Mid Dual-Side Microphone 3D Pickup Pattern Steering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mid-side microphones are limited to steering the pickup pattern along a single linear axis, restricting their ability to capture audio information in a flexible and adaptable manner, particularly in conferencing settings where multiple sound sources are present.
Innovation Solution
A microphone device comprising at least one mid microphone cartridge and two orthogonal side microphone cartridges, with a control unit that combines signals using weighted summation and frequency-dependent phase shifts to generate steerable beam and toroidal pickup patterns, allowing for adaptive noise cancellation and enhanced audio capture in a half-sphere region.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional mid-side microphone configuration is used, then the microphone structure is simple, but the pickup pattern steering capability is limited to a single linear axis
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from conventional single-axis linear steering to dual-axis spherical steering by adding a second bidirectional microphone cartridge orthogonal to the first. This dimensional expansion enables the pickup pattern to be steered in three-dimensional space across a half-sphere region, achieving versatile directional control while maintaining manageable system complexity through modular cartridge architecture
2Loss of information
If only a single cardioid and bidirectional cartridge are used, then the device complexity is low, but the audio information collection is limited to a single plane
Solution Approach 1:
By introducing a second bidirectional cartridge oriented orthogonal to the first, the system expands audio information collection from a single plane to a three-dimensional half-sphere volume. This enables capture of sound sources distributed across multiple spatial planes, significantly reducing information loss while maintaining relatively simple cartridge-based architecture
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional mid-side technique is used, then the pickup pattern is defined by fixed angular separation, but the flexibility to steer pickup in multiple dimensions is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic pickup pattern steering by enabling real-time adjustment of the pickup pattern's angular position and orientation through signal processing. The system can dynamically reconfigure the combined pickup pattern to point toward different directions in the half-sphere region, providing flexible adaptability while managing processing requirements through efficient signal combination techniques
Data Source
AI summary
A microphone device comprising, for example, a mid microphone cartridge and two side microphone cartridges. The mid microphone cartridge may be, for example, a cardioid microphone cartridge, and the side microphone cartridges may each be, for example, a bidirectional microphone cartridge. Each of the mid microphone cartridge and of the two side microphone cartridges may be orthogonal to the other two microphone cartridges. The microphone device, which may be referred to herein as a mid dual-side microphone, may provide a combined pickup pattern, such as a beam and/or a toroid, that may be steerable.