RU2771919C1 - Signal processing apparatus with multiple acoustic-electrical converters - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: audio data processing.

SUBSTANCE: use: for processing an audio signal. The substance of the invention consists in the apparatus for processing an audio signal containing a first acoustic-electric converter with a first frequency response, wherein the first acoustic-electric converter includes a first combination structure of an acoustic channel component and an acoustic sensing component, wherein the first acoustic-electric converter is configured to receive an audio signal and generate a first sub-band signal in accordance with the audio signal received by the first acoustic-electric converter; and a second acoustic-electric converter with a second frequency response, wherein the second frequency response differs from the first frequency response, wherein the second acoustic-electric converter includes a second combination structure of an acoustic channel component and an acoustic sensing component, wherein the second acoustic-electric converter is configured to receive an audio signal and generate a second sub-band signal in accordance with the audio signal received by the second acoustic-electric converter.

EFFECT: reduction in the time consumption for generating sub-band signals.

10 cl, 1 tbl, 48 dwg

Description

The field of technology to which the invention belongs

The present invention relates generally to signal processing and more particularly to methods and apparatus for generating subband signals according to audio signals.

State of the art

The subband decomposition technology is widely used in various signal processing applications such as speech recognition, noise suppression or signal amplification, image coding, or other similar tasks or combinations of such tasks. The audio signal received by the acoustic-electric transducer can be further processed to generate a digital signal, from which multiple subband signals can then be generated. The procedure for generating subband signals from a digital signal can be time consuming due to the computational processes involved. Thus, it is desirable to provide an audio signal processing technology and apparatus in order to generate subband signals in a more efficient manner.

Disclosure of the essence of the invention

The present invention relates to an audio signal processing device. The device may include a first acoustic-electrical transducer and a second acoustic-electrical transducer. The first acoustic-to-electric transducer may have a first frequency response and may be configured to receive an audio signal and generate a first subband signal in accordance with the received audio signal. The second acoustic-electric transducer may have a second frequency response such that the second frequency response differs from the first frequency response. The second acoustic-to-electrical transducer may be configured to receive the audio signal and generate a second subband signal in accordance with the received audio signal.

In some embodiments, the first acoustic-electric transducer has a first frequency response width, and the second acoustic-electric transducer has a second frequency response width different from the first frequency response width.

In some embodiments, the second width of the frequency response may be greater than the first width of the frequency response, and the second center frequency of the second acoustic-electric transducer may be higher than the first center frequency of the first acoustic-electric transducer.

In some embodiments, the device may further comprise a third acoustic-electric transducer. The third center frequency of the third acoustic-electric transducer may be higher than the second center frequency of the second acoustic-electric transducer.

In some embodiments, the first frequency response and the second frequency response intersect at a point that may be in the vicinity of the half power level point of the first frequency response and the half power level point of the second frequency response.

In some embodiments, the first frequency response and the second frequency response intersect at a point that may be in the vicinity of the half power level point of the first frequency response and the half power level point of the second frequency response.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise a first sampling module coupled to the first acoustic-electrical transducer and configured to sample the first subband signal to generate a first sampled subband signal, and a second sampling module coupled to the second acoustic-electrical transducer and configured to sample a second subband signal to generate a second sampled subband signal.

In some embodiments, at least one of the modules, the first sampling module or the second sampling module, may be a bandpass sampling module.

In some embodiments, the device may further comprise a feedback module configured to control at least one of the first acoustic-electric transducer and/or the second acoustic-electric transducer.

In some embodiments, the feedback module may be configured to adjust at least one of the first ac-to-electric transducer and/or the second ac-to-electric transducer in accordance with at least one of the first sampled subband signal and/or the second sampled subband signal.

In some embodiments, the device may further comprise a signal processing module configured to respectively process the first sampled subband signal and the second sampled subband signal to generate a first processed subband signal and a second processed subband signal, where the feedback module can be configured to adjust at least one of the transducers - the first acoustic-electrical transducer and/or the second acoustic-electrical transducer, in accordance with the first processed subband signal and/or the second processed subband signal.

In some embodiments, the first acoustic-to-electric transducer may include an acoustic sensing component configured to generate an electrical signal in response to the audio signal and an acoustic channel component.

In some embodiments, the acoustic channel component may comprise a second order component and the acoustic sensing component may comprise a multiple order bandpass diaphragm.

In some embodiments, a multiple order bandpass orifice may comprise a second order bandstop.

In some embodiments, the acoustic channel component may comprise a second order strip cantilever element.

In some embodiments, the second order strip cantilever element may comprise a piezoelectric cantilever element.

In some embodiments, the first acoustic-electric transducer comprises a first order band pass filter.

In some embodiments, the first acoustic-electric transducer may include a multiple order band pass filter.

In some embodiments, the multiple order bandpass filter may comprise a second order bandpass filter, a fourth order bandpass filter, or a sixth order bandpass filter.

In some embodiments, the first acoustic-electric transducer may include a gamma-tone filter.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 10 first order ac-to-electric transducers, where each first-order ac-to-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range not exceeding 20 kHz.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 20 second-order acoustic-electric transducers, where each second-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range that is not greater than 20 kHz.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 30 3rd order AO transducers, where each 3rd order AO transducer corresponds to a frequency range up to 20 kHz wide.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 40 4th order AO transducers, where each 4th order AO transducer corresponds to a frequency band that is not more than 20 kHz wide.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 8 first order acoustic-electric transducers, where each first-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range not exceeding 8 kHz.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 13 second order acoustic-electric transducers, where each second-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range not exceeding 8 kHz.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 19 third-order acoustic-electric transducers, where each third-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range that is not more than 8 kHz wide.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 26 4th order AO transducers, where each 4th order AO transducer corresponds to a frequency range not exceeding 8 kHz.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 4 first order acoustic-electric transducers, where each first-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range not exceeding 4 kHz.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 8 second order acoustic-electric transducers, where each second-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range not exceeding 4 kHz.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 12 third-order acoustic-electric transducers, where each third-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a frequency range that is not more than 4 kHz wide.

In some embodiments, the device may comprise no more than 15 4th order AO transducers, where each 4th order AO transducer corresponds to a frequency band that is not more than 4 kHz wide.

In some embodiments, the first AE transducer may be an air conduction AE and the second AE may be a bone conduction AE.

In some embodiments, the first acoustic-electric transducer may be a wideband high-order acoustic-electric transducer and the second acoustic-electric transducer may be a narrow-band high-order acoustic-electric transducer.

In some embodiments, a high-order wideband acoustic-to-electrical transducer may include multiple acoustically-reduced damped sensing components connected in parallel.

In some embodiments, the plurality of the multiple reduced damping acoustic sensing components comprises a first damped acoustic sensing component having a fourth frequency response, a second damped acoustic sensing component having a fifth frequency response, and a third damped acoustic sensing component having sixth frequency response. The fifth center frequency of the second reduced damping acoustic sensing component may be higher than the fourth center frequency of the first reduced damping acoustic sensing component, and the sixth center frequency of the third reduced damping acoustic sensing component may be higher than the fifth center frequency of the second reduced damping acoustic sensing component. The fourth frequency response and the fifth frequency response intersect at a point that may be adjacent to the half power point of the fourth frequency response and to the half power point of the fifth frequency response.

In some embodiments, the plurality of the multiple reduced damping acoustic sensing components comprises a first reduced damping acoustic sensing component having a fourth frequency response and a second reduced damping acoustic sensing component having a fifth frequency response. The fourth frequency response and the fifth frequency response intersect at a point that may be adjacent to the half power point of the fourth frequency response and to the half power point of the fifth frequency response.

In some embodiments, the high order narrowband AM transducer may comprise multiple reduced damping acoustic sensing components connected in series.

Additional features will be set forth in part in the following description and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following description and the accompanying drawings, or may become apparent from the manufacture or use of the examples herein. These features of the present invention can be implemented or achieved in practice or can use various aspects of the methodology, tools and combinations thereof, set out in the detailed examples discussed below.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention is further described in terms of exemplary embodiments. These examples of options are described with reference to the drawings. These options are non-exhaustive examples of options where similar reference numbers represent similar structures in several drawings and in which:

fig. 1 illustrates a known signal processing device;

fig. 2 illustrates an example of a signal processing device according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a logic diagram of an example audio signal processing procedure according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 5A illustrates an example of an acoustic channel component according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 5B illustrates an example equivalent circuit of the acoustic channel component model shown in FIG. 5A according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 6A is a simplified diagram of an exemplary mechanical model of an acoustic sensing component in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 6B is a simplified diagram of an exemplary mechanical model of an acoustic sensing component in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 6C illustrates an example of an equivalent circuit corresponding to the mechanical model shown in FIG. 6A and 6B according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 7A is a simplified diagram of a mechanical model of an example acoustic sensing component in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 7B illustrates examples of frequency responses corresponding to various acoustic sensing components, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 7C illustrates examples of frequency responses corresponding to various acoustic sensing components, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 8A is a simplified diagram of an example of a mechanical model corresponding to an acoustic sensing component 420, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 8B illustrates examples of frequency responses corresponding to various acoustic sensing components according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 9A illustrates the combinational structure of an acoustic channel component and an acoustic sensing component according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 9B is a simplified diagram of an equivalent circuit example of the combinational structure shown in FIG. 9A according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 9C illustrates examples of frequency responses of two combinational structures according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 9D illustrates an example of the frequency response of a combination structure according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 10A illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 10B illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 10C illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 11A illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 11B illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 12 illustrates the frequency responses of various orders of acoustic-electric transducers according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 13A illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 13B illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 14A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 14B is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic force generator in the acoustic-electric transducer shown in FIG. 14A according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 14C is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic force generator in the acoustic-electric transducer shown in FIG. 14B, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 14D is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of the structure shown in FIG. 14C, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 15 illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 16A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 16B is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic force generator in the acoustic-electric transducer shown in FIG. 16A according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 17 is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 18 illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 19A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 19B is a simplified diagram of an example of a cantilever element according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 19C is a simplified diagram of an example of a mechanical model corresponding to an acoustic sensing component, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 19D is a simplified equivalent circuit of an example of the mechanical model shown in FIG. 19C, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 20A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer module in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 20B is a simplified diagram of an example of a high-order narrow-band acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 20C is a simplified diagram of an example of a high-order wideband acoustic-electric transducer in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 21A is a simplified diagram of an example signal processing device according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 21B is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 22 is a simplified diagram of an example of a signal processing device according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 23 is a simplified diagram of an example of a signal processing apparatus according to some embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 24 is a simplified diagram of an example of a signal processing apparatus according to some embodiments of the present invention; and

fig. 25 is a simplified diagram illustrating an example of a signal modulation procedure, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

Implementation of the invention

In order to illustrate the technical solutions related to the embodiments of the present invention, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings related to the invention in the description of the variants. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some examples or variations of the present invention. According to these drawings, even ordinary people skilled in the art will be able to apply the present invention to other similar scenarios. Unless the opposite is expressly stated or is obvious from the context, the same reference numerals throughout the drawings are assigned to the same structure and operation.

As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular also encompasses plural references, unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes (in itself)" and / or "comprising", when used in the present description, specify the presence of the asserted steps and elements, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or several other stages and elements.

Some modules in the system may be referenced in various ways according to some embodiments of the present invention. However, any number of different modules may be used in the client terminal and/or server hardware. These modules are intended to be illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Different modules may be used in different aspects of the system and method.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, logic diagrams are used to illustrate the operations performed by the system. It should be clearly understood that operations above or below the diagram may or may not be performed in that order. On the contrary, these operations can be performed in reverse order or simultaneously. In addition, one or more operations may be added to the logic circuits, or one or more operations may be excluded from these logic circuits.

These and other features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the modes of operation and functions of the related structural elements and combinations of parts, as well as the economics of manufacture, may become more apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, which all form part of the present description. It should be clearly understood, however, that these drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It should also be understood that the drawings are not to scale.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the drawings, as indicated below. Obviously, the options described here are not exhaustive and do not limit the invention. Other options that can be obtained based on the options presented in the present description, even ordinary experts in this field without any creative effort, also fall within the scope of the present invention.

