Earphone and environmental sound processing method

Abstract

The invention provides an earphone and an environment sound processing method, and relates to the field of earphones. The earphone comprises an external microphone, a compression module and a loudspeaker, wherein the compression module is connected with the external microphone; the external microphone is used for collecting environmental sound signals; the compression module is used for compressing the environment sound signal based on a preset compression ratio; wherein the preset compression ratio comprises an initial value compression ratio which is 1 and a non-initial value compression ratio which is greater than 1, the compression module uses the non-initial value compression ratio for signals of which the signal strength exceeds a preset signal strength threshold value, and uses the initial value compression ratio for signals of which the signal strength does not exceed the preset signal strength threshold value; and the loudspeaker is used for playing the environmental sound signal compressed by the compression module. The earphone can reduce the occurrence of loud instantaneous sound and protect the hearing of a user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of signal processing, and in particular, provides a method for processing headphones and ambient sound. Background Art

[0002] The headphones have the characteristics of passive noise reduction, which can block part of the ambient sound transmitted to the user through physical structure, thereby achieving the effect of reducing noise.

[0003] In some scenarios, some headphones amplify ambient sound to enhance the user's listening experience. Currently, software algorithms are used to detect ambient sound energy and control the output power of the sound, preventing the sound from being too loud or too soft, ensuring a better listening experience.

[0004] However, the method of detecting ambient sound energy and controlling sound output power through software algorithms is not effective in processing instantaneous sounds, which may cause users to hear louder sounds. For example, the software algorithm needs to cache ambient sounds, and the energy of instantaneous sounds will be averaged due to the cache, which may result in insufficient noise reduction for larger instantaneous sounds. In addition, the software algorithm requires a certain amount of time to calculate. Therefore, the software algorithm actually reduces the noise of the sound after the instantaneous sound, which has a certain lag. If the instantaneous sound played first and has not been noise-reduced is louder, the user will still hear the louder sound, affecting the user's listening experience and even affecting the user's hearing. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present application aims to provide a headset and an ambient sound processing method to reduce the instantaneous excessive sound when the ambient sound is played, improve the user experience, and protect the user's hearing.

[0006] First, an embodiment of the present application provides a headset, comprising an external microphone, a compression module and a speaker, wherein the compression module is connected to the external microphone; the external microphone is used to collect ambient sound signals; the compression module is used to compress the ambient sound signals based on a preset compression ratio; wherein the preset compression ratio includes an initial value compression ratio of 1 and a non-initial value compression ratio greater than 1, the compression module uses the non-initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, and uses the initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength does not exceed the preset signal strength threshold; the speaker is used to play the ambient sound signal compressed by the compression module.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present application, a compression module is provided in an external microphone and a speaker. The compression module can compress a signal whose signal strength exceeds a preset signal strength threshold using a non-initial value compression ratio greater than 1. The signal strength exceeding the preset signal strength threshold indicates that the ambient sound signal is relatively loud. A compression ratio greater than 1 will cause the ambient sound signal to be compressed. After compression, it is possible to suppress the loud sound, reduce the possibility of loud transient sounds, and protect the user's hearing from being affected by loud transient sounds. Among them, the initial value compression ratio is used for signals whose signal strength does not exceed the preset signal strength threshold. The initial value compression ratio is 1, which means that the signal strength will not be reduced due to compression, and will not affect the playback of normal ambient sounds.

[0008] In one embodiment, the compression module is a wide dynamic range compression module; the preset signal strength threshold includes sub-signal strength thresholds corresponding to different frequency bands, and the preset compression ratio includes a non-initial value compression ratio and an initial value compression ratio corresponding to each frequency band; the wide dynamic range compression module is used to perform wide dynamic range compression on the ambient sound signal; wherein, the wide dynamic range compression includes: dividing the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands based on a preset dividing point; if the signal strength of any sub-signal corresponding to a frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, then performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on the non-initial value compression ratio corresponding to the frequency band; and, if the signal strength of any sub-signal corresponding to a frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, then performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on the initial value compression ratio.

[0009] If all frequency bands use the same preset signal strength threshold and non-initial value compression ratio, the effect after compression may not be equal to the empty field signal in the spectrum, so that some originally small sounds will become even smaller after compression and cannot be accurately heard, or some sounds will be too loud due to insufficient compression. This will cause the user to experience uneven signals in different frequency bands in their subjective listening experience, thereby reducing sound recognition. Wide dynamic range compression can perform frequency band compression on sub-signals of different frequency bands in the same signal. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, a wide dynamic range compression module is used to perform wide dynamic range compression on the ambient sound signal, and different non-initial value compression ratios are used for different frequency bands. This can make the sound output in each frequency band after the ambient sound signal is compressed similar in size or consistent with the original size of the sound. This method helps to improve the playback effect of the compressed ambient sound and retain more sound details.

