Renderer Adaptation for Irregular Speaker Geometries

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing audio rendering technologies fail to accurately reproduce spherical harmonic coefficients in irregular speaker geometries, leading to suboptimal sound field representation and immersion.

Innovation Solution

The development of a system that determines the local speaker geometry and generates a renderer tailored to this geometry, allowing for the projection of virtual speakers to physical speakers, thereby facilitating better sound field reproduction across various speaker configurations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If a regular renderer designed for regular speaker geometries is used, then the rendering process is simple and efficient, but the sound field reproduction is inaccurate for irregular speaker geometries

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesound field reproduction accuracyVSAvoidrenderer complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically determines the local speaker geometry and selects or generates an appropriate renderer based on the detected geometry type (e.g., mono, stereo, horizontal, three-dimensional). This allows the renderer to adapt its complexity based on the actual speaker configuration, using simple regular renderers for regular geometries and more complex irregular renderers only when necessary for irregular geometries.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the renderer parameters and characteristics based on the detected speaker geometry. By identifying whether the geometry is regular or irregular, the system adjusts the rendering approach accordingly, modifying mathematical models and processing complexity to match the actual physical speaker arrangement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If an irregular renderer is generated to accommodate irregular speaker geometries, then the sound field reproduction improves, but the renderer determination and selection process becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesound field representation accuracyVSAvoidrenderer determination complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically determines the local speaker geometry and selects the appropriate renderer without requiring manual configuration or user input. The geometry detection and renderer selection processes are performed autonomously by the rendering device, reducing the complexity burden on the user while maintaining high accuracy for irregular geometries.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system incorporates feedback loops to detect the actual speaker geometry and adjust the renderer selection accordingly. By continuously monitoring the speaker configuration and comparing it against expected geometries, the system can adapt the rendering process to maintain accurate sound field representation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Adaptability or versatility

If spherical harmonic coefficients are rendered to traditional multi-channel formats, then backward compatibility is achieved, but the representation accuracy for irregular speaker geometries is compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvespeaker geometry adaptabilityVSAvoidsound field reproduction accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a universal rendering approach that can handle multiple speaker geometries (regular and irregular, two-dimensional and three-dimensional) through a single integrated framework. By determining the actual geometry and selecting the appropriate renderer, the system maintains versatility across different configurations while preserving rendering accuracy for each specific case.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The rendering process is segmented into distinct stages: geometry determination, renderer selection or generation, and sound field rendering. This segmentation allows the system to handle irregular geometries through specialized processing paths while maintaining compatibility with traditional formats through standard processing paths, preserving both adaptability and accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP2954703B1Determining renderers for spherical harmonic coefficients
Publication Date: 2019.12.18 QUALCOMM INC
  • EP2954703B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2954703B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2954703B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

In general, techniques are described for determining renderers used for rendering spherical harmonic coefficients to generate one or more loudspeaker signals. A device comprising one or more processors may perform the techniques. The one or more processors may be configured to determine a local speaker geometry of one or more speakers used for playback of spherical harmonic coefficients representative of a sound field, and configure the device to operate based on the local speaker geometry.