Calibration using multiple recording devices

• US 9,743,207 B1
• Filed: 01/18/2016
• Issued: 08/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
• Inventors: Hartung, Klaus
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US14/997,868
• Time in Patent Office: 582 Days
• Field of Search: 381 58, 381 59, 381 98
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/003 Digital PA systems using, e.g. LAN or internet
• 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 29/007 for public address systems public address systems per se H04R27/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/301 Automatic calibration of stereophonic sound system, e.g. with test microphone

Abstract

Example techniques may involve calibration with multiple recording devices. An implementation may include detecting, via a microphone, one or more calibration sounds as emitted by one or more playback devices of one or more zones during a calibration sequence. The implementation may further include determining a first response, the first response representing a response of a given environment to the one or more calibration sounds as detected by the first recording device and receiving data indicating a second response, the second response representing a response of the given environment to the one or more calibration sounds as detected by a second recording device. The implementation may also include determining a calibration for the one or more playback devices based on the first response and the second response and sending, to the one or more zones, an instruction that applies the calibration to playback by the one or more playback devices.

Claims

1. A tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a first control device to perform a method comprising:

detecting, via a microphone, at least a portion of one or more calibration sounds as emitted by one or more playback devices of one or more zones during a calibration sequence;

during the calibration sequence, detecting movement of the first control device relative to the given environment;

receiving data indicating movement of a second control device relative to the given environment during the calibration sequence;

determining that (a) the movement of the first control device during the calibration sequence covered a first spatial area of the given environment, and (b) the movement of the second control device during the calibration sequence covered a second spatial area of the given environment;

determining a first response, the first response representing a response of a given environment to the one or more calibration sounds as detected by the first control device;

receiving data indicating a second response, the second response representing a response of the given environment to the one or more calibration sounds as detected by a second control device;

determining a calibration for the one or more playback devices based on the first response and the second response, wherein determining the calibration comprises normalizing (a) the first response to the detected movement of the first control device and (b) the second response to the detected movement of the second control device, and wherein normalizing (a) the first response to the detected movement of the first control device and (b) the second response to the detected movement of the second control device comprises weighing, as respective portions of the calibration, the first response according to the first spatial area covered by the first control device and the second response according to the second spatial area covered by the second control device; and

sending, to at least one of the one or more zones, an instruction that applies the determined calibration to playback by the one or more playback devices.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises determining that the movement of the first control device and the movement of the second control device positioned the first control device and the second control device at respective average distances from the one or more playback devices, and wherein normalizing (a) the first response to the detected movement of the first control device and (b) the second response to the detected movement of the second control device comprises weighing, as respective portions of the calibration, the first response and the second response according to the respective average distances of the first control device and the second control device from the one or more playback devices.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more playback devices are arranged to output the one or more calibration sounds in respective output directions;

the method further comprises determining that the movement of the first control device and the movement of the second control device located the first control device and the second control devices at respective average angles from the respective output directions of the one or more playback devices; and

normalizing (a) the first response to the detected movement of the first control device and (b) the second response to the detected movement of the second control device comprises weighing, as respective portions of the calibration, the first response and the second response according to the respective average angles of the first control device and the second control device from the respective output directions of the one or more playback devices.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises determining that (a) detection of the one or more calibrations sounds by the first control device occurred over a first duration of time and (b) detection of the one or more calibrations sounds by the second control device occurred over a second duration of time, and wherein determining the calibration comprises normalizing (a) the first response according to the ratio of the first duration of time to the second duration of time and (b) the second response according to the ratio of the second duration of time relative to the first duration of time.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein:

detecting the portion of the one or more calibration sounds as emitted by the one or more playback devices comprises detecting first samples representing the one or more calibration sounds as detected by first control device;

receiving data indicating the second response comprises receiving second samples representing the one or more calibration sounds as detected by second control device;

the method further comprises determining (a) average variance between the first samples and (b) average variance between the second samples; and

determining the calibration comprises normalizing (a) the first response according to the ratio of the average variance between the first samples to the average variance between the second samples and (b) the second response according to the ratio of the average variance between the second samples relative to the average variance between the first samples.