[0010] In one embodiment, the wide dynamic range compression module includes a bandpass filter and multiple compression channels, each of the compression channels includes a judgment circuit and a compression circuit; the judgment circuit and the compression circuit of each compression channel are connected to the bandpass filter, and the judgment circuit in each compression channel is connected to the compression circuit; the bandpass filter is pre-configured with multiple frequency division points; each compression channel corresponds to a different frequency band, the judgment circuit of each compression channel is configured with a sub-signal strength threshold of the corresponding frequency band, and the compression circuit of each compression channel is configured with a corresponding non-initial value compression ratio and the initial value compression ratio; the bandpass filter receives the ambient sound signal, and divides the ambient sound signal into the pre-configured multiple frequency division points. The sub-signals of different frequency bands are outputted to different compression channels respectively; each compression channel is used to judge whether the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit through a judgment circuit in the compression channel; if the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit, the compression circuit in the compression channel is controlled to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the configured non-initial value compression ratio; and if the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit, the compression circuit in the compression channel is controlled to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the initial value compression ratio.

[0011] In the embodiments of the present application, dynamic range compression is performed through hardware circuitry. Compared to software programs, hardware circuitry has a faster response speed, helping to reduce compression latency, allowing the ambient sound signal to be output in a timely manner, and reducing the situation where the ambient sound played by the headphones is out of sync with the external environment. Using different compression channels to perform dynamic range compression on sub-signals in different frequency bands, each compression channel does not affect the compression of the sub-signals, helping to improve the accuracy of the sub-signal compression.

[0012] In one embodiment, the sub-signal strength threshold is a level threshold; each of the judgment circuits is configured to: detect a target level of the received sub-signal; if the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, determine that the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit; if the target level is less than the sub-signal strength threshold, determine that the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit.

[0013] In the embodiment of the present application, the signal strength affects the signal level, so the signal level can be used to represent the signal strength. Compared with the signal strength, the calculation of the signal level is easier to implement using a circuit, which helps to simplify the difficulty of circuit implementation.

[0014] In one embodiment, the compression circuit includes a filter, and the compression circuit compresses the received sub-signal through the filter; the judgment circuit is also used to: obtain the target non-initial value compression ratio of the compression circuit when the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold; calculate the target gain based on a preset conversion relationship, the target non-initial value compression ratio, and the target level; the preset conversion relationship includes the conversion relationship between the target gain and the non-initial value compression ratio and the target level; configure the target gain to the filter of the compression circuit so that the filter performs dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the target gain.

[0015] In one embodiment, the headset further includes a biquad filter module, which is connected to the external microphone and the compression module respectively; the biquad filter module is used to restore the ambient sound signal to the signal strength without passive noise reduction.

[0016] Since the headphones have a passive noise reduction effect when they are worn, the passive noise reduction causes the high-frequency signal part of the sound to attenuate more than the low-frequency part. As a result, the user will not be able to accurately listen to the external ambient sound. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present application, a dual-quadratic filter module is used to amplify the ambient sound signal and restore the signal strength of the ambient sound signal, so that the user can accurately listen to the ambient sound signal, solving the problem of excessive low-frequency gain and insufficient high-frequency gain of the ambient sound signal after amplification. At the same time, it also helps the compression module to accurately analyze the actual signal strength of the ambient sound signal and use a preset compression ratio for noise reduction, reducing the occurrence of excessive instantaneous sounds, and at the same time, reducing the problem of excessive compression of the sound and inability to accurately obtain the details of the sound.

[0017] In one embodiment, the headset further includes a processor and a built-in microphone, the built-in microphone is connected to the processor, and the processor is connected to the compression module; wherein the built-in microphone is used to collect in-ear sound signals; the processor is used to adjust at least one of the crossover point, the preset signal strength threshold and the preset compression ratio based on the signal strength of the in-ear sound signal.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present application, the in-ear microphone can collect the in-ear sound signal that the user can hear. Thus, it is possible to determine whether the sound heard by the user is too loud through the in-ear sound signal, and then use the in-ear sound signal feedback to adjust at least one of the crossover point, preset signal strength and preset compression ratio, so that the compression capability of the compression module can change with the in-ear sound signal, thereby improving the accuracy of compressing different environmental sound signals.

[0019] In one embodiment, the processor is used to: perform spectral analysis on the in-ear sound signal to obtain a target relationship between the frequency and signal strength of the in-ear sound signal; divide the signal strength of the target relationship based on multiple preset signal strength thresholds to obtain multiple signal strength intervals; determine the frequency sub-range corresponding to each of the signal strength intervals; and adjust at least one of the dividing point, the preset signal strength threshold, and the non-initial value compression ratio based on the corresponding relationship between the preset signal strength and the compression ratio and the frequency sub-range.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present application, negative feedback adjustment of the compression module through the in-ear sound signal helps to improve the accuracy of compressing the ambient sound signal, so that a good compression effect can be achieved in different scenarios, effectively reducing the possibility of large instantaneous sounds being played and heard by the user. Among them, the compression ratio required when compressing ambient sound signals of different signal strengths to the same sound volume is different. In an embodiment of the present application, the signal strength intervals can be divided according to the signal strength. After the signal strength intervals are divided, the corresponding crossover point, preset signal strength threshold or non-initial value compression ratio can be quickly determined according to the signal strength corresponding to the signal strength interval, which helps to improve the efficiency of adjusting the compression module and reduce the possibility of users hearing large noises. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other relevant drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a structural block diagram of an earphone provided in one embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a compression effect provided by an embodiment of the present application; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a wide dynamic range compression module provided in one embodiment of the present application; Figure 4 A second structural block diagram of a headset provided in an embodiment of the present application; Figure 5 This is a flowchart of an ambient sound processing method provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0023] Icon: external microphone 110; compression module 120; bandpass filter 121; judgment circuit 122; compression circuit 123; speaker 130; biquad filter module 140; built-in microphone 150; processor 160. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0025] First, an embodiment of the present application provides a headset, which includes but is not limited to a headset and a true wireless headset, and its structure includes but is not limited to an in-ear headset, a semi-in-ear headset, etc., and no further restrictions are made here.

