Mobile Microphone Audio Processing for Motion Noise Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Audio signals captured by multiple microphones on a mobile terminal are distorted due to a mixture of wanted audio and unwanted noise caused by the movement of the device, which complicates subsequent processing operations such as voice recognition and machine learning.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that estimate the motion of the mobile terminal, compute exposure parameters based on microphone locations, generate spectrograms, identify common time and frequency segments, compute dissimilarity values, and select audio characteristics using a learned model to generate a denoised audio output.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple microphones are used to capture audio signals, then the quantity of captured audio information is improved, but the audio quality deteriorates due to motion noise contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the audio capture task across multiple microphones positioned at different locations on the mobile terminal. Each microphone captures audio with different motion noise characteristics, allowing the system to divide and conquer the noise reduction problem by processing each microphone's signal separately before combining them
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing system that analyzes motion data from sensors and uses it to compute exposure parameters for each microphone. This intermediary layer mediates between the raw microphone signals and the final audio output, using the computed parameters to selectively weight and combine signals from different microphones based on their relative exposure to motion noise
2Reliability
If motion compensation processing is applied to remove noise, then the audio quality is improved, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by computing exposure parameters for each microphone before the actual audio signal processing. Motion data is captured and analyzed in advance to determine the relative motion exposure of each microphone, and these pre-computed parameters are then used to guide the subsequent noise reduction and signal combination operations, avoiding the need for complex real-time analysis during audio processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes parameters by computing exposure parameters that quantify the motion noise contamination level for each microphone. These parameters are derived from motion sensor data and microphone location information, and they are used to dynamically adjust the weighting and selection of audio signals from different microphones, transforming a complex noise reduction problem into a parameter-driven signal combination task
Data Source
AI summary
Example embodiments relate to audio processing. Some example embodiments may comprise a method, the method comprising receiving respective audio signals, A1-AM, captured by a plurality of microphones, M1-MM, having different locations on a mobile terminal, estimating motion of the mobile terminal and computing respective exposure parameters, η1-ηM, for the respective audio signals, A1-AM. The method may also comprise generating respective spectrograms, S1-SM, for the respective audio signals, A1-AM, identifying a plurality of common time and frequency range segments across the respective spectrograms, S1-SM and computing dissimilarity values, δ1-δK, for the common segments of the respective spectrograms, S1-SM, based on, for audio characteristics within a particular segment of a particular spectrogram, how similar those audio characteristics are to audio characteristics within the same particular segment of the other spectrograms. The method may also comprise based on the computed exposure parameters, η1-ηM, and the computed dissimilarity values, δ1-δK, selecting, for each particular common segment, which of the audio characteristics within that particular common segment are to be used to generate an audio output.