Particular Transducer Or Enclosure Structure Patents (Class 381/71.7)
  • Patent number: 11924132
    Abstract: A communication device comprises a receiver including at least two receive antennas and configured to receive at least one reference signal of a plurality of reference signals, each reference signal being transmitted from at least one base station at a predefined reference signal transmission time; a controller configured to switch between at least two receive configurations of the at least two antennas during a reception period of the at least one reference signal; and a signal quality determiner configured to determine a parameter indicative of a first signal quality of the received reference signal for each receive configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Zhibin Yu, Michael Ruder, Holger Neuhaus, Yeong-Sun Hwang, Bertram Gunzelmann
  • Patent number: 11909339
    Abstract: In a resonance suppression control device that controls suppression of vibrations in a resonance frequency in each vibration mode of a control target having a plurality of vibration modes, a configuration that is simple, and can suppress vibrations in a resonance frequency in the plurality of vibration modes is provided. A control device is a resonance suppression control device that controls suppression of vibrations in a resonance frequency in each vibration mode of a control target having a plurality of vibration modes. The control device includes a plurality of feedback loops that provide negative feedback of output of the control target corresponding to the plurality of vibration modes to an input side. The plurality of feedback loops respectively include band-pass filters that extract one or more vibration modes from the plurality of vibration modes, phase compensators, and amplitude adjusters. The band-pass filters and the phase compensators function as differentiators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: SINFONIA TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yoji Masui
  • Patent number: 11887575
    Abstract: A system for generating and injecting acoustic interference signals to mitigate undesired acoustic noise over a target zone. M pickup sensors pick up acoustic noise signals from one or more noise sources in real time and generate M noise signals, M>1. A beam forming network includes M acoustic beam forming modules to process the M noise signals respectively and generate N acoustic interference signals. N acoustic injectors condition, amplify and inject the N acoustic interference signals over the target zone, N>1. Each of the M acoustic beam forming modules includes a 1-to-N distribution network to transform a respective one of the M noise signals into N signals, and N finite-impulse-response filters to perform amplitude and phase weighting on the respective N signals and generate N intermediate signals which are combined respectively with corresponding intermediate signals generated by remaining M?1 acoustic beam forming modules to generate the N acoustic interference signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Inventors: Donald C. D. Chang, Steve K. Chen
  • Patent number: 11860198
    Abstract: Mutual inductance-type current sensing apparatus (1) is described which includes a mutual inductance current sensor (11) having a first transfer function. The apparatus (1) also includes a low-pass filter (12) which receives a signal from the current sensor (11). The low-pass filter (12) has a second transfer function configured to attenuate one or more harmonic components of the signal. The apparatus (1) also includes an analogue-to-digital converter (13) which receives and digitises a filtered signal output from the low-pass filter. The apparatus (1) also includes a controller (8) configured to process a digitised signal from the analogue-to-digital converter (13) using a digital processing chain configured to compensate for the frequency and phase responses of the first transfer function and the second transfer function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: SENTEC LTD
    Inventors: Andrew Dames, Mark England, Joseph Adam
  • Patent number: 11837070
    Abstract: Provided is technology to reduce interlayer noise occurring in a multi-story house such as an apartment, and more particularly, an environmental and contextual custom-built artificial intelligence (AI) based, interlayer noise abatement apparatus that defines a standard of interlayer noise based on a user environment or a user-specified context, allows an interlayer noise maker to recognize when the noise exceeding the above standard occurs and allows the interlayer noise maker to voluntarily reduce the interlayer noise, and a method of the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Inventor: Hyun Been Kim
  • Patent number: 11823698
    Abstract: A method of cropping a portion of an audio signal captured from a plurality of spatially separated audio sources in a scene, the method comprising: capturing the audio signal with one or more recording devices; separating the audio signal into a plurality of components each associated with one or more of the plurality of audio sources; selecting a spatial region in the scene; determining which of the plurality of components are associated with an audio source positioned outside of the selected spatial region; and cropping the plurality of components associated with an audio source positioned outside of the selected spatial region out of the audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: AUDIOTELLIGENCE LIMITED
