Headphone Transparency Audio for Speech in Ambient Noise
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conversations in noisy environments, such as restaurants or airplanes, are difficult due to background noise interfering with the ability to hear and understand nearby speakers.
Innovation Solution
Headphones with beamforming signal processing and active noise cancellation that selectively reproduce the other person's voice while suppressing ambient noise, using low and high latency digital filters and ANC modes tailored to individual hearing needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If passive sound isolation is used to block ambient noise, then noise reduction is improved, but speech intelligibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the target speech signal from the ambient sound field using beamforming techniques. Multiple microphones capture sound waves, and digital signal processing isolates the speech component from the target talker while excluding other ambient sounds, effectively separating useful information from noise without complete isolation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts audio parameters including gain levels, frequency response, and beamforming weights based on environmental conditions and user needs. Audiogram data is used to modify frequency compensation parameters, allowing the system to adaptively optimize both noise reduction and speech intelligibility for different listening scenarios.
2Loss of information
If beamforming is applied to focus on target speech, then speech intelligibility is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The signal processing is divided into distinct functional segments: beamforming for spatial filtering, noise reduction for spectral processing, and audiogram-based compensation for individualized adjustment. Each segment handles a specific aspect of audio enhancement, making the overall complex system manageable and efficient through modular processing stages.
3Speed
If low latency filters are used for real-time processing, then responsiveness is improved, but noise suppression performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial noise suppression suitable for low-latency requirements rather than full spectral processing. The beamforming provides sufficient spatial filtering for real-time interaction, while more intensive noise reduction can be applied selectively or in subsequent processing stages when latency is less critical.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If high latency filters are used for enhanced noise suppression, then noise reduction is improved, but real-time speech reproduction deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The processing pipeline is segmented into low-latency beamforming for real-time speech reproduction and higher-latency noise reduction processing. The beamforming segment handles time-critical speech transmission, while enhanced noise suppression operates on slightly delayed signals, allowing both functions to coexist without mutual interference.
Data Source
AI summary
Microphone signals of a primary headphone are processed and either a first transparency mode of operation is activated or a second transparency mode of operation. In another aspect, a processor enters different configurations in response to estimated ambient acoustic noise being lower or higher than a threshold, wherein in a first configuration a transparency audio signal is adapted via target voice and wearer voice processing (TVWVP) of a microphone signal to boost detected speech frequencies in the transparency audio signal, and in a second configuration the TVWVP is controlled to, as the estimated ambient acoustic noise increases, reduce boosting of, or not boost at all, the detected speech frequencies in the transparency audio signal. Other aspects are also described and claimed.