Headset Microphone Arrangement with Sliding Groups for Directional Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing microphone arrangements in headsets lack effective noise reduction and directional signal enhancement, particularly when trying to maximize the number of microphones used while maintaining compact storage and robustness.
Innovation Solution
A microphone arrangement with at least three groups of microphones, where the first and second groups are mounted on a head-wearable support structure with the third group providing reduced sensitivity to the user's mouth and improved noise filtering, allowing for enhanced directionality and signal-to-noise ratio through sliding mechanisms and strategic placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple microphones are arranged in fixed arrays to improve directional characteristics, then directionality is improved, but storage capability and compactness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The microphone array is divided into multiple independent groups (first group with two or more microphones, second group with two or more microphones, third group with one or more microphones) that can be independently positioned and collapsed. Each group maintains its functional integrity while allowing compact storage when collapsed along respective axes.
Solution Approach 2:
The microphone groups are made movable relative to each other along defined axes, transforming the array from a static fixed structure to a dynamic collapsible system. The first group moves along a first axis, the second group along a second axis, enabling the array to expand for optimal directional performance and collapse for compact storage.
2Measurement precision
If microphone arrays are extended to maximize directional signal effect, then directionality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex microphone array is segmented into three distinct groups with specific functional assignments. The first group (two or more microphones) handles primary directional capture, the second group (two or more microphones) provides additional directional enhancement, and the third group (one or more microphones) is strategically positioned to reduce sensitivity to mouth sounds while capturing environmental noise, simplifying the overall control architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
Each microphone group is assigned a specific spatial arrangement and functional role: the first group is positioned for optimal mouth capture, the second group arranged to enhance directionality from a different perspective, and the third group positioned to primarily capture environmental noise while being less sensitive to mouth sounds. This localized functional differentiation simplifies the overall system control.
3Volume of moving object
If microphones are positioned close together for compact storage, then storage capability is improved, but directional characteristics deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts microphone spacing by allowing the first group to slide along a first axis and the second group to slide along a second axis. When storage is needed, all groups collapse to a compact configuration. When directional performance is required, the groups extend to optimal spacing, maintaining the spacing necessary for directional characteristics while enabling compact storage when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The microphone system is divided into independently positionable groups that can be collapsed along different axes. The first group with two or more microphones collapses along a first axis, the second group with two or more microphones collapses along a second axis, allowing each group to maintain its functional integrity while achieving compact overall storage.
4Quantity of substance
If standard microphone arrangements are used to capture speech, then speech capture is adequate, but noise reduction capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The third group of one or more microphones is positioned and oriented with specific local characteristics: it is arranged to exhibit less sensitivity for sound coming from the user's mouth compared to environmental sounds. This creates a specialized noise capture zone that primarily picks up environmental noise while being less sensitive to speech, enabling effective noise estimation and subtraction from the primary speech signals captured by the first and second groups.
Solution Approach 2:
The third microphone group serves as an intermediary noise estimation source. By capturing primarily environmental noise with reduced sensitivity to speech, it provides a clean noise estimate that can be subtracted from the combined signals of the first and second groups, effectively reducing noise in the final speech output without directly processing the speech signal itself.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure relates to a microphone arrangement comprising at least three groups of microphones that are mounted on a head-wearable support structure. The at least three groups of microphones comprising a first group of microphones with one or more microphones, a second group of microphones with one or more microphones, and a third group of microphones with one or more microphones, wherein the first group is mounted to a casing that accommodates signal transmission circuitry, the second group is mounted to slide with respect to the casing and the first group is mounted in a direction of a first axis. Furthermore, the third group comprises either at least one microphone that is arranged on the support structure so as to exhibit less sensitivity for sound coming from a user's mouth than for sound coming from a user's environment when the microphone arrangement is head-worn; or at least two microphones that are arranged symmetrically with respect to a user's head when the microphone arrangement is head-worn and that provide for a directionality that is orientated to the direction of a user's vision; or both.