# US 2017/0289724 A1 · Rendering audio objects in a reproduction environment that includes surround and/or height speakers > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2017/0289724 A1 - Document ID: US20170289724A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/510,213 - Filed: 2015-09-10 - Published: 2017-10-05 - Earliest claimed: 2014-09-12 - Assignees: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation; Dolby International AB - Applicants: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation; Dolby International AB - Inventors: Dirk Jeroen BREEBAART; Antonio Mateos SOLE; Heiko PURNHAGEN; Nicolas R. TSINGOS - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170289724A1 ## CPC - H04S 7/30: {Control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field} - H04R 3/12: for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers {(specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407)} - H04R 2400/11: Aspects regarding the frame of loudspeaker transducers - H04S 2400/03: Aspects of down-mixing multi-channel audio to configurations with lower numbers of playback channels, e.g. 7.1 -> 5.1 (H04S2400/01 takes precedence) - H04S 2400/11: Positioning of individual sound objects, e.g. moving airplane, within a sound field (H04S2420/13 takes precedence) - H04S: STEREOPHONIC SYSTEMS - H04R: LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS (producing sounds with frequency not determined by supply frequency G10K) ## Abstract During a process, decorrelation may be selectively applied to audio data for an audio object based, at least in part, on whether a speaker for which speaker feed signals will be determined is a surround speaker. In some implementations, decorrelation may be selectively applied according to whether such a speaker is a height speaker. Some implementations may reduce, or even eliminate, audio artifacts such as comb-filter notches and peaks. Some such implementations may increase the size of a “sweet spot” of a reproduction environment. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 -39. (canceled) ### Claim 40 A method, comprising: receiving audio data comprising audio objects, the audio objects comprising audio object signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including at least audio object position data; receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment and indications of reproduction speaker locations within the reproduction environment; and rendering the audio objects into one or more speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment and wherein the rendering involves: determining, based at least in part on audio object position data for an audio object among the audio objects, a plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered; determining whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker; determining, based at least in part on whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker, an amount of decorrelation to apply to audio object signals corresponding to the audio object; and performing a decorrelation process to apply the determined amount of decorrelation to the audio object signals corresponding to the audio object, wherein the decorrelation process comprises, for each speaker feed signal, mixing the audio object signal and a decorrelated version of the audio object signal in accordance with a time-varying panning gain for the audio object signal and a time-varying panning gain for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal, the decorrelated version of the audio object signal being obtained by a decorrelator; and wherein respective time-varying panning gains for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal for the plurality of speaker feed signals sum to zero, so that the contribution of the decorrelator cancels out when the speaker feed signals are downmixed. ### Claim 41 (depends on 40) The method of claim 40, wherein it is determined that no reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker and wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply involves determining that no decorrelation will be applied. ### Claim 42 (depends on 40) The method of claim 40, wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply is based, at least in part, on audio object position data corresponding to the audio object. ### Claim 43 (depends on 40) The method of claim 40, wherein the audio object metadata associated with at least some of the audio objects includes information regarding the amount of decorrelation to apply. ### Claim 44 (depends on 40) The method of claim 40, wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply is based, at least on part, on a user-defined parameter. ### Claim 45 An apparatus, comprising: an interface system; and a logic system capable of: receiving, via the interface system, audio data comprising audio objects, the audio objects comprising audio object signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including at least audio object position data; receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment and indications of reproduction speaker locations within the reproduction environment; and rendering the audio objects into one or more speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment and wherein the rendering involves: determining, based at least in part on audio object position data for an audio object among the audio objects, a plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered; determining whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker; determining, based at least in part on whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker, an amount of decorrelation to apply to audio object signals corresponding to the audio object; and performing a decorrelation process to apply the determined amount of decorrelation to the audio object signals corresponding to the audio object, wherein the decorrelation process comprises, for each speaker feed signal, mixing the audio object signal and a decorrelated version of the audio object signal in accordance with a time-varying panning gain for the audio object signal and a time-varying panning gain for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal, the decorrelated version of the audio object signal being obtained by a decorrelator; and wherein respective time-varying panning gains for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal for the plurality of speaker feed signals sum to zero, so that the contribution of the decorrelator cancels out when the speaker feed signals are downmixed. ### Claim 46 (depends on 45) The apparatus of claim 45, wherein it is determined that no reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker and wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply involves determining that no decorrelation will be applied. ### Claim 47 (depends on 45) The apparatus of claim 45, wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply is based, at least in part, on audio object position data corresponding to the audio object. ### Claim 48 (depends on 45) The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the audio object metadata associated with at least some of the audio objects includes information regarding the amount of decorrelation to apply. ### Claim 49 (depends on 45) The apparatus of claim 45, wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply is based, at least on part, on a user-defined parameter. ### Claim 50 (depends on 45) The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising a memory system, wherein the interface system comprises an interface between the logic system and at least a portion of the memory system. ### Claim 51 (depends on 45) The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the interface system comprises a network interface. ### Claim 52 An apparatus, comprising: interface means for data communication; and logic means for: receiving, via the interface means, audio data comprising audio objects, the audio objects comprising audio object signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including at least audio object position data; receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment and indications of reproduction speaker locations within the reproduction environment; and rendering the audio objects into one or more speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment and wherein the rendering involves: determining, based at least in part on audio object position data for an audio object among the audio objects, a plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered; determining whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker; determining, based at least in part on whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker, an amount of decorrelation to apply to audio object signals corresponding to the audio object; and performing a decorrelation process to apply the determined amount of decorrelation to the audio object signals corresponding to the audio object, wherein the decorrelation process comprises, for each speaker feed signal, mixing the audio object signal and a decorrelated version of the audio object signal in accordance with a time-varying panning gain for the audio object signal and a time-varying panning gain for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal, the decorrelated version of the audio object signal being obtained by a decorrelator; and wherein respective time-varying panning gains for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal for the plurality of speaker feed signals sum to zero, so that the contribution of the decorrelator cancels out when the speaker feed signals are downmixed. ### Claim 53 (depends on 52) The apparatus of claim 52, wherein it is determined that no reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker and wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply involves determining that no decorrelation will be applied. ### Claim 54 (depends on 52) The apparatus of claim 52, wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply is based, at least in part, on audio object position data corresponding to the audio object. ### Claim 55 A non-transitory medium having software stored thereon, the software including instructions for controlling at least one apparatus to perform the following operations: receiving audio data comprising audio objects, the audio objects comprising audio object signals and associated audio object metadata, the audio object metadata including at least audio object position data; receiving reproduction environment data comprising an indication of a number of reproduction speakers in a reproduction environment and indications of reproduction speaker locations within the reproduction environment; and rendering the audio objects into one or more speaker feed signals based, at least in part, on the audio object metadata, wherein each speaker feed signal corresponds to at least one of the reproduction speakers within the reproduction environment and wherein the rendering involves: determining, based at least in part on audio object position data for an audio object among the audio objects, a plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered; determining whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker; determining, based at least in part on whether at least one reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker, an amount of decorrelation to apply to audio object signals corresponding to the audio object; and performing a decorrelation process to apply the determined amount of decorrelation to the audio object signals corresponding to the audio object, wherein the decorrelation process comprises, for each speaker feed signal, mixing the audio object signal and a decorrelated version of the audio object signal in accordance with a time-varying panning gain for the audio object signal and a time-varying panning gain for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal, the decorrelated version of the audio object signal being obtained by a decorrelator; and wherein respective time-varying panning gains for the decorrelated version of the audio object signal for the plurality of speaker feed signals sum to zero, so that the contribution of the decorrelator cancels out when the speaker feed signals are downmixed. ### Claim 56 (depends on 55) The non-transitory medium of claim 55, it is determined that no reproduction speaker of the plurality of reproduction speakers for which speaker feed signals will be rendered is a surround speaker or a height speaker and wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply involves determining that no decorrelation will be applied. ### Claim 57 (depends on 55) The non-transitory medium of claim 55, wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply is based, at least in part, on audio object position data corresponding to the audio object. ### Claim 58 (depends on 55) The non-transitory medium of claim 55, wherein the audio object metadata associated with at least some of the audio objects includes information regarding the amount of decorrelation to apply. ### Claim 59 (depends on 55) The non-transitory medium of claim 55, wherein determining the amount of decorrelation to apply is based, at least on part, on a user-defined parameter.