    Inventors: David Anthony Betts, James Peter McTavish, Joe Patrick Lynas
  • Patent number: 11715451
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an acoustic device including a microphone array, a processor, and at least one speaker. The microphone array may be configured to acquire an environmental noise. The processor may be configured to estimate a sound field at a target spatial position using the microphone array. The target spatial position may be closer to an ear canal of a user than each microphone in the microphone array. The processor may be configured to generate a noise reduction signal based on the environmental noise and the sound field estimation of the target spatial position. The at least one speaker may be configured to output a target signal based on the noise reduction signal. The target signal may be used to reduce the environmental noise. The microphone array may be arranged in a target area to minimize an interference signal from the at least one speaker to the microphone array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: SHENZHEN SHOKZ CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Le Xiao, Jinbo Zheng, Chengqian Zhang, Fengyun Liao, Xin Qi
  • Patent number: 11705104
    Abstract: An electronic system includes a fan module, an embedded controller, a reference microphone, an error microphone, an active noise cancellation controller, and a micro speaker module. The reference microphone is configured to output a wide-band noise signal associated with the operation of the fan module. The error microphone is configured to output an error signal by detecting the noise level during the operation of the electronic system. According to the wide-band noise signal, the error signal and the fan information provided by the embedded controller, the active noise cancellation controller calculates the narrow-band noises and the wide-band noises generated by the fan module, and drives the micro speaker module accordingly for providing a noise cancellation signal. The error signal may be reduced to zero by adaptively adjusting the noise cancellation signal for canceling the noises generated during the operation of the electronic system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: ACER INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Jia-Ren Chang, Ruey-Ching Shyu
  • Patent number: 11689849
    Abstract: Method, apparatus, and computer-readable media to manage undesired sound sources in microphone pickup/focus zones preferably mitigates one or more of the undesired sound source(s) in a space having a plurality of microphones and at least one desired sound source. Preferably, at least one microphone input receives plural microphone input signals from the plurality of microphones in the space. Preferably, the least one processor is coupled to the at least one microphone input and receives the plural microphone input signals. Preferably, the at least one processor determines plural micro-zones in the space. Preferably, the at least one processor determines a threshold sound field level for each micro-zone based on received plural microphone input signals that correspond to the one or more undesired sound source(s). Preferably, the at least one processor recognizes a desired sound source when received plural microphone input signals exceed one or more threshold sound field level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Inventors: Richard Dale Ferguson, Linshan Li, Mahdi Javer, Nicholas Alexander Norrie
  • Patent number: 11676570
    Abstract: A noise cancellation system for cancelling sounds within a vehicle. The noise cancellation system includes microphones, a camera, a controller, and speakers. The microphones are disposed adjacent to occupant locations, and configured to generate microphone signals representative of noise sounds and cancellation audio sounds. The camera is configured to generate a video signal that captures head configurations of the occupants. The controller is configured to receive rotor control signals, calculate hearing locations based on tracking data of the head configurations of the occupants, and generate a speaker signals based on the hearing locations, the microphone signals, and the rotor control signals. The speakers are configured to generate the cancellation audio sounds. The cancellation audio sounds attenuate the noise sounds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Steven F. Griffin
  • Patent number: 11671748
    Abstract: A small-sized onboard device that includes a speaker and a microphone and is configured to reduce noise caused by an echo is provided. The speaker is provided inside a housing that forms a cavity inside so that a sound emission surface of the speaker faces a direction substantially orthogonal to a front surface, and a first opening is formed in a front surface of the housing. A microphone case and a sound guide member are juxtaposed on the front surface of the housing. A microphone is housed inside the microphone case. The microphone case has a sound pickup hole in a front surface of the microphone case. The sound guide member has a sound guide hole that passes through the sound guide member. The first opening is provided in a vicinity of a top surface or a bottom surface of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: TRANSTRON INC.