[0026] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 The headset includes an external microphone 110, a compression module 120 and a speaker 130. Figure 1 As shown, the external microphone 110, the compression module 120 and the speaker 130 are connected in sequence. The headset may also include other structures, such as a processor 160, a communication module, etc., and the details can be referred to the prior art and will not be expanded here.

[0027] The external microphone 110 is used to collect ambient sound signals. The external microphone 110 refers to a microphone used for ambient sound outside the ear, not specifically a microphone located outside the earphone. In the embodiments of this application, the external microphone 110 can be located solely on the earphone housing, be part of the earphone, or be an external microphone, without limitation.

[0028] The compression module 120 is configured to compress the ambient sound signal based on a preset compression ratio.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present application, the compression module 120 includes a signal compression circuit 123 for compressing the input signal to reduce the dynamic range of the signal. The prior art includes many types of signal compression circuits 123. In an embodiment of the present application, the compression module 120 may include an existing signal compression circuit 123, and the implementation method of the signal compression will not be repeated here.

[0030] Signal compression parameters include the compression threshold and the compression ratio. The compression threshold determines whether a signal is compressed; signals exceeding the threshold are compressed. The compression ratio, also known as the compression ratio, refers to the degree to which the signal is compressed. A higher compression ratio indicates a greater degree of compression.

[0031] In an embodiment of the present application, the compression module 120 is provided with a preset compression ratio, which includes an initial value compression ratio of 1 and a non-initial value compression ratio greater than 1. Since the initial value compression ratio is 1, the received signal is not actually compressed or the signal is not changed, but the signal still passes through the compression module 120. With respect to the non-initial value compression ratio, since the non-initial value compression ratio is greater than 1, compressing the signal based on the non-initial value compression ratio can reduce the signal, thereby achieving the effect of weakening the signal.

[0032] To reduce the chances of louder ambient sounds being heard by the user, embodiments of the present application can compress louder ambient sound signals. Louder ambient sound signals have higher signal strength, so signal strength can be used as a compression threshold to determine whether an ambient sound signal needs to be compressed.

[0033] In the embodiment of the present application, the compression module 120 uses the non-initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength exceeds the preset signal strength threshold, and uses the initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength does not exceed the preset signal strength threshold.

[0034] In an embodiment of the present application, the signal strength of the received ambient sound signal is compared with a preset signal strength threshold. If it is greater than the preset signal strength threshold, it indicates that the sound corresponding to the ambient sound signal is louder and may affect the user's listening. Therefore, using a non-initial value compression ratio to compress the ambient sound signal can effectively reduce the signal strength of the ambient sound signal.

[0035] If the signal strength of the received ambient sound signal is less than the preset signal strength threshold, it indicates that the sound corresponding to the ambient sound signal is within the normal range and will not affect the user's hearing. Therefore, the initial value compression ratio can be used for compression, or it can be understood that the ambient sound signal with a signal strength less than the preset signal strength threshold is not compressed, so that the user can accurately hear the ambient sound signal.

[0036] The loudspeaker 130 is used to play the ambient sound signal compressed by the compression module 120. After the compression module 120 completes the compression, the compressed ambient sound can be played through the loudspeaker 130 so that the user can listen to the ambient sound signal.

[0037] In an embodiment of the present application, a compression module 120 is provided between the speaker 130 and the external microphone 110. All ambient sound signals pass through the compression module 120 before being played. Therefore, there is no lag in the compression of the ambient sound signal, effectively reducing the possibility of large transient sounds being heard by the user. Furthermore, the compression module 120 determines whether the ambient sound signal is compressed based on its signal strength, without having to consider the magnitude of the surrounding ambient sound to determine whether compression is necessary or the degree of compression. This effectively reduces the possibility of missed compression and the possibility of the user hearing large transient sounds, thereby protecting the user's hearing.

[0038] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the compression effect provided in one embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, before compression, the signal strength of the input ambient sound signal is the same as the signal strength of the output ambient sound signal. In this embodiment, with a preset signal strength threshold of -40dB, the ambient sound signal is compressed within the signal strength range of -40 to 0, such that the signal strength of the output ambient sound signal within this range is less than the signal strength of the input ambient sound signal.

[0039] In some embodiments of the present application, the compression module 120 may be a dynamic range compression module 120 . Dynamic range compression uniformly compresses signals of all frequency bands in ambient sound, which can effectively improve compression efficiency and reduce implementation difficulty.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present application, the ambient sound signal is a mixed sound, for example, including the sound of wind, rain, car horns, TV playback, etc. If all sounds are compressed using the same compression ratio, some smaller sounds may be difficult for users to hear after compression, thereby missing the details of the sound.

