This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from. Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-247708, filed Nov. 29, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a method and an electronic device.
Conventionally, there has been known a configuration of an in-vehicle audio system or the like, which comprises a plurality of speakers arranged adjacent to each other in a room. In such a configuration, sounds output from the speakers resonate and interfere with each other in the room, thereby acoustic effects at a position of a listener can be impaired. Accordingly, in order to improve the acoustic effects at the position of the listener, there has been proposed a technique that provides directivity to the sounds output from the all speakers so that the sounds are output in the direction toward the position of the listener by processing of filtering accompanied with complicate calculations in consideration of acoustic characteristics and the like of the respective speakers.
In the technique described above, as one example, it is preferable to improve the acoustic effects at the position of the listener by an easier method.
A general architecture that implements the various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.
In general, according to one embodiment, a method of reproducing sound from an electronic device comprises delaying a first phase of a first sound with respect to a phase of an input signal, and advancing a second phase of a second sound with respect to the phase of the input signal. The first sound is configured to be output from a first speaker of a plurality of speakers arranged adjacent to each other. The first speaker is at a first position. The second sound is configured to be output from a second speaker out of the plurality speakers. The second speaker is at a second position. A distance between the first position and a user is smaller than a distance between the second position and the user.
Hereinafter, an embodiment is explained in conjunction with drawings.
First of all, with reference to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
To be more specific, as illustrated in
Here, in the configuration as above that the speaker device 100 is arranged on the foot side of the occupant H, when no processing is performed on an input signal, sounds output from the speakers 11a and 11b advance toward not the head side of the occupant H (see arrow A) but the front side of the speaker device 100 (see arrow B) and the foot side of the occupant H (see arrow C). Accordingly, reflection and interference of sounds can easily occur caused by interior surfaces and the like on the foot side of the occupant H in a vehicle, thereby deterioration of sound quality can easily occur. Therefore, in the configuration above, it is desired that sounds are advanced toward the head of the occupant H by processing that provides directivity, for example, to the sounds so as to acquire the optimal acoustic environment at a position on the head of the occupant H.
Accordingly, in the present embodiment, in order to acquire the optimal acoustic environment at a position on the head of the occupant H, a phase of a first sound output from the speaker 11a and a phase of a second sound output from the speaker 11b are shifted from each other. To be more specific, the phase of the first sound output from the speaker 11a is delayed by π/4 with respect to an input signal by the FIR filter 13a, and the phase of the second sound output from the speaker 11b is advanced by π/4 with respect to the input signal by the FIR filter 13b. According to these configurations, as explained below, it is possible to improve the acoustic environment at a position on the head of the occupant H. Hereinafter, in order to explain the principle of above, a state of each sound at a frequency at which a phase difference is affected effectively is explained.
As illustrated in
On the other hand, at a position on the head of the occupant H (see the arrow A in
As a result, according to the present embodiment, the first sound and the second sound intensify with each other at a position on the head of the occupant H (see the arrow A in
In addition, at a position on the foot side of the occupant H (see the arrow C in
As a result, according to the present embodiment, the first sound and the second sound are canceled each other at a position on the foot side of the occupant H (see the arrow C in
Here, both the delay in phase of the first sound and the advance in phase of the second sound are set to π/4 based on the following reason. That is, if the phase difference between the first sound and the second sound is excessively increased, components of these sounds that are canceled each other are increased at the time when these sounds are output from the speakers 11a and 11b, thereby the sound output efficiency can be lowered. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, it is preferable that both the delay in phase of the first sound and the advance in phase of the second sound be set to 0 at a position in
In addition, in the present embodiment, in order to further improve the acoustic environment at the position on the head of the occupant H, delay of a time corresponding to a path difference between the first sound and the second sound is provided between the output of the first sound and the output of the second sound in a high frequency band (specifically described later) in which interference between the first sound and the second sound is liable to easily occur attributed to a large phase change by a distance difference. The path difference corresponds to a difference in distance from the two speakers 11a and 11b to the position on the head of the occupant H. Accordingly, it is possible to make a time when the first sound arrives at the position on the head of the occupant H and a time when the second sound arrives at the position on the head of the occupant H equal to each other, thereby the acoustic environment at the position on the head of the occupant H can be further improved.