6. A tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a first network device to perform a method comprising:

detecting initiation of a calibration sequence to calibrate one or more zones of a media playback system for a given environment, wherein the one or more zones include one or more playback devices;

detecting, via a user interface, input indicating an instruction to include the first network device in the calibration sequence;

sending, to a second network device, a message indicating that the first network device is included in the calibration sequence;

detecting, via a microphone, at least a portion of one or more calibration sounds as emitted by the one or more playback devices during the calibration sequence, wherein detecting the portion of the one or more calibration sounds as emitted by the one or more playback devices comprises detecting samples representing the one or more calibration sounds as detected by the first network device;

determining a response of a given environment to the one or more calibration sounds as detected by the first network device; and

determining average variance between the samples representing the one or more calibration sounds as detected by first network device;

sending, to the second network device, a message indicating the average variance between the samples representing the one or more calibration sounds as detected by first network device; and

sending the determined response to the second network device.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises during the calibration sequence, detecting movement of the first network device relative to the given environment, and wherein determining the response of the given environment to the one or more calibration sounds comprises normalizing the response to the detected movement of the first network device during the calibration sequence.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

during the calibration sequence, receiving sensor data indicating movement of the first network device relative to the given environment;

determining that the movement of the first network device during the calibration sequence covered a given spatial area of the given environment; and

sending, to the second network device, a message indicating the given spatial area covered by the first network device during the calibration sequence.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

based on the detected portion of the one or more calibration sounds, determining respective distances of the first network device to the one or more playback devices during the calibration sequence; and

sending, to the second network device, a message indicating the respective distances of the first network device to the one or more playback devices during the calibration sequence.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the one or more playback devices are arranged to output the one or more calibration sounds in respective output directions;

and wherein the method further comprises;

during the calibration sequence, receiving sensor data indicating movement of the first network device relative to the given environment;

based on the received sensor data, determining respective average angles from the first network device to the respective output directions of the one or more playback devices; and

sending, to the second network device, a message indicating the respective average angles from the first network device to the respective output directions of the one or more playback devices.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

determining that the first network device detected the portion of the one or more calibrations sounds over a given duration of time, and

sending, to the second network device, a message indicating given duration of time over which the first network device detected the portion of the one or more calibrations sounds.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the first network device comprises a particular type of microphone, and wherein determining the response comprises offsetting acoustic characteristics of the particular type of microphone by applying, to the response, a correction curve that corresponds to the particular type of microphone.

13. A method comprising:

after one or more playback devices of a media playback system begin output of a calibration sound during a calibration sequence, receiving first response data from a first control device and second response data from a second control device, wherein the first response data represents a response of a given environment to the calibration sound as detected by the first control device and the second response data represents a response of the given environment to the calibration sound as detected by the second control device;

receiving (i) data indicating that the first control device moved across a first spatial area of the given environment during the calibration sequence and (ii) data indicating that the first control device moved across a second spatial area of the given environment during the calibration sequence;

normalizing the first response data relative to at least the second response data and the second response data relative to at least the first response data;

based on the normalized first response data and the normalized second response data, determining a calibration that offsets acoustic characteristics of the given environment when applied to playback by the one or more playback devices, wherein normalizing the first response data relative to at least the second response data and the second response data relative to at least the first response data comprises weighing, as respective portions of the calibration, the first response data and the second response data according to a ratio between first spatial area and the second spatial area; and

sending, to a zone of the media playback system, an instruction that applies the determined calibration to playback by the one or more playback devices.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining (a) that the first response data indicates first sound intensity of the one or more calibration sounds as detected by the first control device and (b) that the second response data indicates second sound intensity of the one or more calibration sounds as detected by the second control device, and wherein normalizing the first response data relative to at least the second response data and the second response data relative to at least the first response data comprises weighing, as respective portions of the calibration, the first response data and the second response data according to a ratio between first sound intensity and the second sound intensity.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving (i) data indicating that the first control device detected the one or more calibration sounds for a first duration of time, and (ii) data indicating that the second control device detected the one or more calibration sounds for a second duration of time, and wherein normalizing the first response data relative to at least the second response data and the second response data relative to at least the first response data comprises weighing, as respective portions of the calibration, the first response data and the second response data according to a ratio between first duration of time and the second duration of time.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the first response data comprises first samples representing the one or more calibration sounds as detected by first control device and the second response data comprises second samples representing the one or more calibration sounds as detected by second control device, and wherein normalizing the first response data relative to at least the second response data and the second response data relative to at least the first response data comprises weighing, as respective portions of the calibration, the first response data and the second response data according to a ratio between average variance of the first samples and average variance of the second samples.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first control device comprises a first type of microphone and the second control device comprises a second type of microphone, and wherein normalizing the first response data relative to at least the second response data and the second response data relative to at least the first response data comprises:

applying a first correction curve to the first response data to offset acoustic characteristics of the first type of microphone, and

applying a second correction curve to the second response data to offset acoustic characteristics of the second type of microphone.