Here, a device is proposed that contains several acoustic transducers having different frequency characteristics. These acoustic transducers can receive an audio signal and generate multiple subband signals respectively. The device uses the intrinsic properties of acoustic transducers to generate subband signals, saving time on digital signal processing.

Fig. 1 illustrates a known signal processing device. The known signal processing device 100 may include an acoustic-electric converter 110, a sampling module 120, a subband filtering module 130, and a signal processing module 140. The audio signal 105 may first be converted to an electrical signal 115 by means of an acoustic-electrical converter 110. The sampling module 120 may convert the electrical signal 115 to a digital signal 125 for processing. Subband filter module 130 may decompose digital signal 125 into multiple subband signals (eg, subband signals 1351, 1352, 1353, ... , 1354 subbands). The signal processing module 140 may further process the subband signals.

In one respect, in order to sample the electrical signal 115 with a wider bandwidth, the sampling module 120 may require a higher sampling rate. In another respect, in order to generate multiple subband signals, the filter circuits of the subband filter module 130 must be relatively complex and have a relatively high order. In addition, to generate multiple subband signals, the subband filter module 130 may perform digital signal processing using software, which may require

a lot of time, and additional noise may appear during such digital signal processing. Thus, it is necessary to provide a system and method for generating subband signals.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a signal processing device 200 according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the signal processing device 200 may include an acoustic-electric conversion module 210, a sampling module 220, and a signal processing module 240.

Acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may include multiple acoustic-electrical transducers (eg, acoustic-electrical transducers 211, 212, 213, ..., 214 illustrated in FIG. 2). These acoustic-electric transducers can be connected in parallel. For example, these acoustic-electric transducers may be electrically connected in parallel. As another example, these acoustic-electric transducers may be topologically connected in parallel.

The acoustic-electrical converter (eg, acoustic-electrical converter 211, 212, 213, and/or 214) of the acoustic-electrical converter module 210 may be configured to convert audio signals into electrical signals. In some embodiments, one or more parameters of the acoustic-electric transducer 211 may change in response to the reception of an audio signal (eg, audio signal 205). Examples of such parameters may be capacitance, charge, acceleration, light intensity, or other similar parameters, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, changes in one or more parameters may correspond to the frequency of the audio signal and may be converted into corresponding electrical signals. In some embodiments, the acoustic-to-electrical transducer of such an acoustic-to-electrical transducer module 210 may be a microphone, hydrophone, acousto-optical modulator, or other similar device, or a combination of such devices.

In some embodiments, the acoustic-electric transducer may be a first order acoustic-electric transducer or a multiple order (eg, second-order, fourth-order, sixth-order, etc.) acoustic-electrical transducer. In some embodiments, the frequency response of the high order AO transducer may have a sharper cutoff.

In some embodiments, the plurality of acoustic-electric transducers in the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 may comprise one or more piezoelectric acoustic-electric transducers (eg, a microphone) and/or one or more piezomagnetic acoustic-electric transducers. Just as an example, each of these acoustic-electric transducers can be a microphone. In some embodiments, the plurality of acoustic-electrical transducers may comprise one or more air-conducting acoustic-electrical transducers and one or more bone-conducting acoustic-electrical transducers. In some embodiments, the plurality of acoustic-electric transducers may comprise one or more high-order wide-band acoustic-electric transducers and/or one or more narrow-band high-order acoustic-electric transducers. As used herein, the term "high-order wide-band AO" may refer to a broadband AO transducer having an order of magnitude greater than 1. As used herein, the term "narrow-band high-order AO transducer" may refer to a narrow-band AO transducer having an order of magnitude greater than 1. Detailed descriptions of a wideband AO transducer and/or a narrow band AO transducer may be understood by those skilled in the art and may not be repeated here.

In some embodiments, at least two of the plurality of acoustic-electric transducers may have different frequency responses, which may have different center frequencies and/or different frequency bandwidths (also referred to as bandwidth). For example, acoustic-electric transducers 211, 212, 213, and 214 may have a first frequency response, a second frequency response, a third frequency response, and a fourth frequency response, respectively. In some embodiments, these first frequency response, second frequency response, third frequency response, and fourth frequency response may be different from one another. Alternatively, said first frequency response, second frequency response, and third frequency response may be different from one another, while the fourth frequency response may be the same as the third frequency response. In some embodiments, the ac-to-electric transducers in the ac-to-electric converter module 210 may have equal frequency bandwidths (as illustrated in FIG. 11A and its descriptions) or different frequency bandwidths (as illustrated in FIG. 11B and its descriptions). him). Fig. 11A illustrates the frequency response of an example acoustic-electric conversion module (also referred to herein as the first acoustic-electric conversion module). Fig. 11B illustrates the frequency response of another example of the ac-electric conversion module (also referred to herein as the second ac-electric conversion module) different from the frequency response of the ac-electric conversion module shown in FIG. 11A. As illustrated in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, the first acoustic-electric transducer module or the second acoustic-electric transducer module may include 8 acoustic-electric transducers. In some embodiments, the areas of overlap between the frequency responses of the acoustic-electric transducers can be adjusted by adjusting the structural parameters of the acoustic-electric transducers to change the center frequency and/or bandwidth of one or more of the acoustic-electric transducers. In some embodiments, the first acoustic-electrical transducer module or the second acoustic-electrical transducer module may comprise a certain number of acoustic-electrical transducers such that the subband signal bands generated by the acoustic-electrical transducers can cover the entire frequency range to be processed. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electric transducers in the second acoustic-electric transducer module may have different center frequencies. In some embodiments, at least one narrow-bandwidth acoustic-electric transducer may be configured to generate a subband signal over a range of frequencies. In some embodiments, an ac-to-electric transducer with a higher center frequency response may be tuned to have a wider bandwidth.

In some embodiments, an acoustic-electric transducer with a higher center frequency response than another acoustic-electric transducer may have a wider bandwidth than that other acoustic-electric transducer.

The acoustic-to-electric converters in the acoustic-to-electric converter module 210 may receive an audio signal 205. The audio signal 205 may come from an acoustic source capable of generating an audio signal. This acoustic source may be a living object, such as the user of the signal processing device 200 and/or a non-living object, such as a CD player, television, or the like, or a combination of such objects. In some embodiments, the audio signal may also contain external noise. The audio signal 205 may have some bandwidth. For example, the audio signal 205 generated by the user of the signal processing device 200 may have a frequency band of 10-30,000 Hz. Acoustic-to-electrical transducers may generate, in response to audio signal 205, multiple subband electrical signals (eg, subband electrical signals 2151, 2152, 2153, ..., and 2154, illustrated in FIG. 2). The electrical subband signal generated in accordance with the audio signal 205 is here understood to mean a signal with a bandwidth narrower than that of the composite audio signal 205. The bandwidth of the subband signal may be within the bandwidth of the corresponding audio signal 205. For example, the audio signal 205 may have a bandwidth of 10-30,000 Hz, and the bandwidth of the subband audio signal may be 100-200 Hz, which falls within the bandwidth of the composite audio signal 205, i.e. in the band 10-30,000 Hz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-to-electric converter may receive the audio signal 205 and generate one subband signal in accordance with the received audio signal. For example, acoustic-to-electric transducers 211, 212, 213, and 214 may receive audio signal 205 and generate subband electrical signal 2151, subband electrical signal 2152, subband electrical signal 2153, and subband electrical signal 2154, respectively, according to the audio signal received by these transducers. In some embodiments, at least two of the multiple subband signals generated by said acoustic-electric transducers may have different frequency bands. As illustrated above, at least two of these ac-to-electric transducers may have different frequency responses, resulting in two different subband signals corresponding to the two different ac-to-electric transducers receiving the same audio signal 205. Acoustic-electrical converter module 210 may transmit the subband signals it generates to sampling module 220. Acoustic-electrical converter module 210 may transmit these subband signals via one or more transmission components (not shown). Examples of such transmission components can be coaxial cable, communication cable (e.g. telecommunications cable, flexible cable, spiral cable, non-metallic cable, metal sheath cable, multi-core cable, twisted pair cable, ribbon cable, screened cable, two-wire cable, optical fiber or other similar object or a combination of such objects). In some embodiments, the subband signals may be transmitted to sampler 220 via a signal transmitting component. In some embodiments, the subband signals may be transmitted to sampler 220 via multiple subband transmit components connected in parallel. Each of these multiple subband transmitting components may be coupled to one of the acto-electric transducers in ac-to-electric converter module 210 and may transmit the subband signal generated by that ac-electric converter to sampling module 220. For example, the plurality of subband transmission components may comprise a first a subband transmitting component coupled to an acoustic-electrical transducer 211; and a second subband transmitting component coupled to an acoustic-electrical transducer 212. These first subband transmitting component and the second subband transmitting component may be connected in parallel. The first subband transmitting component and the second subband transmitting component may transmit the subband electrical signal 2151 and the subband electrical signal 2152 to the sampling module 220, respectively.

The frequency response of the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 may depend on the frequency response of the acoustic-electric transducers included in this acoustic-electric transducer module 210. For example, the "flatness" (uniformity) of the frequency response of the acoustic-electric converter module 210 may be due to where the frequency responses of the acoustic-electric transducers in the acoustic-electric converter module 210 intersect with one another. As illustrated in FIG. 10A-10C (and descriptions of these drawings below), when the frequency responses of the acoustic-electric transducers intersect near or at the half-power point(s), the frequency response of the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 containing these acoustic-electric transducers may be flatter than the response of such an acoustic-electric transducer module 210 in which the characteristics of its constituent acoustic-electric transducers do not intersect near or at the half power point(s). As used here, the half power point for some frequency response is understood to mean the frequency point(s) with a power level of -3 dB. As used here, two frequency responses can be considered to intersect near the half power point when they intersect at a frequency point near the half power point. As used here, a frequency point can be considered to be in the vicinity of a half power point when the power difference between that frequency point and the half power point does not exceed 2dB. In some embodiments, when the frequency responses of the ac-to-electric transducers in the ac-to-electric transducer module 210 intersect at some frequency point (e.g., one-quarter power point or one-eighth power point, etc.) with a power level greater than than 2 dB below the level at the half power point, the aliasing area between the frequency responses of adjacent AO transducers may be relatively low, whereby the frequency response level of the combination of adjacent AO transducers is lowered in the overlap region, thus having an undesirable effect on quality. subband signals from the outputs of neighboring acoustic-electric transducers. In some embodiments, when the frequency responses of the ac-to-electric transducers in the ac-to-electric converter module 210 intersect at some frequency point (e.g., three-quarter power point or seven-eighth power point, etc.) with a power level of 1 dB higher than at the half power point, the area of overlap between the frequency responses of adjacent AM transducers can be relatively large, thereby generating a range of relatively high interference between the subband signals from the outputs of the AM transducers.

In some embodiments, for a certain range of frequencies, the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 may only be allowed to have a limited number of acoustic-electric transducers. More AE transducers may be included in the AE transducer module 210 when the AE transducers have reduced damping compared to those that do not have reduced damping. Just as an example, FIG. 13A illustrates the frequency response of an ac-to-electric transducer module 210 comprising four ac-to-electric transducers (the four dashed lines show the frequency response of the four individual ac-to-electric transducers without damping if they are operated individually; and the solid line represents the frequency response of the combination of the four ac-to-electric transducers. electrical transducers without reduced damping). In some embodiments, it may be possible to have more acoustic-electric transducers in the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 when one or more of these acoustic-electric transducers are in a reduced damping state. For example, acoustic-electric transducer module 210 may comprise six or more reduced-damping acoustic-electric transducers. Just as an example, FIG. 13B illustrates the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module 210 having six reduced-damping acoustic-electric transducers.

Sampler 220 may comprise multiple samplers (eg, samplers 221, 222, 223, ..., 224 illustrated in FIG. 2). These sampling blocks are connected in parallel.

