Aggregated measurement metering for loudspeaker arrays

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatuses can measure, monitor, and / or meter one or more characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays. These systems, methods, and apparatuses can measure one or more raw measurement characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. These systems, methods, and apparatuses can advantageously aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics at different levels of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. These systems, methods, and apparatuses can meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays at the different levels of aggregation in real-time.

Description

AGGREGATED MEASUREMENT METERING FOR LOUDSPEAKER ARRAYSCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of United States Non-Provisional PatentApplication No. 19 / 339,490, filed September 25, 2025, and United States Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 700,352, filed September 27, 2024, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] The practice of metering loudspeakers during concerts and live performances is fundamental to maintaining optimal audio quality and reliable system performance. This involves utilizing various metering tools, such as peak and RMS meters, to closely monitor the output levels of loudspeakers. By carefully tracking these levels, audio engineers can make necessary adjustments to prevent distortion, clipping, and potential damage to the speakers. This diligence in metering is essential for ensuring clarity and fidelity, especially in settings characterized by dynamic sound fluctuations.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] The present disclosure is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears. In the accompanying drawings:

[0004] FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary audio environment having exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0005] FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary loudspeaker array that can be implemented within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0006] FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary audio monitoring server that can be implemented within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0007] FIG. 4A through FIG. 4C illustrates exemplary meters that can be implemented within an exemplary monitoring workstation within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0008] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary operational control flow for measuring exemplary raw measurement characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes of the exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0009] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary operational control flow for aggregating the exemplary raw measurement characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes of the exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0010] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary operational control flow for metering exemplary mtering characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes of the exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0011] FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary computer system that can be implemented within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0012] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing features of the provided subject matter. Specific examples of components and arrangements are as described herein to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. The present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and / or letters in the various examples. This repetition does not dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and / or configurations discussed. It is noted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. The followingdisclosure may include the terms “about” or “substantially” to indicate the value of a given quantity can vary based on a particular technology. Based on the technology, the term “about” or “substantially” can indicate a value of a given quantity that varies within, for example, 1-15% of the value (e.g., ±1%, ±2%, ±5%, ±10%, or ±15% of the value).OVERVIEW

[0014] Systems, methods, and apparatuses can measure, monitor, and / or meter one or more characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes of one or more loudspeaker arrays. These systems, methods, and apparatuses can measure one or more raw measurement characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. These systems, methods, and apparatuses can advantageously aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes at different levels of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. These systems, methods, and apparatuses can meter the one or more metering characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes of the one or more loudspeaker arrays at the different levels of aggregation in real-time.EXEMPLARY AUDIO ENVIRONMENT HAVING EXEMPLARY LOUDSPEAKER ARRAYS

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary audio environment having exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, an audio environment 100 can measure, monitor, and / or meter one or more characteristics, parameters, and / or attributes, collectively referred to as characteristics for simplicity, of loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 77. In some embodiments, the audio environment 100 can measure one or more raw measurement characteristics of loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? can include tens, hundreds, and even more individual components, assemblies, drivers, or the like, collectively referred to as drivers for simplicity, with each of these individual drivers generating its own raw measurement characteristics. For example, each loudspeaker array from among the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? can include up to ninety-six (96) drivers. In this example, each of these loudspeaker arrays can generate 19,200 measurements of the one or more raw measurement characteristics every tenth of a secondor detailed monitoring and / or metering of the one or more characteristics of loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ??. As a result, the collective measurements from all of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m can quickly become overwhelming, posing challenges for processing and managing this information effectively within the audio environment 100. In some embodiments, the audio environment 100 can advantageously aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at different levels of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the different levels of aggregation can include a driver level of aggregation, an array level of aggregation, and / or a system level of aggregation, among others, to beneficially facilitate better management of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the driver level of aggregation represents aggregation of one or more raw measurement characteristics of one or more drivers of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?, the array level of aggregation represents aggregation of one or more raw measurement characteristics of more than one loudspeaker array from among the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?, or the system level of aggregation represents aggregation of one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the audio environment 100 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or to system level of aggregation, among others, to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In some embodiments, the audio environment 100 is capable of displaying the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the different levels of aggregation. In these embodiments, the audio environment 100 is capable of metering the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m at the different levels of aggregation in real-time. For example, the audio environment 100 can meter the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others, in real-time for monitoring to ensure that the sounds generated by the driver, the array, and / or the system are within acceptable ranges to prevent clipping or distortion and / or to maintain optimal sound quality, among others, to provide some examples.

[0016] In some embodiments, the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m can include tens, hundreds, and even more individual drivers with each of these individual drivers generating its own one or more raw measurement characteristics. For example, these loudspeaker arrays can include up to ninety-six (96) drivers. In this example, each of these loudspeaker arrays can generate 19,200 individual raw measurement data points every tenth of a second. In some embodiments, the exemplary audio environment, as to be described herein, can effectively transform these voluminous raw measurement data points into clear, meaningful summaries. This allows the exemplary audio environment to manage complex audio setups by transforming thousands of individual data points

[0017] In some embodiments, the audio environment 100 can be included in a venue. In these embodiments, the venue can represent a music venue, for example, a music theater, a music club, and / or a concert hall, a sporting venue, for example, an arena, a convention center, and / or a stadium, and / or any other suitable venue that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize the audio environment 100 can be included in other spaces, such as public transportation hubs, corporate facilities, educational facilities, museums and exhibition spaces, and / or shopping centers and malls, among others, to provide some examples, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the audio environment 100 can include the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? and an audio monitoring system 108. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m enable the reproduction of live and / or recorded sound within the audio environment 100. In some embodiments, the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? represent wave field synthesis (WFS) loudspeaker arrays with beamforming capabilities. In some embodiments, the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m can emit precisely controlled sound waves throughout the audio environment 100 to create highly localized and customizable audio zones within the audio environment 100. For ease of description, only the loudspeaker array 102.1 from among the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? is to be described in further detail. Those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that the loudspeaker arrays 102.2 through 102. / 7? as illustrated in FIG. 1 can be implemented in a substantially similar manner.