[0041] Therefore, in other embodiments of the present application, different sounds in the ambient sound signal can be distinguished and compressed with different compression ratios, thereby retaining some details of smaller sounds while reducing larger sounds.

[0042] In some other embodiments of the present application, the compression module 120 may also be a wide dynamic range compression module 120, which is used to perform wide dynamic range compression on the ambient sound signal.

[0043] In this embodiment, when wide dynamic range compression is applied to compress ambient sound signals, wide dynamic range compression can divide the ambient sound into different frequency bands, determine whether the signal strength of each frequency band is greater than a compression threshold, compress the frequency bands greater than the compression threshold with a compression ratio greater than 1, and do not compress the frequency bands less than the compression threshold or use a compression ratio of 1.

[0044] Therefore, in this embodiment, the preset signal strength threshold may include sub-signal strength thresholds corresponding to different frequency bands, and the preset compression ratio may include a non-initial value compression ratio and an initial value compression ratio corresponding to each frequency band.

[0045] Wide dynamic range compression may include: dividing the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands based on a preset frequency division point; if the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands exceeds a sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on a non-initial value compression ratio corresponding to the frequency band; and, if the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on an initial value compression ratio.

[0046] Exemplarily, the preset crossover point can divide the ambient sound into ten frequency bands. The width of each frequency band can be the same or different, and there is no restriction here. Each frequency band has a corresponding sub-signal strength threshold and a corresponding non-initial value compression ratio. The ten frequency bands have ten sub-signal strength thresholds, ten non-initial value compression ratios, and the initial value compression ratios corresponding to all frequency bands are 1.

[0047] Different types of sound have different frequency ranges (or bands). Therefore, in embodiments of the present application, the ambient sound signal can be divided based on frequency to obtain sub-signals in different frequency bands. These sub-signals are then judged using their corresponding sub-signal strength thresholds and compressed using either a non-initial compression ratio or an initial compression ratio. This approach eliminates the need for uniform compression ratios and effectively prevents some sub-signals within the ambient sound signal from being compressed too little or too much, thereby minimizing the loss of sound detail due to compression.

[0048] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a wide dynamic range compression module 120 provided in one embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the wide dynamic range compression module 120 may include a bandpass filter 121 and multiple compression channels. The bandpass filter 121 is connected to the multiple compression channels.

[0049] The bandpass filter 121 is pre-configured with multiple frequency division points. The bandpass filter 121 is used to receive the ambient sound signal, divide the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands through the pre-configured multiple frequency division points, and output the sub-signals of different frequency bands to different compression channels respectively.

[0050] like Figure 2 As shown, the bandpass filter 121 can divide the input ambient sound signal into N frequency bands of sub-signals and output the sub-signals of different frequency bands to different compression channels. The function and configuration of the bandpass filter 121 can refer to the existing technology and will not be elaborated here.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present application, each compression channel includes a judgment circuit 122 and a compression circuit 123; the judgment circuit 122 and the compression circuit 123 of each compression channel are connected to the bandpass filter 121, and the judgment circuit 122 in each compression channel is connected to the compression circuit 123.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present application, each compression channel corresponds to a different frequency band, the judgment circuit 122 of each compression channel is configured with a sub-signal strength threshold of the corresponding frequency band, and the compression circuit 123 of each compression channel is configured with a corresponding non-initial value compression ratio and an initial value compression ratio.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present application, each compression channel is configured to determine, via a determination circuit 122 within the compression channel, whether the signal strength of a received sub-signal exceeds a sub-signal strength threshold configured by the determination circuit 122. The determination circuit 122 may include a signal detection circuit and a comparison circuit. The signal detection circuit is configured to detect the signal strength of the sub-signal, and the comparison circuit is configured to compare the signal strength of the sub-signal with the corresponding sub-signal strength threshold. In other embodiments, the processor 160 may calculate the signal strength and send it to the determination circuit 122. This can be implemented in a variety of ways, which will not be further described here.

[0054] In this embodiment, if the compression channel determines through the judgment circuit 122 that the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit 122, the compression circuit 123 in the compression channel is controlled to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the configured non-initial value compression ratio; and if the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit 122, the compression circuit 123 in the compression channel is controlled to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the initial value compression ratio.

[0055] The implementation of the compression circuit 123 may refer to the existing signal compression circuit 123 and will not be elaborated here.

[0056] Finally, each compression circuit 123 may output sub-signals in different frequency bands and combine them into a compressed ambient sound signal.

[0057] In some embodiments of the present application, the sub-signal strength threshold is a level threshold. Each determination circuit 122 can be configured to: detect a target level of the received sub-signal; if the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, determine that the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the determination circuit 122; if the target level is less than the sub-signal strength threshold, determine that the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the determination circuit 122.

[0058] The signal strength can be characterized by other parameters, for example, the signal level. In this embodiment, the level of the sub-signal calculated by each compression circuit 123 can be expressed as:

[0059] Where L represents the signal strength or level of the sub-signal, max represents the maximum value, and X[i] is the time domain parameter of the sub-signal. Indicates absolute value calculation.

[0060] The compression circuit 123 generally includes a filter, which amplifies or reduces the signal through the gain of the filter. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the judgment circuit 122 can also be used to: When the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, the target non-initial value compression ratio of the compression circuit 123 is obtained; the target gain is calculated based on the preset conversion relationship, the target non-initial value compression ratio, and the target level; and the target gain is configured on the filter of the compression circuit 123 so that the filter performs dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the target gain.