A sampling unit (e.g., sampling unit 221, sampling unit 222, sampling unit 223, and/or sampling unit 224) in sampling module 220 may be in communication with one of the acoustic-electrical transducers and be configured to receive and sample the subband signal generated by that acoustically - electrical converter. The sampler may communicate with its acoustic-to-electrical converter via the subband transmitting component. Just as an example, sampler 221 may be coupled to a first subband transmitting component and configured to sample the electrical subband signal 2151 received from that transmitting component, while sampler 222 may be coupled to a second subband transmitting component and configured to sample the electrical signal 2152 subband received from this transmitting component.

In some embodiments, a sampler (eg, sampler 221, sampler 222, sampler 223, and/or sampler 224) in the sampler module may sample the received subband signal and generate a digital signal based on the sampled subband signal. For example, sampler 221, sampler 222, sampler 223, and sampler 224 may sample the subband signals and generate digital signal 2351, digital signal 2352, digital signal 2353, and digital signal 2354, respectively.

In some embodiments, the sampling unit may sample the subband signal using an in-band sampling technique. For example, the sampling unit may be configured to sample the subband signal using in-band sampling, where the sampling rate is selected according to the bandwidth of the subband signal. Just as an example, the sampling unit may sample the subband signal in a bandwidth of at least twice the bandwidth of the subband signal. In some embodiments, the sampling unit may sample the subband signal in a bandwidth of at least twice the bandwidth of the subband signal and at most four times the bandwidth of the subband signal. In some embodiments, by using bandpass sampling instead of passband sampling or a low frequency sampling technique, the sampling unit can sample the subband signal at a relatively low sampling rate, reducing the complexity and cost of the sampling procedure. In addition, only small noises or signal distortions can be introduced into the sampling procedure using the bandpass sampling method. As described in connection with FIG. 1, the signal processing system 100 (for example, the subband filtering module 130) may perform a digital signal processing procedure using a program for generating subband signals, which may introduce signal distortion due to factors such as the algorithms used in the signal processing, methods sampling applied in the sampling process, and component structures in signal processing system 100 (eg, acoustic-electric converter 110, sampling module 120, and/or subband filtering module 130). Compared to the subband filtering module 130, the signal processing system 200 can generate subband signals based on structures and characteristics of acoustic-electrical transducers.

The digitizing block can transmit the digital signal generated by it to the signal processing module 240 . In some embodiments, digital signals may be transmitted through parallel transmission components. In some embodiments, digital signals may be transmitted through a transmitter component according to a specific communication protocol. Examples of such communication protocols may include the AES3 (audio engineering society) protocol, the European broadcast union (AES/EBU) protocol, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) protocol, the ADAT (automatic accumulation and transmission) protocol (Automatic Data Accumulator and Transfer) protocol), I2S protocol (Sound between ICs (Inter-IC Sound)), TDM protocol (Time Division Multiplexing), MIDI protocol (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), protocol CobraNet, Ethernet protocol AVB (Ethernet Audio/Video Bridging), Dante protocol, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) protocols ITU-T G.728, ITU-T G.711, ITU-T G .722, ITU-T G.722.1, ITU-T G.722.1 Annex C (Annex C), AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)-LD, or other similar protocols, or combinations thereof. The digital signal can be transmitted in a specific format, including CD(Compact Disc) format, WAVE format, AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) format, MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) formats ) MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-3, MPEG-4, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), WMA (Windows Audio File Format (Windows Media Audio)), RealAudio format, VQF (Weighted Vector Quantization Interleaved) Transform-domain Weighted Interleave Vector Quantization), AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate), APE, FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) ) or another similar format, or a combination of such formats.

The signal processing unit 240 may process data received from other components of the signal processing device 200 . For example, signal processing module 240 may process digital signals transmitted from sampling units from sampling module 220. Signal processing module 240 may access and access information and/or data stored in sampling module 220. As another example, processing module 240 The signal may be directly connected to sampling module 220 to access information and/or data stored in the latter. In some embodiments, signal processing module 240 may be implemented by a processor, such as a microcontroller, microprocessor, reduced instruction set computer (RISC), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) processor, instruction set (application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP)), central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), physical processor (physics processing unit (PPU)), microcontroller unit , digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), advanced RISC machine (ARM), programmable logic device ( PLD)) any circuit or processor capable of performing one or more functions, or the like. device, or a combination of such devices.

It should be noted that the above description of the signal processing apparatus 200 is merely for purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Even an ordinary person skilled in the art can make numerous changes and modifications in accordance with the provisions of the present invention. However, these changes and modifications do not deviate from the scope of the present invention. For example, signal processing device 200 may further comprise a memory for storing signals received from other components of signal processing device 200 (eg, acoustic-electrical converter module 210 and/or sampling module 220). Examples of a storage device may include a mass storage device, a removable storage device, a volatile device for reading and writing information, a read-only memory (ROM))) or other similar device, or a combination of such devices. As another example, one or more transmitters may be excluded. Said plurality of multiple subband signals may be transmitted by carrier waves such as an infrared wave, electromagnetic wave, sound wave, or other similar wave, or a combination of such waves. As another example, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may comprise 2, 3, or 4 acoustic-electrical transducers.

In FIG. 3 is a logic diagram of an example audio signal processing procedure according to some embodiments of the present invention. At least a portion of the procedure 300 may be implemented in the signal processor 200 illustrated in FIG. 2.

At 310, an audio signal 205 may be received. This audio signal 205 may be received by multiple acoustic-electric transducers. In some embodiments, these acoustic-electric transducers may have different frequency responses. These multiple acoustic-electric transducers may be located in the same signal processing device 200, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Audio signal 205 may have some bandwidth.

At 320, multiple subband signals may be generated in response to audio signal 205. These multiple subband signals may be generated by said multiple acoustic-electric transducers. At least two of the generated subband signals may have different frequency bands. Each of the subband signals may have a frequency band that is within the bandwidth of the audio signal 205.

It should be noted that the above description regarding procedure 300 is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Even an ordinary person skilled in the art will be able to make numerous changes and modifications in accordance with the provisions of the present invention. However, these changes and modifications will not deviate from the scope of the present invention. In some embodiments, one or more steps of procedure 300 may be omitted, or one or more additional steps may be added. For example, procedure 300 may further comprise an operation to sample the subband signals after operation 320.

In FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram of an example acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention. The acoustic-electrical converter 211 may be configured to convert an audio signal into an electrical signal. This acoustic-electric transducer 211 may include an acoustic channel component 410, an acoustic sensing component 420, and a circuit component 430.

The acoustic channel component 410 may influence the path that the audio signal is transmitted to the acoustic sensing component 420 by said acoustic channel component's acoustic structure, which can process the audio signal before the audio signal reaches the acoustic sensing component 420. In some embodiments, the audio signal may be an audio signal. the air conduction signal, and then the acoustic structure of the acoustic channel component 410 can be configured to process the air conduction audio signal. Alternatively, the audio signal may be a bone conduction audio signal, in which case the acoustic structure of the acoustic channel component 410 may be configured to process the bone conduction audio signal. In some embodiments, the acoustic structure may comprise one or more chamber structures, one or more tubular structures, or other similar structures, or a combination of such structures.

In some embodiments, the acoustic impedance of the acoustic structure may vary according to the frequency of the received audio signal. In some embodiments, the acoustic impedance of the acoustic structure may vary within a certain range. Thus, in some embodiments, the frequency range of the audio signal may cause corresponding changes in the acoustic impedance of the acoustic structure. In other words, the acoustic structure can function as a filter processing some subband of the received audio signal. In some embodiments, an acoustic structure comprising a predominantly chamber structure may function as a high pass filter, while an acoustic structure comprising a predominantly tubular structure as a low pass filter.

In some embodiments, the acoustic impedance of an acoustic structure that contains primarily a chamber structure may be determined in accordance with Equation (1) as follows:

…(1),

…(one),

Here, Z denotes the acoustic impedance, ω denotes the angular frequency (e.g. of a chamber structure), j denotes the imaginary unit, C _α denotes the acoustic capacitance, ρ ₀ denotes the air density, c ₀ denotes the speed of sound, and V ₀ denotes the equivalent volume of the chamber.

In some embodiments, the acoustic impedance of an acoustic structure that primarily comprises a tubular structure may be determined in accordance with Equation (2) as follows:

…(2),

…(2),

Here, Z denotes the acoustic impedance, M _α denotes the acoustic mass, ω denotes the angular frequency of the acoustic structure (e.g., tubular structure), ρ ₀ denotes the air density, l ₀ denotes the tube equivalent length, and S denotes the cross-sectional area of the tube lumen.

The chamber-tube structure is a combination of sound capacitance and acoustic mass connected in series, such as a Helmholtz resonator, so that an inductor-capacitor (LC) resonant circuit can be formed. The acoustic impedance of the chamber-tube structure can be determined according to Equation (3) as follows:

…(3).

…(3).

According to Equation (3), the chamber-tube structure can function as a bandpass filter. The center frequency of the bandpass filter can be determined according to Equation (4) as follows:

…(4).

…(4).

If an acoustic resistive material is used in the chamber-tube structure, a series resistor-inductor-capacitor (RLC) circuit can be formed, and the acoustic impedance of this series RLC circuit can be determined according to Equation (5) as follows:

…(5),

…(5),

where R _α denotes the acoustic impedance of the series RLC circuit. The chamber-tube structure can also function as a bandpass filter. Adjusting the value of the acoustic impedance R _α can change the bandwidth of the bandpass filter. The center frequency of such a bandpass filter can be determined by Equation (6) as follows:

…(6).

…(6).

The acoustic sensing component 420 may convert the audio signal transmitted by the acoustic channel component into an electrical signal. For example, this acoustic sensing component 420 may convert an audio signal into changes in electrical parameters, which may be embodied in an electrical signal. The structure of the acoustic sensing component 420 may include diaphragms, plates, cantilever elements, and so on. In some embodiments, the acoustic sensing component 420 may include one or more diaphragms. Details regarding the structure of the acoustic sensitive component 420 containing the diaphragm can be found elsewhere in the present description (for example, in Fig. 6A and 6B and in the descriptions to them). Details regarding the structure of the multi-diaphragm acoustic sensing component 420 can be found elsewhere in this specification (eg, in and in the descriptions of FIGS. 7A and 7B). The diaphragms included in the acoustic sensing component 420 may be connected in parallel (eg, as illustrated in Fig. 7A) or in series (eg, as illustrated in Fig. 8A). In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 7B and 7C and in their descriptions, the frequency response bandwidth of an acoustic sensing component 420 having multiple diaphragms connected in parallel may be wider and more uniform (flat) than the frequency response bandwidth of an acoustic sensing component 420 having a single diaphragm. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8B and its descriptions, the passband frequency response of an acoustic sensing component 420 having multiple diaphragms connected in series may have a sharper edge than the frequency response of an acoustic sensing component 420 having only one diaphragm in the passband. The set of materials for manufacturing the acoustic sensing component 420 may include plastics, metals, composite materials, piezoelectric materials, and the like. A more detailed description of the acoustic sensing component 420 can be found elsewhere in this specification (eg, in FIGS. 6A-9D and in the descriptions thereto).

As described in connection with acoustic channel component 410, acoustic channel component 410 or acoustic sensing component 420 may function as a filter. The structure containing the acoustic channel component 410 and the acoustic sensing component 420 can also function as a filter. A detailed description of such a structure can be found in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B and in their descriptions.

In some embodiments, by modifying the parameter(s) (eg, structure parameters) of the acoustic channel component 410 and/or the acoustic sensing component 420, the frequency response of the combination of the acoustic duct component 410 and the acoustic sensing component 420 can be appropriately tuned. For example, FIG. 9C illustrates an example of the frequency responses of two combined structures according to some embodiments of the present invention. The dashed line 931 represents the frequency response of the combination of the acoustic channel component and the acoustic sensing component (also referred to as the first combination pattern). One or more parameters (eg, structural parameters) of the acoustic channel component or the acoustic sensing component may be modified, resulting in a second combination structure different from the first combination structure. The solid line 933 may indicate the frequency response of the second combination pattern. As illustrated in FIG. 9C, the frequency response of the second combination pattern (i.e., solid line 933) may be more uniform (flatter, smoother) than the frequency response of the first combination pattern (i.e., dashed line 931) in the 20 Hz-20,000 Hz frequency band.