[0018] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can include one or more drivers. In some embodiments, the drivers can depend on, for example,system design, venue, and / or intended audio experience, among others. In some embodiments, these drivers can include one or more super tweeters, one or more tweeters, one or more mid-range speakers, one or more woofers, and / or one or more subwoofers, among others, to provide some examples. In an exemplary embodiment, these drivers can include up to ninety-six (96) loudspeakers, or drivers, with at most eighty (80) of these loudspeakers, or drivers, being tweeters. In some embodiments, these drivers can be configured and arranged in one or more multi-layered matrix configuration that allows for precise sound control across horizontal and / or vertical axes. In these embodiments, these drivers can be further configured and arranged in one or more series of rows and / or columns to form one or more matrices of drivers that can be positioned within multiple audio layers to form the multi-layered matrix configuration.

[0019] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can provide one or more raw measurement characteristics of the drivers. In some embodiments, these drivers can include one or more amplifiers, limiters, cooling fans, processors, memories, loudspeakers, power supplies, transceivers, among others. In these embodiments, the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the drivers can include, or be related to, various temperatures and / or output voltages of the one or more amplifiers, various attack times, hold times, release times, and / or gain reductions of the one or more limiters, various speeds and / or currents drawn by the one or more cooling fans, various usages and / or temperatures of the one or more processors and / or memories, various voltages, temperatures and / or impedances of the one or more loudspeakers, various voltages and / or temperatures and / or impedances of the one or more power supplies, various bandwidth, speed, and / or losses of messages flowing in the audio environment 100, various clock delays, clock jitters, clock frequency adjustment, and / or numbers of audio streams routed by the one or more transceivers, among others, to provide some examples. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the drivers. In these embodiments, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the drivers over a discrete period in time, for example, once every fraction of a second, once every few fractions of a second, once every second, once every few seconds, once every minute, once every few minutes, once every hour, and / or once every few hours, among others. Alternatively, or in addition, theloudspeaker array 102.1 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the drivers in response to an event, for example, one or more commands from the audio monitoring server 104 and / or the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.w. In some embodiments, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the drivers for the different levels of aggregation, for example, the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others.

[0020] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can provide one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker array 102.1 to the audio monitoring server 104. In some embodiments, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can package the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker array 102.1 into a standardized structure, for example, headers, payloads, and / or trailers, among others, to provide the one or more raw measurement data messages 150.1 for transmission to the audio monitoring server 104. In some embodiments, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can encode the one or more raw measurement data messages 150.1 in accordance with one or more wireline communication standards or protocols, such as a version of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 communication standard, also referred as Ethernet, such as 50G Ethernet, 100G Ethernet, 200G Ethernet, and / or 400G Ethernet to provide some examples, a version of a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) communication standard, such as DOCSIS 3.0, DOCSIS 3.1, and / or DOCSIS 3.1 Full Duplex to provide some examples, and / or or any other wireline communication standard that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Alternatively, or in addition to, the loudspeaker array 102.1 can encode the one or more raw measurement data messages 150.1 in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards or protocols, such as 3G, 4G, 4G long term evolution (LEE), and / or 5G to provide some examples, a version of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (I.E.E.E.) 802.11 communication standard, for example, 802.11a, 802.11b / g / n, 802. l lh, and / or 802.1 lac which are collectively referred to as Wi-Fi, an I.E.E.E. 802.16 communication standard, also referred to as WiMax, a version of a Bluetooth communication standard, and / or or any other wireless communication standard or protocol that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0021] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the audio monitoring system 108 can include an audio monitoring server 104 and audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.W. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the audio monitoring server 104 can advantageously aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the different levels of aggregation to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? to the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / ?. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102. m over a discrete period in time, for example, once every fraction of a second, once every few fractions of a second, once every second, once every few seconds, once every minute, once every few minutes, once every hour, and / or once every few hours, among others. Alternatively, or in addition, the audio monitoring server 104 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through I 02. / 7? in response to an event, for example, one or more commands from the audio monitoring server 104 and / or the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / ?. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can access the one or more raw measurement data messages 150.1 through 150. m having the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can receive the one or more raw measurement data messages150.1 through 150. / ?? from the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. Alternatively, or in addition to, the audio monitoring server 104 can decode the one or more raw measurement data messages 150.1 through 150. / ?? to recover the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can store the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m for later retrieval. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can supplement, replace, modify, and / or delete, among others, previously stored raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? in response to recovering the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?.

[0022] After recovering the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ??, the audio monitoring server 104 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through102. m to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 77. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m at one or more of the different levels of aggregation, for example, at the driver level of aggregation, at the array level of aggregation, and / or at the system level of aggregation, among others, to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102 / 7? at these different levels of aggregation. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can identify one or more raw measurement characteristics from among the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102. m that are to be aggregated and / or one or more levels of aggregation, for example, the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others, that are to be performed on the one or more raw measurement characteristics. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can apply various filtering capabilities, for example, source address filtering, to the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102.m; inspect the content of the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102 / 7? for specific payloads, flags, or patterns, among others, and / or analyze the content of the one or more characteristics of the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m for timestamps, packet sizes, and / or sequence numbers, among others, to provide some examples to identify the one or more raw measurement characteristics that are to be aggregated.

