Dual-Use Bilateral Microphone Array for Wind Noise Rejection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional communication headsets with two-microphone arrays struggle to effectively detect both far-field and near-field sounds, particularly in noisy environments, and often fail to adequately reject wind noise, limiting their performance in conversation assistance and remote communication.
Innovation Solution
A dual-use bilateral microphone array architecture is implemented in headphones, utilizing four microphones arranged to optimize far-field and near-field sound detection, with configurable filters and active noise reduction techniques to enhance voice pickup and mitigate wind noise, allowing for improved sound detection and communication in both local and remote settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a two-microphone array is used in conventional communication headsets, then the device structure remains simple, but the ability to detect both far-field and near-field sounds effectively is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functions of far-field detection and near-field voice pickup into a single dual-use bilateral microphone array. By combining four microphones (two in each earpiece) and applying beamforming techniques, the system achieves both far-field conversation assistance and near-field voice detection without requiring separate microphone systems, thus improving measurement precision while controlling device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The microphone array is designed to perform multiple functions: it detects far-field sounds for conversation assistance and near-field sounds for remote communication simultaneously. The beamforming algorithm can dynamically adjust to optimize for either far-field or near-field detection based on the communication scenario, making the same hardware structure universally applicable to different detection needs.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional two-microphone arrays are used, then device simplicity is maintained, but wind noise rejection is inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines four microphones into a bilateral array configuration that enables both far-field and near-field detection while providing improved wind noise rejection through beamforming. The merged structure allows the system to process signals from multiple microphones simultaneously, enhancing the ability to distinguish between wind noise and actual sound sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The beamforming algorithm continuously analyzes signals from all four microphones and dynamically adjusts the array response to optimize sound detection and reject wind noise. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adapt to changing acoustic environments, improving wind noise rejection by identifying and suppressing noise patterns while preserving genuine speech signals.
3Measurement precision
If separate two-microphone arrays are used in each earpiece for far-field detection, then far-field performance is optimized, but near-field voice pickup for communication is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the far-field detection functionality with near-field voice pickup capability into a single integrated bilateral microphone array. By combining signals from all four microphones and applying appropriate beamforming techniques, the system achieves both far-field conversation assistance and near-field voice detection without requiring completely separate microphone systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The beamforming algorithm dynamically adjusts the array response based on the detection scenario. When near-field voice pickup is needed, the system configures the array to optimize for close-range detection; when far-field detection is prioritized, the configuration adapts accordingly. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the same hardware to excel at both functions without requiring separate physical arrays.
Data Source
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AI summary
A pair of earphones have microphone arrays each including a front microphone and a rear microphone. A processor uses a first set of filters to combine the four microphone signals to generate a far-field signal that is more sensitive to sounds originating a short distance away from the earphones than to sounds close to the apparatus, and provides the far-field signal to the speakers for output. The processor also uses a second set of filters to combine the four microphone signals to generate a near-field signal that is more sensitive to voice signals from a person wearing the earphones than to sounds originating away from the earphones, and provides the near-field signal to a communication system.