Patents by Inventor Taro Nakagami

Taro Nakagami 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).

  • Patent number: 8761408
    Abstract: A signal processing apparatus includes: one or more detection means for detecting movement of a diaphragm of a speaker in correspondence with feedback methods that are different feedback methods; analog-to-digital conversion means for converting one or more detection signals acquired by the detection means into a digital form; feedback signal generating means for generating feedback signals corresponding to the feedback methods using the digital detection signals; synthesis means for combining an audio signal to be output as a driving signal of the speaker with the feedback signals; correction equalizer means for setting an equalizing characteristic to allow a sound reproduced by the speaker to have a target frequency characteristic by changing the digital audio signal; feedback operation setting means for setting feedback methods in which a feedback operation up to combining the audio signal with the feedback signal is performed and the feedback operation is not performed equalizing characteristic changing a
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Michiaki Yoneda, Taro Nakagami
  • Patent number: 8737642
    Abstract: An audio signal processing apparatus and method for extracting components from an input signal, generating additional components, combining components, and level-controlling components. An audio signal processing apparatus may include a harmonic overtone adder and an equalizer. A harmonic overtone adder may include a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, an harmonic overtone generator, and a combining unit. An equalizer may include a level detector and a gain controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Patent number: 8204239
    Abstract: Samples of a component having a frequency less than a predetermined frequency in an input audio signal that is a digital signal having a predetermined sampling frequency are written in a memory. A harmonic-overtone signal having a frequency N times a frequency of the input audio signal is generated by repeating an operation N times, where N is an integer more than one, the operation including reading one sample and thinning out (N?1) samples for every N samples from the memory within each cycle period from a first one-direction zero-crossing point to a second one-direction zero-crossing point subsequent to the first one-direction zero-crossing point, each one-direction zero-crossing point being a point at which a level of the input audio signal changes from negative to positive or a point at which the level of the input audio signal changes from positive to negative.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Kazunobu Ohkuri, Taro Nakagami
  • Publication number: 20120140952
    Abstract: An audio signal processing apparatus and method for extracting components from an input signal, generating additional components, combining components, and level-controlling components. An audio signal processing apparatus may include a harmonic overtone adder and an equalizer. A harmonic overtone adder may include a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, an harmonic overtone generator, and a combining unit. An equalizer may include a level detector and a gain controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Patent number: 8150067
    Abstract: If the absolute value of the current sample is greater than or equal to an envelope value at the immediately preceding sample, an envelope value at the current sample is made greater than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample. If the absolute value of the current sample is smaller than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample and a count value C does not reach a predetermined number N, the count value C is incremented by one and the envelope value at the current sample is held at the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample. If the absolute value of the current sample is smaller than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample and the count value C reaches the predetermined number N, the envelope value at the current sample is made smaller than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunobu Ohkuri, Taro Nakagami, Masaru Shimura
  • Patent number: 8094835
    Abstract: A signal processing apparatus includes first and second extracting units extracting frequency components having a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, from an input audio signal, a first-harmonic-component generating unit generating a first-harmonic-component signal including a frequency component whose frequency is N1 times that of the frequency component extracted in the first extracting unit, a second-harmonic-component generating unit generating a second-harmonic-component signal including a frequency component whose frequency is N2 times that of the frequency component extracted in the second extracting unit, and a combining unit combining the input audio signal, and the first- and the second-harmonic-component signals in a predetermined ratio. The first frequency band is higher than the second frequency band. N1 and N2 are positive integers, and N1 is smaller than N2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Patent number: 8077882
    Abstract: An audio signal processing apparatus includes a harmonic overtone adder and an equalizer. The harmonic overtone adder includes a high-pass filter for extracting from an audio signal higher than a first predetermined frequency, a filter for extracting a frequency component lower than half a second predetermined frequency, an harmonic overtone generator for generating a frequency-doubled harmonic overtone component from an output from the filter, and a first combining unit for combining the frequency component output from the high-pass filter and the harmonic overtone component output from the harmonic overtone generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Patent number: 8000824
    Abstract: An audio signal processing apparatus includes a high-pass filter for extracting from an audio signal a frequency component higher than f0, n band-pass filters for extracting, from the audio signal, frequency components falling within a frequency range from f0/N to f1/N, n harmonic overtone generators for frequency multiplying each of outputs of the n band-pass filters by N, a first combining unit for combining the generated harmonic overtone components, a level detector for detecting a level of a supplied harmonic overtone component, a gain controller for controlling dynamically the harmonic overtone component supplied from the first combining unit, and a second combining unit for combining the frequency component extracted by the high-pass filter and a harmonic overtone component output from the gain controller, where N is (n being a natural number), f0 is a first predetermined frequency, and f1 is a second predetermined frequency higher than f0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Publication number: 20100316226
    Abstract: A signal processing apparatus includes: one or more detection means for detecting movement of a diaphragm of a speaker in correspondence with feedback methods that are different feedback methods; analog-to-digital conversion means for converting one or more detection signals acquired by the detection means into a digital form; feedback signal generating means for generating feedback signals corresponding to the feedback methods using the digital detection signals; synthesis means for combining an audio signal to be output as a driving signal of the speaker with the feedback signals; correction equalizer means for setting an equalizing characteristic to allow a sound reproduced by the speaker to have a target frequency characteristic by changing the digital audio signal; feedback operation setting means for setting feedback methods in which a feedback operation up to combining the audio signal with the feedback signal is performed and the feedback operation is not performed equalizing characteristic changing a
