Beamforming Microphone Area Mapping for Lower Processing Load
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beamforming microphone systems face high processing loads due to continuous sound source search and directivity calculation, and lack flexibility in setting sound pickup areas, leading to instability and difficulty in adjusting signal levels and potential howling issues.
Innovation Solution
A beamforming microphone system with multiple units and a signal processing unit that identifies sound source positions within individually set sound pickup areas, generates sound signals for these areas, and assigns output channels based on area position information, allowing flexible area settings and reducing processing load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous sound source search and directivity calculation are performed to maintain high sound pickup quality, then sound pickup quality is improved, but processing load increases causing operational instability
Solution Approach 1:
The sound pickup area is divided into multiple predetermined sectors, and the system selectively performs sound source search and directivity calculation only in specific sectors where sound sources are likely to be located, rather than continuously across the entire area. This segmentation reduces the overall processing load while maintaining reliable sound pickup quality in target areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of continuous sound source search and directivity calculation, the system performs these operations periodically or event-driven based on detected sound source positions and movement. This periodic approach maintains adequate sound pickup quality while significantly reducing processing load and preventing thermal runaway.
2Device complexity
If sound pickup area is restricted to reduce processing load, then processing load is reduced, but flexibility in setting sound pickup areas is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts sound pickup areas based on detected sound source positions and movement patterns. Rather than using fixed predetermined sectors, the system adapts the search and directivity calculation areas in real-time based on actual usage conditions, providing both processing load reduction and flexibility through adaptive sector determination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters such as sector boundaries, search areas, and directivity calculation ranges based on detected sound source characteristics and movement. This allows the system to optimize processing load by adjusting area parameters dynamically while maintaining flexibility to accommodate different sound pickup requirements.
3Device complexity
If single channel output is used to reduce processing load, then processing load is reduced, but ability to adjust signal levels for different speakers is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments sound sources into different groups or channels based on their positions in different sectors. By assigning sound sources to specific sectors and processing them separately, the system enables independent signal level adjustment for each sector or speaker group while maintaining reduced processing load compared to uniform full-area processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different signal processing characteristics, including volume adjustment, to different spatial sectors or sound source groups. This local quality approach allows specific signal level adjustments for individual speakers or regions without requiring complex global processing, enabling differentiated control while keeping overall processing load manageable.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If excluded sector method is used to prevent howling, then howling is reduced, but flexibility in setting individual sound pickup areas is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than using fixed excluded sectors, the system dynamically determines which sectors to exclude or reduce processing in based on real-time detection of sound sources and potential howling conditions. This adaptive approach prevents howling by selectively adjusting processing in affected areas while maintaining flexibility to preserve sound pickup areas as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes processing parameters such as directivity calculation intensity or sound source search activation in specific sectors based on detected conditions. By dynamically adjusting parameters rather than permanently excluding sectors, the system prevents howling while maintaining flexibility to enable full sound pickup capability when conditions permit.
Data Source
AI summary
A beamforming microphone system capable of reducing a processing load caused by calculation of directivity and flexibly setting an area where sound is picked up. A beamforming microphone system according to the present invention includes: a plurality of microphone units; a signal processing unit that processes a sound pickup signal from each microphone unit at each predetermined time; and a storage that associates, for each sound pickup area, sound pickup area information with individual-sound-pickup-area position information freely set within the sound pickup area and stores the information. The signal processing unit includes a position information identification unit that identifies sound source position information, a signal generation unit that generates the sound signal corresponding to the sound from the sound source position, and a channel assignment unit that assigns an output channel, based on the individual-sound-pickup-area position information on the individual sound pickup area to which the sound source position belongs.