The above-mentioned phase control and time control is achieved by setting filter coefficients as illustrated in
When the above-mentioned filter coefficients illustrated in
A dashed-dotted line 11 in
A dotted line 14 in
As explained heretofore, the present embodiment comprises the FIR filter 13a and the FIR filter 13b. The FIR filter 13a delays the phase of the first sound with respect to the phase of an input signal. The first sound is output from the speaker 11a arranged at a position close to the occupant H. The FIR filter 13b advances the phase of the second sound with respect to the phase of an input signal. The second sound is output from the speaker 11b arranged at a position distant from the occupant H. Consequently, it is possible to improve acoustic effects at a position on the head of the occupant H by an easier method without processing of filtering accompanied with complicate calculations in consideration of acoustic characteristics or the like of the speakers 11a and 11b. This advantageous effect requires no headroom margin for filtering thus being effective particularly when the installation space of a sound device is restricted, for example.
Next, with reference to
As illustrated in
In the first modification, one of two FIR filters 23a and 23b filters a high frequency component of one of the first sound and the second sound. According to this configuration, one of the first sound and the second sound is output in a state that the high frequency component thereof is filtered, and the other one of the first sound and the second sound is output in a state that the high frequency component is included therein.
As described above, the phases of the first sound and the second sound are controlled thus acquiring the same effect as the case of giving directivity to sounds from the speakers 11a and 11b so that the sounds advance in the direction toward the head of the occupant H (arrow-A side). However, a variation in phase difference of the first sound and the second sound between the head and the foot side (arrow-C side) of the occupant H depends on the wavelengths of the sounds.
That is, in a low-pitched sound range, a wavelength is long and hence, the path difference between the first sound and the second sound (a distance between the two speakers 11a and 11b) becomes small relative to the wavelength. Therefore, in the low-pitched sound range, the phase difference between the first sound and the second sound becomes small, and a variation in sound pressure between the head and the foot side of the occupant H becomes small. On the other hand, in a high-pitched sound range, a wavelength is short and hence, the path difference between the first sound and the second sound becomes large relative to the wavelength.
Here, as described above, the effect of the phase control is maximized when the phases of the first sound and the second sound are respectively shifted by π/4 to set the phase difference therebetween to π/2. To set the phase difference to π/2 is, in other words, to set the path difference between the first sound and the second sound equal to one-fourth of the wavelength. Accordingly, if the wavelength is shorter than four times of the path difference, the phase is excessively rotated, and it becomes difficult to acquire the effect of the phase control.
The following case is considered; that is, the phases of the first sound and the second sound are respectively shifted by an amount larger than π/2 to set the phase difference therebetween larger than π. To set the phase difference larger than π is to set the path difference shorter than one-half of the wavelength. In this case, the sound pressure of the composite tone on the foot side of the occupant H is larger than the sound pressure of the composite tone on the head of the occupant H and hence, the reflections and interference of the sounds on the foot side of the occupant H become large, and it is impossible to obtain the effect of directivity as in the above-mentioned embodiment.
For this reason, the first modification sets, in a high frequency band corresponding to a wavelength in the vicinity of ¼ to ½ of a path difference, filter coefficients of the FIR filters 23a and 23b so that a sound is output only from the speaker 11a without outputting a sound from the speaker 11b. That is, in the first modification, the filter coefficient of the FIR filter 23b is designed such that the FIR filter 23b also has a function as a low-pass filter. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the interference of sounds also in a high frequency band.
Next, with reference to
That is, as illustrated in
Here, in the second modification, the tweeter 11c is provided so as to mainly output a sound toward the head of the occupant H. That is, the tweeter 11c is arranged so as to face physically in the arrow-A direction.
