Patents by Inventor Grant A. Davidson
Grant A. Davidson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 10149082Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.Type: GrantFiled: February 11, 2016Date of Patent: December 4, 2018Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Louis D. Fielder, Zhiwei Shuang, Grant A. Davidson, Xiguang Zheng, Mark S. Vinton
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Publication number: 20180035233Abstract: The present disclosure relates to reverberation generation for headphone virtualization. A method of generating one or more components of a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) for headphone virtualization is described. In the method, directionally-controlled reflections are generated, wherein directionally-controlled reflections impart a desired perceptual cue to an audio input signal corresponding to a sound source location. Then at least the generated reflections are combined to obtain the one or more components of the BRIR. Corresponding system and computer program products are described as well.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 11, 2016Publication date: February 1, 2018Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Louis D. FIELDER, Zhiwei SHUANG, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Xiguang ZHENG, Mark S. VINTON
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Patent number: 9830917Abstract: Some audio processing methods may involve receiving audio data corresponding to a plurality of audio channels and determining audio characteristics of the audio data, which may include transient information. An amount of decorrelation for the audio data may be based, at least in part, on the audio characteristics. If a definite transient event is determined, a decorrelation process may be temporarily halted or slowed. Determining transient information may involve evaluating the likelihood and/or the severity of a transient event. In some implementations, determining transient information may involve evaluating a temporal power variation in the audio data. Explicit transient information may or may not be received with the audio data, depending on the implementation. Explicit transient information may include a transient control value corresponding to a definite transient event, a definite non-transient event or an intermediate transient control value.Type: GrantFiled: January 22, 2014Date of Patent: November 28, 2017Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Kuan-Chieh Yen, Vinay Melkote, Grant A. Davidson
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Patent number: 9830916Abstract: Audio processing methods may involve receiving audio data corresponding to a plurality of audio channels. The audio data may include a frequency domain representation corresponding to filterbank coefficients of an audio encoding or processing system. A decorrelation process may be performed with the same filterbank coefficients used by the audio encoding or processing system. The decorrelation process may be performed without converting coefficients of the frequency domain representation to another frequency domain or time domain representation. The decorrelation process may involve selective or signal-adaptive decorrelation of specific channels and/or specific frequency bands. The decorrelation process may involve applying a decorrelation filter to a portion of the received audio data to produce filtered audio data. The decorrelation process may involve using a non-hierarchal mixer to combine a direct portion of the received audio data with the filtered audio data according to spatial parameters.Type: GrantFiled: January 22, 2014Date of Patent: November 28, 2017Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Vinay Melkote, Kuan-Chieh Yen, Grant A. Davidson, Matthew Fellers, Mark S. Vinton, Vivek Kumar
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Patent number: 9754596Abstract: Audio characteristics of audio data corresponding to a plurality of audio channels may be determined. The audio characteristics may include spatial parameter data. Decorrelation filtering processes for the audio data may be based, at least in part, on the audio characteristics. The decorrelation filtering processes may cause a specific inter-decorrelation signal coherence (“IDC”) between channel-specific decorrelation signals for at least one pair of channels. The channel-specific decorrelation signals may be received and/or determined. Inter-channel coherence (“ICC”) between a plurality of audio channel pairs may be controlled. Controlling ICC may involve at receiving an ICC value and/or determining an ICC value based, at least partially, on the spatial parameter data. A set of IDC values may be based, at least partially, on the set of ICC values. A set of channel-specific decorrelation signals, corresponding with the set of IDC values, may be synthesized by performing operations on the filtered audio data.Type: GrantFiled: January 22, 2014Date of Patent: September 5, 2017Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Kuan-Chieh Yen, Vinay Melkote, Matthew Fellers, Grant A. Davidson
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Publication number: 20160345116Abstract: In some embodiments, virtualization methods for generating a binaural signal in response to channels of a multi-channel audio signal, which apply a binaural room impulse response (BRIR) to each channel including by using at least one feed-back delay network (FDN) to apply a common late reverberation to a downmix of the channels. In some embodiments, input signal channels are processed in a first processing path to apply to each channel a direct response and early reflection portion of a single-channel BRIR for the channel, and the downmix of the channels is processed in a second processing path including at least one FDN which applies the common late reverberation. Typically, the common late reverberation emulates collective macro attributes of late reverberation portions of at least some of the single-channel BRIRs. Other aspects are headphone virtualizers configured to perform any embodiment of the method.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 18, 2014Publication date: November 24, 2016Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Kuan-Chieh YEN, Dirk Jeroen BREEBAART, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Rhonda WILSON, David M. Cooper, Zhiwei SHUANG