In some embodiments, the frequency response of the combination of acoustic channel component 410 and acoustic sensing component 420 may be related to the frequency response of acoustic channel component 410 and/or acoustic sensing component 420. of the acoustic channel component 420 can be related to the distance that the cutoff frequency of the acoustic channel component 410 is close to the cutoff frequency of the acoustic channel component 420. when the cutoff frequency of the acoustic channel component 410 and the cutoff frequency of the acoustic sensing component 420 located closer to each other. For example, FIG. 9D illustrates an example of the frequency response of a combination structure according to some embodiments of the present invention. The dashed line 941 represents the frequency response of the acoustic sensing component. The dotted line 943 represents the frequency response of the acoustic channel component, and the solid line 945 may indicate the frequency response of the acoustic channel component and the acoustic sensing component. As illustrated in FIG. 9D, the cut-off frequency (also referred to as the cut-off frequency) of the acoustic channel component (i.e., dashed line 943) may be close to or be the same as the cut-off frequency of the acoustic sensing component (i.e., dashed line 941), resulting in be that the frequency response of the combination of acoustic channel component and acoustic sensitive component (ie, solid line 945) has a sharper (steep) edge.

In some embodiments, one or more of the structural parameters of the acoustic channel component 410 and/or the acoustic sensing component 420 may be modified or adjusted. For example, the spacing between the various elements in the acoustic channel component 410 and/or the acoustic sensing component 420 can be controlled by a motor driven feedback module illustrated elsewhere in this description. As another example, the current flowing through the acoustic sensing component 420 can be adjusted in accordance with commands transmitted, for example, by a feedback module. Adjusting one or more structural parameters of the acoustic channel component 410 and/or the acoustic sensing component 420 may result in changes in the filtering characteristics of those components.

Circuit component 430 can sense changes in electrical parameters (eg, an electrical signal). In some embodiments, circuit component 430 may perform one or more functions on electrical signals for further processing. The collection of example functions may include amplification, modulation, simple filtering, and other similar functions, or a combination of such functions. In some embodiments, by adjusting one or more parameters of the circuit component 430, it is possible to adjust the sensitivities in the respective passbands to match them across the bands of one with the other. In some embodiments, circuit components 430 may adjust the sensitivities in one or more bandwidths in accordance with conditions such as a predetermined command, a feedback signal, or a control signal transmitted by a controller, or another similar condition, or a combination of such conditions. In some embodiments, the circuit components 430 may adjust the sensitivities in one or more bandwidths automatically.

Fig. 5A illustrates an example of an acoustic channel component 410 according to some embodiments of the present invention. Acoustic channel component 410 may include one or more tubular structures. In FIG. 5A shows three examples of tubular structures, namely, a first tubular structure 501, a second tubular structure 502, and a third 503. Each tubular structure may include a front acoustic resistive material for detecting or receiving an audio signal and a rear acoustic resistive material for outputting a signal in accordance with audio signal. For example, the first tubular structure 501 may include front acoustic resistive material 511 and rear acoustic resistive material 512. Second tubular structure 502 may include front acoustic resistive material 513 and rear acoustic resistive material 514. Third tubular structure 503 may include front acoustic resistive material 515 and rear acoustic resistive material 516. When the sound pressure P passes through the first tubular structure 501, the second tubular structure 502, and the third tubular structure 503 in succession, this sound pressure P can be converted into a sound pressure P ₃ . An example of a circuit corresponding to an acoustic channel component 410 (or referred to as an acoustic filter circuit) can be illustrated in FIG. 5b.

Fig. 5B illustrates an example equivalent circuit model of the acoustic channel component 410 shown in FIG. 5A in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. This circuit may include a first resistor 541, a second resistor 542, a third resistor 543, a fourth resistor 544, a first inductor 551, a second inductor 552, a third inductor 553, a fourth inductor 554, a first capacitor 561, a second capacitor 562, and a third capacitor 563. First end the first capacitor 561 may be connected to the first end of the first inductance 551 and to the first end of the second resistor 542. The second end of the first inductance 551 may be connected to the first end of the first resistor 541. The first end of the second capacitor 562 may be connected to the first end of the second inductance 552 and to the first end of the third resistor 543. The second end of the second inductance 552 may be connected to the second end of the second resistor 542. The first end of the third capacitor 563 may be connected to the first end of the third inductance 553 and to the first end of the fourth resistor 544. The second end of the third inductance 553 may be connected to the second end of the third p resistor 543. The first end of the fourth inductance 554 may be connected to the second end of the fourth resistor 544.

In FIG. 6A is a simplified diagram of an exemplary mechanical model of an acoustic sensing component 420 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. One or more of the elements that make up the acoustic sensing component 420 may oscillate in response to the audio signal incident on the component. This audio signal may be transmitted from the acoustic channel component 410. In some embodiments, vibrations of one or more elements that make up the acoustic sensing component 420 may lead to changes in the electrical parameters of the acoustic sensing component 420. The acoustic sensing component 420 may be sensitive in a certain frequency band of the audio signal. . This bandwidth of the audio signal can cause corresponding changes in the electrical parameters of the acoustic sensing component 420. In other words, the acoustic sensing component 420 can function as a filter processing a subband of the audio signal.

In some embodiments, the acoustic sensing component 420 may be a diaphragm. Fig. 6A illustrates an example of a diaphragm, which may be a diaphragm 611 and an elastic component 613. The first point of the diaphragm 611 may be connected to the first point of the elastic component 613. The second point of the diaphragm 611 may be connected to the second point of the elastic component 613.

In FIG. 6B is a simplified diagram of an example mechanical model of an acoustic sensing component 420 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. This acoustic sensing component 420 may be a diaphragm. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, this diaphragm may include a diaphragm 621, a damping component 623, and an elastic component 625. The first end of the diaphragm 621 may be connected to the first end of the damping component 623 and the first end of the elastic component 625 (eg, a spring). The second end of the damping component 623 may be fixed. The second end of the elastic component 625 may be fixed.

In FIG. 6C is a simplified diagram of an example equivalent circuit model corresponding to the mechanical model shown in FIG. 6A and 6B according to some embodiments of the present invention. The circuit may include a resistor 631, an inductor 633, and a capacitor 635. The first end of the inductor 633 may be connected to the first end of the resistor 631. The second end of the inductor 633 may be connected to the first end of a capacitor 635. This circuit may form a series RLC circuit that can operate as a band pass filter. The center frequency of the bandpass filter can be determined according to Equation (9) as follows:

…(9),

…(nine),

Here, M _m denotes the mass of the diaphragm, K _m denotes the coefficient of elasticity of the diaphragm, and R _m denotes the damping of the diaphragm. R _m can be adjusted to modify the bandwidth of a filter implemented as a serial RLC circuit. In some embodiments, an acoustic structure that can affect the audio signal path to acoustic sensing component 420, or acoustic sensing component 420 that can convert an audio signal to an electrical signal, can affect the audio signal in both the frequency domain and the time domain. In some embodiments, one or more characteristics of the acoustic sensing component 420 can be tuned by adjusting one or more non-linear time-varying characteristics of the materials of the acoustic sensing component 420 to meet certain filtering requirements. Examples of non-linear time-varying characteristics may include hysteresis delay, creep, non-Newtonian characteristics, or the like, or a combination of such characteristics.

In FIG. 7A is a simplified diagram of a mechanical model of an example acoustic sensing component 420 according to some embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments, multiple acoustic sensing components may be coupled to achieve certain filtering characteristics.

As shown in FIG. 7A, a mechanical model may contain multiple acoustic sensing components. These acoustic sensitive components can be connected in parallel. The mechanical model corresponding to each acoustic sensing component may include a diaphragm 704, a damping component 721, and an elastic component 723. A more detailed description of an individual acoustic sensing component can be found elsewhere in this specification (e.g., FIGS. 6B and 6C and related descriptions). ). In some embodiments, an acoustic sensing component 420 containing multiple acoustic sensing components may perform multi-peak filtering, multiple center frequency filtering, or multi-band filtering.

Fig. 7B illustrates examples of frequency responses corresponding to different acoustic sensing components, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Acoustic sensing component 420 includes a first acoustic sensing component and a second acoustic sensing component. These first acoustic sensing component and the second acoustic sensing component may be connected in parallel. The center frequency of the first acoustic sensing component may be different from the center frequency of the second sensing component. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, dashed line 701 represents the frequency response of the first acoustic sensing component, while dashed line 702 represents the frequency response of the second acoustic sensing component. The solid line 703 may indicate the frequency response of the combination of the first acoustic sensing component and the second acoustic sensing component. The frequency response bandwidth of the combination of the first acoustic sensing component and the second acoustic sensing component (i.e., solid line 703) is larger, and the curve 703 itself is more uniform (flatter) than the frequency response of the first acoustic sensing component (i.e., dotted line 701) or with the frequency response of the second acoustic sensing component (ie dashed line 702).

In some embodiments, the frequency responses of the first acoustic sensing component and the second acoustic sensing component may overlap with each other. In some embodiments, the frequency responses of the first acoustic sensing component and the second acoustic sensing component may intersect at a frequency point that is not in the vicinity of the half power point. As described in connection with FIG. 10A-10C and with their descriptions, when the frequency responses of the ac-to-electric transducers intersect near or at the very half power point(s), the frequency response of the ac-to-electric transducer module 210 containing these ac-to-electric transducers may be more uniform (flat ) compared to the ac-to-electric transducer module 210, in which the characteristics of the ac-to-electric transducers do not intersect near or at the half power point(s). However, since the first acoustic sensing component and the second acoustic sensing component are located in the same acoustic sensing component 420, and the superimposition of the frequency characteristics of the first acoustic sensing component and the second acoustic sensing component can be a vector superposition, it is necessary to take into account the phases of the output signals of these first acoustic sensing components. component and a second acoustic sensing component. Thus, when the frequency responses of the first acoustic sensitive component and the second acoustic sensitive component intersect at a frequency point that is not in the vicinity of the half power point, the frequency response of the combination of the first acoustic sensitive component and the second acoustic sensitive component may be more uniform (flat) and have wider bandwidth than that of a combination of two acoustic sensing components having frequency responses that intersect near or at the half power point itself.

Fig. 7C illustrates an example of the frequency responses of various acoustic sensing components in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7C, acoustic sensing component 420 may include a first acoustic sensing component, a second acoustic sensing component, and a third acoustic sensing component connected in parallel. The first acoustic sensing component, the second acoustic sensing component, and the third acoustic sensing component may be reduced damping acoustic sensing components and may be referred to as first reduced acoustic sensing component, second reduced acoustic sensing component and third reduced damping acoustic sensing component. , respectively. The center frequency of each acoustic sensitive component may differ from other components. For example, as shown in FIG. 7C, dashed line 711, dashed line 712, and dashed line 713 represent the frequency responses of the first acoustic sensing component, the second acoustic sensing component, and the third acoustic sensing component, respectively. The solid line 714 may indicate the frequency response of the combination of the first acoustic sensing component, the second acoustic sensing component, and the third acoustic sensing component. The bandwidth of the frequency response of the combination of the first acoustic sensing component, the second acoustic sensing component, and the third acoustic sensing component (i.e., the solid line) is wider and more uniform than the frequency response of the first acoustic sensing component (i.e., the dotted line 711, also called the fourth frequency response ), the frequency response of the second acoustic sensing component (ie, the dashed line 712, also referred to as the fifth frequency response), or the frequency response of the third acoustic sensing component (ie, the dashed line 713, also referred to as the sixth frequency response).

The center frequency of the second damped acoustic sensing component (also referred to as the fifth center frequency) is higher than the center frequency of the first damped acoustic sensing component (also referred to as the fourth center frequency), and the center frequency of the third damped acoustic sensing component (also referred to as the sixth center frequency) ) above the center frequency of the second acoustically sensitive component with reduced damping.

In some embodiments, the fourth frequency response and the fifth frequency response intersect at a point adjacent to the half power point of the fourth frequency response and the half power point of the fifth frequency response. In other words, the fourth frequency response and the fifth frequency response intersect at a power level not lower than -5 dB and not higher than -1 dB.