    Inventor: Hideyuki Matsuo
  • Patent number: 11665459
    Abstract: A noise reduction device includes a processor that converts a noise signal collected by a microphone disposed in a control space into a noise signal in a frequency domain, a storage that stores the converted noise signal in the frequency domain as a reference signal, and a signal generator that generates a noise reduction signal for reducing the noise signal collected by the microphone at a control position of the control space. The processor determines whether or not the noise signal is non-stationary noise based on a frequency characteristic of the converted noise signal in the frequency domain and a frequency characteristic of the reference signal. When it is determined that the noise signal is the non-stationary noise, the processor controls the signal generator so as to cancel generation of the noise reduction signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Junji Araki, Shinichi Takayama
  • Patent number: 11620975
    Abstract: A feedforward ambient noise reduction arrangement includes, within a housing, a loudspeaker device for directing sound energy into an ear of a listener. Disposed externally of the housing, and positioned to sense ambient noise on its way to the listener's ear, are plural microphone devices capable of converting the sensed ambient noise into electrical signals for application to the loudspeaker to generate an acoustic signal opposing the ambient noise. Importantly, the overall arrangement is such that the acoustic signal is generated by said loudspeaker means in substantial time alignment with the arrival of said ambient noise at the listener's ear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventor: Alastair Sibbald
  • Patent number: 11568845
    Abstract: A method of designing an acoustic liner includes identifying acoustic path lengths that will attenuate a frequency within a frequency range of interest, and selecting a liner configuration with a combination of acoustic paths that addresses the frequency range of interest. The selection may be made after a comparison of the response of different liner configurations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural & Mechanical Colleges
    Inventor: James Mathew Manimala
  • Patent number: 11545125
    Abstract: An electronic system includes a fan module, an embedded controller, an error microphone, an active noise cancellation controller, and a micro speaker module. The error microphone is configured to output an error signal by detecting the noise level during the operation of the electronic system. According to the error signal and the fan information provided by the embedded controller, the active noise cancellation controller calculates the narrow-band noises associated with the actual single-blade fundamental frequency noise and the actual BPF fundamental frequency noise generated by the fan module, and drives the micro speaker module accordingly for providing a noise cancellation signal. The error signal may be reduced to zero by adaptively adjusting the noise cancellation signal for canceling the noises generated during the operation of the electronic system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: ACER INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Jia-Ren Chang, Ruey-Ching Shyu
  • Patent number: 11495205
    Abstract: A system for generating silent zones at a listening position comprises a first loudspeaker disposed at a first position and configured to radiate sound that corresponds to a sound signal. A first microphone picks up noise radiated by a noise source to the listening position and generates a first microphone signal. A second loudspeaker disposed at a second position that radiates sound. A second microphone that generates a second microphone signal. A third microphone disposed at a third position that generates a third microphone signal. An active noise cancellation (ANC) controller that receives the third microphone signal and at least one of the first and second microphone signals and that provides a loudspeaker input signal. A distance between the third position and the first position equals a distance between the third position and the second position such that the first, second and third microphones form corners of an isosceles triangle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Nikos Zafeiropoulos, Koukias Stamatios
  • Patent number: 11471011
    Abstract: A body dryer includes an airflow generator to generate a flow of air, an inlet to pass air from the surroundings to the airflow generator, an outlet to vent the air from the airflow generator, a body, and a movable bar, the bar supported by the body. A drive assembly is provided between the body and the bar, the bar movably driven relative to the body. A noise cancellation device is provided to cancel or reduce noise in at least one of the airflow generator and the drive assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Hyun Sun Yoo, Seung Yup Lee, Sang Yoon Lee, Byung Soo Oh, Hyun-Joo Jeon, So Ra Cheon, Ji Sun Yoon
  • Patent number: 11468874
    Abstract: A hybrid ANC system that can allow a feedback microphone to receive the same external noise as a feedforward microphone. A processor can generate an anti-noise signal based on what both microphones received to cancel a broader range of frequencies of the external noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: Guohua Sun, Jae Lee, Tiantian Xu
  • Patent number: 11463212
    Abstract: A communication device comprises a receiver including at least two receive antennas and configured to receive at least one reference signal of a plurality of reference signals, each reference signal being transmitted from at least one base station at a predefined reference signal transmission time; a controller configured to switch between at least two receive configurations of the at least two antennas during a reception period of the at least one reference signal; and a signal quality determiner configured to determine a parameter indicative of a first signal quality of the received reference signal for each receive configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Zhibin Yu, Michael Ruder, Holger Neuhaus, Yeong-Sun Hwang, Bertram Gunzelmann
  • Patent number: 11374589
    Abstract: Exemplary multipath digital microphone described herein can comprise exemplary embodiments of adaptive ADC range multipath digital microphones, which allow low power to be achieved for amplifiers or gain stages, as well as for exemplary adaptive ADCs in exemplary multipath digital microphone arrangements described herein, while still providing a high DR digital microphone systems. Further non-limiting embodiments can comprise an exemplary glitch removal component configured to minimize audible artifacts associated with the change in the gain of the exemplary adaptive ADCs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: INVENSENSE, INC.
