Loudness-Based Audio Compensation for Background Noise
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing audio compensation techniques are either overly complex, leading to inefficient computation and battery drain, or inaccurate, failing to account for human perception of noise, resulting in unpredictable audio quality in noisy environments.
Innovation Solution
A loudness-based compensation system that approximates audio and background noise loudness across frequency bands, applying a single gain to improve perceived audio quality without excessive computation, using psychoacoustic measurements to simulate human hearing perception.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If intensity-based compensation techniques are used, then implementation is simple, but accuracy of noise compensation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the compensation approach from intensity-based to loudness-based by changing the fundamental parameter used for measurement. Loudness incorporates frequency-weighted perception models that reflect human auditory characteristics, thereby improving compensation accuracy while maintaining implementation feasibility through standardized loudness calculation algorithms.
2Measurement precision
If high-precision hearing models are used, then noise compensation accuracy is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential components of hearing models needed for loudness calculation, rather than implementing complete psychoacoustic analysis systems. By focusing on frequency-weighted loudness measurements and applying a single gain factor, the solution captures the critical aspects of human perception while eliminating unnecessary computational overhead.
3Measurement precision
If fine-grained frequency-specific gain is applied, then noise compensation accuracy is improved, but computational overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the compensation approach by applying a single gain factor across all frequency bands rather than calculating separate gain values for each band. This consolidation maintains effectiveness by using loudness-based measurements that inherently account for frequency perception differences, while significantly reducing computational requirements compared to frequency-specific gain application.
Data Source
AI summary
Loudness-based compensation systems and techniques are described which provide audio compensation in noisy environments. Loudness approximations are determined for an audio block both by itself and in the presence of background noise. These approximations utilize compression of audio intensity within frequency bands in order to better reflect listeners' hearing perception. From these loudness approximations, a gain is determined for the audio block and then applied in such a manner that the effect is not jarring to listeners.