Calibration error conditions

• US 9,538,305 B2
• Filed: 07/28/2015
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Lehnert, Hilmar, Sheen, Timothy, Wilberding, Dayn
• Primary Examiner(s): Paul, Disler
• Application Number:
  US14/811,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20160014537A1
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• Field of Search: 381/56, 381 58- 59, 381/103
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/005 Audio distribution systems for home, i.e. multi-room use
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/00 Monitoring arrangements; Testing arrangements for hearing aids H04R25/30; detection of loudspeaker connection H04R5/04; sound-field adaptation dependent on speaker detection H04S7/308
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/001 for loudspeakers H04R29/007 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/008 Visual indication of individual signal levels visual indication of stereophonic sound image H04S7/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/302 Electronic adaptation of stereophonic sound system to listener position or orientation H04S7/301 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/303 Tracking of listener position or orientation

Abstract

Examples described herein involve identifying one or more error conditions during calibration of one or more playback devices in a playback environment. A microphone of a network device may detect and sample an audio signal while the one or more playback devices in the playback environment plays a calibration tone. A processor of the network device may then receive, from the microphone, a stream of audio data. The audio data may include an audio signal component and a background noise component. As a subset of the audio data is received, the processor may identify based on at least the subset of audio data, the one or more error conditions. The processor may then cause a graphical display to display a graphical representation associated with the identified error condition.

Claims

1. Tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to perform functions comprising:

causing a graphical display to display one or more prompts to initiate calibration of at least one playback device within a given environment;

after displaying the one or more prompts to initiate calibration of the at least one playback device within the given environment, receiving, via a microphone, audio data comprising an audio signal component emitted by the at least one playback device;

while receiving the audio data, determining, based on at least a subset of the audio data, that an error condition has occurred, wherein determining that the error condition has occurred comprises;

determining that a rate of variation in a level of the audio signal component is less than a minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device; and

based on determining that the rate of variation in the level of the audio signal component is less than the minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device, identifying the error condition as a condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device; and

in response to determining that the error condition has occurred, causing the graphical display to display a graphical representation that indicates the error condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device.

2. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein identifying the error condition as the condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device comprises:

identifying, from among a plurality of pre-determined error conditions, that the condition corresponds to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device.

3. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that the rate of variation in the level of the audio signal component exceeds a maximum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device; and

based on determining that the rate of variation in the level of the audio signal component exceeds the maximum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to overly-fast movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device.

4. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that the level of the audio signal component has gradually decreased below a minimum threshold for calibrating the at least one playback device; and

based on determining that the level of the audio signal component has gradually decreased below the minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to the distance between the computing device and the at least one playback device exceeding a threshold movement distance.

5. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that the level of the audio signal component has decreased below the minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device that corresponds to the first condition; and

based on determining that the level of the audio signal component has decreased below the minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device that corresponds to the first condition, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to an improperly orientated computing device.

6. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, wherein the audio data further comprises a background noise component, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that a sound pressure level of the background noise component exceeds a maximum threshold level; and

based determining that the sound pressure level of the background noise component exceeds the maximum threshold level, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to background noise that exceeds a threshold level for calibration.

7. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, wherein the audio data further comprises a background noise component, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that a ratio between the audio signal component and the background noise component is below a minimum threshold; and

based on determining that the ratio between the audio signal component and the background noise component is below the minimum threshold, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to a high background noise to audio signal ratio.

8. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that a portion of the audio signal component is different from a reference audio signal; and

based on determining that the portion of the audio signal component is different from the reference audio signal, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to an obstructed microphone.

9. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

before receiving the audio data, sending to the at least one playback device, one or more instructions that cause the at least one playback device to play a calibration tone, wherein the audio signal component corresponds to the calibration tone; and

responsive to determining that the error condition has occurred, sending to the at least one playback device, one or more instructions that cause the at least one playback device to stop playing the calibration tone.

10. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the functions further comprise:

receiving from a motion sensor, motion data corresponding to movement of the computing device; and

wherein identifying the error condition as the condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device further comprises, while the computing device receives the motion data, identifying, further based on at least the received motion data, the error condition as the condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device.

11. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the functions further comprise:

before receiving the audio data, causing the graphical display to display one or more prompts to select a type of listening environment corresponding to the given environment; and

wherein identifying the error condition as the condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device comprises;

determining an expected size of the given environment based on the selected type of listening environment corresponding to the given environment; and

determining that a range of movement of the computing device is less than the determined expected size of the given environment.

12. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the functions further comprise:

before receiving the audio data, causing the graphical display to display one or more prompts to select a type of listening environment corresponding to the given environment; and

wherein identifying the error condition as the condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device comprises;

determining an expected range of movement of the computing device based on the selected type of listening environment corresponding to the given environment; and

determining that a range of movement of the computing device is less than the determined expected range of movement of the computing device.

13. A method comprising:

causing, via a computing device, a graphical display to display one or more prompts to initiate calibration of at least one playback device within a given environment;

after displaying the one or more prompts to initiate calibration of the at least one playback device within the given environment, receiving, via a microphone of computing device, audio data comprising an audio signal component emitted by the at least one playback device;

while receiving the audio data, determining, via the computing device based on at least a subset of the audio data, that an error condition has occurred, wherein determining that the error condition has occurred comprises;

determining, via the computing device, that a rate of variation in a level of the audio signal component is less than a minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device; and

based on determining that the rate of variation in the level of the audio signal component is less than the minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device, identifying, via the computing device, the error condition as a condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device; and

in response to determining that the error condition has occurred, causing, via the computing device, the graphical display of the computing device to display a graphical representation that indicates the error condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining, via the computing device, that the rate of variation in the level of the audio signal component exceeds a maximum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device; and

based on determining that the rate of variation in the level of the audio signal component exceeds the maximum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device, identifying, via the computing device, the error condition as a second condition corresponding to overly-fast movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining, via the computing device, that the level of the audio signal component has gradually decreased below a minimum threshold for calibrating the at least one playback device; and

based on determining that the level of the audio signal component has gradually decreased below the minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device, identifying, by the computing device, the error condition as a second condition corresponding to the distance between the computing device and the at least one playback device exceeding a threshold movement distance.

16. A computing device comprising:

one or more microphones;

one or more processors;

a graphical display; and

tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions encoded therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising;

causing the graphical display to display one or more prompts to initiate calibration of at least one playback device within a given environment;

after displaying the one or more prompts to initiate calibration of the at least one playback device within the given environment, receiving, via the one or more microphones, audio data comprising an audio signal component emitted by the at least one playback device;

while receiving the audio data, determining, based on at least a subset of the audio data, that an error condition has occurred, wherein determining that the error condition has occurred comprises;

determining that a rate of variation in a level of the audio signal component is less than a minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device; and

based on determining that the rate of variation in the level of the audio signal component is less than the minimum threshold level for calibrating the at least one playback device, identifying the error condition as a condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device; and

in response to determining that the error condition has occurred, causing the graphical display to display a graphical representation that indicates the error condition corresponding to insufficient movement of the computing device within the given environment during calibration of the at least one playback device.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, wherein the audio data further comprises a background noise component, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that a sound pressure level of the background noise component represented in the audio data exceeds a maximum threshold level; and

based determining that the sound pressure level of the background noise component exceeds the maximum threshold level, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to background noise that exceeds a threshold level for calibration.

18. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, wherein the audio data further comprises a background noise component, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that a ratio between the audio signal component and the background noise component is below a minimum threshold; and

based on determining that the ratio between the audio signal component and the background noise component is below the minimum threshold, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to a high background noise to audio signal ratio.

19. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

determining that a portion of the audio signal component is different from a reference audio signal; and

based on determining that the portion of the audio signal component is different from the reference audio signal, identifying the error condition as a second condition corresponding to an obstructed microphone.

20. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the condition corresponding to insufficient movement is a first condition, and wherein determining that the error condition has occurred further comprises:

before receiving the audio data, sending to the at least one playback device, one or more instructions that cause the at least one playback device to play a calibration tone, wherein the audio signal component corresponds to the calibration tone; and

responsive to determining that the error condition has occurred, sending to the at least one playback device, one or more instructions that cause the at least one playback device to stop playing the calibration tone.