Multi-domain wind noise detection and reduction in audio devices

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing audio signal processing technologies fail to accurately detect and remove wind noise, especially in high-speed wind conditions, which degrades sound quality and affects applications like acoustic echo cancellation, voice-trigger detection, and automatic speech recognition in outdoor environments.

Innovation Solution

A holographic wind noise detection and reduction system that analyzes audio signals in multiple domains (time, frequency, and spatial) using energy, pitch, spectral centroid, and coherence analysis to detect wind noise, and processes signals in these domains to mitigate wind noise, with user-configurable settings for different applications.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If traditional background noise detection and reduction approaches are used, then the system is simple to implement, but they fail to accurately detect and remove wind noise in high-speed wind conditions

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvewind noise detection accuracyVSAvoiddetection system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The detection system is divided into multiple independent analysis modules operating in different domains: time domain energy analysis, frequency domain spectral analysis, and spatial domain coherence analysis. Each module processes specific characteristics of the audio signal independently, and their results are combined to make the final wind noise detection decision, improving accuracy without requiring a single complex system

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system transitions from traditional single-domain noise detection to multi-domain analysis by adding spatial domain coherence analysis alongside time and frequency domain analyses. This dimensional expansion allows the system to detect wind noise characteristics that are not apparent in single-domain analyses, significantly improving detection accuracy in high-speed wind conditions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Reliability

If wind noise removal processing is applied, then sound quality improves in windy conditions, but processing time and computational resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaudio signal reliabilityVSAvoidsignal processing time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary wind noise detection and classification before applying removal processing. By pre-identifying wind noise presence and characteristics through multi-domain analysis, the system can select appropriate processing strategies in advance, avoiding unnecessary processing steps and reducing overall processing time while maintaining reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The wind noise removal processing is made dynamic and adaptive based on detection results. The system adjusts processing intensity and methods according to the detected wind noise characteristics and conditions, applying stronger processing only when and where needed, thereby reducing unnecessary computational overhead and processing time while maintaining audio signal reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Measurement precision

If multiple detection techniques are used in different domains, then wind noise detection accuracy improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvewind noise detection precisionVSAvoidprocessing system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system employs a unified multi-domain analysis framework that handles multiple detection tasks across time, frequency, and spatial domains. This universal framework processes different audio characteristics through consistent methodologies, achieving comprehensive wind noise detection precision while avoiding the complexity of separate specialized systems for each domain

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS11594239B1Detection and removal of wind noise

Publication Date: 2023.02.28 META PLATFORMS INC

AI summary

An electronic device includes one or more microphones that generate audio signals and a wind noise detection subsystem. The electronic device may also include a wind noise reduction subsystem. The wind noise detection subsystem applies multiple wind noise detection techniques to the set of audio signals to generate corresponding indications of whether wind noise is present. The wind noise detection subsystem determines whether wind noise is present based on the indications generated by each detection technique and generates an overall indication of whether wind noise is present. The wind noise reduction subsystem applies one or more wind noise reduction techniques to the audio signal if wind noise is detected. The wind noise detection and reduction techniques may work in multiple domains (e.g., the time, spatial, and frequency domains).