Frequency domain multiplexing of spatial audio for multiple listener sweet spots

A method for rendering audio data in an audio environment, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a control system, audio data;
• estimating, by the control system, a plurality of listening configurations relative to a plurality of loudspeakers in the audio environment, each listening configuration of the plurality of listening configurations corresponding to an estimated listening position and an estimated listening orientation of each person of a plurality of persons;
• rendering, by the control system, received audio data for each listening configuration of the plurality of listening configurations, wherein:
• the rendering is performed by a plurality of renderers, each renderer of the plurality of renderers being configured to render the audio data for a different listening configuration;
• and
• for each renderer, the rendering comprises only rendering into a renderer-specific set of frequency bands, a first renderer-specific set of frequency bands of a first renderer of the plurality of renderers not overlapping with a second renderer-specific set of frequency bands of a second renderer of the plurality of renderers;
• combining, by the control system, the renderer-specific set of frequency bands of each renderer to produce at least a portion of an output set of loudspeaker feed signals;
• and
• providing, by the control system, the output set of loudspeaker feed signals to the plurality of loudspeakers.

A method for rendering audio data in an audio environment, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a control system, audio data;
• estimating, by the control system, a plurality of listening configurations relative to a plurality of loudspeakers in the audio environment, each listening configuration of the plurality of listening configurations corresponding to an estimated listening position and an estimated listening orientation of each person of a plurality of persons;
• rendering, by the control system, received audio data for each listening configuration of the plurality of listening configurations, wherein the rendering is performed by a plurality of renderers, each renderer of the plurality of renderers being configured to render the audio data for a different listening configuration to obtain a set of renderer-specific loudspeaker feed signals;
• decomposing, by the control system and for each renderer, each set of renderer-specific loudspeaker feed signals into a renderer-specific set of frequency bands;
• combining, by the control system, the renderer-specific set of frequency bands of each renderer to produce an output set of loudspeaker feed signals;
• and
• providing, by the control system, the output set of loudspeaker feed signals to the plurality of loudspeakers.

An apparatus, comprising:

• an interface system;
• and
• a control system comprising one or more general purpose single- or multi-chip processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or combinations thereof, the control system being configured to:
• receive, via the interface system, audio data;
• estimate a plurality of listening configurations relative to a plurality of loudspeakers in an audio environment, each listening configuration of the plurality of listening configurations corresponding to an estimated listening position and an estimated listening orientation of each person of a plurality of persons;
• render received audio data for each listening configuration of the plurality of listening configurations, wherein:
• the rendering is performed by a plurality of renderers implemented by the control system, each renderer of the plurality of renderers being configured to render the audio data for a different listening configuration;
• and
• for each renderer, the rendering comprises only rendering into a renderer-specific set of frequency bands, a first renderer-specific set of frequency bands of a first renderer of the plurality of renderers not overlapping with a second renderer-specific set of frequency bands of a second renderer of the plurality of renderers;
• combine, by the control system, the renderer-specific set of frequency bands of each renderer to produce at least a portion of an output set of loudspeaker feed signals;
• and
• provide the output set of loudspeaker feed signals to the plurality of loudspeakers.