US 7,882,743 B2 · Method and system for noise dosimeter

Abstract

A personal noise dosimeter having functionality for increasing the dynamic range of the device. A microphone provides a signal to an RMS detector, which provides a DC signal to a two-stage amplifier circuit. The outputs of the amplifiers are provided to a processor having multiple A/D channels. The processor calculates accumulated noise doses and drives a display, which in one embodiment includes a panel of light-emitting diodes. A current source injects current into the output of the RMS detector to reduce performance degradation. Functionality detects and accounts for voltage offsets in the dosimeter. The microphone is turned off during offset determination. In one embodiment, the dosimeter includes functionality for control of external devices such as sound boards.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A noise dosimeter for measuring an accumulated noise dose over time, comprising:

a microphone operable to convert an acoustic signal to an AC signal;
a root mean square (RMS) detector operable to receive the AC signal, convert the AC signal to a DC signal, and provide the DC signal at an output of the RMS detector;
a current source operable to inject current into the output of the RMS detector;
and
a processor operable to receive a DC signal representative of the output of the RMS detector, wherein the processor is operable to turn off the microphone when offset errors in the dosimeter are to be determined, the processor being further operable to calculate at least one offset of the RMS detector based on the DC signal received while the microphone is turned off.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and system for noise dosimeter

Life of this patent

Method and system for noise dosimeter

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20