rod are fixed to the third vertical mechanical axis, the upper horizontal rod and the lower horizontal rod being parallel to the first horizontal mechanical axis or the second horizontal mechanical axis, and

wherein the third vertical mechanical axis is fixed to one of the first horizontal mechanical axis or the second horizontal mechanical axis at the cross-point located between a place for the seventh microphone and a neighboring microphone of one pair of the three pairs of microphones.

2. The microphone array in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

a laser usable for performing a registration of the microphone array with respect to and in a listening room, the laser being fixedly connected to the mechanical support so that a laser ray emitted by the laser is parallel or coincident with one of the horizontal axes.

3. The microphone array in accordance with claim 2,

in which a distance between the microphones of each pair of microphones is between 5 cm and 8 cm.

4. The microphone array of claim 1, in which all microphones are pressure microphones fixed at the mechanical support so that the microphones are oriented in the same direction.