[0023] After identifying the one or more raw measurement characteristics that are to be aggregated, the audio monitoring server 104 can implement a packet aggregation function, method, procedure, routine, algorithm, action, process, operation, or the like to aggregate these raw measurement characteristics of at the one or more of the different levels of aggregation to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102.m. As part of this packet aggregation function, method, procedure, routine, algorithm, action, process, operation, or the like, the audio monitoring server 104 can collect the one or more raw measurement characteristics that are to be aggregated to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m. After collecting the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the drivers, the audio monitoring server 104 can package the one or more metering characteristics of theloudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m into a standardized structure, for example, headers, payloads, and / or trailers, among others, to provide metering data messages 152.1 through 152 / z. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can encode the metering data messages 152.1 through 152. / / in accordance with the one or more wireline communication standards or protocols and / or the one or more wireless communication standards or protocols as described herein.

[0024] The audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / / are capable of displaying the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the different levels of aggregation. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / ? can access the metering data messages 152.1 through 152.7? having the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / 7 can receive the metering data messages 152.1 through 152.?? from the audio monitoring server 104. Alternatively, or in addition to, the audio monitoring workstations106.1 through 106. / 7 can decode the metering data messages 152.1 through 152.77 to recover the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102.777. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 can store the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102.777 for later retrieval. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 can supplement, replace, modify, and / or delete, among others, previously stored aggregated characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102.77 in response to recovering the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102.777.

[0025] After recovering the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102.777, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 are capable of metering the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102.777 at the different levels of aggregation in real-time. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 are capable of metering the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102.777 at the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others, in real-time for monitoring to ensure that the sounds generated by the driver, the array, and / or the system are within acceptable ranges to prevent clipping or distortionand / or to maintain optimal sound quality, among others, to provide some examples. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / / are capable of visualizing the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 77 at the different levels of aggregation in terms of, for example, amplitude, level, and / or dynamics, among others, using one or more audio meters, for example, volume unit (VU) meters, peak meters, Root Mean Square (RMS) meters, Loudness Units Full Scale (LUFS) meters, spectral meters, phase meters, and / or loudness meters, among others. In these embodiments, these audio meters can be characterized as advantageously providing near immediate visual feedback at the driver level, the array level, and / or the system level, among others, to provide consistency, clipping prevention, loudness control, dynamic range management, frequency balance, and / or phase monitoring to the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77.

[0026] In some embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.W can advantageously provide statistical metering of the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 can determine one or more statistical parameters for the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the different levels of aggregation. Alternatively, or in addition to, the audio monitoring server 104 can determine the one or more statistical parameters for the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? at the different levels of aggregation. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 104 can include the one or more statistical parameters for the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? at the different levels of aggregation within the metering data messages 152.1 through 152.77. In some embodiments, the one or more statistical parameters can include one or more means, medians, modes, ranges, variances, standard deviations, percentiles, quartiles, correlation coefficients, confidence intervals, and / or z- scores, among others, of the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 can integrate the one or more audio meters with these statistical parameters to enhance the understanding and monitoring of the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ??. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.7? can provide graphical displays, statistical annotations,color-coded indicators, histograms and spectral analysis, dynamic updates, and / or alerts and notifications, among others, for the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 77 through the statistical metering.EXEMPLARY LOUDSPEAKER ARRAY THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE EXEMPLARY AUDIO ENVIRONMENT

[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary loudspeaker array that can be implemented within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, a loudspeaker array, such as one or more of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m to provide an example, represents a wave field synthesis (WFS) loudspeaker array with beamforming capabilities. In these embodiments, the loudspeaker array can emit precisely controlled sound waves throughout an audio environment, such as the audio environment 100 to provide an example, to create highly localized and customizable audio zones within the audio environment. In some embodiments, the loudspeaker array can include one or more drivers as described herein. An exemplary driver, referred to as a loudspeaker driver 200 in FIG. 2 for simplicity, from among these drivers of the loudspeaker is to be as described herein. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the loudspeaker driver 200 includes audio channels 202.1 through 2O2.r and a driver controller 204.

[0028] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the audio channels 202.1 through 2O2.r feed streams of sound into individual loudspeakers in the loudspeaker driver 200. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each audio channel from among the audio channels 202.1 through 202. r can include one or more loudspeakers 206, one or more amplifiers 208, and one or more limiters 210. In some embodiments, the one or more loudspeakers 206 can include one or more super tweeters, one or more tweeters, one or more mid-range speakers, one or more woofers, and / or one or more subwoofers, among others, to provide some examples. In an exemplary embodiment, the audio channels 202.1 through 2O2.r can include up to ninety-six (96) loudspeakers, or drivers, with at most eighty (80) of these loudspeakers, or drivers, being tweeters. The one or more amplifiers 208 represent one or more audio amplifiers that increase the power of the streams of sound being fed into the one or more loudspeakers 206. In some embodiments, these audio amplifiers can include one or more preamplifiers, one or more power amplifiers, and / or one or more integrated amplifiers having the one or more preamplifiers and the one or more power amplifiers,among others, to provide some examples. In some embodiments, the one or more amplifiers 208 can be implemented as, or can include, one or more class A audio amplifiers, class B audio amplifiers, class AB audio amplifiers, and / or class D audio amplifiers, among others, to provide some examples. The one or more limiters 210 represent one or more dynamic range processors to control, for example, the maximum power of the streams of sound being fed into the one or more loudspeakers 206. In some embodiments, the one or more limiters 210 can prevent the maximum power of the streams of sound being fed into the one or more loudspeakers 206 from exceeding a threshold to effectively prevent the loudest parts of these streams from distorting or damaging the one or more loudspeakers 206.