[0061] In an embodiment of the present application, when compression is required, the preset conversion relationship includes a conversion relationship between a target gain and a non-initial value compression ratio and a target level; For example, in some embodiments, the preset conversion relationship can be expressed as:

[0062]

[0063] Where G represents the target gain, is the level of the sub-signal, TK represents the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, CR is the corresponding non-initial value compression ratio, is the output level.

[0064] The signal strength of the above sub-signal is a level, which is an embodiment of the present application. In other embodiments, the signal strength of the sub-signal can also be represented by other signal characteristics. The above is only an example and is not limited here.

[0065] When the signal strength of the sub-signal is less than the sub-signal strength threshold, compression is not required. In this case, the filter gain is 0, or the compression ratio of the compression circuit 123 is 1. When the signal strength of the sub-signal is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, compression is required. The gain is calculated based on the initial value compression ratio, so that the filter of the compression circuit 123 compresses the sub-signal.

[0066] The earphones have a passive noise reduction effect, that is, after the earphones are worn, the earphone shell will physically block part of the sound. The physically blocked sound is mostly high-frequency sound. Although the external microphone 110 collects the sound outside the ear, the sound it collects will still be affected to a certain extent. Therefore, the collected ambient sound signal will have a greater attenuation in the high frequency part and less attenuation in the low frequency part compared to the original sound signal. After playing the sound, the user may not be able to obtain some details in the ambient sound.

[0067] Therefore, in some embodiments of the present application, the earphone further includes a biquad filter module 140, see Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a second structural block diagram of an earphone provided by an embodiment of the present application, in which the biquad filter module 140 is connected to the external microphone 110 and the compression module 120 respectively.

[0068] The biquad filter module 140 includes one or more biquad filters. The biquad filter includes two cascaded filters, for example, two IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) filters or two FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filters. For details, reference may be made to the prior art.

[0069] The biquad filter can configure different gains for signals in different frequency bands. Thus, in an embodiment of the present application, a larger gain can be configured for high-frequency signals, and a smaller gain can be configured for low-frequency signals. Thus, the biquad filter module 140 can restore the ambient sound signal to the signal strength in the empty-ear state, where the empty-ear state refers to the signal strength without passive noise reduction, that is, the signal strength of the ambient sound signal that the user can hear directly through the ears.

[0070] Thus, the biquad filter module 140 enables users to accurately listen to ambient sound signals, reducing the problem of high-frequency attenuation and low-frequency attenuation, thereby resolving the problem of excessive low-frequency gain and insufficient high-frequency gain after amplification of the ambient sound signal. This also helps the compression module 120 accurately analyze the actual signal strength of the ambient sound signal and use a preset compression ratio for noise reduction, reducing the occurrence of excessive transient sounds while preserving sound details.

[0071] In some embodiments of the present application, the biquad filter module 140 is configured as follows: Acquire the initial test environment sound without passive noise reduction; collect the initial test environment sound through the external microphone 110, and play the initial test environment sound through the speaker 130; collect the initial test environment sound played by the earphone to obtain the target test environment sound; calculate the target configuration parameters of the biquad filter module 140 based on the initial test environment sound and the target test environment sound, and finally configure the target configuration parameters into the biquad filter module 140.

[0072] In this embodiment of the present application, the target configuration parameters are those that ensure that, after the target test environment sound is input into biquad filter module 140, the output signal of biquad filter module 140 matches the initial test environment sound. The target configuration parameters include, but are not limited to, the gain of the filter in biquad filter module 140.

[0073] When configuring the biquad filter module 140, the headphones can be placed in a laboratory and professional acoustic collection equipment can be used to collect initial test environment sounds, which can be used as a reference. Simultaneously, the target test environment sounds output by the headphones are also collected by the same acoustic collection equipment.

[0074] In an embodiment of the present application, when the structure of the biquad filter module 140 is known, the relationship of its signal processing can also be obtained. Therefore, the difference between the target test environment sound and the initial test environment sound can be calculated, thereby determining the gain of each filter in the biquad filter module 140 when the target test environment sound is the same as the initial test environment sound.

[0075] In different scenarios, the composition of ambient sound varies, resulting in different signal strengths for each sub-signal within the ambient sound. Using the same preset signal strength threshold, crossover frequency, and compression ratio may result in some sub-signals failing to be noise-reduced.

[0076] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, it is necessary to dynamically adjust at least one of the crossover point, the preset signal strength, and the preset compression ratio to meet the requirements for compressing the ambient sound signal in different scenarios.

[0077] Therefore, in one embodiment of the present application, the headset further includes a processor 160 and a built-in microphone 150 , the built-in microphone 150 is connected to the processor 160 , and the processor 160 is connected to the compression module 120 .

[0078] The built-in microphone 150 is used to collect sound signals in the ear. The types of the built-in microphone 150 and the external microphone 110 can be the same or different. The difference lies in the locations where they are set and the sound signals they collect.

[0079] The processor 160 is configured to adjust at least one of a crossover point, a preset signal strength, and a preset compression ratio based on the signal strength of the in-ear sound signal.