    Inventor: Michael Perrott
  • Patent number: 11223891
    Abstract: A system, disposed within a wearable hearing device, includes a sound producing device (SPD) driven by a driving voltage, a first sound sensing device, and a subtraction circuit. The first sound sensing device is configured to sense a combined sound pressure produced at least by the SPD and generate a sensed signal accordingly. The subtraction circuit has a first input terminal, a second input terminal, and a first output terminal. The first input terminal is coupled to the first sound sensing device, and the first output terminal is coupled to the SPD. A first phase delay between the driving voltage and the sensed signal is less than 60°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: xMEMS Labs, Inc.
    Inventors: Jemm Yue Liang, Hsi-Sheng Chen
  • Patent number: 11181417
    Abstract: A rack server noise monitoring method and system. The system includes a sound pressure obtaining device, which includes a semi-anechoic room with a 4U jig at the center thereof and microphones over the 4U jig, and a noise monitoring device which includes a server rack and a rack server management module RMC. The microphone is configured to measure sound pressure values of the 4U jig controlled by PWM input signals with different duty ratios. Node middle boards are provided in the server rack, each of which is connected to a fan control panel, the fan control panel is connected to a fan unit, the fan unit includes fans, and each node middle board is connected to the RMC. The RMC obtains a real-time duty ratio of a PWM input signal for the fan, and calculates a real-time sound pressure value based on the duty ratio of the PWM input signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: ZHENGZHOU YUNHAI INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Cong Wang
  • Patent number: 11127396
    Abstract: There are provided a target area sound extraction unit that, based on input signals input from plural microphone arrays, acquires beam former outputs from each of the microphone arrays, and uses the acquired beam former outputs to perform target area sound extraction processing to extract a target area sound taking a target area as a sound source, so as to thereby acquire an area sound acquisition output, and a restoration device that restores components of the target area sound in a frequency bandwidth having a predetermined range that was suppressed in the target area sound extraction processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignees: Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., FEAT Limited
    Inventors: Takashi Yazu, Kazuhiro Katagiri, Akihiko Arimitsu
  • Patent number: 10984777
    Abstract: A camera includes one or more microphone pairs. A first microphone (e.g., a main microphone) is ported to the outside of the camera and captures the desired external audio signal, but may also capture undesired vibrational noise. A second microphone has a similar structure to the first microphone, but is not ported to the outside of the camera. Instead, the second microphone is ported into an enclosed cavity (e.g., 1-2 cubic centimeters in volume). The second microphone may pick up the same vibration excitation and internal acoustic noise as the first microphone but very little of the desired external acoustic sounds around the camera. The unwanted noise can then be removed by subtracting the second audio signal from the second microphone from the main audio signal from the main microphone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: GoPro, Inc.
    Inventors: Erich Tisch, Fabrice Barbier, Magnus Hansson
  • Patent number: 10796683
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are presented for an active noise control system with a selector mechanism to select an appropriate reference signal for an active noise control algorithm responsive to several noise sources, some of which generate may sounds intermittently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Invictus Medical, Inc.