[0029] The driver controller 204 controls overall operation of the audio channels 202.1 through 202. r. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the one or more limiters 210 can be implemented in firmware, software application, routines, instructions, or the like that are executed by the driver controller 204. As described herein, the loudspeaker driver 200 represents a wave field synthesis (WFS) loudspeaker array with beamforming capabilities. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the driver controller 204 can include a driver processor 212 that can utilize beamforming, WFS, and / or any combination thereof can be used to precisely control the direction, shape, and placement of various sound waves in the audio environment to create immersive audio experiences. Generally, wave field synthesis (WFS) represents a spatial audio rendering technique that allows sound fields to be created and controlled with precision. In some embodiments, the driver processor 212 can precisely control the phases and / or amplitudes of the streams of sound being fed into the one or more loudspeakers 206 to advantageously control how these sound waves combine, shaping the direction, focus, and spread of these sound waves in the audio environment to effectively generate sound waves that appear to originate from virtual sound sources. Beamforming allows the exemplary loudspeaker arrays as described herein to control and direct sound in specific focused beams. In some embodiments, the driver processor 212 can cause the one or more loudspeakers 206 to deliver sound to targeted areas or listeners within the audio environment with minimal interface or unwanted sound dispersion. In these embodiments, the driver processor 212 can further control the phase and / or the amplitudes of the sound waves emitted by the one or more loudspeakers 206 to create narrow or wide beams of sound that are aimed at specific locations with the audio environment to provide unprecedented control over sound placement. In some embodiments, the driver processor212 can cause the one or more loudspeakers 206 to generate focused beams of sound that can be directed to specific listening zones, while beneficially minimizing interference and / or reflections in unwanted areas. In these embodiments, the driver processor 212 can precisely control the shape and the intensity of the sound waves at these specific listening zones.

[0030] Moreover, the driver processor 212 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker driver 200. In some embodiments, the driver processor 212 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the audio channels 202.1 through 2O2.r over a discrete period in time, for example, once every fraction of a second, once every few fractions of a second, once every second, once every few seconds, once every minute, once every few minutes, once every hour, and / or once every few hours, among others. Alternatively, or in addition, the driver processor 212 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the audio channels 202.1 through 202. r in response to an event, for example, one or more commands from the audio monitoring server 104 and / or the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. n. In some embodiments, these commands can dynamically configure the one or more characteristics of the audio channels 202.1 through 2O2.r that are to be measured, calculated, estimated, and / or derived by the driver processor 212. In some embodiments, the driver processor 212 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the audio channels 202.1 through 2O2.r for the different levels of aggregation, for example, the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others.

[0031] In some embodiments, the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker driver 200 can include, or be related to, various temperatures and / or output voltages of the one or more amplifiers 208, various attack times, hold times, release times, and / or gain reductions of the one or more limiters 210, various speeds and / or currents drawn by the one or more cooling fans (not illustrated in FIG. 2) within the driver controller 204, various usages and / or temperatures of the driver processor 212 and / or one or more memories (not illustrated in FIG. 2), various voltages, temperatures and / or impedances of the one or more loudspeakers 204, various voltages and / or temperatures and / or impedances of the one or more power supplies not illustrated in FIG. 2) within the driver controller 204, various bandwidth, speed, and / or losses of messages flowing in the audio environment,various clock delays, clock jitters, clock frequency adjustment, and / or numbers of audio streams routed by one or more transceivers not illustrated in FIG. 2) within the driver controller 204, among others, to provide some examples. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the driver processor 212 can provide the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker driver 200 to the audio monitoring server 104 in a substantially similar manner as the loudspeaker 102.1 as described herein.EXEMPLARY AUDIO MONITORING SERVER THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE EXEMPLARY AUDIO ENVIRONMENT

[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary audio monitoring server that can be implemented within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. An audio monitoring server 300 can provide one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? to the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / ? to provide an example. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the audio monitoring server 300 can include a message broker 302 and a measurement aggregator 304. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the message broker 302 and / or the measurement aggregator 304 can be implemented in firmware, software application, routines, instructions, or the like that are executed by the audio monitoring server 300. Although the message broker 302 and / or the measurement aggregator 304 can be as described herein as performing certain actions, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that such descriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions in fact result from the audio monitoring server 300 executing the message broker 302 and / or the measurement aggregator 304. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring server 300 can represent an exemplary embodiment of the audio monitoring server 104.

[0033] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the message broker 302 can be characterized as being an interface between the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? and the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / ?. In some embodiments, the message broker 302 can receive the one or more raw measurement data messages 150.1 through 150 / 77 from the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. In these embodiments, the message broker 302 can decode the one or more raw measurement data messages 150.1 through 150 / 7? to recover the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m. In some embodiments, the message broker 302can store the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? for later retrieval. In these embodiments, the message broker 302 can supplement, replace, modify, and / or delete, among others, previously stored raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? in response to recovering the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102. / ??.

