Audio-Haptic Processor Single Amplifier Signal Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing audio-haptic systems face challenges in efficiently combining audio and haptic signals without generating undesired audible artefacts or exciting haptic actuators with strong bass components, often requiring separate amplifiers for audio and haptic actuators.
Innovation Solution
An audio-haptic processor with haptic and audio filters having specific pass-bands is used to combine signals, allowing a single amplifier to drive both actuators by attenuating high-frequency haptic components and low-frequency audio components, thereby reducing audible artefacts and optimizing signal amplitudes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate amplifiers are used for audio and haptic actuators, then signal quality is maintained, but device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the audio amplifier and haptic amplifier into a single shared amplifier. The system multiplexes the amplifier between the audio actuator and haptic actuator based on operational mode signals, allowing one amplifier to serve both actuators without compromising signal quality while reducing overall system complexity and power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches the amplifier between serving the audio actuator and serving the haptic actuator based on the current operational mode. A mode signal indicates whether the amplifier should be connected to the audio actuator or haptic actuator, enabling dynamic reconfiguration of the signal path to maintain optimal performance for the active actuator.
2Use of energy by moving object
If a single amplifier drives both audio and haptic actuators, then power consumption and device complexity are reduced, but signal clipping and quality degradation occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the operational requirements of audio and haptic actuators into distinct modes. By dividing the operation into separate audio modes and haptic modes, the single amplifier can be dedicated to one actuator type at a time, preventing signal clipping and quality degradation that would occur if both actuators were driven simultaneously with shared power.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses dynamic mode switching to allocate the single amplifier's capacity to either the audio actuator or haptic actuator based on current needs. This dynamic reconfiguration ensures that the amplifier operates within its power capabilities for the active actuator, maintaining signal quality while enabling power-efficient single-amplifier operation.
3Speed
If haptic signal contains high-frequency components, then haptic actuator response is improved, but audible artefacts are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes the high-frequency components from the haptic signal before it is sent to the haptic actuator. By taking out these high-frequency components that would generate audible artefacts when reproduced by the audio actuator, the system maintains effective haptic response while eliminating the harmful audible side effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a frequency filtering mechanism as an intermediary between the haptic signal generation and the audio actuator. This intermediary filters out the problematic high-frequency components that would otherwise be reproduced by the audio actuator and perceived as audible artefacts, while preserving the essential haptic signal characteristics.
4Reliability
If audio signal contains low-frequency components, then audio quality is maintained, but haptic actuator is over-excited
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and removes the low-frequency components from the audio signal before it is sent to the haptic actuator. By taking out these low-frequency components that would over-excite the haptic actuator, the system maintains the quality of the audio signal while preventing excessive haptic excitation and potential damage to the haptic actuator.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces frequency filtering as an intermediary between the audio signal and the haptic actuator. This intermediary selectively attenuates or removes the low-frequency components that would cause over-excitation of the haptic actuator, while preserving the audio signal's quality for the audio actuator.
Data Source
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AI summary
An audio-haptic processor and method of audio-haptic processing is described. The audio-haptic processor includes a haptic filter having a haptic filter pass-band in a first frequency range and an audio filter having an audio filter pass-band in a second frequency range. The second frequency range includes some frequencies higher than frequencies in the first frequency range. The audio processor includes a mixer coupled to the audio filter and the haptic filter. The audio-haptic processor receives an audio signal and a haptic signal. The audio signal is filtered by the audio filter and the haptic signal is filtered by the haptic filter. The filtered audio and haptic signals are mixed by the mixer. The resulting audio-haptic output signal output from the mixer may be provided to an amplifier coupled to at least one haptic actuator and one audio actuator.