Using external sounds to alert vehicle occupants of external events and mask in-car conversations

• US 9,469,247 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2013
• Issued: 10/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Juneja, Ajay, Marti, Stefan, Di Censo, Davide
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): MORTELL, JOHN F
• Application Number:
  US14/086,828
• Publication Number:
  US 20150137998A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,062 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 9/00 Reinforcements or ply arrangement of pneumatic tyres inserts having reinforcing means B60C5/08; bead structure, e.g. turnup or overlap construction, B60C15/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/00 Arrangement or adaptation of signal devices not provided for in one of main groups B60Q1/00 - B60Q7/00 , e.g. haptic signalling
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/1754 Speech masking
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 15/02 Synthesis of acoustic waves synthesis of speech G10L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/12821 Rolling noise; Wind and body noise
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/3043 Phase locked loops [PLL]
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 2210/3047 Prediction, e.g. of future values of noise
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 2203/12 for acoustic communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 2203/22 for communication related to vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/41 characterized by the control of the jamming activation or deactivation time control of jamming activation and deactivation time only for the purpose of alternating between jamming mode and target monitoring mode H04K3/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/43 characterized by the control of the jamming power, signal-to-noise ratio or geographic coverage area
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/45 characterized by including monitoring of the target or target signal, e.g. in reactive jammers or follower jammers for example by means of an alternation of jamming phases and monitoring phases, called "look-through mode"
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/46 characterized in that the jamming signal is produced by retransmitting a received signal, after delay or processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/825 by jamming
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/23 Direction finding using a sum-delay beam-former
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/13 Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles
• 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: H04S 2400/11 Positioning of individual sound objects, e.g. moving airplane, within a sound field H04S2420/13 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 2400/15 Aspects of sound capture and related signal processing for recording or reproduction

Abstract

An audio processing system may selectively identify certain environmental sounds and playing back these sounds, or a representation of these sounds, in the vehicle'"'"'s cabin. The audio processing system may filter the environmental sounds to identify a particular sound that matches an event such as a bouncing ball, squealing tires, footsteps, and the like. The audio processing system may then provide an audio alert to an occupant in the vehicle. For example, the system may process the identified sound (e.g., amplify and/or isolate the sound) and use a speaker to output the processed sound into the interior of the vehicle. In another embodiment, the audio processing system may use environmental sounds as an audio masking sound for creating privacy zones within the vehicle. The audio processing system may filter the environmental sounds to identify a continuous sound which is then output to generate the privacy zones.

Claims

1. A vehicular audio system comprising:

an audio detector configured to sense ambient sounds external to a vehicle; and

an audio processing module configured to;

receive one or more signals representing the ambient sounds from the audio detector,

process the ambient sounds to identify an event external to the vehicle and corresponding to at least one sound within the ambient sounds, wherein the at least one sound is generated by the event, and

based on determining that a current speed of the vehicle is above a threshold speed, output the at least one sound via a speaker configured to output sound into an interior of the vehicle, or

based on determining that the current speed is below the threshold speed, output a spoken description of the event via the speaker.

2. The vehicular audio system of claim 1, wherein identifying the event comprises:

comparing the at least one sound in the ambient sounds with predefined sounds each having a predefined association with a respective event, and

upon determining the at least one sound substantially matches one of the predefined sounds, correlating the at least one sound to the respective event associated with the matched predefined sound.

3. The vehicular audio system of claim 1, wherein outputting the at least one sound comprises:

processing the at least one sound to change a characteristic of the at least one sound, and

outputting the processed sound via the speaker.

4. The vehicular audio system of claim 1, wherein the audio processing module is further configured to:

process the ambient sounds to identify a continuous sound within the ambient sounds;

process the continuous sound into a masking sound; and

provide the masking sound using a speaker configured to output sound into an interior of the vehicle to generate a privacy zone within the interior of the vehicle.

5. The vehicular audio system of claim 1, wherein the audio processing module is further configured to:

determine at least one of a distance and a direction of the event relative to the vehicle based on the at least one sound within the ambient sounds, wherein the at least one sound or the spoken description of the event is provided in manner to convey the direction or the distance of the event to an occupant in the vehicle.

6. A method for processing ambient sounds external to a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving one or more signals representing the ambient sounds;

processing the ambient sounds to identify a plurality of events corresponding to a plurality of sounds within the ambient sounds;

assigning a weight to each of the events based on predefined criteria;

selecting one or more of the sounds to output to an occupant in the vehicle based on the weights assigned to each event;

modifying at least one auditory characteristic of the one or more sounds to enhance the ability of an occupant in the vehicle to identify the event associated with the one or more sounds; and

outputting the modified sound via a speaker in an interior of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

comparing at least one sound in the ambient sounds with predefined sounds, and

upon determining the at least one sound substantially matches one of the predefined sounds, correlating the at least one sound to the event associated with the matched predefined sound.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the modified sound is an alert to indicate to the occupant that the event is proximate to the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

processing the ambient sounds to identify a continuous sound within the ambient sounds;

processing the continuous sound into a masking sound; and

providing the masking sound using the speaker to generate a privacy zone within the interior of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein modifying the one or more sounds includes at least one of sharpening the one or more sounds and amplifying the one or more sounds.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

selecting at least two of the sounds to output to the occupant; and

modifying the characteristics of the two sounds differently based on the assigned weights.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to perform the steps of:

sensing, via an audio detector, ambient sounds external to a vehicle;

receiving one or more signals representing the ambient sounds from the audio detector;

processing the ambient sounds to identify an event external to the vehicle and corresponding to at least one sound within the ambient sounds, wherein the at least one sound is generated by the event; and

based on determining that a current speed of the vehicle is above a threshold speed, outputting the at least one sound via a speaker configured to output sound into an interior of the vehicle, or

based on determining that the current speed is below the threshold speed, outputting a spoken description of the event via the speaker.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to process ambient sounds external to a vehicle by performing the steps of:

receiving one or more signals representing the ambient sounds;

processing the ambient sounds to identify a plurality of events corresponding to a plurality of sounds within the ambient sounds;

assigning a weight to each of the events based on predefined criteria;

selecting one or more of the sounds to output to an occupant in the vehicle based on the weights assigned to each event;

modifying at least one auditory characteristic of the one or more sounds to enhance the ability of an occupant in the vehicle to identify the event associated with the one or more sounds; and

outputting the modified sound via a speaker in an interior of the vehicle.