[0034] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the measurement aggregator 304 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102. / ?? recover by the message broker 302 to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m. In some embodiments, the measurement aggregator 304 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? at one or more of the different levels of aggregation, for example, at the driver level of aggregation, at the array level of aggregation, and / or at the system level of aggregation, among others, to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through I 02. / 7? at these different levels of aggregation. In some embodiments, the measurement aggregator 304 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m over a discrete period in time, for example, once every fraction of a second, once every few fractions of a second, once every second, once every few seconds, once every minute, once every few minutes, once every hour, and / or once every few hours, among others. Alternatively, or in addition, the measurement aggregator 304 one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays102.1 through 102 / 7? in response to an event, for example, one or more commands from the audio monitoring server 104 and / or the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. n. In some embodiments, the measurement aggregator 304 can implement a packet aggregation function, method, procedure, routine, algorithm, action, process, operation, or the like to aggregate these raw measurement characteristics identified by the message broker at the one or more of the different levels of aggregation to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7?. As part of this packet aggregation function, method, procedure, routine, algorithm, action, process, operation, or the like, the measurement aggregator 304 can collect the one or more rawmeasurement characteristics that are to be aggregated to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 77.

[0035] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the message broker 302 can package the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? collected by the measurement aggregator 304 into a standardized structure, for example, headers, payloads, and / or trailers, among others, to provide the metering data messages 152.1 through 152. / 7. In some embodiments, the message broker 302 can encode the metering data messages 152.1 through 152.77 in accordance with the one or more wireline communication standards or protocols and / or the one or more wireless communication standards or protocols as described herein.EXEMPLARY MONITORING WORKSTATION THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE EXEMPLARY AUDIO ENVIRONMENT

[0036] FIG. 4A through FIG. 4C illustrates exemplary meters that can be implemented within an exemplary monitoring workstation within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.7? are capable of displaying the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the different levels of aggregation. In these embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 are capable of metering the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? at the different levels of aggregation in real-time. For example, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 are capable of metering the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? at the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others, in real-time for monitoring to ensure that the sounds generated by the driver, the array, and / or the system, respectively, are within acceptable ranges to prevent clipping or distortion and / or to maintain optimal sound quality, among others, to provide some examples.

[0037] In some embodiments, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.77 can visualize the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the driver level of aggregation using, for example, a driver level meter 400 as illustrated in FIG. 4A, at the array level of aggregation using, for example, an array level meter 410 as illustrated in FIG. 4B, and / or at the system level of aggregation using, forexample, a system level meter 420 as illustrated in FIG. 4C. Although the driver level meter 400, the array level meter 410, and the system level meter 420 are illustrated in FIG. 4 A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C, respectively, as being peak meters, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that other types of meters, such as, volume unit (VU) meters, peak meters, Root Mean Square (RMS) meters, Loudness Units Full Scale (LUFS) meters, spectral meters, phase meters, and / or loudness meters, among others, are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. And although the driver level meter 400, the array level meter 410, and the system level meter 420 are illustrated in FIG. 4 A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C, respectively, as being in terms of levels, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that the driver level meter 400, the array level meter 410, and the system level meter 420 can be in terms of amplitude, level, and / or dynamics, among others, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0038] As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the driver level meter 400 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. / ?? at the driver level of aggregation. In some embodiments, the driver level meter 400 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the drivers of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 77, referred to as drivers 402.1 through 402. a in FIG. 4A. In these embodiments, the driver level meter 400 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the drivers 402.1 through 402. a in terms of bar charts that correspond to low frequency (LF), such as bass to provide an example, and high frequency (HF), such as treble to provide an example. Although the driver level meter 400, the array level meter 410, and the system level meter 420 are illustrated in FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C, respectively, as being bar charts, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that other types of visualizations are possible, such as, line graphs, spectrograms, pie charts, heat maps, scatter plots, polar plots, and / or box plots, among others, are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the driver level meter 400 can advantageously provide statistical metering of the one or more metering characteristics of the drivers 402.1 through 402. a. As illustrated in the exploded view, the driver level meter 400 can be integrated with one or more statistical parameters to enhance the understanding and monitoring of the one or more metering characteristics of the drivers 402.1 through 402. a. Although these statistical parameters are illustrated as indicating peak hold values, maximum peaks, maximum levels, mean levels, minimum level, and limiter level in FIG.4A, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that these statistical parameters are for exemplary purposes only. Those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that these statistical parameters can include, or be related to, one or more means, medians, modes, ranges, variances, standard deviations, percentiles, quartiles, correlation coefficients, confidence intervals, and / or z-scores, among others, of the one or more metering characteristics of the drivers 402.1 through 402. a.

[0039] As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the array level meter 410 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through I 02. / 7? at the array level of aggregation. In some embodiments, the array level meter 410 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102.777, referred to as loudspeaker arrays 412.1 through 412. a in FIG. 4B. In these embodiments, the array level meter 410 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 412.1 through 412. a in terms of bar charts that correspond to low frequency (LF), such as bass to provide an example, and high frequency (HF), such as treble to provide an example. In some embodiments, the array level meter 410 can advantageously provide statistical metering of the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 412.1 through 41 .a in a substantially similar manner as the driver level meter 400.

[0040] As illustrated in FIG. 4C, the system level meter 420 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? at the system level of aggregation. In some embodiments, the system level meter 420 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the audio environment 100, referred to as audio environment 422 in FIG. 4C. In these embodiments, the system level meter 420 visualizes the one or more metering characteristics of the audio environment 422 in terms of bar charts that correspond to sub-bass (SUB) frequencies, low frequency (LF), such as bass to provide an example, and high frequency (HF), such as treble to provide an example. In some embodiments, the system level meter 420 can advantageously provide statistical metering of the one or more metering characteristics of the audio environment 100 in a substantially similar manner as the driver level meter 400.EXEMPLARY OPERATIONAL CONTROL FLOWS FOR THE EXEMPLARY AUDIO ENVIRONMENT

[0041] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary operational control flow for measuring exemplary raw measurement characteristics of the exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to someexemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The following discussion is to describe an operational control flow 500 for measuring, calculating, estimating, and / or deriving one or more raw measurement characteristics of a loudspeaker array, such as one of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? and / or loudspeaker driver 200 as described herein. The present disclosure is not limited to these exemplary operational control flows. Rather, it will be apparent to ordinary persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that other operational control flows are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 500 can be performed by one or more computing systems, such as one or more computer systems with loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through I 02. / 7? and / or the driver controller 204 as described herein. Generally, the one or more computing systems, an exemplary embodiment of which is to be described in further detail below, can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the drivers as described herein.