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METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DESIGNING AND APPLYING NUMERICALLY OPTIMIZED BINAURAL ROOM IMPULSE RESPONSES
Publication number: 20160337779Abstract: Methods and systems for designing binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) for use in headphone virtualizers, and methods and systems for generating a binaural signal in response to a set of channels of a multi-channel audio signal, including by applying a BRIR to each channel of the set, thereby generating filtered signals, and combining the filtered signals to generate the binaural signal, where each BRIR has been designed in accordance with an embodiment of the design method. Other aspects are audio processing units configured to perform any embodiment of the inventive method. In accordance with some embodiments, BRIR design is formulated as a numerical optimization problem based on a simulation model (which generates candidate BRIRs) and at least one objective function (which evaluates each candidate BRIR), and includes identification of a best one of the candidate BRIRs as indicated by performance metrics determined for the candidate BRIRs by each objective function.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 23, 2014Publication date: November 17, 2016Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATIONInventors: Grant A. DAVIDSON, Kuan-Chieh YEN, Dirk Jeroen BREEBAART -
Patent number: 9489956Abstract: Received audio data may include a first set of frequency coefficients and a second set of frequency coefficients. Spatial parameters for at least part of the second set of frequency coefficients may be estimated, based at least in part on the first set of frequency coefficients. The estimated spatial parameters may be applied to the second set of frequency coefficients to generate a modified second set of frequency coefficients. The first set of frequency coefficients may correspond to a first frequency range (for example, an individual channel frequency range) and the second set of frequency coefficients may correspond to a second frequency range (for example, a coupled channel frequency range). Combined frequency coefficients of a composite coupling channel may be based on frequency coefficients of two or more channels. Cross-correlation coefficients, between frequency coefficients of a first channel and the combined frequency coefficients, may be computed.Type: GrantFiled: January 22, 2014Date of Patent: November 8, 2016Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Matthew Fellers, Vinay Melkote, Kuan-Chieh Yen, Grant A. Davidson, Mark F. Davis
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Publication number: 20160133266Abstract: A first vector quantization process may be applied to two or more parameter values along a first dimension of the N-dimensional parameter set to produce a first set of quantized values. Two or more parameter prediction values may be calculated for a second dimension of the N-dimensional parameter set based, at least in part, on one or more values of the first set of quantized values. Prediction residual values may be calculated based, at least in part, on the parameter prediction values. A second vector quantization process may be applied to the prediction residual values to produce a second set of quantized values. These processes may be extended to any number of dimensions. Corresponding inverse vector quantization processes may be performed.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 17, 2014Publication date: May 12, 2016Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Vinay MELKOTE, Kuan-Chieh YEN, Grant A. DAVIDSON
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Patent number: 9275649Abstract: A method for determining mantissa bit allocation of audio data values of frequency domain audio data to be encoded. The allocation method includes a step of determining masking values for the audio data values, including by performing adaptive low frequency compensation on the audio data of each frequency band of a set of low frequency bands of the audio data. The adaptive low frequency compensation includes steps of: performing tonality detection on the audio data to generate compensation control data indicative of whether each frequency band in the set of low frequency bands has prominent tonal content; and performing low frequency compensation on the audio data in each frequency band in the set of low frequency bands having prominent tonal content as indicated by the compensation control data, but not performing low frequency compensation on the audio data in any other frequency band in the set of low frequency bands.Type: GrantFiled: July 7, 2014Date of Patent: March 1, 2016Assignees: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Dolby International ABInventors: Arijit Biswas, Vinay Melkote, Michael Schug, Grant A. Davidson, Mark S. Vinton
