Dynamic Microphone Role Assignment for Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems with multiple microphones struggle to dynamically adjust microphone designations to optimize noise reduction, as they typically assign primary and secondary microphones permanently, leading to suboptimal noise cancellation due to fixed distances from the sound source.
Innovation Solution
A wearable device that uses accelerometers, magnetometers, and gyroscopes to dynamically re-designate microphones based on user orientation, ensuring the microphone closest to the desired sound source is designated as the primary and the farther one as the secondary, thereby enhancing noise reduction and cancellation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If two microphones are used with permanent designations (first microphone as primary, second microphone as secondary), then the system structure is simple and easy to implement, but the noise reduction effectiveness deteriorates when the device orientation changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic microphone designation by continuously monitoring the relative positions of microphones to the sound source and adjusting primary/secondary roles based on real-time orientation data from accelerometers and gyroscopes. This resolves the contradiction by making the system adaptable to changing device orientations while maintaining effective noise reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of microphones (their designated roles) based on detected orientation parameters. When the device orientation changes, the system identifies which microphone is closer to the sound source and reassigns roles accordingly, optimizing noise reduction for each orientation scenario.
2Device complexity
If microphone designations are permanently assigned, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability to different user orientations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines optimal microphone designations by processing orientation data from onboard sensors without requiring manual intervention. The device self-adjusts microphone roles based on its detected orientation, maintaining low user-facing complexity while achieving high adaptability to different usage scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from accelerometers and gyroscopes to continuously monitor device orientation and dynamically adjusts microphone designations in response. This closed-loop approach enables the system to adapt to changing orientations while keeping the user interface simple.
3Reliability
If the microphone closest to the sound source is dynamically identified and designated as primary, then the noise reduction performance is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional sensors and processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the existing multi-functional sensor suite (accelerometers and gyroscopes originally intended for other device functions) to determine microphone orientation. By repurposing these sensors for noise reduction optimization, the system achieves improved performance without adding dedicated hardware complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A wearable device for detecting a user state is disclosed. The wearable device includes one or more of an accelerometer for measuring an acceleration of a user, a magnetometer for measuring a magnetic field associated with the user's change of orientation, and a gyroscope. The wearable device also includes one or more microphones for receiving audio. The wearable device may determine whether the orientation of the wearable device has changed and may designate or re-designate microphones as primary or secondary microphones.