Voice Activity Audio Attenuation for Alert-Over-Music Listening

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Solution Overview

Problem

Personal listening devices create a good acoustic seal, reducing the ability to hear important environmental sounds like alerts or priority signals, and existing solutions often make alert signals unintelligible due to loud entertainment signals.

Innovation Solution

An audio processing system with a voice activity detector and ratio-based attenuator that intelligently adjusts the entertainment signal level to maintain a constant voice-to-music ratio, ensuring alert signals are intelligible by attenuating the entertainment signal when necessary.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Illumination intensity

If the entertainment signal is amplified to provide high-quality audio, then the audio quality is improved, but the alert signal becomes unintelligible or inaudible

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaudio signal levelVSAvoidalert signal intelligibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Illumination intensityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the entertainment signal level based on the presence and characteristics of alert signals. The audio processing system continuously monitors the audio environment and modifies the entertainment signal amplitude in real-time, transitioning between different operating states (full volume, attenuated, or muted) to maintain both audio quality and alert signal intelligibility

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the amplitude parameter of the entertainment signal based on detected conditions. By adjusting the signal level parameter dynamically rather than maintaining a fixed level, the system resolves the contradiction between providing high-quality audio and ensuring alert signal intelligibility

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Loss of information

If the entertainment signal is attenuated to make alert signals intelligible, then the alert signal becomes audible, but the quality of the entertainment signal is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvealert signal intelligibilityVSAvoidentertainment signal level

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSIllumination intensity

Solution Approach 1:

The system employs dynamic level adjustment where the entertainment signal is attenuated only when and to the extent necessary for alert signal intelligibility. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain high entertainment signal levels during normal operation while temporarily reducing levels only when alert signals are detected, thus minimizing quality reduction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Illumination intensity

If the acoustic seal is improved to enhance bass response, then the audio quality is improved, but the ability to hear environmental sounds is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebass response qualityVSAvoidenvironmental sound perception

Core Design Contradiction:

Illumination intensityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the audio output into different components (entertainment signal and environmental sound) and processes them differently. The acoustic seal maintains isolation for the entertainment signal to preserve bass response quality, while the audio processing system separately manages environmental sound transmission to ensure alert signal perception

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The audio processing system acts as an intermediary between the sealed acoustic environment and the user's perception of environmental sounds. It processes and manages the transmission of environmental sounds through the sealed system, allowing alert signals to be perceived while maintaining the acoustic seal's bass response enhancement

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS9615170B2Approach for partially preserving music in the presence of intelligible speech

Publication Date: 2017.04.04 HARMAN INT IND INC

AI summary

An audio processing system for a listening device includes an input device, a voice activity detector and a ratio-based attenuator. The input device is configured to receive a first audio signal emanating from an environment and including a signal of interest. The voice activity detector is configured to generate a control signal in response to the first audio signal. The ratio-based attenuator is configured to receive the control signal and determine whether the signal level of the first audio signal exceeds the signal level of an audio signal received from an audio playback device by at least a target difference. If so, then the audio level of the playback audio signal is maintained. Otherwise, the audio level of the playback audio signal is adjusted, where, at the adjusted value, the first signal level exceeds the playback signal level by at least the target difference.