Frequency-Band Beam Selection for Mobile Audio Focusing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing audio focusing technologies struggle to effectively amplify target sound sources while attenuating unwanted sound sources when they are positioned close to or in a similar direction, leading to degraded audio quality.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that analyze microphone audio signals in multiple frequency bands, selecting different beams for each band based on parameter values such as energy levels and beam widths to optimize audio focusing, using overlapping beams to cover the target direction and minimize unwanted noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single beam is used for audio focusing, then the device complexity is low, but the audio quality deteriorates when target and unwanted sound sources are closely positioned
Solution Approach 1:
The audio signal processing is segmented into multiple frequency bands, with different beams selected for each band. This allows the system to handle complex audio scenarios by dividing the problem into manageable frequency-specific segments, improving audio quality without requiring a single overly complex beam processing system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically selects different beams based on frequency band analysis and parameter values. Instead of using a fixed beam configuration, the beam selection adapts to the specific characteristics of each frequency band, enabling the system to maintain high audio quality across varying acoustic conditions while managing complexity through adaptive rather than exhaustive processing.
2Reliability
If multiple beams are analyzed and selected for different frequency bands, then the audio quality improves, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs partial analysis by focusing computational resources on analyzing multiple beams only for the necessary frequency bands where improvement is needed, rather than exhaustively processing all possible beam combinations across all frequencies. This selective approach maintains audio quality while reducing overall processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters by selecting different beams for different frequency bands based on analyzed parameter values. This parameter-based selection approach allows efficient processing by making decisions based on key parameters (energy levels, beam widths) rather than exhaustive beam evaluation, thus improving audio quality without proportional increases in processing time.
3Measurement precision
If beams with narrow beam widths are used, then the directional precision improves, but the coverage area decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The frequency spectrum is segmented into multiple bands, each allowing different beam width selections. Narrow beams can be used in frequency bands where high directional precision is needed, while wider beams are used in other bands where broader coverage is more important, thus resolving the trade-off between precision and coverage area.
Solution Approach 2:
Different beam characteristics (widths) are applied locally to different frequency bands based on their specific requirements. This local quality approach allows narrow beams for precise directional capture in certain frequency ranges while maintaining wider coverage in other ranges, optimizing both directional precision and coverage area across the full audio spectrum.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples of the disclosure relate to apparatus, methods and computer programs for audio focusing in mobile devices. In some examples the apparatus includes circuitry for providing a plurality of beams for processing microphone audio signals. The apparatus can also include circuitry for analysing the plurality of beams to determine one or more parameter values based on the microphone audio signals in a plurality of different frequency bands, and selecting at least one of the plurality of beams for use based on the determined one or more parameter values in the plurality of different frequency bands such that different beams can be selected for different frequency bands.