Patent · US Active

Method and apparatus for automatic volume adjustment

US8335324B2 · kind B2 · utility

11Cited by
2References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 24, 2008
Grant dateDec 18, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 16, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03G3/32
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention provides an apparatus capable of automatic volume adjustment. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a speaker, an array microphone located in the vicinity of the speaker, a beamforming module, a signal-to-noise ratio calculation module, and a volume adjustment module. The speaker first broadcasts a first audio signal. The array microphone converts a sound into a plurality of second audio signals. The beamforming module derives a speaker sound signal and an ambient noise signal from the second audio signals, wherein the speaker sound signal mainly comprises speaker sound components generated by the speaker and the ambient noise signal mainly comprises noises other than the speaker sound components. The signal-to-noise ratio calculation module calculates a ratio of a first power of the speaker sound signal to a second power of the ambient noise signal to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio. The volume adjustment module then adjusts a volume of the first audio signal according to the signal-to-noise ratio before the first audio signal is delivered to the speaker.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.