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Publication number: 20160005413Abstract: Received audio data may include a first set of frequency coefficients and a second set of frequency coefficients. Spatial parameters for at least part of the second set of frequency coefficients may be estimated, based at least in part on the first set of frequency coefficients. The estimated spatial parameters may be applied to the second set of frequency coefficients to generate a modified second set of frequency coefficients. The first set of frequency coefficients may correspond to a first frequency range (for example, an individual channel frequency range) and the second set of frequency coefficients may correspond to a second frequency range (for example, a coupled channel frequency range). Combined frequency coefficients of a composite coupling channel may be based on frequency coefficients of two or more channels. Cross-correlation coefficients, between frequency coefficients of a first channel and the combined frequency coefficients, may be computed.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2014Publication date: January 7, 2016Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Matthew FELLERS, Vinay MELKOTE, Kuan-Chieh YEN, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Mark F. DAVIS
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Publication number: 20160005405Abstract: Some audio processing methods may involve receiving audio data corresponding to a plurality of audio channels and determining audio characteristics of the audio data, which may include transient information. An amount of decorrelation for the audio data may be based, at least in part, on the audio characteristics. If a definite transient event is determined, a decorrelation process may be temporarily halted or slowed. Determining transient information may involve evaluating the likelihood and/or the severity of a transient event. In some implementations, determining transient information may involve evaluating a temporal power variation in the audio data. Explicit transient information may or may not be received with the audio data, depending on the implementation. Explicit transient information may include a transient control value corresponding to a definite transient event, a definite non-transient event or an intermediate transient control value.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2014Publication date: January 7, 2016Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Kuan-Chieh YEN, Vinay MELKOTE, Grant A. DAVIDSON
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Publication number: 20160005406Abstract: Audio characteristics of audio data corresponding to a plurality of audio channels may be determined. The audio characteristics may include spatial parameter data. Decorrelation filtering processes for the audio data may be based, at least in part, on the audio characteristics. The decorrelation filtering processes may cause a specific inter-decorrelation signal coherence (“IDC”) between channel-specific decorrelation signals for at least one pair of channels. The channel-specific decorrelation signals may be received and/or determined. Inter-channel coherence (“ICC”) between a plurality of audio channel pairs may be controlled. Controlling ICC may involve at receiving an ICC value and/or determining an ICC value based, at least partially, on the spatial parameter data. A set of IDC values may be based, at least partially, on the set of ICC values. A set of channel-specific decorrelation signals, corresponding with the set of IDC values, may be synthesized by performing operations on the filtered audio data.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2014Publication date: January 7, 2016Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATIONInventors: Kuan-Chieh YEN, Vinay MELKOTE, Matthew FELLERS, Grant A. DAVIDSON
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Publication number: 20150380000Abstract: Audio processing methods may involve receiving audio data corresponding to a plurality of audio channels. The audio data may include a frequency domain representation corresponding to filterbank coefficients of an audio encoding or processing system. A decorrelation process may be performed with the same filterbank coefficients used by the audio encoding or processing system. The decorrelation process may be performed without converting coefficients of the frequency domain representation to another frequency domain or time domain representation. The decorrelation process may involve selective or signal-adaptive decorrelation of specific channels and/or specific frequency bands. The decorrelation process may involve applying a decorrelation filter to a portion of the received audio data to produce filtered audio data. The decorrelation process may involve using a non-hierarchal mixer to combine a direct portion of the received audio data with the filtered audio data according to spatial parameters.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2014Publication date: December 31, 2015Applicant: DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATIONInventors: Vinay MELKOTE, Kuan-Chieh YEN, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Matthew FELLERS, Mark S. VINTON, Vivek KUMAR
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Publication number: 20150371646Abstract: Decorrelation filter parameters for audio data may be based, at least in part, on audio characteristics such as tonality information and/or transient information. Determining the audio characteristics may involve receiving explicit audio characteristics with the audio data and/or determining audio characteristics based on one or more attributes of the audio data. The decorrelation filter parameters may include dithering parameters and/or randomly selected pole locations for at least one pole of an all-pass filter. The dithering parameters and/or pole locations may involve a maximum stride value for pole movement. In some examples, the maximum stride value may be substantially zero for highly tonal signals of the audio data. The dithering parameters and/or pole locations may be bounded by constraint areas within which pole movements are constrained. The constraint areas may or may not be fixed. In some implementations, different channels of the audio data may share the same constraint areas.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 22, 2014Publication date: December 24, 2015Applicant: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Vinay MELKOTE, Kuan-Chieh YEN, Matthew FELLERS, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Vivek KUMAR