[0042] At operation 502, the operational control flow 500 can determine the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 500 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the drivers of the loudspeaker as described herein. In these embodiments, the driver operational control flow 500 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the drivers for the different levels of aggregation, for example, the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others, as described herein. In some embodiments, the driver operational control flow 500 can measure, calculate, estimate, and / or derive these characteristics of the drivers over a discrete period in time and / or in response to an event as described herein.

[0043] At operation 504, the operational control flow 500 can package the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker for transmission to, for example, the audio monitoring server 104. After collecting the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the drivers, the operational control flow 500 can package the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the loudspeaker into a standardized structure, for example, headers, payloads, and / or trailers, among others, to provide one or more raw measurement data messages for transmission. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 500 can encode the one or more raw measurement data messages in accordance with the one ormore wireline communication standards or protocols and / or the one or more wireless communication standards or protocols as described herein.

[0044] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary operational control flow for aggregating the exemplary raw measurement characteristics of the exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The following discussion is to describe an operational control flow 600 for aggregating the one or more raw measurement characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays, such as one or more of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102. m as described herein. The present disclosure is not limited to these exemplary operational control flows. Rather, it will be apparent to ordinary persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that other operational control flows are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 600 can be performed by one or more computing systems, such as the audio monitoring server 104 and / or the audio monitoring server 300 as described herein. Generally, the one or more computing systems, an exemplary embodiment of which is to be described in further detail below, can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays as described herein.

[0045] At operation 602, the operational control flow 600 can receive a request from, for example, one or more of the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / / , to provide one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. In some embodiments, the request can identify the one or more raw measurement characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays that are to be aggregated and / or one or more levels of aggregation, for example, the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others, that are to be performed on the one or more raw measurement characteristics. In these embodiments, the operational control flow 600 can apply various filtering capabilities, for example, source address filtering, to the one or more raw measurement characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays; inspect the one or more raw measurement characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays for specific payloads, flags, or patterns, among others, and / or analyze the content of the one or more characteristics of the one or more raw measurement characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays for timestamps, packet sizes, and / or sequence numbers, among others, to provide some examples to identify the one or more raw measurement characteristics that are to be aggregated.

[0046] At operation 604, the operational control flow 600 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays that are to be aggregated from operation 602 to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. In these embodiments, the operational control flow 600 can aggregate the one or more raw measurement characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays that are to be aggregated from operation 602 at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 602 to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays as described herein. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 600 can implement a packet aggregation function, method, procedure, routine, algorithm, action, process, operation, or the like to aggregate these raw measurement characteristics from operation 602 at the one or more of the different levels of aggregation from operation 602 to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays as described herein.

[0047] At operation 606, the operational control flow 600 can package the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 604 for transmission to, for example, the one or more of the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.W. After collecting the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 604, the operational control flow 600 can package the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 604 into a standardized structure, for example, headers, payloads, and / or trailers, among others, to provide one or more metering data messages for transmission. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 600 can encode the one or more metering data messages in accordance with the one or more wireline communication standards or protocols and / or the one or more wireless communication standards or protocols as described herein.

[0048] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary operational control flow for metering exemplary mtering characteristics of the exemplary loudspeaker arrays according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The following discussion is to describe an operational control flow 700 for metering one or more metering characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays, such as one or more of the loudspeaker arrays 102.1 through 102 / 7? as described herein. The present disclosure is not limited to these exemplary operational control flows. Rather, it will be apparent to ordinary persons skilled in therelevant art(s) that other operational control flows are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 700 can be performed by one or more computing systems, such as the one or more of the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106.W as described herein. Generally, the one or more computing systems, an exemplary embodiment of which is to be described in further detail below, can meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays as described herein.

[0049] At operation 702, the operational control flow 700 can request from, for example, the audio monitoring server 104 and / or the audio monitoring server 300, one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. In some embodiments, the request can identify the one or more metering characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays from among one or more raw measurement characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays and / or one or more levels of aggregation, for example, the driver level of aggregation, the array level of aggregation, and / or the system level of aggregation, among others, for the one or more metering characteristics.

[0050] At operation 704, the operational control flow 700 can receive the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 700 can receive the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays that have been aggregated at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 702 as described herein.

[0051] At operation 706, the operational control flow 700 can meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 704 at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 702 in real-time as described herein. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 700 can visualize the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 704 at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 702 in terms of, for example, amplitude, level, and / or dynamics, among others, using one or more audio meters, for example, volume unit (VU) meters, peak meters, Root Mean Square (RMS) meters, Loudness Units Full Scale (LUFS) meters, spectral meters, phase meters, and / or loudness meters, among others. In these embodiments, these audio meters can be characterized as advantageously providing near immediate visual feedback at the driver level, the array level, and / or thesystem level, among others, to provide consistency, clipping prevention, loudness control, dynamic range management, frequency balance, and / or phase monitoring.