As described in connection with FIG. 7B, when the frequency responses of the first acoustic sensitive component and the second acoustic sensitive component and the third acoustic sensitive component may intersect at frequency points not in the vicinity of the half power point, the frequency response of the combination of the first acoustic sensitive component and the second acoustic sensitive component and the third acoustic sensitive component may be more even (flat) and wider than the response of a combination of three acoustically sensitive components whose frequency responses intersect at frequency points nearby or at half power.

In FIG. 8A is a simplified diagram of an example mechanical model corresponding to an acoustic sensing component 420 according to some embodiments of the present invention. The mechanical model corresponding to the acoustic sensing component 420 may include multiple acoustic sensing components. These several acoustic sensitive components can be connected in series. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, the acoustic sensing component 420 may comprise two acoustic sensing components, each of which may have a diaphragm 811, a damping component 815, and an elastic component 813. An audio signal (sound pressure equal to P) may impinge on the diaphragm 811 and cause the acoustic sensing component 420 to generate an electrical signal. (not shown). A more detailed description of the individual acoustic sensing component can be found elsewhere in this specification (eg, in and in the descriptions of FIGS. 6B and 6C).

Fig. 8B illustrates examples of frequency responses corresponding to different acoustic sensing components in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. The solid line 821 represents the frequency response of one acoustic sensitive component. The dashed line 823 represents the frequency response of the combination of two acoustic sensing components connected in series. The dotted line 825 represents the frequency response of a combination of three acoustic sensing components connected in series. As illustrated in FIG. 8B, the number of acoustic sensing components may affect the frequency response of the acoustic transducer device in which they are installed. The frequency response of a combination of three acoustic sensing components connected in series (i.e. dashed line 825) may have a sharper (steep) rolloff than the frequency response of a combination of two acoustic sensing components connected in series (i.e. dashed line 823) . The frequency response of a combination of two acoustic sensing components connected in series (ie, dashed line 823) may have a steeper rolloff than the frequency response of a single acoustic sensing component (ie, solid line 821). In some embodiments, when more sensing components are installed in the same acoustic transducer device, the order of that acoustic transducer device may increase.

In some embodiments, three acoustic sensing components may be connected in series. As known to those skilled in the art, an acoustic sensing component may have a lower cutoff frequency and an upper cutoff frequency. In some embodiments, the center frequency of any of the three acoustic sensing components may be greater than the lowest cutoff frequency of the lower cutoff frequencies of the three acoustic sensing components under consideration, and not greater than the highest cutoff frequency of the higher cutoff frequencies of the three acoustic sensing components.

Fig. 9A illustrates the structure of a combination of an acoustic channel component and an acoustic sensing component in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. This structure can be implemented as a membrane (diaphragm) microphone with a front chamber and a rear chamber. As shown in FIG. 9A, the audio signal (sound pressure equal to P) may first enter the sound hole 915 of the acoustic channel component, which may contain acoustic resistive material, and then enter the diaphragm 914 and the rear chamber of the acoustic sensing component. Here, P stands for the sound pressure on the microphone produced by the audio signal, and S stands for the effective diaphragm area. A more detailed description of the acoustic channel component can be found elsewhere in this specification (eg, in and in the descriptions of FIGS. 5A and 5B). More detailed descriptions of the acoustic sensing component can be found elsewhere in this specification (eg, in FIGS. 6A-6C and the descriptions thereto).

In FIG. 9B is a simplified illustration of an example of the combinational structure circuit shown in FIG. 9A according to some embodiments of the present invention. In this circuit, resistor 922 (with resistance S ² R _α ) and inductor 923 (with inductance S ² R _α ) may represent acoustic impedance and acoustic mass of the sound hole. Capacitor 924 (capacitance S ² C _α1 ) may indicate the acoustic capacitance of the front chamber. Capacitor 928 (with capacitance C _α 2 /s ² ) may indicate the acoustic capacitance of the rear chamber. Resistor 925 (with resistance R _m ), inductor 926 (with inductance M _m ), and capacitor 927 (with capacitance C _m ) may represent diaphragm resistance, diaphragm mass, and diaphragm spring factor, respectively.

Fig. 10A-10C illustrate the frequency responses of various acoustic-electric transducer modules in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 10C illustrate the frequency response of the first acoustic-electric converter module, the second acoustic-electric converter module, and the third acoustic-electric converter module, respectively. Each of these modules - the first acoustic-electric converter module, the second acoustic-electric converter module and the third acoustic-electric converter module, may contain three acoustic-electric converters. As illustrated in FIG. 10A, the first acoustic-electric transducer module may include transducer 1, transducer 2, and transducer 3. The frequency response of transducer 1 intersects the frequency response of transducer 2 at a frequency point not near the half power point, and the frequency response of transducer 2 intersects the frequency response of transducer 3. at a frequency point that is not near the half power point. As illustrated in FIG. 10B, the first acoustic-electric transducer module may include transducer 4 (eg, a first acoustic-electric transducer), transducer 5 (eg, a second acoustic-electric transducer), and transducer 6 (eg, a third acoustic-electric transducer). The transducer 4 has a first frequency bandwidth and the transducer 5 has a second frequency bandwidth different from the first frequency bandwidth. The second frequency bandwidth is larger than the first frequency bandwidth, and the center frequency of transducer 5 is higher than the center frequency of transducer 4. The center frequency of transducer 6 is higher than the center frequency of transducer 5.

The frequency response of transducer 4 intersects the frequency response of transducer 5 at a frequency point in the vicinity of the half power point, and the frequency response of transducer 5 intersects the frequency response of transducer 6 at a frequency point in the vicinity of the half power point. For example, the frequency response of transducer 4 and the frequency response of transducer 5 intersect at a point near the half power point of the frequency response of transducer 4 and the half power point of the frequency response of transducer 5. As illustrated, the frequency response of transducer 4 and the frequency response of transducer 5 intersect at point c power level not less than -5 dB and not more than -1 dB.

As illustrated in FIG. 10C, the first acoustic-electric transducer module may include transducer 7, transducer 8, and transducer 9. The frequency response of transducer 7 intersects the frequency response of transducer 8 at a frequency point not near the half power point, and the frequency response of transducer 8 intersects the frequency response of transducer 9. at a frequency point that is not near the half power point. As illustrated in FIG. 10A-10C, the frequency response of the second AE transducer module may be more flat (flatter) than the frequency response of the first AO transducer module, and the frequency response of the third AO transducer module exhibits more adjacent channel interference than the frequency response of the second AU. - electrical conversion module. The following descriptions may be created to illustrate the relationship between the frequency response of the AO transducer module and where the frequency responses of the AO transducers in the AO transducer module intersect one another.

The frequency responses of acoustic-electrical transducers can cross each other at some frequency points, resulting in some overlap between the frequency responses. As used here, the term "overlap" refers to the frequency point at which the frequency characteristics intersect one another. This aliasing of the frequency responses of the AO transducers can generate interference in adjacent channels configured to output the electrical signals generated by the AO transducers in the AO transducer module 210. In some cases, the larger the area of overlap, the more interference there may be. . The center frequencies and bandwidths of the frequency responses of the acoustic-electric transducers can be adjusted to achieve a narrower area of overlap between the frequency responses of the acoustic-electric transducers.

For example, acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may include multiple first-order acoustic-electrical transducers. The center frequency of each of the acoustic-electric transducers can be tuned by adjusting the structural parameters of these transducers to achieve specific areas of overlap. The region of overlap between two frequency responses of two adjacent acoustic-electric transducers may refer to the region of interference (and interference) between subband signals output from the acoustic-electric transducers. In an ideal scenario, there is no overlap between the frequency responses of two adjacent acoustic-electric transducers. In practice, however, a certain area of overlap may exist between the two frequency responses of two adjacent acoustic-electric transducers, which can affect the quality of the subband output signals from the two acoustic-electric transducers. If there is a relatively small area of overlap between two frequency responses of two adjacent AO transducers, the frequency response level of the combination of two adjacent AO transducers can be reduced within the overlap area. A decrease in the frequency response level in a certain frequency band may indicate a decrease in the power level in that frequency band. As used here, the area of overlap between two frequency responses can be considered relatively small when the frequency responses intersect at a frequency point with a power level below -5 dB. If there is a relatively large area of overlap between two frequency responses of two adjacent AO transducers, the frequency response level of the combination of two adjacent AO transducers can be increased within this overlap area. An increase in the frequency response level in a certain frequency band may indicate a higher power level in that frequency band compared to other frequency bands. The area of overlap between two frequency responses can be considered relatively small when the frequency responses intersect at a frequency point with a power level above -1 dB. When the frequency responses of two adjacent AO transducers intersect nearby or at the half power point, the frequency response of each AO transducer can contribute to the frequency response of the combination of the two adjacent AO transducers in such a way that there is neither loss nor repetition of energies in certain frequency bands, resulting in a correct overlap band between the frequency responses of two adjacent acoustic-electric transducers. The frequency responses of two adjacent acoustic-electric transducers may be considered to intersect in the vicinity or at the half power point when these frequency responses intersect at a frequency point with a power level of at least -5 dB and at most -1 dB. In some embodiments, by adjusting the structural parameters of at least one acoustic-electric transducer of two adjacent acoustic-electric transducers, it is possible to adjust the center frequency and frequency bandwidth of this at least one acoustic-electric transducer of these two adjacent acoustic-electric transducers, resulting in which is the appropriate regulation of the areas of overlap between the acoustic-electric transducers.

Fig. 12 illustrates the frequency responses of various orders of acoustic-electric transducers in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes a plurality of acoustic-electrical transducers. The frequency responses of the acoustic-electric transducer may overlap, introducing interference between adjacent signal processing channels in the acoustic-electric transducer module 210. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the solid line 1201 represents the frequency response of the first order acoustic-electric transducer, the dashed line 1202 represents the frequency response of the second-order acoustic-electric transducer, while the dash-dotted line 1204 represents the frequency response of the fourth order acoustic-electric transducer. The edge (cutoff) of the passband of the frequency response of the fourth order acoustic-electric transducer (ie dashed line 1204) may be sharper (steeper) than the band edge of the second order acoustic-electric transducer (ie dashed line 1202). The edge (cutoff) of the passband of the frequency response of the second order acoustic-electric transducer (ie, dashed line 1202) may be sharper (steeper) than the band edge of the first-order acoustic-electric transducer (ie, solid line 1201). In some embodiments, the higher the order of the acoustic-electric transducer, the greater the steepness of the pass-band edge of the acoustic-electric transducer may be. According to the results of the theoretical analysis, the slope of the response at the edge of the passband of the first-order acoustic-electric transducer can be 6 dB/octave, and for every 1 increase in the order of the acoustic-electric transducer, the slope of the response at the edge of the passband can increase by 6 dB/octave. Thus, the use of a multiple order AO transducer in the AO transducer module 210 may allow more AO transducers to be included in the module, which is generally desirable to cover a wider bandwidth of the received audio signal.