[0080] In an embodiment of the present application, the signal strength of the in-ear sound signal can be used to characterize the volume of the sound listened to by the user. By adjusting the crossover point, the preset signal strength threshold and the preset compression ratio through the feedback of the signal strength of the in-ear sound signal, the sound output by the compression module 120 can be maintained within a reasonable range.

[0081] For example, when the in-ear sound signal is too small, the non-initial value compression ratio can be reduced to appropriately amplify the ambient sound signal. When the in-ear sound signal is too large, the non-initial value compression ratio can be increased to compress the ambient sound signal.

[0082] For example, if the sound in a certain frequency band is continuously loud but close to the preset signal strength threshold but cannot reach the preset signal strength threshold, long-term playback may affect the user's listening experience if it is not compressed. Therefore, the preset signal strength threshold can be appropriately lowered to compress the sound in this frequency band. Conversely, if the sound in a certain frequency band is continuously quiet, indicating that the sound in this frequency band is excessively compressed, the preset signal strength threshold can be appropriately lowered to reduce the possibility of compression.

[0083] For another example, the frequency band with higher signal strength can be determined through the sound signal in the ear, and then the frequency band with higher strength can be cut out by adjusting the crossover point for precise compression.

[0084] The above description is only an example. Different adjustment methods can be configured according to actual needs, which will not be elaborated here.

[0085] In one embodiment of the present application, the processor 160 may further be configured to: perform spectrum analysis on the intra-ear sound signal to obtain a target relationship between the frequency and signal strength of the intra-ear sound signal; The signal strength of the target relationship is divided based on a plurality of preset signal strength thresholds to obtain a plurality of signal strength intervals; a frequency sub-range corresponding to each signal strength interval is determined; and based on the correspondence between the preset signal strength and the compression ratio and the frequency sub-range, at least one of the dividing point, the preset signal strength threshold and the non-initial value compression ratio is adjusted.

[0086] In an embodiment of the present application, spectrum analysis may be a Fourier transform, and the target relationship includes the relationship between the frequency and signal strength of the sound signal in the ear, that is, the different frequencies in the sound signal in the ear and the corresponding signal strengths. Thus, through the target relationship, it can be determined in which frequency bands the sound is louder and which frequency bands are smaller.

[0087] In an embodiment of the present application, the correspondence between the preset signal strength and the compression ratio includes the corresponding compression ratios when different signal strengths are compressed to the same signal strength, wherein the same signal strength refers to the preset signal strength of the user listening to the sound, which can be expressed as the reference signal strength.

[0088] In an embodiment of the present application, the crossover point, the preset signal strength threshold and the non-initial value compression ratio are adjusted to make the signal strength of the ambient sound signal after compression by the compression module 120 match the expected signal strength, for example, so that the signal strength of the compressed ambient sound signal is 50±10db.

[0089] Therefore, after determining the target relationship, the signal strength of the target relationship can be divided based on multiple preset signal strength thresholds to obtain multiple signal strength intervals. For example, the following intervals may be included: 0-40, 40-60, 60-90, and above 90. More detailed divisions can also be performed. This is only an example and should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0090] Then, a frequency sub-range corresponding to each signal strength interval is determined, wherein each signal strength interval may correspond to one or more frequency sub-ranges.

[0091] Finally, the crossover points can be set according to the frequency sub-ranges, and the corresponding preset signal strength thresholds and non-initial compression ratios can be set according to the signal strength intervals corresponding to each frequency sub-range. The values ​​of the preset signal strength thresholds and non-initial compression ratios vary depending on the circuit and device, and are not specifically limited here.

[0092] In the embodiments of the present application, negative feedback adjustment of the compression module 120 using the in-ear sound signal helps improve the accuracy of the compression of the ambient sound signal, thereby achieving a good compression effect in different scenarios and effectively reducing the possibility of large transient sounds being played and heard by the user. It is understandable that although there may be a certain delay in the adjustment of the compression module 120 by the processor 160, because the compression module 120 itself has a certain compression capability, even when no adjustment is made, the compression module 120 can still effectively suppress large transient sounds.

[0093] Based on the same inventive concept, the present application also provides an ambient sound processing method, which can be applied to the headphones provided in the above embodiments. Figure 5 , Figure 5 This is a flow chart of an ambient sound processing method provided in one embodiment of the present application. The ambient sound processing method includes: S510 collects ambient sound signals through an external microphone.

[0094] S520: Compress the ambient sound signal based on a preset compression ratio through a compression module.

[0095] Among them, the preset compression ratio includes an initial value compression ratio of 1 and a non-initial value compression ratio greater than 1. The compression module uses the non-initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength exceeds the preset signal strength threshold, and uses the initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength does not exceed the preset signal strength threshold.

[0096] S530: Play the ambient sound signal compressed by the compression module through the speaker.

[0097] In one embodiment, the compression module is a wide dynamic range compression module. The preset signal strength thresholds include sub-signal strength thresholds corresponding to different frequency bands, and the preset compression ratios include a non-initial value compression ratio and an initial value compression ratio corresponding to each frequency band. S520 may include compressing the ambient sound signal using the wide dynamic range compression module based on the preset compression ratio.