[0052] In some embodiments, the operational control flow 700 can advantageously provide statistical metering of the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 704 at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 702. In these embodiments, the operational control flow 700 can determine one or more statistical parameters for the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 704 at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 702. In some embodiments, the one or more statistical parameters can include one or more means, medians, modes, ranges, variances, standard deviations, percentiles, quartiles, correlation coefficients, confidence intervals, and / or z-scores, among others, of the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 704. In some embodiments, the operational control flow 700 can integrate the one or more audio meters with these statistical parameters to enhance the understanding and monitoring of the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 704 at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 702. In these embodiments the operational control flow 700 can provide graphical displays, statistical annotations, color-coded indicators, histograms and spectral analysis, dynamic updates, and / or alerts and notifications, among others, for the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays from operation 704 at the one or more levels of aggregation from operation 702 through the statistical metering.EXEMPLARY COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE EXEMPLARY MODEL PROCESSING SYSTEM

[0053] FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary computer system that can be implemented within the exemplary audio environment according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The discussion of FIG. 8 to follow is to describe a computer system 800 that can be used to implement one or more of the audio monitoring server 104, the audio monitoring workstations 106.1 through 106. / / and / or the audio monitoring server 300, among others. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, the computer system 800 includes one or more processors 802. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 802 can include, or can be, any of a microprocessor, graphics processing unit, or digital signal processor, and their electronic processing equivalents,such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (“ASIC”) or Field Programmable Gate Array (“FPGA”). As used herein, the term “processor” signifies a tangible data and information processing device that physically transforms data and information, typically using a sequence transformation (also referred to as “operations”). Data and information can be physically represented by an electrical, magnetic, optical or acoustical signal that is capable of being stored, accessed, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated by the processor. The term “processor” can signify a singular processor and multi-core systems or multi-processor arrays, including graphic processing units, digital signal processors, digital processors or combinations of these elements. The processor can be electronic, for example, comprising digital logic circuitry (for example, binary logic), or analog (for example, an operational amplifier). The processor may also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of processors available at a distributed or remote system, these processors accessible via a communications network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more software interfaces (e.g., an application program interface (API).) In some embodiments, the computer system 800 can include an operating system, such as Microsoft’s Windows, Sun Microsystems’s Solaris, Apple Computer’s MacOs, Linux or UNIX. In some embodiments, the computer system 800 can also include a Basic Input / Output System (BIOS) and processor firmware. The operating system, BIOS and firmware are used by the one or more processors 802 to control subsystems and interfaces coupled to the one or more processors 802. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 802 can include the Pentium and Itanium from Intel, the Opteron and Athlon from Advanced Micro Devices, and the ARM processor from ARM Holdings.

[0054] As illustrated in FIG. 8, the computer system 800 can include a machine-readable medium 808. In some embodiments, the machine-readable medium 808 can further include a main random-access memory (“RAM”) 806, a read only memory (“ROM”) 808, and / or a file storage subsystem 810. The RAM 830 can store instructions and data during program execution and the ROM 832 can store fixed instructions. The file storage subsystem 810 provides persistent storage for program and data files, and may include a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive and associated removable media, a CD-ROM drive, an optical drive, a flash memory, or removable media cartridges.

[0055] The computer system 800 can further include user interface input devices 812 and user interface output devices 814. The user interface input devices 812 can include an alphanumeric keyboard, a keypad, pointing devices such as a mouse, trackball, touchpad, stylus, or graphics tablet, a scanner, a touchscreen incorporated into the display, audio input devices such as voice recognition systems or microphones, eye-gaze recognition, brainwave pattern recognition, and other types of input devices to provide some examples. The user interface input devices 812 can be connected by wire or wirelessly to the computer system 800. Generally, the user interface input devices 812 are intended to include all possible types of devices and ways to input information into the computer system 800. The user interface input devices 812 typically allow a user to identify objects, icons, text and the like that appear on some types of user interface output devices, for example, a display subsystem. The user interface output devices 820 may include a display subsystem, a printer, a fax machine, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices. The display subsystem may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-panel device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projection device, or some other device for creating a visible image such as a virtual reality system. The display subsystem may also provide non-visual display such as via audio output or tactile output (e.g., vibrations) devices. Generally, the user interface output devices 820 are intended to include all possible types of devices and ways to output information from the computer system 800.

[0056] The computer system 800 can further include a network interface 816 to provide an interface to outside networks, including an interface to a communication network 818, and is coupled via the communication network 818 to corresponding interface devices in other computer systems or machines. The communication network 818 may comprise many interconnected computer systems, machines and communication links. These communication links may be wired links, optical links, wireless links, or any other devices for communication of information. The communication network 818 can be any suitable computer network, for example a wide area network such as the Internet, and / or a local area network such as Ethernet. The communication network 818 can be wired and / or wireless, and the communication network can use encryption and decryption methods, such as is available with a virtual private network. The communication network uses one or more communications interfaces, which can receive data from, and transmit data to, other systems. Embodiments of communications interfaces typically include an Ethernet card, amodem (e.g., telephone, satellite, cable, or ISDN), (asynchronous) digital subscriber line (DSL) unit, Firewire interface, USB interface, and the like. One or more communications protocols can be used, such as HTTP, TCP / IP, RTP / RTSP, IPX and / or UDP.

[0057] As illustrated in FIG. 8, the one or more processors 802, the machine-readable medium 808, the user interface input devices 812, the user interface output devices 814, and / or the network interface 816 can be communicatively coupled to one another using a bus subsystem 820. Although the bus subsystem 820 is shown schematically as a single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may use multiple buses. For example, RAM-based main memory can communicate directly with file storage systems using Direct Memory Access (“DMA”) systems.CONCLUSION

[0058] The Detailed Description referred to accompanying figures to illustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the disclosure. References in the disclosure to “an exemplary embodiment” indicates that the exemplary embodiment described can include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplary embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same exemplary embodiment. Further, any feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an exemplary embodiment can be included, independently or in any combination, with features, structures, or characteristics of other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0059] The Detailed Description is not meant to be limiting. Rather, the scope of the disclosure is defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and not the Abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. The Abstract section can set forth one or more, but not all exemplary embodiments, of the disclosure, and thus, are not intended to limit the disclosure and the following claims and their equivalents in any way.