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Patent number: 9135907Abstract: A method and apparatus for enhancing a desired audio signal for delivery through an electroacoustic channel include obtaining a noise estimate attributable to an external disturbance, applying the noise estimate to a dynamic noise compensation (DNC) process to thereby condition the desired audio signal as a function of the spectral characteristics of the noise estimate, applying the noise estimate to an adaptive equalization (AEQ) process to thereby condition the desired audio signal as a function of the electroacoustic response of the electroacoustic channel, and applying the noise estimate to an active noise cancellation (ANC) process configured to generate anti-noise for delivery into the electroacoustic channel.Type: GrantFiled: June 16, 2011Date of Patent: September 15, 2015Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Matthew C. Fellers, Alan J. Seefeldt, Brett G. Crockett, Grant A. Davidson, Louis D. Fielder
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Publication number: 20140324441Abstract: A method for determining mantissa bit allocation of audio data values of frequency domain audio data to be encoded. The allocation method includes a step of determining masking values for the audio data values, including by performing adaptive low frequency compensation on the audio data of each frequency band of a set of low frequency bands of the audio data. The adaptive low frequency compensation includes steps of: performing tonality detection on the audio data to generate compensation control data indicative of whether each frequency band in the set of low frequency bands has prominent tonal content; and performing low frequency compensation on the audio data in each frequency band in the set of low frequency bands having prominent tonal content as indicated by the compensation control data, but not performing low frequency compensation on the audio data in any other frequency band in the set of low frequency bands.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 7, 2014Publication date: October 30, 2014Applicants: DOLBY INTERNATIONAL AB, DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATIONInventors: Arijit BISWAS, Vinay MELKOTE, Michael SCHUG, Grant A. DAVIDSON, Mark S. VINTON
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Patent number: 8693699Abstract: An electroacoustic channel soundfield is altered. An audio signal is applied by an electromechanical transducer to an acoustic space, causing air pressure changes therein. Another audio signal is obtained by a second electromechanical transducer, responsive to air pressure changes in the acoustic space. A transfer function estimate of the electroacoustic channel is established, responsive to the second audio signal and part of the first audio signal. The transfer function estimate is derived to be adaptive to temporal variations in the electroacoustic channel transfer function. Filters are obtained with transfer functions based on the transfer function estimate. Part of the first audio signal is filtered therewith.Type: GrantFiled: July 29, 2009Date of Patent: April 8, 2014Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Matthew Fellers, Grant Davidson, Rongshan Yu, Eric Benjamin, Kenneth Gundry
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Patent number: 8660394Abstract: An optical fiber cable includes at least one buffer tube that includes a plurality of water-blocking plugs and an optical fiber. The water-blocking plugs can be spaced along the buffer tubes, substantially filling the cross-sectional space within the buffer tube not already filled by the optical fiber. The water-blocking plugs can provide a stronger bond between the optical fibers and the inner tube. This is reflected by a high normalized pullout force for the optical fiber, such as, above 5.0 N/m. Yet, the resulting fiber optic cable does not suffer from problems associated with a higher pullout force, such as attenuation.Type: GrantFiled: December 9, 2008Date of Patent: February 25, 2014Assignee: Prysmian Communications Cables and Systems USA, LLCInventors: Ben Wells, John Sach, Martin Hanchard, Grant Davidson
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Patent number: 8594173Abstract: The application relates to a method for determining at least one updated filter coefficient of an adaptive filter (22) adapted by an LMS algorithm. According to the method, filter coefficients of a first whitening filter (25?) are determined, in particular filter coefficients of an LPC whitening filter. The first whitening filter (25?) generates a filtered signal. A normalization value is determined based on one or more computed values obtained in the course of determining the filter coefficients of the first whitening filter (25?). The normalization value is associated with the energy of the filtered signal. At least one updated filter coefficient of the adaptive filter (22) is determined in dependency on the filtered signal and the normalization value. Preferably, updated filter coefficients for all filter coefficients of the adaptive filter (22) are determined.Type: GrantFiled: August 24, 2009Date of Patent: November 26, 2013Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing CorporationInventors: Robert L Andersen, Grant Davidson