    Inventors: George Martin Hutchinson, Lilin Du
  • Patent number: 10522129
    Abstract: A camera includes one or more microphone pairs. A first microphone (e.g., a main microphone) is ported to the outside of the camera and captures the desired external audio signal, but may also capture undesired vibrational noise. A second microphone has a similar structure to the first microphone, but is not ported to the outside of the camera. Instead, the second microphone is ported into an enclosed cavity (e.g., 1-2 cubic centimeters in volume). The second microphone may pick up the same vibration excitation and internal acoustic noise as the first microphone but very little of the desired external acoustic sounds around the camera. The unwanted noise can then be removed by subtracting the second audio signal from the second microphone from the main audio signal from the main microphone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: GoPro, Inc.
    Inventors: Erich Tisch, Fabrice Barbier, Magnus Hansson
  • Patent number: 10520356
    Abstract: Disclosed is a device, a method, and a system for analyzing and monitoring noise information and a noise type based on a noise-between-floors using an air-borne noise and a direct impact noise respectively measured by a microphone array and a sensor module array. The device, the method, and the system may provide a noise feedback for each household by analyzing and monitoring a noise level, a noise source location, a noise direction, an occurrence time, a noise type of a noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: CENTER FOR INTEGRATED SMART SENSORS FOUNDATION
    Inventor: Hyun Tae Cho
  • Patent number: 10418015
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a system and a method for spectral shaping of vehicle noise cancellation. In an example implementation, the method includes determining a center frequency of an expected tonal peak within a selected noise band based upon vehicle data, generating a noise cancellation signal using a weighted shaping filter to shape the noise band, and outputting the noise cancellation signal to smooth the expected tonal peak.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Frank C. Valeri, Christopher A. Stirlen, Timothy J. Roggenkamp
  • Patent number: 10410619
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are presented for an active noise control system with a selector mechanism to select an appropriate reference signal for an active noise control algorithm responsive to several noise sources, some of which generate may sounds intermittently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Invictus Medical, Inc.
    Inventors: George Martin Hutchinson, Lilin Du
  • Patent number: 10063276
    Abstract: Provided is a base-station device, a terminal device, a transmission method, and a reception method that realize efficient transmission in a radio communication system that performs large-scale MU-MIMO transmission. The base-station device having a plurality of antennas and performing communication with a plurality of terminal devices simultaneously, includes a channel state information acquisition unit for acquiring channel state information with respect to the plurality of terminal devices; a signal spreading unit for performing spreading and multiplexing for a plurality of signals addressed to each of the terminal devices by using a spread code in a spatial direction of each of the terminal devices; and a precoding unit for applying precoding to the signals, which have been spread and multiplexed, based on the channel state information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiromichi Tomeba, Ryota Yamada
  • Patent number: 9792892
    Abstract: Active noise cancellation may be provided by a variety of systems, methods and techniques. General aspects, for example, include an active noise cancellation system, a controller for an active noise cancellation system, and/or a method of generating an anti-noise signal. In one example aspect, an active noise cancellation system for an aircraft In-flight entertainment system may include at least one input device, a processing means, and an output. The input device may be associated with a seat on the aircraft and adapted to receive an input representative of an ambient noise in the vicinity of the seat. The processing means may be adapted to process the input to produce an output signal adapted to reduce the ambient noise in volume associated with the seat. The output may be adapted to transmit an output signal to at least one driver, which is adapted to transmit the output signal to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Amphenol Phitek Limited
    Inventors: Hassan Faqir Gul, Nigel Greig, Thomas Allen Darbonne, Mark Poletti, Johann Frederic de Guigne
  • Patent number: 9621988
    Abstract: Certain exemplary aspects of the present disclosure are directed towards apparatuses and methods which mitigate the effect of speaker vibration on a disc drive. Audio associated with a speaker output is detected and triggers the generation of an output signal indicative of speaker vibration associated with such an audio output of a speaker. A magnetoresistive transducer of the disc drive is positioned relative to a storage medium based on the output signal, a target data storage location in the storage medium from which data is to be accessed via the positioning, and the position of the transducer. The output signal mitigates the effect of the speaker vibration on the transducer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Lealon R. McKenzie, Evgeny Kharisov, Zai Yu Nang, Qiang Bi, Seow Zhao Li, Raye A. Sosseh
