Multiple tread geometries for reduced tire tread noise

A tire that exhibits reduced tire noise when rolling on pavement comprising:

• a tread having two circumferential shoulders and a plurality of grooves and/or sipes between said shoulders arranged in a pattern that is divided into at least three different kinds of base pitches, said base pitches being separated from one another by lateral boundaries extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the tire and arranged in at least one row extending around the circumference of the tire,
• at least one of the grooves and/or sipes within each of said base pitches being a circumferential groove or sipe that extends between the lateral boundaries of the base pitch and intersects the lateral boundaries at locations that are substantially the same distances from said circumferential shoulders, and
• the three different kinds of base pitches being distinguished from one another by the circumferential groove or sipe in each kind of base pitch that has a maximum lateral variation from its intersection with the lateral boundary of the base pitch that is different from the maximum lateral variations of the grooves or sipes of the other base pitches, but the circumferential grooves and/or sipes of all of said base pitches intersecting said lateral boundaries at locations that are substantially the same distances from said circumferential shoulders,
• whereby said base pitches are arrangeable in any pitch sequence and, regardless of the sequence, the circumferential groove or sipe in each base pitch connects with the circumferential grooves or sipes of the adjoining pitch sections to form a circumferential groove or sipe that extends continuously around the tire, with the circumferential groove or sipe within each different kind of base pitch having a distinctive geometrical shape that alters the distribution of noise frequencies produced when the tire rolls on the pavement.