Vehicle Call Audio Mixing to Mask Noise Without Voice Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle infotainment systems lack the ability to effectively add background sounds to mobile phone calls, which can lead to interference from unexpected background noises and reduced intelligibility, especially in high-workload driving situations.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle infotainment system with audio processing circuitry that selects and adapts background sounds from a database to combine with the uplink signal, ensuring the background sounds do not interfere with the voice stream by scaling and equalizing their spectrum, and using masking metrics to maintain or improve intelligibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If background sounds are added to the uplink signal, then the call experience for the recipient is improved, but the background sounds may mask the voice signal and reduce intelligibility
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the audio parameters of background sounds including volume level, frequency spectrum, and temporal characteristics to ensure they enhance rather than mask the voice signal. The audio processing circuitry modifies these parameters in real-time based on the voice signal characteristics and driving conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs feedback mechanisms where the audio processing circuitry continuously monitors the combined signal of voice and background sounds, analyzing intelligibility metrics and adjusting the background sound parameters accordingly to maintain optimal voice clarity while providing environmental context.
2Reliability
If background sounds are added to mask unexpected noises, then the signal-to-noise ratio is improved, but the complexity of audio processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The audio processing circuitry is divided into specialized functional modules including a voice activity detector, spectrum analyzer, background sound selector, and parameter adjuster. Each module handles a specific aspect of the processing task, making the overall complex system more manageable and efficient.
Solution Approach 2:
The infotainment system's audio processing circuitry is designed to perform multiple functions: it processes voice signals, selects appropriate background sounds from a database, adjusts audio parameters, and outputs the combined signal. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated hardware for each function.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the background sound level is increased to improve masking of background noises, then the masking effect is improved, but the voice signal may be masked and intelligibility reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different audio processing treatments to different frequency bands and time segments. Background sounds are selectively enhanced in frequency ranges where they provide useful environmental context without interfering with the voice signal's spectral content. The processing is localized to specific audio characteristics rather than applying uniform adjustments across the entire signal.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio processing creates an asymmetric relationship between the voice signal and background sounds, where the voice signal maintains priority in terms of volume and spectral presence, while background sounds are carefully controlled to provide context without competing for attention. This asymmetric handling ensures voice intelligibility is preserved.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle infotainment system that adds background sounds to an outgoing call on a mobile device. The infotainment system comprises: i) a database of selectable augmenting audio signals; and ii) audio processing circuitry configured to receive at a first input an uplink signal from the infotainment system and receive at a second input a selected augmenting audio signal. The audio processing circuitry adapts a spectrum of the first selected augmenting audio signal to prevent the selected augmenting audio signal from masking the uplink signal and combines the adapted selected augmenting audio signal and the uplink signal to produce an augmented uplink signal at an output.