  • Patent number: 9455642
    Abstract: A circuit for converting variable frequency generated AC electric power to DC electric power for use on loads comprises a transformer-rectifier unit to convert a generated AC electric power to DC electric power. A tap senses the converted DC power downstream of the transformer-rectifier unit with a filter, which passes a filtered signal to a control for detecting a fault on the transformer-rectifier unit by passing a higher-order harmonic of the generated AC power as the filtered signal. A tap senses an AC frequency of the generated AC power reaching the transformer-rectifier unit. The sensed AC frequency is utilized to tune the filter, such that the filter will pass the higher order harmonic, as the higher order harmonic varies with variation in the AC frequency. A power system is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventor: Frank J. Ludicky
  • Patent number: 9181875
    Abstract: An intake manifold is provided for inducting combustion air for a compressor of a gas turbine. The intake manifold includes a plurality of walls that delimit against the environment. Devices are provided for controllable change of the mechanical rigidity of the walls to reduce noise which is generated or is emitted in an air intake region during operation of the gas turbine. A gas turbine is also provided and includes an air intake to which air to be compressed is fed via an intake manifold. The intake manifold having a plurality of walls that delimit against the environment. Devices are provided to controllably change a mechanical rigidity of the walls to reduce noise which is generated or emitted in an air intake region during operation of the gas turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: ALSTOM TECHNOLOGY LTD
    Inventors: Armin Busekros, Thomas Kramer, Jochem Fischer, Juergen Hoffmann
  • Patent number: 9036837
    Abstract: A desktop audio loudspeaker system, for placement on a desktop used a work surface by a listener, includes an enclosure for placement on or above the desktop, the enclosure having a front surface; a first loudspeaker mounted in the enclosure, the first loudspeaker radiating sound from the enclosure, past the front surface, in a direct path to ears of the listener. This embodiment also includes a first reflective element having a surface, the first reflective element mounted in relation to the enclosure so as to reduce multipath effects caused by reflection of sound by the desktop, wherein the surface of the first reflective element is disposed transversely with respect to the front surface of the enclosure, and forming an angle with the front surface, to reflect sound, emanating from the first loudspeaker, away from the desktop in a direction that avoids a direct path to ears of the listener.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Inventors: James Tuomy, Barry Michael Kosherick, Laurie Wilk, J. Richard Aylward
  • Patent number: 9020156
    Abstract: A method for reducing the noise emission of a transformer, the transformer tank of which is filled with liquid and the tank wall of which vibrates during operation, is provided. The method is characterized by the sequence of the following method steps: detecting natural frequency values of the tank wall for at least one excitation frequency; determining at least one eigenmode for which the vibration of the tank wall is composed at an excitation frequency, from the natural frequency values, wherein areas of large curvature are determined on the tank wall; arranging at least one vibration loading device in at least one of said areas; and controlling the at least one vibration loading device by means of a control device in order to counteract the vibration of the tank wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Andreas Dantele, Alexander Hackl, Johannes Korak, Thomas Rittenschober, Helmut Wernick
  • Patent number: 9008329
    Abstract: Provided are methods and systems for noise suppression within multiple time-frequency points of spectral representations. A multi-feature cluster tracker is used to track signal and noise sources and to predict signal versus noise dominance at each time-frequency point. Multiple features, such as binaural and monaural features, may be used for these purposes. A Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is developed and, in some embodiments, dynamically updated for distinguishing signal from noise and performing mask-based noise reduction. Each frequency band may use a different GMM or share a GMM with other frequency bands. A GMM may be combined from two models, with one trained to model time-frequency points in which the target dominates and another trained to model time-frequency points in which the noise dominates. Dynamic updates of a GMM may be performed using an expectation-maximization algorithm in an unsupervised fashion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Audience, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Mandel, Carlos Avendano
  • Patent number: 8958571