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2010
    Publication date: December 16, 2010
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Michiaki Yoneda, Taro Nakagami
  • Publication number: 20080292114
    Abstract: An audio signal processing apparatus includes a harmonic overtone adder and an equalizer. The harmonic overtone adder includes a high-pass filter for extracting from an audio signal higher than a first predetermined frequency, a filter for extracting a frequency component lower than half a second predetermined frequency, an harmonic overtone generator for generating a frequency-doubled harmonic overtone component from an output from the filter, and a first combining unit for combining the frequency component output from the high-pass filter and the harmonic overtone component output from the harmonic overtone generator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2007
    Publication date: November 27, 2008
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Publication number: 20080273718
    Abstract: If the absolute value of the current sample is greater than or equal to an envelope value at the immediately preceding sample, an envelope value at the current sample is made greater than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample. If the absolute value of the current sample is smaller than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample and a count value C does not reach a predetermined number N, the count value C is incremented by one and the envelope value at the current sample is held at the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample. If the absolute value of the current sample is smaller than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample and the count value C reaches the predetermined number N, the envelope value at the current sample is made smaller than the envelope value at the immediately preceding sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Publication date: November 6, 2008
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunobu Ohkuri, Taro Nakagami, Masaru Shimura
  • Publication number: 20080170719
    Abstract: A signal processing apparatus includes first and second extracting units extracting frequency components having a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, from an input audio signal, a first-harmonic-component generating unit generating a first-harmonic-component signal including a frequency component whose frequency is N1 times that of the frequency component extracted in the first extracting unit, a second-harmonic-component generating unit generating a second-harmonic-component signal including a frequency component whose frequency is N2 times that of the frequency component extracted in the second extracting unit, and a combining unit combining the input audio signal, and the first- and the second-harmonic-component signals in a predetermined ratio. The first frequency band is higher than the second frequency band. N1 and N2 are positive integers, and N1 is smaller than N2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2007
    Publication date: July 17, 2008
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Publication number: 20080130915
    Abstract: An audio signal processing apparatus includes a high-pass filter for extracting from an audio signal a frequency component higher than f0, n band-pass filters for extracting, from the audio signal, frequency components falling within a frequency range from f0/N to f1/N, n harmonic overtone generators for frequency multiplying each of outputs of the n band-pass filters by N, a first combining unit for combining the generated harmonic overtone components, a level detector for detecting a level of a supplied harmonic overtone component, a gain controller for controlling dynamically the harmonic overtone component supplied from the first combining unit, and a second combining unit for combining the frequency component extracted by the high-pass filter and a harmonic overtone component output from the gain controller, where N is (n being a natural number), f0 is a first predetermined frequency, and f1 is a second predetermined frequency higher than f0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2007
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Taro Nakagami, Kazunobu Ohkuri
  • Publication number: 20080103763
    Abstract: Samples of a component having a frequency less than a predetermined frequency in an input audio signal that is a digital signal having a predetermined sampling frequency are written in a memory. A harmonic-overtone signal having a frequency N times a frequency of the input audio signal is generated by repeating an operation N times, where N is an integer more than one, the operation including reading one sample and thinning out (N-1) samples for every N samples from the memory within each cycle period from a first one-direction zero-crossing point to a second one-direction zero-crossing point subsequent to the first one-direction zero-crossing point, each one-direction zero-crossing point being a point at which a level of the input audio signal changes from negative to positive or a point at which the level of the input audio signal changes from positive to negative.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2007
    Publication date: May 1, 2008
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masaru Shimura, Kazunobu Ohkuri, Taro Nakagami
  • Publication number: 20050219221
    Abstract: A remote control device is configured so that a display direction of contents on a liquid crystal display section can be switched according to slide operation of a slide switch. The remote control device can prevent the display direction from being switched despite the intention of a user, thus more appropriately switching the display direction of contents displayed on the liquid crystal display section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Publication date: October 6, 2005
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunobu Ohkuri, Yoshio Ohashi, Masaru Uryu, Kunihiko Tokura, Taro Nakagami, Toru Takebe
  • Patent number: 5339416
    Abstract: A digital signal processing apparatus according to the present invention includes two or more address registers associated with at least one of an instruction memory, a data memory, or a coefficient memory and two or more data registers associated with a computing block, and these two or more registers are duty cycled switched between different jobs being simultaneously processed by the computing block to enable efficient processing on a single chip of jobs that can be processed with different processing speeds, such as jobs suited for high speed processing or low speed processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 16, 1994
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Taro Nakagami, Akira Sakamoto
  • Patent number: 4876719
    Abstract: A synchronizing system for use with a plurality of digital signal reproducers includes a plurality of digital signal reproducers, each having a digital I/O modulator, a digital I/O demodulator and a decoder; a digital signal multiplexer supplied with the output signal from the plurality of digital signal reproducers, and for producing a frame synchronizing signal, a plural channel of digital signals; the digital signal multiplexer including a clock pulse generator, a word synchronizing signal generator, a digital I/O modulator and a digital I/O demodulator. The corresponding digital I/O modulator and digital I/O demodulator are coupled to each other so as to synchronize the plurality of digital signal reproducers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 1987
    Date of Patent: October 24, 1989
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Taro Nakagami, Takeshi Fukami, Toshiro Terauchi