Spatial Audio Controller Selective Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in efficiently managing audio spatial renderings during communication sessions, particularly when multiple remote devices are involved, leading to a heavy processing toll on local device electronics and compromising audio quality.
Innovation Solution
A local device equipped with a spatial audio controller that determines whether input audio streams from remote devices should be rendered individually or mixed, based on voice activity detection parameters and visual representation settings within the graphical user interface, to optimize processing and preserve audio quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spatial rendering operations are performed on each remote device's audio data individually, then audio quality is improved, but processing load on the local device increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments audio streams into individual spatial rendering operations only for prominent visual representations, while grouping non-prominent streams together. This selective segmentation reduces the total number of spatial rendering operations performed on the CPU, thereby reducing processing load while maintaining audio quality for the most important participants.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality levels of spatial rendering to different audio streams based on their visual representation prominence. Prominent participants receive full individual spatial rendering for high audio quality, while non-prominent participants are grouped into mixed spatial renderings. This local quality differentiation maintains overall audio quality for important participants while reducing total processing complexity.
2Reliability
If individual spatial rendering is applied to all audio streams, then audio quality is maintained, but computational processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial spatial rendering by individually processing only the audio streams corresponding to prominent visual representations, while grouping the remaining non-prominent streams. This partial action approach maintains audio quality for the most important participants without the excessive computational processing required to individually render all streams, thus reducing overall power consumption.
3Ease of operation
If visual representations are arranged in a larger per-user tile canvas region, then user interface quality is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating between prominent and non-prominent visual representations in the GUI. Only prominent representations (those in the canvas region) receive individual spatial rendering, while non-prominent ones are grouped. This allows high user interface quality for important participants without the processing complexity of treating all representations equally.
Data Source
AI summary
A method performed a local device that is communicatively coupled with several remote devices, the method includes: receiving, from each remote device with which the local device is engaged in a communication session, an input audio stream; receiving, for each remote device, a set parameters; determining, for each input audio stream, whether the input audio stream is to be 1) rendered individually or 2) rendered as a mix of input audio streams based on the set of parameters; for each input audio stream that is determined to be rendered individually, spatially rendering the input audio stream as an individual virtual sound source that contains only that input audio stream; and for input audio streams that are determined to be rendered as the mix of input audio streams, spatially rendering the mix of input audio streams as a single virtual sound source that contains the mix of input audio streams.