Concentric circular microphone arrays with 3D steerable beamformers
US12395792B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 24, 2022 |
| Grant date | Aug 19, 2025 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 24, 2042 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04S2400/15
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A concentric circular microphone array (CCMA) may include a number of omnidirectional microphones and an equal number of directional microphones, wherein the omnidirectional microphones and the directional microphones form a plurality of concentric rings on a substantially planar platform. Each of the plurality of concentric rings includes a subset of the omnidirectional microphones and a subset of the directional microphones (e.g., arranged in mixed pairs of microphones). Responsive to a sound source, the omnidirectional microphones and the directional microphones may respectively generate first and second electronic signals. A target beampattern of Nth order may be specified for the CCMA. An Nth order beamformer for the CCMA, that is steerable in a three-dimensional space including the sound source, may be determined based on the specified target beampattern. The beamformer may be executed to calculate an estimate of the sound source based on the first electronic signals and the second electronic signals.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.