ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING A MICROPHONE ARRAY

• US 20160066091A1
• Filed: 09/01/2015
• Published: 03/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: HWANG, Ho Chul, KUM, Jong Mo, BAE, Min Ho, AN, Jung Yeol, KIM, Gang Youl, KIM, Jun Tai, YANG, Jae Mo, LEE, Nam Il
• Granted Patent: US 9,820,041 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/401 2D or 3D arrays of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

An electronic device comprising: a microphone array including at least three microphones; and at least one processor configured to: identify a kind of an application that is executed; activate one or more of the microphones in the array based on each microphone'"'"'s respective position within the electronic device and the type of the application; and capture audio using the activated microphones.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a microphone array including at least three microphones; and

at least one processor configured to;

identify a kind of an application that is executed;

activate one or more of the microphones in the array based on each microphone'"'"'s respective position within the electronic device and the kind of the application; and

capture audio using the activated microphones.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising an enclosure having a lower sidewall and an upper sidewall opposite the lower sidewall, wherein the microphone array comprises a first microphone and a second microphone disposed at the lower sidewall, and a third microphone disposed at the upper sidewall.

3. The device of claim 1, further comprising an enclosure having a lower sidewall and an upper sidewall opposite the lower sidewall, wherein the microphone array comprises a first microphone and a second microphone disposed at the lower sidewall, and a third microphone and a fourth microphone disposed at the upper sidewall.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein:

the enclosure comprises a top surface and a bottom surface;

the lower sidewall extends between the top surface and the bottom surface; and

the first microphone is disposed at a top portion of the sidewall, the top portion being adjacent to the top surface; and

the second microphone is disposed at a bottom portion of the sidewall, the bottom portion being adjacent to the bottom portion.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising an enclosure having a lower sidewall, an upper sidewall facing the lower sidewall, a top surface, and a bottom surface facing the top surface, wherein the microphone array is arranged in accordance with one of:

(i) a first arrangement in which a first microphone is disposed at the lower sidewall, and a second and third microphones are disposed at the upper sidewall;

(ii) a second arrangement in which a first microphone is disposed at the lower sidewall, a second microphone is disposed at the upper sidewall, and a third microphone is disposed at the top surface; and

(iii) a third arrangement in which a first microphone is disposed at the lower sidewall, a second microphone is disposed at the upper sidewall, and a third microphone is disposed at the bottom surface.

6. The device of claim 1, further comprising an enclosure having a lower sidewall, an upper sidewall facing the lower sidewall, a top surface, and a bottom surface facing the top surface, wherein the microphone array is arranged in accordance with one of:

(i) a first arrangement in which a first and second microphones are disposed on the lower sidewall, a third microphone is disposed at the top surface, and a fourth microphone is disposed at the bottom surface,

(ii) a second arrangement in which a first and second microphones are disposed on the lower sidewall, a third microphone is disposed at the bottom surface, and a fourth microphone is disposed at the upper sidewall, and

(iii) a third arrangement in which a first and second microphones are disposed on the lower sidewall, a third microphone is disposed at the top surface, and a fourth microphone is disposed at the upper sidewall.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising an enclosure having a sidewall, a top surface, and a bottom surface facing the top surface, wherein activating one or more of the microphones comprises, when the application includes an audio zoom function, leaving at least one of the microphones in the array in a deactivated state and activating one of:

a first group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the top surface and a second microphone disposed at the bottom surface;

a second group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the top surface and a second microphone disposed at the sidewall;

a third group of microphones including a first microphone disposed at the sidewall, a second microphone disposed at the top surface, and a third microphone disposed at the bottom surface.

8. The device of claim 1, further comprising an enclosure having a lower sidewall and an upper sidewall facing the lower sidewall, wherein activating one or more of the microphones comprises when the application includes a noise suppression function, leaving at least one of the microphones in the array in a deactivated state and activating one of:

a first group of microphones in the array that includes at least two microphones disposed at the lower sidewall and a microphone disposed at the upper sidewall; and

a second group of microphones that includes a microphone disposed at the lower sidewall, and at least two microphones disposed at the upper sidewall.

9. The device of claim 1, further comprising displaying a display, wherein the processor is further configured to present on the display an interface for activating additional microphones, and activate at least one additional microphone from the array in response to an input to the interface.

10. The device of claim 1, further comprising a display, wherein the processor is further configured to present on the display an indication of an incident direction of sound that is currently being recorded.

11. The device of claim 1, further comprising an enclosure having a lower sidewall, an upper sidewall facing the lower sidewall, a top surface, and a bottom surface facing the top surface, wherein activating one or more of the microphones comprises, when the application includes an active noise cancellation function, leaving at least one of the microphones in the array in a deactivated state and activating one of:

a first group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the lower sidewall and a second microphone disposed at the top surface;

a second group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the top surface and a second microphone disposed at the bottom surface;

a third group of microphones including a first microphone disposed at the sidewall, and a second microphone disposed at the bottom surface.

12. A method comprising:

identifying a kind of an application that is executed by an electronic device having a microphone array;

activating one or more of the microphones in the array based on each microphone'"'"'s respective position within the electronic device and the kind of the application; and

capturing audio using the activated microphones.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the electronic device comprises an enclosure having a lower sidewall, an upper sidewall facing the lower sidewall, a top surface, and a bottom surface facing the top surface, and activating one or more of the microphones comprises, when the application includes an active noise cancellation function, leaving at least one of the microphones in the array in a deactivated state and activating at least one of:

a first group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the lower sidewall and a second microphone disposed at the top surface;

a second group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the top surface and a second microphone disposed at the bottom surface;

a third group of microphones including a first microphone disposed at the sidewall, and a second microphone disposed at the bottom surface.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the electronic device comprises an enclosure having a sidewall, a top surface, and a bottom surface facing the top surface, and activating one or more of the microphones comprises, when the application includes an audio zoom function, leaving at least one of the microphones in the array in a deactivated state and activating one of:

a first group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the top surface and a second microphone disposed at the bottom surface;

a second group of microphones in the array that includes a first microphone disposed at the top surface and a second microphone disposed at the sidewall;

a third group of microphones including a first microphone disposed at the sidewall, a second microphone disposed at the top surface, and a third microphone disposed at the bottom surface.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the electronic device comprises an enclosure having a lower sidewall and an upper sidewall facing the lower sidewall, and activating one or more of the microphones comprises, when the application includes a noise suppression function, leaving at least one of the microphones in the array in a deactivated state and activating at least one of:

a first group of microphones in the array that includes at least two microphones disposed at the lower sidewall and a microphone disposed at the upper sidewall; and

a second group of microphones that includes a microphone disposed at the lower sidewall, and at least two microphones disposed at the upper sidewall.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising presenting an interface for activating additional microphones, and activating at least one additional microphone from the array in response to an input to the interface.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising identifying a plurality of distinct directions based on signals from the microphone array, wherein a number of the directions in the plurality is based on a count of microphones from the array that are activated.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising displaying a plurality of indications of direction, each indication of direction corresponding to a different available sound source.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising highlighting one of the indications of direction based on the indication of direction being associated with a sound source that is currently being recorded.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein

the electronic device comprises an enclosure having a lower sidewall and an upper sidewall opposite the lower sidewall, a top surface, and a bottom surface facing the top surface;

the lower sidewall extends between the top surface and the bottom surface;

a first microphone is disposed at a top portion of the sidewall, the top portion being adjacent to the top surface; and

a second microphone is disposed at a bottom portion of the sidewall, the bottom portion being adjacent to the bottom portion.