In some embodiments, the acoustic-to-electric transducers in the acoustic-to-electric transducer module 210 may be reduced-damping bandpass acoustic-to-electric transducers. In some embodiments, a reduced damping bandpass AM transducer may have a steeper frequency response rolloff than a non-damped bandpass AM transducer in the vicinity of the resonant peak of the AT frequency response. In some embodiments, the maximum number of acoustic-electric transducers allowed in a certain frequency band may be determined in accordance with the filtering characteristics of the band-pass acoustic-electric transducers. For example, if it is assumed that the frequency responses of the acoustic-electric transducers intersect each other at half power points, then for a certain frequency range, the maximum number of acoustic-electric transducers of some order that can be allowed to be included in one acoustic-electric transducer module 210, can be shown in table 1:

Table 1. Number of acoustic-electric transducers to be included in the module

Bandwidth Order 20 Hz - 20 kHz 100 Hz - 8 kHz 300 Hz - 4000 Hz one ten 7 4 2 20 thirteen eight 3 thirty nineteen 12 4 40 26 fifteen

For example, for a frequency band of 20 Hz - 20 kHz, the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 may contain no more than 10 first-order acoustic-electric transducers. In some embodiments, by setting one or more AO transducers in AO transducer module 210 to a reduced damping state, the AO transducer module 210 may be placed in a higher order state. It should be clearly understood, however, that Tab. 1 is for purposes of illustration and description only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In some embodiments, various changes, improvements, and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, although they are not explicitly stated here. It is believed that these changes, improvements and modifications are contemplated by the present invention and are within the meaning and scope of the present invention. In some embodiments, acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may include a plurality of first acoustic-electrical transducers. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 10 first-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each first-order acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 20 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 20 second-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each second-order acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 20 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 30 third-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each third-order acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 20 kHz. In some embodiments, AO transducer module 210 includes no more than 40 AO quad transducers, where each AO quad corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 20 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 8 first-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each first-order acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 8 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 13 second-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each second-order acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 8 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 19 third-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each third-order acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 8 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 includes no more than 26 fourth-order acoustic-electric transducers, where each fourth-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 8 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 4 first-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 4 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 includes no more than 8 second-order acoustic-electrical transducers, where each second-order acoustic-electrical transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 4 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 includes no more than 12 third-order acoustic-electric transducers, where each third-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 4 kHz. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 includes no more than 15 fourth-order acoustic-electric transducers, where each fourth-order acoustic-electric transducer corresponds to a bandwidth of no more than 4 kHz.

Fig. 13A and 13B illustrate frequency responses of examples of acoustic-electric transducer modules in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 13A illustrates the frequency response of a first-order bandpass acoustic-electric converter module (referred to as a first-order bandpass acoustic-electric converter module 1). Fig. 13B illustrates the frequency response of a bandpass AM transducer module (referred to as first-order bandpass AM transducer 2). The AE transducers in the first order bandpass AE transducer module 1 are non-damped AE transducers, while the AE transducers in the first order bandpass AE converter module 2 are damped AE transducers. As can be seen in FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B, more ac-to-electric transducers can be included in the ac-to-electric transducer module when the ac-to-electric transducers have reduced damping than when the ac-to-electric transducers do not have reduced damping. The first order bandpass acoustic-electrical transducer module 1 and the first-order bandpass acoustic-electrical transducer module 2 comprise 4 first-order bandpass acoustic-electrical transducers and 6 first-order bandpass acoustic-electrical transducers, respectively. The solid line in Fig. 13A shows the frequency response of the first-order bandpass acoustic-electric converter module 1. Shown in FIG. 13A, the 4 dashed lines represent the frequency responses of 4 acoustic-electric transducers, respectively. The solid line of Fig. 13B shows the frequency response of the first-order bandpass acoustic-electric converter module 2. Shown in FIG. 13B, the 6 dashed lines represent the frequency responses of 6 acoustic-electric transducers, respectively.

In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical converter module can be considered as a filter configured to achieve the intended filtering effect. In some embodiments, the filter may be a first order filter or a multiple order filter. In some embodiments, the filter may be a linear or non-linear filter. In some embodiments, the filter may be a time-varying filter or a time-invariant filter. Such a filter may be a resonant filter, a Roex filter, a Gammatone filter, a Gamachirp filter, and the like.

In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical conversion module may be a gamma-tone filter. In particular, the bandwidth according to the frequency characteristics of different acoustic-electric transducers in the acoustic-electric transducer module may be different. Further, an acoustic-to-electric transducer having a higher center frequency can be tuned to a wider bandwidth. Further, in some embodiments, the center frequency f _c of the acoustic-electric transducer can be determined in accordance with Equation (1) as follows:

…(1),

…(one),

where f _H denotes the cutoff frequency, and α denotes the overlap factor.

The bandwidth B of an acoustic-electric transducer can be set according to Equation (2) as follows:

…(2).

…(2).

In FIG. 14A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer 211 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. This acoustic-electric transducer 211 may include an acoustic channel component 410, an acoustic sensing component 420, and a circuit component 430.

Acoustic channel component 410 may include a second order component 1450. Acoustic sensing component 420 may include a second-order bandpass diaphragm 1421 and a closed chamber 1422. Circuit component 430 may include a capacitive detector circuit 1431 and an amplifying circuit 1432.

The acoustic-electric transducer 211 may be an air conduction acoustic-electric transducer having two chambers. The second order strip diaphragm 1421 can be used to convert the change in sound pressure generated by the audio signal at the surface of the diaphragm into mechanical vibrations of the diaphragm. The capacitive detector circuit 1431 can be used to measure changes in capacitance between the diaphragm and the plate caused by vibrations of the diaphragm. An amplifying circuit 1432 may be used to control the amplitude of the output voltage. In the first chamber, a sound hole may be provided, into which, if necessary, an acoustic resistive material may be placed. The second chamber may be closed. The acoustic impedance of the sound hole and the ambient air can be inductive. The resistive material may also have an acoustic impedance. The first chamber may have a capacitive acoustic impedance. The second chamber may have a capacitive acoustic impedance. As used here, the first camera may be referred to as the front camera and the second camera may be referred to as the rear camera.

In FIG. 14B is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic force generator in the acoustic-electric transducer shown in FIG. 14A, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

This acoustic force generator may receive an audio signal 1401 and may include a first chamber 1404 and a second chamber 1406. The first chamber 1404 may include a sound hole 1402 and an acoustic resistive material 1403 immersed in this sound hole 1402. The first chamber 1404 and the second chamber 1406 may be separated diaphragm 1407. This diaphragm 1407 may be connected to an elastic component 1408.

In FIG. 14C is a simplified diagram of an exemplary structure of the acoustic force generator shown in FIG. 14B, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14C, the sound pressure P can pass through an acoustic resistive material 1409 immersed in the sound hole 1410. This sound pressure P can be converted into vibrations of the diaphragm 1412. The pressure P denotes the sound pressure acting on the microphone, R _α1 denotes the acoustic resistance of the acoustic material 1409, M _α1 denotes the mass in the vicinity of the sound hole 1410, C _α1 denotes the acoustic capacitance of the first chamber, S is the effective area of the diaphragm 1412, R _m denotes the damping of the diaphragm 1412, M _m denotes the mass of the diaphragm 1412, K _m denotes the modulus of elasticity diaphragm 1412, and C _α2 denotes the acoustic capacitance of the first chamber.

In FIG. 14D is a simplified illustration of an example of the structure diagram shown in FIG. 14B and FIG. 14C according to some embodiments of the present invention. In this diagram, resistor 1415 (with resistance S ² R _α ) and inductor 1416 (with inductance S ² M _α ) may represent the acoustic impedance and acoustic mass of sound hole 1410. Capacitor 1421 (with capacitance S ² C _α1 ) may represent acoustic capacitance. first chamber 1404. Capacitor 1420 (of capacitance C _α2 /S ² ) may indicate the acoustic capacitance of second chamber 1406. Resistor 1417 (of resistance R _m ), inductor 1418 (of inductance M _m ), and capacitor 1419 (of capacitance C _m ) may denote the resistance of the diaphragm 1407, the mass of the diaphragm 1407 and the coefficient of elasticity of this diaphragm 1407, respectively.

In this circuit, the current through the circuit corresponds to the oscillation speed of the diaphragm 1412. This oscillation speed ν _Mm can be determined according to Equation (10) as follows:

…(10),

…(ten),

where ω denotes the angular frequency of the acoustic structure (e.g., the acoustic force pattern illustrated in Fig. 14C), j denotes the imaginary unit, Z ₁ denotes the resistor 1415 and the inductor 1416, Z ₂ denotes the acoustic impedance of the resistor 1417, the inductor 1418, the capacitor 1419 and capacitor 1420, descriptions of the quantities P, S, R _α1 , M _α1 and C _α1 can be found in FIG. 14C and in the descriptions to it, and the value of A can be determined in accordance with Equation (11) as follows:

…(11),

…(eleven),

where ω is the angular frequency of the acoustic structure (eg, the acoustic force structure illustrated in FIG. 14C), j is the imaginary unit, and descriptions of the quantities R _m , M _m , K _m , and C _α2 can be found in FIG. 14C and in the descriptions for it.

Further, the change in capacitance transmitted by the system to the output is related to the distance between the diaphragm and the plate, and this distance between the diaphragm is related to the deformation of the diaphragm (displacement of this diaphragm). Therefore, the aperture shift can be determined according to Equation (12) as follows:

…

…

,

,

…(12),

…(12),

Here, descriptions of the quantities P, S, R _α1 , M _α1 and C _α1 can be found in FIG. 14C and in the descriptions for it.

The transfer function of the system can be determined according to Equation (13) as follows:

…(13) ,

…(thirteen) ,

where ω denotes the angular frequency of the acoustic pattern (eg, the acoustic force pattern illustrated in FIG. 14C), j denotes the imaginary unit, and descriptions of the quantities R _α1 , M _α1 and C _α1 can be found in FIG. 14C and in the descriptions for it.

As a result of applying the Laplace transform, the transfer function can be expressed as follows:

…(14),

…(fourteen),

where

…(15),

…(fifteen),

…(16),

…(sixteen),

…(17),

…(17),

…(18),

…(eighteen),

…(19).

…(nineteen).

As a result, the combination of the first chamber with a sound hole can function as a multiple order bandpass filter (eg, a second order bandpass filter), and the combination of the second chamber, which is a closed chamber, with a diaphragm, can function as a second order bandpass filter. This is a diaphragm that can function as an acoustically sensitive element and can convert the audio signal into a change in capacitance between the diaphragm and the plate. In some embodiments, a 4th order system may be formed by combining an acoustic channel component and an acoustic sensing component.

An acoustic-to-electric converter built in accordance with the configuration described above can function as a band pass filter. Several ac-to-electric transducers with different filtering characteristics may be assembled in the ac-to-electric converter module 210 to form a filter bank that can generate multiple subband signals in accordance with the audio signal. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electric transducer can be set to a reduced damping state by adjusting the damping in the acoustic resistive material and the diaphragm of the acoustic-electric transducer. The frequency bandwidths of each A/E transducer can be set to expand as the center frequency increases.

Fig. 15 illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Acoustic-electric transducer module can contain 11 acoustic-electric transducers. Shown in FIG. 15 11 dashed lines represent the frequency responses of individual 11 acoustic-electric transducers. The solid line in Fig. 15 may show the frequency response of the acoustic-electric conversion module. As illustrated above, multiple ac-to-electric transducers, each of which can function as a band-pass filter for an audio signal, can be installed in the same ac-to-electric converter module and generate subband signals in accordance with the audio signal. As shown in FIG. 15, the frequency responses of the eleven acoustic-electric transducers can cover the range of frequencies audible to the human ear, namely 20 Hz - 20 kHz, while in FIG. 15 shows only the frequency range 20 Hz - 10 kHz. The frequency responses of the 11 AECs can intersect at frequency points with energies ranging from -1dB to -5dB, and the frequency response of the AEC can have power level fluctuations of ±1dB.

In FIG. 16A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer 211 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. This acoustic-electric transducer 211 may include an acoustic channel component 410, an acoustic sensing component 420, and a circuit component 430. The acoustic channel component 410 may include a second-order component 1610. Acoustic sensing component 420 may include a multiple order bandpass diaphragm 1621 and a closed chamber 1622. Circuit component 430 may include a capacitive detector circuit 1631 and an amplifier circuit 1632.

The acoustic-electric transducer 211 may be an air conduction acoustic-electric transducer having two chambers. A fold strip diaphragm 1621 can be used to convert the sound pressure changes caused by the audio signal 205 on the diaphragm surface into mechanical vibrations of the diaphragm. The capacitive detector circuit 1631 can be used to measure changes in capacitance between the diaphragm and the plate caused by vibrations of the diaphragm. An amplifying circuit 1632 may be used to adjust the output voltage to a suitable amplitude. A sound hole may be provided in the first chamber where acoustic resistive material is placed as needed. The second chamber may be closed.