[0098] In one embodiment, the ambient sound signal is compressed based on a preset compression ratio through a wide dynamic range compression module, including: dividing the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands based on a preset frequency division point; if the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, then performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on the non-initial value compression ratio corresponding to the frequency band; and, if the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, then performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on the initial value compression ratio.

[0099] In one embodiment, a wide dynamic range compression module includes a bandpass filter and multiple compression channels, each of which includes a judgment circuit and a compression circuit. The judgment circuit and compression circuit of each compression channel are both connected to the bandpass filter, and the judgment circuit in each compression channel is connected to the compression circuit. The bandpass filter is pre-configured with multiple frequency division points, each compression channel corresponds to a different frequency band, the judgment circuit of each compression channel is configured with a sub-signal strength threshold for the corresponding frequency band, and the compression circuit of each compression channel is configured with a corresponding non-initial value compression ratio and the initial value compression ratio. The ambient sound signal is divided into sub-signals of different frequency bands based on the preset frequency division points, including: the bandpass filter receives the ambient sound signal, divides the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands using the pre-configured multiple frequency division points, and outputs the sub-signals of different frequency bands to different compression channels.

[0100] After dividing the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands based on a preset frequency division point, the method further includes: each compression channel determines, through a judgment circuit within the compression channel, whether the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds a sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit.

[0101] If the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands exceeds a sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, dynamic range compression is performed on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on a non-initial value compression ratio corresponding to the frequency band, including: if the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit, controlling the compression circuit in the compression channel to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the configured non-initial value compression ratio; Furthermore, if the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, dynamic range compression is performed on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on the initial value compression ratio, including: if the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit, controlling the compression circuit in the compression channel to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the initial value compression ratio.

[0102] In one embodiment, the sub-signal strength threshold is a level threshold, and each compression channel determines whether the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit through a judgment circuit within the compression channel, including: for each compression channel, detecting a target level of the received sub-signal; if the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, determining that the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit; if the target level is less than the sub-signal strength threshold, determining that the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit.

[0103] In one embodiment, the compression circuit includes a filter, and the compression circuit compresses the received sub-signal through the filter. The method also includes: for the judgment circuit of any compression channel, when the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, obtaining the target non-initial value compression ratio of the compression circuit; calculating the target gain based on a preset conversion relationship, the target non-initial value compression ratio, and the target level; the preset conversion relationship includes the conversion relationship between the target gain and the non-initial value compression ratio and the target level; configuring the target gain to the filter of the compression circuit so that the filter performs dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the target gain.

[0104] In one embodiment, the headset further includes a biquad filter module, wherein the biquad filter module is connected to the external microphone and the compression module, respectively. Before step S520, the method further includes: restoring the ambient sound signal to the signal strength without passive noise reduction by the biquad filter module.

[0105] In one embodiment, the biquad filter module is configured in the following manner: obtaining an initial test environment sound without passive noise reduction; collecting the initial test environment sound through the external microphone, and playing the initial test environment sound through the speaker; collecting the initial test environment sound played by the earphone to obtain a target test environment sound; calculating the target configuration parameters of the biquad filter module based on the initial test environment sound and the target test environment sound; wherein the target configuration parameters are: after the target test environment sound is input into the biquad filter module, the target configuration parameters of the signal output by the biquad filter module match the initial test environment sound; configuring the target configuration parameters into the biquad filter module.

[0106] In one embodiment, the headset further comprises a processor and a built-in microphone, the built-in microphone being connected to the processor, which in turn is connected to the compression module. The method further comprises: collecting an in-ear sound signal via the built-in microphone; and adjusting, via the processor, at least one of the crossover frequency point, the preset signal strength, and the preset compression ratio based on the signal strength of the in-ear sound signal.

[0107] In one embodiment, the processor adjusts at least one of the crossover point, the preset signal strength and the preset compression ratio based on the signal strength of the in-ear sound signal, including: performing spectral analysis on the in-ear sound signal to obtain a target relationship between the frequency and signal strength of the in-ear sound signal; dividing the signal strength of the target relationship based on multiple preset signal strength thresholds to obtain multiple signal strength intervals; determining the frequency sub-range corresponding to each of the signal strength intervals; and adjusting at least one of the crossover point, the preset signal strength threshold and the non-initial value compression ratio based on the corresponding relationship between the preset signal strength and the compression ratio and the frequency sub-range.

[0108] In the embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that the disclosed methods and devices may also be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The functional modules in the various embodiments of the present invention may be integrated together to form an independent part, or each module may exist independently, or two or more modules may be integrated to form an independent part.

[0109] The above embodiments can be freely combined without conflict, and the embodiments obtained by the combination are included in the protection scope of this application.

[0110] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

[0111] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "includes," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus comprising the element.

Claims

1. A headset, characterized in that: The headset includes an external microphone, a compression module and a speaker, and the compression module is connected to the external microphone; The external microphone is used to collect ambient sound signals; The compression module is configured to compress the ambient sound signal based on a preset compression ratio; wherein the preset compression ratio includes an initial value compression ratio of 1 and a non-initial value compression ratio greater than 1, the compression module using the non-initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength exceeds a preset signal strength threshold, and using the initial value compression ratio for signals whose signal strength does not exceed the preset signal strength threshold; The loudspeaker is used to play the ambient sound signal compressed by the compression module.

2. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein The compression module is a wide dynamic range compression module; the preset signal strength threshold includes sub-signal strength thresholds corresponding to different frequency bands, and the preset compression ratio includes a non-initial value compression ratio and an initial value compression ratio corresponding to each frequency band; The wide dynamic range compression module is used to perform wide dynamic range compression on the ambient sound signal; In which, the wide dynamic range compression includes: dividing the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands based on a preset frequency division point; if the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, then performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on the non-initial value compression ratio corresponding to the frequency band; and, if the signal strength of a sub-signal corresponding to any frequency band among the sub-signals of different frequency bands does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold corresponding to the frequency band, then performing dynamic range compression on the sub-signal corresponding to the frequency band based on the initial value compression ratio.

3. The earphone according to claim 2, wherein The wide dynamic range compression module includes a bandpass filter and multiple compression channels, each of which includes a judgment circuit and a compression circuit; the judgment circuit and the compression circuit of each compression channel are both connected to the bandpass filter, and the judgment circuit in each compression channel is connected to the compression circuit; The bandpass filter is pre-configured with a plurality of frequency division points; Each compression channel corresponds to a different frequency band, and the judgment circuit of each compression channel is configured with a sub-signal strength threshold of the corresponding frequency band, and the compression circuit of each compression channel is configured with a corresponding non-initial value compression ratio and the initial value compression ratio; The bandpass filter receives the ambient sound signal, divides the ambient sound signal into sub-signals of different frequency bands through the pre-configured multiple frequency division points, and outputs the sub-signals of different frequency bands to different compression channels respectively; Each compression channel is used to determine, through a determination circuit within the compression channel, whether the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds a sub-signal strength threshold configured by the determination circuit; If the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit, the compression circuit in the compression channel is controlled to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the configured non-initial value compression ratio; and if the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit, the compression circuit in the compression channel is controlled to perform dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the initial value compression ratio.

4. The earphone according to claim 3, wherein The sub-signal strength threshold is a level threshold; Each of the judgment circuits is configured to: detect a target level of the received sub-signal; if the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, determine that the signal strength of the received sub-signal exceeds the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit; If the target level is less than the sub-signal strength threshold, it is determined that the signal strength of the received sub-signal does not exceed the sub-signal strength threshold configured by the judgment circuit.

5. The earphone according to claim 4, characterized in that The compression circuit includes a filter, and the compression circuit compresses the received sub-signal through the filter; The judgment circuit is further used for: When the target level is greater than the sub-signal strength threshold, obtaining a target non-initial value compression ratio of the compression circuit; Calculating a target gain based on a preset conversion relationship, the target non-initial value compression ratio, and the target level; the preset conversion relationship includes a conversion relationship between the target gain and the non-initial value compression ratio and the target level; The target gain is configured on a filter of the compression circuit so that the filter performs dynamic range compression on the received sub-signal based on the target gain.

6. The earphone according to claim 2, wherein The headset further includes a biquad filter module, wherein the biquad filter module is connected to the external microphone and the compression module respectively; The biquad filter module is used to restore the ambient sound signal to the signal strength without passive noise reduction.

7. The earphone according to claim 6, characterized in that The biquad filter module is configured as follows: Obtain the initial test environment sound without passive noise reduction; collecting the initial test environment sound through the external microphone and playing the initial test environment sound through the speaker; Collecting the initial test environment sound played by the earphone to obtain the target test environment sound; Calculating target configuration parameters of the biquad filter module based on the initial test environment sound and the target test environment sound; wherein the target configuration parameters are target configuration parameters that ensure that, after the target test environment sound is input into the biquad filter module, the signal output by the biquad filter module matches the initial test environment sound; The target configuration parameters are configured into the biquad filter module.

8. The earphone according to any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that: The headset further includes a processor and a built-in microphone, wherein the built-in microphone is connected to the processor, and the processor is connected to the compression module; Wherein, the built-in microphone is used to collect sound signals in the ear; The processor is configured to adjust at least one of the crossover point, the preset signal strength, and the preset compression ratio based on the signal strength of the in-ear sound signal.

9. The earphone according to claim 8, characterized in that The processor is configured to: Performing spectrum analysis on the in-ear sound signal to obtain a target relationship between the frequency and signal strength of the in-ear sound signal; Dividing the signal strength of the target relationship based on a plurality of preset signal strength thresholds to obtain a plurality of signal strength intervals; Determining a frequency sub-range corresponding to each of the signal strength intervals; At least one of the frequency division point, the preset signal strength threshold, and the non-initial value compression ratio is adjusted based on a preset correspondence between signal strength and compression ratio and the frequency sub-range.

10. A method for processing environmental sound, characterized in that: Applicable to the earphone according to any one of claims 1 to 9; the ambient sound processing method comprises: collecting ambient sound signals through the external microphone; compressing the ambient sound signal based on a preset compression ratio by a compression module; wherein the preset compression ratio includes an initial value compression ratio of 1 and a non-initial value compression ratio greater than 1, the compression module using the non-initial value compression ratio for signals with a signal strength exceeding a preset signal strength threshold, and using the initial value compression ratio for signals with a signal strength not exceeding the preset signal strength threshold; The ambient sound signal compressed by the compression module is played through the speaker.

Images