    Abstract: A personal audio device, such as a wireless telephone, includes noise canceling circuit that adaptively generates an anti-noise signal from a reference microphone signal and injects the anti-noise signal into the speaker or other transducer output to cause cancellation of ambient audio sounds. An error microphone may also be provided proximate the speaker to estimate an electro-acoustical path from the noise canceling circuit through the transducer. A processing circuit uses the reference and/or error microphone, optionally along with a microphone provided for capturing near-end speech, to determine whether one of the reference or error microphones is obstructed by comparing their received signal content and takes action to avoid generation of erroneous anti-noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventors: Nitin Kwatra, Jeffrey Alderson, Jon D. Hendrix
  • Patent number: 8948411
    Abstract: Disclosed, in general, are devices that provide an air-tight chamber over a sound source while absorbing all fields of sounds from the sound source. In general, the devices feature: an anechoic chamber that is configured to receive a sound source in an air-tight manner; and an anechoic channel that is in fluid communication with the ambient atmosphere. Suitably, the anechoic chamber is adapted to capture air containing sound energy generated by the sound source, and distribute the air about an internal surface area on the inside of the chamber, wherein the internal surface area is sufficiently large to dampen or otherwise absorb the sounds energy. Preferably, the air is directed from the anechoic chamber through an anechoic channel extending therefrom to the ambient to further dampen or absorb the sound energy. In one configuration, the outer wall of the apparatus is configured to reflect ambient sounds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Inventor: Scott A. Moser
  • Publication number: 20150030174
    Abstract: A microphone array device includes a first sound reception unit configured to obtain a first sound signal that is input from a first microphone, a second sound reception unit configured to obtain a second sound signal that is input from a second microphone, a noise state evaluation unit configured to compare the first sound signal and the second sound signal and to obtain an evaluation parameter to evaluate an influence of a non-target sound included in the second sound signal on a target sound included in the first sound signal according to a result of the comparison, a subtraction adjustment unit configured to set a suppression amount for the second sound signal based on the evaluation parameter and to generate a third sound signal; and a subtraction unit configured to generate a signal to be output based on the third sound signal and the first sound signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2014
    Publication date: January 29, 2015
    Applicant: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Naoshi MATSUO
  • Publication number: 20150003627
    Abstract: Disclosed is a video controlled beam steering mechanism for an adaptive filter in a sensor array system that receives input from a target and applies an averaging filter and appropriately steers the beam. An adaptive filter is then used if the SNR of the output of the averaging filter reaches a threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Publication date: January 1, 2015
    Inventor: Douglas ANDREA
  • Publication number: 20150003626
    Abstract: A Noise Cancellation Process for enclosed cabins is disclosed. According to one embodiment, an input audio source corresponding to sound received from multiple microphones situated equidistantly in both directions in a two dimensional plane, is converted to a digital signal via an analog to digital (A/D) convertor. The A/D converted audio is analyzed for content to identify ambient noise. The frequency, amplitude and phase of the identified ambient noise is subsequently determined. A Noise correction sound wave is generated with negative phase of that corresponding to the identified ambient noise. The noise correction sound wave is added to the identified noise to create a noise corrected sound.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Publication date: January 1, 2015
    Applicant: Max Sound Corporation
    Inventor: Lloyd Trammell
  • Publication number: 20140369516
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for cancelling a noise of an audio signal in an electronic device is provided. The method includes recording audio signals using a plurality of microphones and changing an audio signal which is introduced into a first microphone during a noise generation interval to an audio signal which is introduced into a second microphone, wherein the first microphone includes one or more microphones which are influenced by the noise among the plurality of microphones.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2014
    Publication date: December 18, 2014
    Applicant: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Min-Su RHEE
  • Patent number: 8891782
    Abstract: A sound focusing technique is provided to transfer sound to a particular direction. In a sound focusing apparatus, first and second speakers may be arranged to emit sound in opposite directions to form a sound zone. An amplitude and/or a phase of a received signal may be adjusted by a signal processing unit to assign the received signal and the adjusted signal to the first and second speakers, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Young-tae Kim, Jung-woo Choi, Jung-ho Kim, Sang-chul Ko
  • Publication number: 20140307885