In addition, in the second modification, the tweeter 11c connects a high-pass filter 33c thereto via an amplifier 12c. Furthermore, each of FIR filters 33a and 33b has a function as a low-pass filter in addition to a function of performing the phase control same as that in the case of the above-mentioned embodiment.
According to this configuration, in the second modification, high frequency components of both the first sound and the second sound are filtered by the FIR filters 33a and 33b, respectively. Furthermore, a high frequency component in an input signal is output from the tweeter 11c that outputs a sound toward the head of the occupant H (see the arrow A) via the high-pass filter 33c. Accordingly, it is possible to output a sound in a high frequency band from the tweeter 11c provided separately from the speakers 11a and 11b toward the head of the occupant H in a state of giving directivity physically to the sound, thereby it is possible to avoid the interference of sounds attributed to the sounds in the high frequency band output from each of the speakers 11a and 11b in a state that the phases of the sounds are shifted each other.
Next, with reference to
As illustrated in
The mixer 44a is arranged between the amplifier 12a and the FIR filter 43a. The high-pass filter 43c is connected to the mixer 44a via the delay circuit 45. The mixer 44b is arranged between the amplifier 12b and the FIR filter 43b. The high-pass filter 43c is connected to the mixer 44b without passing through the delay circuit 45.
Here, in the third modification also, in the same manner as the case of the above-mentioned second modification, each of the FIR filters 43a and 43b has a function as a low-pass filter in addition to a function that performs the phase control in the same manner as the case of the above-mentioned embodiment. Furthermore, the delay circuit 45 has a function that generates delay in time corresponding to a path difference between the first sound and the second sound.
According to this configuration, in the third modification, the first sound contains a high frequency component delayed by passing through the delay circuit 45. Furthermore, the second sound contains an undelayed, high frequency component. Accordingly, it is possible to easily obtain the same effects as the case of the above-mentioned embodiment without using the filter coefficient incorporating delay in time therein.
In the above-mentioned embodiment (and modifications), the speaker device provided in a vehicle is illustrated as one example of an “electronic device”. However, the technique of the above-mentioned embodiment can be applied to any speaker device other than the speaker device provided in the vehicle. Furthermore, the technique of the above-mentioned embodiment can also be applied to any electronic device other than the speaker device provided that the electronic device is capable of outputting and reproducing sounds.
In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the phases of the first sound and the second sound are shifted by the same amount of phase (π/4) with respect to an input signal, exemplarily. However, in another embodiment, a phase shifted with respect to an input signal may be different between the first sound and the second sound. For example, the phase of the second sound may be advanced by π/2 without shifting the phase of the first sound. However, it is possible for the configuration of the above-mentioned embodiment in which the phases of the first sound and the second sound are shifted by the same amount of phase (π/4) with respect to an input signal to obtain effects more easily since it is unnecessary to perform processing that adjusts the phase of the composite tone of the first sound and the second sound to the phase of the input signal.
In addition, in the other embodiment, the phases of the first sound and the second sound may be shifted by an amount apart from π/4. In this case, the amount of shifting each of the phases of the first sound and the second sound may be determined such that the phase difference of the first sound and the second sound in each frequency band becomes π in a most desired direction to suppress a sound pressure.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the phases of the first sound and the second sound are set close to each other at a position on the head of an occupant. However, there exists the case that the degree of a phase shift is changed depending on a frequency. In this case, a sound pressure difference attributed to a phase difference may be generated. Accordingly, it is also possible to incorporate correction characteristics for correcting the sound pressure difference into the design of filter coefficients. That is, it is also possible to design the filter coefficients by performing inverse Fourier transform after correcting a decrease in amplitude due to the phase difference in advance.
Moreover, the various modules of the systems described herein can be implemented as software applications, hardware and/or software modules, or components on one or more computers, such as servers. While the various modules are illustrated separately, they may share some or all of the same underlying logic or code.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2013-247708 | Nov 2013 | JP | national |