Method and device for operating a microphone system, especially in a motor vehicle
AssigneeVolkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
InventorKlaus Schaaf
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for operating a microphone system, particularly in a motor vehicle, detects speech sound in several different physical locations to track a virtual microphone location, which is optimized in relation to a moving speech source. From the evaluation of variables, such as operating time, phase and/or amplitude, the individual microphone locations are virtually weighted, and the audio signals from the microphones are added or otherwise combined.
Claims17
A method for operating a microphone system, comprising the steps of:
- (a) detecting a sound at a plurality of spatially distributed locations;
- (b) simultaneously evaluating at least one variable of the sound detected by each of the microphones;
- (c) weighting the locations of the microphones and combining audio signals from the microphones based on the evaluating step (b);
- (d) tracking a changed location in 3-dimensional space of a source of the sound based on a directivity of the microphone system by shifting at least one of the variables of the microphone signals;
- (e) optimizing in 3-dimensional space a virtual microphone location in relation to the position in 3-dimensional space of a movable sound source;
- (f) feeding the signals from the microphones to a transmission device after the evaluating step (b).
A method for operating a microphone system, comprising the steps of:
- (a) detecting a sound at a plurality of spatially distributed locations;
- (b) simultaneously evaluating at least one variable of the sound detected by each of the microphones;
- (c) weighting the locations of the microphones and combining audio signals from the microphones based on the evaluating step (b);
- (d) tracking a changed location in 3-dimensional space of a source of the sound based on a directivity of the microphone system by shifting at least one of the variables of the microphone signals;
- (e) optimizing in 3-dimensional space a virtual microphone location in relation to the position in 3-dimensional space of a movable sound source;
- (f) feeding the signals from the microphones to a transmission device after the evaluating step (b);
- wherein the microphone system is provided in a motor vehicle.
A device for operating a microphone system, the microphone system including at least two spatially distributed microphones, sound signals being feedable by the microphone system into at least one of an audio system, a telephone system, a voice-controlled input unit and an active noise compensation system, the device comprising:
- a signal analyzer configured to combine the signals from each of the microphones;
- an arrangement including a microphone-location-determination unit logically and bidirectionally connected to the signal analyzer, the microphone-location-determination unit configured to ascertain a virtual microphone location in 3-dimensional space and to transmit a return signal to the signal analyzer to perform at least one of controlling and selecting one of an optimum microphone in 3-dimensional space relative to the sound source and a directivity characteristic of the microphone system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.