    Abstract: An the acoustic apparatus comprising a first MEMS motor that includes a first diaphragm and a first back plate, and a second MEMS motor that includes a second diaphragm and a second back plate. The first motor is biased with a first electrical polarity and a second motor is biased with a second electrical polarity such that the first electrical polarity and the second electrical polarity are opposite. At the first motor, a first signal is created that is representative of received sound energy. At the second motor, a second signal is created that is representative of the received sound energy. A differential output signal that is the representative of the difference between the first signal and the second signal is obtained. In obtaining the differential output signal, common mode noise between the first motor and the second motor is rejected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: Knowles Electronics, LLC
    Inventors: Jordan T. Schultz, Weiwen Dai, Peter Van Kessel
  • Publication number: 20140307886
    Abstract: A method and a system of noise suppressing an audio signal comprising a combination of at least two audio system input signals each having a sound source signal portion and a background noise portion, the method and system comprising steps and means of: Extracting at least two different types of spatial sound field features from the input signals such as discriminative speech and/or background noise features, computing a first intermediate spatial noise suppression gain on the basis of the extracted spatial sound field features, computing a second intermediate stationary noise suppression gain, combining the two intermediate noise suppression gains to form a total noise suppression gain, wherein the two intermediate noise suppression gains are combined by comparing their values and dependent on their ratio or relative difference, determining the total noise suppression gain, applying the total noise suppression gain to the audio signal to generate a noise suppressed audio system output signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: GN NETCOM A/S
    Inventor: Rasmus Kongsgaard Olsson
  • Patent number: 8855329
    Abstract: An active noise control (ANC) system may be implemented to both sides of a fan, such that both directions of the noise emitting are treated to reduce the overall noise. The impact on airflow is minimal, and the technique is very effective in a broad range of low frequencies. Passive sound-absorbing materials may be included for attenuation of high frequencies. The resulting quiet fan produces a low level of noise compared to any other device based on fan, which produces the same capacity of airflow. The quiet fan may be incorporated in any mechanical system which requires airflow induction such as: computers, air conditioners, machines, and more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: Silentium Ltd.
    Inventors: Alon Slapak, Tzvika Fridman, Ofira Rubin
  • Patent number: 8842866
    Abstract: A loudspeaker system has a front loudspeaker enclosure (30) having at least one first loudspeaker (20) and a rear loudspeaker enclosure (50) having at least one second loudspeaker (60). The rear loudspeaker enclosure (50) is in the form of a bandpass enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: D&B Audiotechnik GmbH
    Inventor: Matthias Christner
  • Publication number: 20140226831
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for active noise control in a vehicle. The system includes a position sensor for sensing an occupant position. A microphone receives audible noise and generates an error signal corresponding to the audible noise. A first controller is configured to receive the error signal from the microphone and generate a modified error signal by modifying the error signal based on the occupant position with respect to the microphone. A second controller is in communication with the first controller and configured to generate an anti-noise signal based at least in part on the modified error signal. The system also includes a loudspeaker in communication with the second controller for receiving the anti-noise signal from the second controller and producing sound corresponding to the anti-noise signal to negate at least some of the audible noise.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2013
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: ELI TZIRKEL-HANCOCK, IGAL BILIK, MOSHE LAIFENFELD, SCOTT M. REILLY
  • Publication number: 20140161271
    Abstract: Provided is a noise eliminating device that includes: a signal calculator that calculates a difference signal between a signal of one channel out of a plurality of signals input from a plurality of channels and a signal of another channel; a variable filter unit that processes and outputs the signals of channels; an adaptive filter unit that operates by receiving a composite signal of the difference signal and another signal as an input signal; and a unit that calculates an error signal between an output signal of the adaptive filter unit and a signal having correlation with the another signal being set as a desired signal. Characteristics of the adaptive filter are changed by using the error signal. Further, characteristics of the variable filter are changed in accordance with a change in the characteristics of the adaptive filter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2013
    Publication date: June 12, 2014
    Applicant: JVC KENWOOD Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuhiko TERANISHI