Sound reproducing apparatus and method of identifying positions of speakers

• US 20070133813A1
• Filed: 02/16/2005
• Published: 06/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: Morishima, Morito
• Granted Patent: US 7,933,418 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/024 Positioning of loudspeaker enclosures for spatial sound reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/02 Spatial or constructional arrangements of loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/308 Electronic adaptation dependent on speaker or headphone connection

Abstract

A position of a speaker is detected two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally, and a sound field is corrected. A sound reproducing apparatus includes a measuring signal generating portion for generating a first measuring signal, a transmission portion for transmitting a second measuring signal as soon as the first measuring signal is generated, sensors disposed in a listening position and for measuring a time difference between a time instant when the second measuring signal was received and a time instant when a measuring sound wave radiated from a to-be-detected speaker in accordance with the first measuring signal was received, and a position calculating portion for calculating a distance, as to each of n sensors, between each of the n sensors and the to-be-detected speaker based on the measured time difference, and calculating the position of the to-be-detected speaker based on distances among the n sensors and the calculated distance.

Claims

1. A sound reproducing apparatus for driving a plurality of speakers to reproduce multi-channel sound, the sound reproducing apparatus comprising:

a generator that generates a measuring signal and supplies the measuring signal to a to-be-detected speaker of the plurality of speakers;

at least two sensors disposed in a listening position, each of the at least two sensors transmitting a reception notification when receiving a measuring sound wave radiated from the to-be-detected speaker in accordance with the measuring signal;

a time difference measuring unit that measures, as to each of the at least two sensors, a time difference between a time instant when the measuring signal is generated and a time instant when the reception notification is received from each of the at least two sensors;

a distance calculator that calculates, as to each of the at least two sensors, a distance between each of the at least two sensors and the to-be-detected speaker based on the measured time difference;

a position calculator that calculates a position of the to-be-detected speaker based on a distance between the at least two sensors and the calculated distance; and

a storage that stores the calculated position of the to-be-detected speaker.

2. The sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a speaker layout corrector that changes over signal lines from an amplifier to the speakers and corrects an incorrect layout of the speakers when it is judged that respective speaker positions stored in the storage are out of a predetermined relative position relationship of the speakers.

3. The sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a sound field controller that produces sound image localization as if the speakers were located in predetermined recommended positions, respectively, based on respective positions of the speakers stored in the storage.

4. The sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

a distance between at least two speakers of the plurality of speakers is known; and

the position calculator calculates a distance between the at least two sensors and positions of the at least two sensors based on distances between the at least two sensors and the at least two speakers calculated by the distance calculator, and the distance between the at least two speakers.

5. A sound reproducing apparatus for driving a plurality of speakers to reproduce multi-channel sound, the sound reproducing apparatus comprising:

a generator that generates a measuring signal and supplies the measuring signal to at least two measuring speakers of the plurality of speakers in turn, the measuring speakers having known positions with respect to a listening position;

a sensor that is attached to a to-be-detected speaker and transmits a reception notification as to each of the at least two measuring speakers when receiving a measuring sound wave radiated from each of the measuring speakers in accordance with the measuring signal;

a time difference measuring unit that measures, as to each of the at least two measuring speakers, a time difference between a time instant when the measuring signal is generated and a time instant when the reception notification is received from the sensor;

a distance calculator that calculates, as to each of the at least two speakers, a distance between each of the measuring speakers and the to-be-detected speaker based on the measured time difference;

a position calculator that calculates a position of the to-be-detected speaker based on a distance between the at least two measuring speakers and the calculated distance; and

a storage that stores positions of the at least two measuring speakers and the calculated speaker position.

6. The sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, comprising a speaker layout corrector that chances over signal lines from an amplifier to the speakers and corrects an incorrect layout of the speakers when it is judged that respective speaker positions stored in the storage are out of a predetermined relative position relationship of the speakers.

7. The sound reproducing apparatus according to claim 5, comprising a sound field controller that produces sound image localization as if the speakers were located in predetermined recommended positions, respectively, based on respective speaker positions stored in the storage.

8. A method of identifying positions of a plurality of speakers by use of at least two sensors disposed in a listening position, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a measuring signal and supplying the measuring signal to one of the plurality of speakers;

transmitting a reception notification when each of the at least two sensors receives a measuring sound wave radiated from the to-be-detected speaker in accordance with the measuring signal;

measuring, as to each of the at least two sensors, a time difference between a time instant when the measuring signal is generated and a time instant when the reception notification is received from each of the at least two sensors;

calculating, as to each of the at least two sensors, a distance between each of the at least two sensors and the to-be-detected speaker based on the measured time difference;

calculating a position of the to-be-detected speaker based on a distance between the at least two sensors and the calculated distance; and

storing the calculated position of the speaker into a storage.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of changing over signal lines from an amplifier to the speakers and correcting an incorrect layout of the speakers when it is judged that stored positions of the speakers are out of a predetermined relative position relationship of the speakers.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of producing sound image localization as if the speakers were located in predetermined recommended positions respectively, based on stored positions of the speakers.

11. A method of identifying positions of a plurality of speakers by use of at least two sensors disposed in a listening position, the method comprising the steps of:

supplying the measuring signal in turn to at least two measuring speakers of the plurality of speakers, the at least two measuring speakers having a known distance from each other;

transmitting, as to each of the two measuring speakers, a reception notification when each of the at least two sensors receives a measuring sound wave radiated from each of the measuring speakers in accordance with the measuring signal;

measuring, as to each of the at least two measuring speakers, a time difference between a time instant when the measuring signal is generated and a time instant when the reception notification is received from each of the at least two sensors;

calculating, as to each of the at least two measuring speakers, a distance between each of the at least two sensors and each of the measuring speakers based on the measured time difference;

calculating positions of the at least two sensors and a distance between the at least two sensors based on a distance between each of the at least two sensors and each of the measuring speakers and a distance between the at least two speakers; and

storing the calculated position of the speaker into a storage.