Hybrid horn microphone
First Claim
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1. A system for converting sound waves, the system comprising:
- an array of microphones, the array comprising a plurality of microphones, each microphone of the plurality of microphones comprising;
a horn portion comprising at least three planar surfaces, the surfaces arranged in a converging orientation to form a shape having a first opening at a proximal end and a second opening at a distal end, the second opening at the distal end being smaller in area than the first opening at the proximal end; and
an instrument disposed at the distal end of the horn portion, the instrument configured to convert sound waves into an electrical signal;
the microphones of the array are radially disposed around a central point to define a polyhedron shape and oriented to direct received sound waves to that central point; and
a beamforming signal processing circuit electrically coupled to each instrument of the plurality of microphones and configured to create a plurality of beam signals based on the respective electrical signals of each instrument.
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Abstract
The disclosed technology relates to a microphone array. The array comprises a plurality of microphones with each microphone having a horn portion. Each microphone of the array further comprises an instrument disposed at a distal end of the horn portion. Each instrument of the array is configured to convert sound waves into an electrical signal. The microphone array further comprises a beamforming signal processing circuit electrically coupled to each instrument and configured to create a plurality of beam signals based on respective electrical signals.
432 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for converting sound waves, the system comprising:
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an array of microphones, the array comprising a plurality of microphones, each microphone of the plurality of microphones comprising; a horn portion comprising at least three planar surfaces, the surfaces arranged in a converging orientation to form a shape having a first opening at a proximal end and a second opening at a distal end, the second opening at the distal end being smaller in area than the first opening at the proximal end; and an instrument disposed at the distal end of the horn portion, the instrument configured to convert sound waves into an electrical signal; the microphones of the array are radially disposed around a central point to define a polyhedron shape and oriented to direct received sound waves to that central point; and a beamforming signal processing circuit electrically coupled to each instrument of the plurality of microphones and configured to create a plurality of beam signals based on the respective electrical signals of each instrument. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A microphone array comprising:
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a plurality of microphones arranged to form an array, the microphones of the array being radially disposed around a central point to define a polyhedron shape and oriented to direct received sound waves to that central point, each microphone of the plurality of microphones comprising; a horn portion comprising a at least three planar surfaces, the planar surfaces arranged in a converging orientation to form a shape having a first opening on a proximal end and a second opening on a distal end, the second opening on the distal end being smaller in area than the first opening on the proximal end; and an instrument disposed on the distal end of the horn portion, the instrument configured to detect sound waves and convert sound waves into an electrical signal; a beamforming signal processing circuit electrically coupled to each instrument of plurality of microphones, the beamforming signal processing circuit configured to; receive a plurality of electrical signals, the plurality of electrical signals comprising the electrical signal from each microphone of the plurality of microphones; and create a plurality of beam signals based on the plurality of electric signals each beam signal of the plurality of beam signals corresponding to the electrical signal from each microphone of the plurality of microphones. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for creating a plurality of beam signals, the method comprising:
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receiving a sound wave at an array of microphones, the array of microphones comprising a plurality of microphones each having a horn portion comprising at least three planar surfaces radially disposed around a central point to define a polyhedron shape and oriented to direct received sound waves to that central point, each microphone comprising a horn portion and an instrument, the instrument configured to generate an electrical signal based on the sound wave; generating a plurality of electrical signals based on the received sound wave, the plurality of electrical signals comprising the electrical signal generated by each instrument of the plurality of microphones; converting each electrical signal of the plurality of electrical signals into a high sub-band signal and a low sub-band signal, the low sub-band signals from each electrical signal comprising a plurality of low sub-band signals, the high sub-band signals from each electrical signal comprising a plurality of high sub-band signals; performing beamforming signal processing on the plurality of low sub-band signals to create a plurality of low sub-band beam signals; combining each low-band beam signal of the plurality of low sub-band signals with the respective high sub-band signal of the plurality of high sub-band signals to create a plurality of beam signals, each beam signal of the plurality of beam signals corresponding to each microphone of the plurality of microphones of the array; and selecting an output beam signal from the plurality of beam signals for output to an output device.
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Specification