System and method for calibration of an acoustic system

A method for calibrating an acoustic system comprising:

• initially guessing at an overall speaker configuration, wherein the overall speaker configuration represents an arrangement of each of a plurality of rendering devices with respect to one another, and wherein each of the plurality of rendering devices are attached to audio speakers, respectively, that are members of a surround sound system;
• receiving a single test signal from a sound source in a preferred listening position, in relation to the surround sound system, at multiple microphones attached to each of the plurality of rendering devices, respectively, and recording a travel time associated with each of the microphones, wherein the test signal is broadcast as a flat frequency response band with sham central correlation peak that is comparatively large in magnitude to a balance of the test signal;
• transmitting information from the microphones to a calibration computing device;
• and automatically calculating, at the calibration computing device, a distance and an angle between each of the plurality of rendering devices and the preferred listening position based on the travel time of the received test signal to each of the microphones;
• determining the x and y coordinates of each of the plurality of rendering devices utilizing the angle and the distance;
• revising the initial guess of the overall speaker configuration to align with the determined x and y coordinates of each of the plurality of rendering devices;
• utilizing the overall speaker configuration to determine the x, y, and z coordinates of the preferred listening position;
• and calculating delays and gains associated with the plurality of rendering devices based on the coordinates of the preferred listening position.

A method for calibrating an acoustic system including at least a source A/V device, a sound source, and a first and a second rendering device, the method comprising:

• generating a single test signal from the sound source at a selected time, wherein the test signal is broadcast as a flat frequency response band with sharp central correlation peak that is comparatively large in magnitude to a balance of the test signal, wherein the sound source is positioned at a preferred listening distance respect to an overall speaker configuration, wherein the overall speaker configuration represents an arrangement of the first and the second rendering device with respect to one another, and wherein the first and the second rendering device are attached to audio speakers, respectively, that are members of a surround sound system;
• receiving the test signal at the first and the second rendering device at four or more reception times, wherein each of the four or more reception times corresponds with a respective microphones attached to the first and the second rendering device;
• transmitting information pertaining to the received test signal from the first and the second rendering device to the calibration computing device;
• and calculating a distance and an angle between the first and the second rendering device and the sound source based on the selected time and the reception times;
• utilizing the angle and the distance to determine the x and y coordinates of the first and the second rendering devices;
• utilizing the x and y coordinates of both the first and the second rendering devices to establish the arrangement of the overall speaker configuration and utilizing the established arrangement of the overall speaker configuration to determine the x, y, and z coordinates of the preferred listening position.

A method for calibrating an acoustic system through transmission of a test signal, the method comprising:

• transmitting the test signal from a sound source to a rendering device, the test signal comprising a flat frequency response band facilitating distinction between the test signal and background noise and a sharp central correlation peak that is comparatively large in magnitude to a balance of the test signal enabling precise measurement, wherein the rendering device is a member of a surround sound system and the sound source is positioned in a preferred listening position with respect to the surround sound system;
• receiving the test signal at a microphones attached to the rendering device;
• automatically calculating a distance and an angle between the rendering device and the sound source based on a travel time of the received test signal to each of the microphones;
• utilizing the angle and the distance to determine the x and y coordinates of the rendering device;
• determining an overall speaker configuration of the surround sound system from the x and y coordinates;
• and
• utilizing the overall speaker configuration to determine the x, y, and z coordinates of the preferred listening position.

A method for automatically calibrating a surround sound system including a plurality of speakers with a calibration system including a calibration computing device and a calibration module within at least one selected speaker, the method comprising:

• detecting a connection of the plurality of speakers with the calibration computing device;
• utilizing the calibration computing device to assume a speaker configuration that represents an arrangement of a plurality of rendering devices with respect to each other, wherein at least one of the plurality of speakers is attached to each of the plurality of rendering devices, playing a test signal from a sound source in a preferred listening position at a precise time;
• receiving the test signal at the calibration module located on a subject rendering device of the plurality of rendering devices;
• calculating a distance and an angle between the preferred listening position and the calibration module based upon a reception time of the test signal in view of the precise time of playing the test signal;
• and amending the arrangement of the assumed speaker configuration to align with the calculated distance and the calculated angle;
• and utilizing the checked speaker configuration to determine x, y, and z coordinates of the preferred listening position wherein the test signal is broadcast as a flat frequency response band with sham central correlation peak that is comparatively large in magnitude to a balance of the test signal.

A calibration method for calibrating a sound system having at least one rendering device, the calibration method comprising:

• generating a calibration pulse from each of the at least one rendering device and a sound source in a preferred listening position, said calibration pulse is broadcast as a flat frequency response band with sharp central correlation peak that is comparatively large in magnitude to a balance of the test signal, wherein each of the at least one rendering device is a member of a surround sound system and the sound source is positioned in a preferred listening position with respect to the surround sound system;
• utilizing a travel time of the calibration pulse between each of the at least one rendering device and the sound source to determine the x and y coordinates of each of the at least one rendering device with respect to one another;
• determining an overall speaker configuration of the surround sound system from the x and y coordinates;
• and
• utilizing the overall speaker configuration to determine the x, y, and z coordinates of the preferred listening position;
• calculating any of time delay, gain, and frequency response characteristics of the sound system the overall speak configuration;
• and
• creating an inverse filter based on any of the time delay, gain and frequency response characteristics for reversing at least one of frequency errors and phase errors of the sound system.