In FIG. 16B is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic force generator from the acoustic-electric transducer shown in FIG. 16A, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

As described in connection with FIG. 14A, the first sound hole chamber may function as a second order band pass filter. In some embodiments, the diaphragm is configured as a composite oscillatory system. A system containing this diaphragm and a second chamber (or called a closed chamber) can function as a high order (greater than second order) band pass filter. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electric transducer illustrated in FIG. 16B may be of higher order than the acoustic-electric transducer illustrated in FIG. 14A.

In FIG. 17 is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Acoustic-electrical transducer 211 may include an acoustic sensing component 420 and a circuit component 430. Acoustic sensing component 420 may include a second order band cantilever element 1721. Circuit component 430 may include a detector circuit 1731 and an amplifier circuit 1732.

The cantilever element can receive audio signals transmitted to the cantilever element and causing changes in the electrical parameters of the material of the cantilever element. The audio signal may be an air conduction signal, a bone conduction signal, a hydraulic audio signal, a mechanical vibration signal, or the like, or a combination of signals. The cantilever element material may comprise a piezoelectric material. This piezoelectric material may be piezoelectric ceramics or piezoelectric polymers. Piezoelectric ceramics may contain lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The detector circuit 1731 can measure changes in the electrical signals of the material of the cantilever element. Amplifier circuit 1732 can adjust the amplitudes of the electrical signals.

According to the circuit corresponding to the cantilever element (which is similar to the circuit corresponding to the diaphragm shown in Fig. 6C), the impedance of the cantilever element can be determined in accordance with Equation (20) as follows:

…(20),

…(20),

Here, Z is the impedance of the cantilever element, ω is the angular frequency of the acoustic structure (e.g., the cantilever element), j is the imaginary unit, R is the damping of the cantilever element, M is the mass of the cantilever element, and K is the elastic coefficient of the cantilever element.

In some embodiments, the cantilever element may function as a second order system and the angular frequency may be determined in accordance with Equation (21) as follows:

…(21),

…(21),

where ω ₀ denotes the angular frequency, M denotes the mass of the cantilever element and K denotes the coefficient of elasticity of the cantilever element.

The vibrations of a cantilever element may have a resonant peak at the angular frequency of this element. Thus, the audio signal may have a resonant peak at the corner frequency of the element. Thus, it is possible to filter the audio signal using the cantilever element. For example, when calculating the bandwidth at half power point, the corresponding cutoff frequencies can be determined in accordance with Equation (22) and Equation (23) as follows:

…(22),

…(22),

…(23),

…(23),

here R denotes the damping of the cantilever element, M denotes the mass of the cantilever element, and K denotes the coefficient of elasticity of the cantilever element.

The quality factor of a filter cantilever element (denoted Q below) can be determined according to Equation (24) as follows:

…(24),

…(24),

where R denotes the damping in the cantilever element, M denotes the mass of the cantilever element, and K denotes the elastic coefficient of the cantilever element.

It can be seen that after determining the corner frequency (center frequency) of a cantilever element filter, the quality factor Q of the filter cantilever element can be changed by adjusting the damping R. The smaller the damping R, the larger the quality factor Q, the narrower the filter bandwidth and the sharper the frequency response curve filter.

Fig. 18 illustrates an example of the frequency response of an acoustic-electric transducer module in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

This acoustic-electric transducer module can contain 19 acoustic-electric transducers. There are 19 dashed lines in Fig. 18 may represent the frequency responses of 19 acoustic-electric transducers, respectively. The solid line in Fig. 18 may indicate the frequency response of the acoustic-electric conversion module. As illustrated above, multiple ac-to-electric transducers, each of which can function as a band-pass filter for an audio signal, can be installed in the same ac-to-electric converter module and generate subband signals in accordance with the audio signal. As shown in FIG. 18, the frequency responses of the 19 acoustic-electric transducers can cover the frequency range of 300Hz to 4000Hz. The frequency response of the acoustic-electric converter module may have fluctuations in the power level within ±1 dB.

In FIG. 19A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. This acoustic-electric transducer 211 may include an acoustic channel component 410, an acoustic sensing component 420, and a circuit component 430. The acoustic channel component 410 may include a second-order transmitting sub-component 1910. Acoustic sensing component 420 may be a strip cantilever element 1921 multiple order. Circuit component 430 may include a detector circuit 1931, a filter circuit 1932, and an amplifier circuit 1933.

The cantilever element can receive an audio signal, which leads to a change in the electrical parameters of the material of the cantilever element. The audio signal may be an air conduction signal, a bone conduction signal, a hydraulic audio signal, a mechanical vibration signal, or the like, or a combination of signals. The cantilever element material may comprise a piezoelectric material. This piezoelectric material may be piezoelectric ceramics or piezoelectric polymers. Piezoelectric ceramics may contain lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The detector circuit 1931 can measure changes in the electrical signals of the material of the cantilever element. Amplifier circuit 1933 can adjust the amplitude of the electrical signals. In some embodiments, the suspension structure is connected to the base through an elastic element so that vibrations of the bone conduction audio signals act on the suspension structure. This suspension structure and the corresponding elastic element can transmit vibrations of the cantilever element and constitute an acoustic channel for transmitting an audio signal, which (channel) can function as a second-order band-pass filter. The cantilever element attached to the suspension structure can also function as a second order band pass filter.

In FIG. 19B is a simplified diagram of an example of a cantilever element in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 19B, cantilever element 1902 may be coupled to elastic component 1903. An audio signal applied to elastic component (eg, elastic component 1903) may cause the elastic component to vibrate. This elastic component can transmit vibrations of the cantilever element 1902. The elastic component and the cantilever element 1902 can be installed in the same acoustic-electric transducer module 210, which can function as a second order band pass filter. The cantilever element may receive an audio signal 1900, which results in a change in the electrical parameters of the cantilever element material.

In FIG. 19C is a simplified diagram of an example mechanical model corresponding to an acoustic sensing component 420 according to some embodiments of the present invention. The mechanical model may include a first cantilever element 1902, a second cantilever element 1901, a first elastic component 1908, a second elastic component 1909, a first damping component 1905, and a second damping component 1907. One end of the second elastic component 1909 may be fixedly fixed. One end of the second damping component 1907 can be fixed.

In FIG. 19D is a simplified version of the schematic example of the mechanical model shown in FIG. 19C, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

The system impedance (denoted Z below) for the input signal can be determined according to Equation (25) as follows:

…(25),

…(25),

Here, ω denotes the angular frequency of the acoustic structure (eg, cantilever element), j denotes an imaginary unit, Z ₁ denotes the impedance of the second cantilever element 1901, Z ₂ denotes the impedance of the first cantilever element 1902, R ₁ denotes the acoustic impedance of the second cantilever element 1901, R ₂ indicates the acoustic impedance of the first cantilever element 1902, M ₁ indicates the mass of the second cantilever element 1901, M ₂ indicates the mass of the first cantilever element 1902, K ₁ indicates the elastic modulus of the second cantilever element 1901, and K ₂ denotes the elastic modulus of the first cantilever element 1902.

The amplitude of the current in the circuit may correspond to the speed of oscillation of the cantilever element M ₂ ; therefore, the oscillation speed ν _M2 of the cantilever element M ₂ can be determined according to Equation (26) and Equation (27) as follows:

…(26),

…(26),

…(27),

…(27),

where F denotes the sound strength of the received audio signal, ω denotes the angular frequency of the acoustic structure (eg, cantilever element), j denotes an imaginary unit, Z ₁ denotes the acoustic impedance of the second cantilever element 1901, Z ₂ denotes the acoustic impedance of the first cantilever element 1902, R ₁ is the acoustic impedance of the second cantilever element 1901, R ₂ is the acoustic impedance of the first cantilever element 1902, M ₁ is the mass of the second cantilever element 1901, M ₂ is the mass of the first cantilever element 1901, K ₁ is the modulus of elasticity of the second cantilever element 1901, and K ₂ is modulus of elasticity of the first cantilever element 1902.

In some embodiments, the displacement S _M2 of the cantilever element under the influence of an audio signal can be determined in accordance with Equation (28) and Equation (29) as follows:

…(28),

…(28),

…(29),

…(29),

where F denotes the sound strength of the received audio signal, ω denotes the angular frequency of the acoustic structure (e.g., cantilever element), j denotes an imaginary unit, R ₁ denotes the acoustic impedance of the second cantilever element 1901, R ₂ denotes the acoustic impedance of the first cantilever element 1902, M ₁ denotes mass of the second cantilever element 1901, M ₂ is the mass of the second cantilever element 1901, K ₁ is the modulus of elasticity of the second cantilever element 1901, and K ₂ is the modulus of elasticity of the first cantilever element 1902.

As a result of the Laplace transform, the transfer function can be expressed as follows:

…(30),

…(thirty),

and here

…(31),

…(31),

…(32),

…(32),

…(33),

…(33),

…(34),

…(34),

…(35).

…(35).

As can be determined from the transfer function, this system is a fourth order system, and the order of the bandpass filter can be increased in the manner described above. In addition, a filter circuit 1932 may be added to the circuit component 430 to allow the corresponding electrical signal to be filtered. The above settings may cause the edge (cutoff) of the frequency response of the audio signal filtering in the ac-to-electric transducer to be steepened in order to improve the filtering effect.

In FIG. 20A is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-to-electric converter module 210 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

Acoustic-electrical converter module 210 can generate subband signals in accordance with the audio signal using multiple acoustic-electrical converters. Acoustic-electric transducers can function as band pass filters. For the different frequency bands to be processed, the respective acoustic-electric transducers can be tuned to have different frequency responses. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the different acoustic-electrical transducers in the same acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may be different. The bandwidth of an acoustic-electric transducer can be adjusted to increase as the center frequency of the transducer increases. In some embodiments, the acoustic-electrical transducer may be a high-order acoustic-electrical transducer. In some embodiments, for operation in the low and medium frequency range, the corresponding acoustic-electric transducer may be a high-order narrow-band transducer. To operate in the range of medium and high frequencies, the acoustic-electric transducer can be a high-order broadband transducer.

As shown in FIG. 20A, the acoustic-electric transducer module 210 may comprise one or more wideband high-order acoustic-electric transducers (e.g., high-order wideband acoustic-electric transducers 2011, 2012, etc.) in the mid and high range, and one or more narrowband high-order acoustic-electric transducers (for example, narrow-band high-order acoustic-electric transducers 2013, 2014, etc.) in the low and medium frequency range.

Acoustic-electrical converter module 210 may receive audio signal 205 and output multiple electrical subband signals, such as electrical subband signals 2021, 2022, 2023, ..., 2024.

In FIG. 20B is a simplified diagram of an example of a high-order narrow-band acoustic-electric transducer in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 20B, the high-order narrow-band acoustic-to-electric transducer 2013 may include an acoustic channel component 410, an acoustic sensing component 420, and a circuit component 430.

Acoustic sensing component 420 may comprise multiple acoustic sensing sub-components with reduced damping (eg, acoustic sensing sub-components 2010, 2030, ..., 2050 with reduced damping). These several acoustic sensitive sub-components with reduced damping can be connected in series. The center frequencies of these acoustically sensitive sub-components with reduced damping may be the same or close to each other. Several reduced damping acoustic sensing subcomponents, when connected in series, can increase the order of the filtering characteristic of the acoustic sensing component 420. Each reduced damped acoustic sensing subcomponent can reduce the bandwidth and achieve narrowband filtering. In some embodiments, the transducer may function as a high order narrowband acoustic-electrical transducer. As shown in FIG. 20B, the high-order narrow-band acoustic-to-electric transducer 2013 can receive the audio signal 205 and output a subband electrical signal 450 based on the audio signal 205.

In FIG. 20C is a simplified diagram of an example of a high-order wideband acoustic-electric transducer in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 20C, the high-order wideband acoustic-to-electric transducer 2011 may comprise an acoustic channel component 410, an acoustic sense component 420, and a circuit component 430. The acoustic sense component 420 may comprise several reduced damping acoustic sense sub-components (e.g., acoustic sense sub-components 2020, 2040, ... , 2060 with reduced damping). Several acoustic sensitive sub-components with reduced damping may be connected in parallel. The center frequencies of the acoustically sensitive sub-components with reduced damping can be different. Parallel connection of multiple acoustic sensing sub-components with reduced damping can expand the bandwidth of the acoustic sensing component 420. In some embodiments, the narrow-band high-order acoustic-electric transducer 2011 can function as a wide-band high-order acoustic-electric transducer. As shown in FIG. 20C, the high-order narrowband acoustic-to-electric transducer 2011 can receive an audio signal 205 and output a corresponding subband electrical signal 450.

