Multi-Emitter Soundfield Reverberation With Shared Late Convolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mixed-reality systems face a computational bottleneck in rendering reverberation effects for multiple sound sources due to high memory and computation requirements, particularly in scenarios with a limited number of speakers, which can hinder the performance of audio rendering.
Innovation Solution
The system generates a simulated reverberation sound signal using a truncated sound signal that decays over time, applies spatial and decay rate gains to channel signals, and utilizes a feedback loop to convolve the signal, allowing for a scalable, multi-channel, and multi-emitter reverberation component with fixed runtime costs and minimal per-source computation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If reverberation is rendered per source using traditional convolution methods, then reverberation quality is improved, but computational cost and memory requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the reverberation rendering process by separating early reflections (handled per-source) from late reverberation (handled globally via a shared impulse response). This allows high-quality per-source processing for critical early reflections while using a computationally efficient shared convolution for the less critical late reverberation, significantly reducing overall computational cost while maintaining perceptual quality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple sound sources into a single combined signal before applying the late reverberation convolution. By combining sources and applying one shared impulse response convolution rather than multiple separate convolutions, the system achieves significant computational savings while preserving the reverberation effect across all sources
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of sound sources increases, then audio scene complexity is improved, but rendering performance deteriorates due to increased computational requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal late reverberation system where a single impulse response and convolution process serves all sound sources simultaneously. This multi-functional approach allows the system to handle any number of sources efficiently, as the shared reverberation processor can process combined signals from multiple sources without proportional increases in computational cost
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary signal combination of multiple sources before applying the shared reverberation effect. By pre-combining sources in the audio graph and applying one convolution operation to the combined signal rather than multiple operations to individual sources, the system prepares the signal in advance to minimize real-time computational overhead during rendering
3Manufacturing precision
If more processors are allocated to audio rendering, then audio quality is improved, but visualization performance deteriorates due to limited compute availability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial processing by handling only early reflections with high-quality per-source convolution, while using a more efficient shared convolution for late reverberation. This partial application of computationally intensive processing where most needed (early reflections) combined with efficient processing for less critical components (late reverberation) achieves acceptable audio quality while preserving compute resources for visualization
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the processing parameters by using a shared impulse response and convolution approach for late reverberation instead of per-source processing. This parameter change from individual source processing to global signal processing reduces the computational burden on the audio subsystem, freeing up processor resources for visualization while maintaining perceptually adequate audio quality
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for generating a simulated reverberation sound signal are disclosed. This simulated reverberation sound signal operates as a reverberation effect for a sound associated with a source. The simulated reverberation sound signal is generated using a truncated sound signal that (i) repeats in a decaying manner over time, (ii) has a perceivable arrival direction that approximates where the sound originated, and (iii) has a given shape on a sound sphere.