Aware Mode Auto-Leveling for Balanced ANR Audio Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Active noise reduction (ANR) devices create acoustic isolation, making users unaware of their surroundings, which can be undesirable in certain situations, and the amount of noise reduction and ambient noise awareness need to be dynamically adjusted to provide a balanced user experience.
Innovation Solution
An aware mode auto-leveler system that adjusts noise cancellation and ambient noise boost based on sound pressure levels, using a signal processing system to combine ambient and source audio signals, ensuring a balanced user experience under changing noise conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If active noise reduction is applied to block ambient noise, then noise isolation is improved, but user awareness of surroundings deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the balance between noise reduction and ambient sound transmission based on real-time conditions. The aware mode selectively passes certain ambient frequencies to the user while maintaining noise reduction for others, creating a dynamic, adaptive noise management system that responds to changing environmental conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different noise reduction strategies to different frequency ranges and sound types. Rather than uniformly blocking all ambient noise, the system selectively reduces harmful frequencies while preserving important ambient sounds, creating localized quality variations in the noise control profile.
2Loss of information
If ambient noise is passed to user ears in aware mode, then surroundings awareness is improved, but audio quality deteriorates due to noise interference
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the audio signal processing into distinct paths: one for source audio and one for ambient noise. By separately processing and then combining these signals with selective gain adjustment, the system maintains audio quality while preserving surroundings awareness, avoiding the degradation that would result from simple mixing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing stage where ambient noise signals are filtered, gain-adjusted, and combined with the source audio. This intermediary step allows for controlled integration of ambient sounds without directly degrading the source audio quality, acting as a mediator between the two signal types.
3Device complexity
If fixed noise reduction level is applied, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different noise conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs automatic level control that self-adjusts the noise reduction parameters based on real-time ambient noise measurements. Rather than requiring manual user adjustment or complex external control systems, the device monitors its own operating conditions and automatically optimizes the noise reduction level, providing adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the ambient noise level is continuously monitored and used to adjust the noise reduction gain. This closed-loop control system automatically adapts to changing noise conditions by feeding back the measured ambient level to the noise reduction algorithm, enabling versatility without requiring complex manual intervention.
Data Source
AI summary
Various implementations include systems for providing enhanced aware mode capabilities in an ANR audio device. In particular implementations, a method includes receiving an ambient noise signal from a microphone associated with a wearable audio device; determining a gain value based on a sound pressure level (SPL) of the ambient noise signal; generating a gain adjusted ambient noise signal by applying the gain value to the ambient noise signal; generating a total external microphone signal by adding the gain adjusted ambient noise signal to a noise reducing ambient signal; generating an expanded audio signal by selectively adjusting a source audio signal based on the gain adjusted ambient noise signal; and combining and outputting the expanded audio signal with the total external microphone signal to an acoustic transducer.