[0060] The exemplary embodiments described within the disclosure have been provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be limiting. Other exemplary embodiments are possible, and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments while remaining within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. The disclosure has been described with the aid of functional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed.

[0061] Embodiments of the disclosure can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software application, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the disclosure can also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which can be read and executed by processors. A machine-readable medium can include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computing circuitry)., for example, a machine-readable medium can include non-transitory machine- readable mediums such as read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; and others. As another example, the machine-readable medium can include transitory machine-readable medium such as electrical, optical, acoustical, or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.). Further, firmware, software application, routines, instructions can be as described herein as performing certain actions. However, it should be appreciated that such descriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions in fact result from computing devices, processors, controllers, or other devices executing the firmware, software application, routines, instructions, etc.

[0062] The Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments fully revealed the general nature of the disclosure that others can, by applying knowledge of those skilled in relevant art(s), readily modify and / or adapt for various applications such exemplary embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and plurality of equivalents of the exemplary embodiments based upon the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by those skilled in relevant art(s) in light of the teachings herein.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An audio monitoring system for aggregated measurement metering for a plurality of loudspeaker arrays, the audio monitoring system comprising: a memory configured to store a plurality of raw measurement characteristics of a plurality of drivers of the plurality of loudspeaker arrays; and a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, the instructions, when executed by the processor, configuring the processor to: receive the plurality of raw measurement characteristics from the plurality of loudspeaker arrays, aggregate the plurality of raw measurement characteristics at a level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays from among the plurality of loudspeaker arrays, and meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

2. The audio monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the level of aggregation comprises a driver level of aggregation, an array level of aggregation, or a system level of aggregation3. The audio monitoring system of claim 2, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to aggregate the plurality of raw measurement characteristics at the driver level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for a plurality of drivers of a loudspeaker array, at the array level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for more than one loudspeaker array from among the plurality of loudspeaker arrays, or at the system level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for the plurality of loudspeaker arrays.

4. The audio monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to: identify one or more raw measurement characteristics from among the plurality of raw measurement characteristics that are to be aggregated at the level of aggregation; andcollect the one or more raw measurement characteristics to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

5. The audio monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to visualize the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays using one or more audio meters.

6. The audio monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further configure the processor to determine one or more statistical parameters for the one or more metering characteristics.

7. The audio monitoring system of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to integrate the one or more audio meters with the one or more statistical parameters to statistical meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

8. A method for aggregated measurement metering for a plurality of loudspeaker arrays, the method comprising: receiving, by an audio monitoring system, a plurality of raw measurement characteristics of a plurality of drivers of a plurality of loudspeaker arrays from the plurality of loudspeaker arrays; aggregating, by the audio monitoring system, the plurality of raw measurement characteristics at a level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays from among the plurality of loudspeaker arrays, and meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the level of aggregation comprises a driver level of aggregation, an array level of aggregation, or a system level of aggregation.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the aggregating comprises aggregating the plurality of raw measurement characteristics at the driver level of aggregation to provide one or moremetering characteristics for a plurality of drivers of a loudspeaker array, at the array level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for more than one loudspeaker array from among the plurality of loudspeaker arrays, or at the system level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for the plurality of loudspeaker arrays.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the aggregating comprises identifying one or more raw measurement characteristics from among the plurality of raw measurement characteristics that are to be aggregated at the level of aggregation; and collecting the one or more raw measurement characteristics to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the metering comprises visualizing the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays using one or more audio meters.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining one or more statistical parameters for the one or more metering characteristics.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising integrating the one or more audio meters with the one or more statistical parameters to statistical meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

15. An audio monitoring system for aggregated measurement metering for a plurality of loudspeaker arrays, the audio monitoring system comprising: an audio monitoring server configured to: receive the plurality of raw measurement characteristics from the plurality of loudspeaker arrays, and aggregate the plurality of raw measurement characteristics at a level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics of one or more loudspeaker arrays from among the plurality of loudspeaker arrays; andan audio monitoring workstation configured to meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

16. The audio monitoring system of claim 15, wherein the level of aggregation comprises a driver level of aggregation, an array level of aggregation, or a system level of aggregation.

17. The audio monitoring system of claim 16, wherein the audio monitoring server is configured to aggregate the plurality of raw measurement characteristics at the driver level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for a plurality of drivers of a loudspeaker array, at the array level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for more than one loudspeaker array from among the plurality of loudspeaker arrays, or at the system level of aggregation to provide one or more metering characteristics for the plurality of loudspeaker arrays.

18. The audio monitoring system of claim 15, wherein the audio monitoring server is configured to: identify one or more raw measurement characteristics from among the plurality of raw measurement characteristics that are to be aggregated at the level of aggregation; and collect the one or more raw measurement characteristics to provide the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

19. The audio monitoring system of claim 15, wherein the audio monitoring server is configured to visualize the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays using one or more audio meters.

0. The audio monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the audio monitoring workstation is further configured to: determine one or more statistical parameters for the one or more metering characteristics; and integrate the one or more audio meters with the one or more statistical parameters to statistical meter the one or more metering characteristics of the one or more loudspeaker arrays.

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