In FIG. 21A is a simplified diagram of an example of a signal processing device 2100 according to some embodiments of the present invention. This signal processing device 2100 may include an acoustic-electric conversion module 210, several sampling modules (for example, sampling units 221, 222, 223, ... , 224), a feedback analyzer module 230 (also called a feedback module), and a signal processing module 240 . Acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may include several acoustic-electrical transducers, (eg, acoustic-electrical transducers 211, 212, 213, ..., 214).

As shown in FIG. 21A, acoustic-to-electrical converter module 210 may receive audio signal 205 and output multiple subband electrical signals (eg, subband electrical signals 2152, 2152, 2153, ..., 2154).

Each of the multiple acoustic-electrical transducers can convert the audio signal 205 to a subband electrical signal and output the corresponding subband electrical signal.

Each of the plurality of sampling modules may sample a respective subband electrical signal, convert that subband electrical signal to a digital signal, and output that digital signal.

Feedback analyzer module 230 may receive multiple digital signals transmitted by multiple sampling modules. The feedback analyzer module 230 can analyze each digital signal corresponding to the subband electrical signal, output multiple feedback signals (for example, feedback signals 1, 2, 3, ..., N) and pass each feedback signal to the corresponding acoustic-electrical transducer. . This corresponding acoustic-electric transducer can adjust its parameters based on the feedback signal.

Signal processing module 240 may receive multiple digital signals (eg, digital signals 2355, 2356, 2357, 2358) transmitted by feedback analysis module 230. These digital signals may be output separately on different parallel lines, or they may share the same line according to some particular transmission protocol.

In FIG. 21B is a simplified diagram of an example of an acoustic-electric transducer 211 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. This acoustic-electric transducer 211 may include an acoustic channel component 410, an acoustic sensing component 420, a circuit component 430, and a feedback processor component 460.

The feedback processor component 460 may be configured to receive a feedback signal 470 from the feedback analyzer module 230 and adjust the parameters of the acoustic-electric transducer 211.

In some embodiments, feedback processor component 460 may control at least one of acoustic channel component 410, acoustic sensing component 420, and/or circuit component 430.

In some embodiments, the feedback processor component 460 may adjust parameters (eg, size, location, or connection method) of the acoustic channel component to adjust the filtering characteristics of the acoustic channel component 410 using electromechanical control systems. Examples of such electromechanical control systems may include pneumatic mechanisms, mechanisms driven by motors, hydraulic actuators or other such mechanisms, or combinations of such mechanisms.

In some embodiments, the feedback processor component 460 may adjust the parameters (eg, size, location, or connection method) of the acoustic sensing component 420 to adjust the filtering characteristics of the acoustic sensing component using electromechanical control systems.

In some embodiments, feedback processor component 460 may include a feedback circuit directly coupled to circuit component 430 to adjust that circuit component 430.

In FIG. 22 is a simplified diagram of an example signal processor 2200 according to some embodiments of the present invention. The signal processing device 2200 may include an acoustic-electrical converter module 210, several sampling units (eg, sampling units 221, 222, 222, ..., and 224), a feedback analyzer module 230, and a signal processing module 240.

Acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may include multiple acoustic-electrical transducers (eg, acoustic-electrical transducers 211, 212, 213, ..., 214).

As shown in FIG. 22, acoustic-to-electrical converter module 210 may receive audio signal 205 and output multiple electrical subband signals (eg, electrical subband signals 2152, 2152, 2153, ..., 2154).

Each of the plurality of acoustic-electrical transducers may convert the audio signal 205 to a respective subband electrical signal and output that respective subband electrical signal. Each of the plurality of sampling units may sample a respective subband electrical signal, convert that subband electrical signal into a digital signal, and output that digital signal.

Signal processing module 240 may receive multiple digital signals (eg, digital signals 2351, 2352, 2353, 2354) transmitted by said multiple sampling units. The digital signals may be output individually on parallel lines, or they may share the same line according to a specific transmission protocol.

Feedback analyzer module 230 may receive multiple digital signals (eg, digital signals 2355, 2357, 2358) transmitted by signal processing module 240. The feedback analyzer module 230 can analyze each digital signal corresponding to one of the electrical subband signals, generate multiple feedback signals (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ..., N feedback signals) and pass each feedback signal to the corresponding acoustic-electric transducer. . This corresponding acoustic-electric transducer can adjust its parameters based on the feedback signal it receives.

The acoustic-electrical transducer 211 in the signal processing device 2200 may be similar to the acoustic-electrical transducer 211 in the signal processing device 2100. More detailed descriptions of the acoustic-electric transducer 211 in the signal processing device 2200 can be found elsewhere in this specification (eg, in and in the descriptions of FIG. 21B).

In FIG. 23 is a simplified diagram of an example of a signal processing apparatus 2300 according to some embodiments of the present invention. The signal processing device 2300 may include an acoustic-electrical converter module 210, several bandpass sampling modules (eg, bandpass sampling modules 2321, 2322, 2323, ..., 2324) and a signal processing module 240.

Acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may include multiple acoustic-electrical transducers (eg, acoustic-electrical transducers 211, 212, 213, ..., 214).

As shown in FIG. 23, acoustic-to-electrical converter module 210 can receive audio signal 205 and output multiple electrical subband signals. Each of the plurality of acoustic-electrical transducers can convert the audio signal 205 into a respective subband electrical signal and output that respective subband electrical signal. Each of the plurality of bandpass sampling modules can sample a respective subband electrical signal, convert the subband electrical signal to a digital signal, and output that digital signal. Signal processing module 240 may receive multiple digital signals transmitted by said multiple bandpass sampling modules.

In FIG. 24 is a simplified diagram of an example signal processing apparatus 2400 in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Acoustic-electrical transducer module 210 may include one or more air-conducting acoustic-electrical transducers 2410 (for example, air-conducting acoustic-electrical transducers 2415, 2416, and 2417) and one or more bone-conducting acoustic-electrical transducers 2420 (for example, acoustic-electric transducers 2418, 2419 with bone conduction). The air conduction acoustic-to-electrical transducer may decompose the received audio signal into one or more electrical subband signals. A bone conduction acoustic-to-electrical transducer may decompose the received audio signal into one or more subband electrical signals.

Air conduction acoustic-to-electric transducers can receive an audio signal and output multiple electrical sub-band signals. Each of the air conduction acoustic-electrical transducers can output a respective subband electrical signal. For example, air conduction acoustic-to-electrical transducers 2415, 2517, 2418 can receive an audio signal and output subband electrical signals 2421, 2422, 2423, respectively.

Bone conduction acoustic-to-electrical transducers can receive an audio signal and output multiple sub-band electrical signals. Each of the bone conduction acoustic-electrical transducers can output a respective subband electrical signal. For example, air conduction acoustic-to-electric transducers 2418 and 2419 can receive an audio signal and output subband electrical signals 2424 and 2415, respectively.

In some embodiments, in the same frequency band, the subband electrical signal output from the bone conduction acoustic-to-electrical transducer can be used to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the subband electrical signals generated by the acoustically - electrical transducer with air conduction. For example, the subband electrical signal 2422 generated by the air conduction acoustic-electrical transducer 2416 may be superimposed on the subband electrical signal 2424 generated by the bone-conducted acoustic-electrical transducer 2418. The electrical signal 2424 may have a higher SNR than the electrical signal 2422 subband. The subband electrical signal 2423 generated by the air conduction acoustic-electrical transducer 2417 may be superimposed on the subband electrical signal 2425 generated by the bone-conduction acoustic-electrical transducer 2419. The electrical signal 2425 may have a higher SNR than the electrical signal 2423 subband.

In some embodiments, the air conduction acoustic-electric transducer 2401 may be used to supplement a frequency band that cannot be covered by the electrical subband signals output from the bone conduction acoustic-electric transducer 2402.

In FIG. 25 is a simplified diagram illustrating an example signal modulation procedure in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 25, the subband electrical signal may have an envelope 2501 in the frequency domain.

Each subband electrical signal can be considered as a signal (also referred to as a modulation signal) having a frequency domain envelope (which is the same as the 2501 frequency domain envelope) that modulates the corresponding signal with the center frequency as a carrier to be transferred to the center frequency. 2502. In other words, a subband electrical signal may contain two parts. One part is a signal having a frequency domain envelope (which is the same as the frequency domain envelope 2501) as the modulation signal, and the other part is a signal having a center frequency (which is the same as the center frequency 2502 ) as a carrier.

The main information of the electrical signal of the subband is concentrated in the specified envelope in the frequency domain. Therefore, when the subband electrical signal is sampled, it is necessary to efficiently sample this frequency domain envelope so that the sampling frequency must be at least 2 times the bandwidth of the subband electrical signal. After sampling, a second signal having a certain frequency (which is the same as the center frequency 2502) can be used as a carrier to reconstruct the subband electrical signal. Thus, sampling of the electrical subband signal can be performed using a bandpass sampling module. In particular, the sampling frequency may be no less than 2 times the bandwidth and no more than 4 times the bandwidth. The sampling rate f _s is set according to Equation (34) as follows:

…(34),

…(34),

where f _B denotes the bandwidth of the subband electrical signal, and

…(35),

…(35),

where f ₀ denotes the center frequency of the subband electrical signal and r ₂ denotes the largest integer less than r ₁ .

To implement the various block modules and their functionality described in the present invention, computer hardware platforms can be used as hardware platforms for one or more of the elements discussed here. A computer having user interface elements can be used to implement a personal computer (PC) or a workstation or some other type of terminal. The computer can also act as a server if properly programmed.

Having described the basic concepts in this manner, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art upon reading this detailed description that the above description is intended to serve as examples only and is not intended to be exhaustive. Various changes, improvements and modifications are possible here, understandable to specialists, although not explicitly presented here. These changes, improvements and modifications are intended by the present description and are within the meaning and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present invention. For example, the terms "one option", "any of the options" and/or "some options" mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the considered option, is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be understood that two or more references to "any option" or "one option" or "alternative option" in various parts of this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same option. Moreover, a combination of specific features, structures, or characteristics is appropriate in one or more embodiments of the present invention.

In addition, one skilled in the art should understand that aspects of the present invention may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or in a context containing any novel process, machine, method of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any a new and useful improvement on the listed factors. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may be implemented entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, and the like), or as a combination of hardware and software, which may be referred to generically as a "unit" here. , "module" or "system". In addition, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product recorded on one or more computer-readable storage media in the form of computer-readable program code.

The computer readable signal carrier may comprise a propagating data signal that carries program code, for example in the video band or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagating signal may take any of a number of forms, including electromagnetic, optical, or some other form, or a combination of various forms. Computer-readable media can be any computer-readable media that is not computer-readable storage media and that can transmit, distribute, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code placed on a computer-readable medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including wireless line, wire line, fiber optic cable, radio waves, or other similar medium, or any suitable combination of such media.

Computer program code that may carry operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB. NET, Python or other similar languages, conventional procedural programming languages such as the "C" programming language, Visual Basic languages, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may be executed entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer, and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer over some type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, via the Internet using an Internet Service Provider), or in a cloud computing environment, or provided as a service such as Software as a Service (SaaS).

In addition, the order or sequences of processing elements given here, or the use of numbers, letters or other designations, are not intended to limit the claimed procedures and methods in any order other than that which may be specified in the Claims. Although the foregoing discussion discusses, by various examples, what is currently considered to be a set of useful embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that such details are for that purpose only and that the appended claims are not limited to the described variations, but rather are intended to cover modifications and configurations. , which are within the meaning and scope of the described options. For example, while the various components described above may be implemented in hardware, they may also be implemented as a pure software solution, such as installed on an existing service or mobile device.

Likewise, it should be understood that in the above description of embodiments of the present invention, various features are sometimes grouped together in one embodiment, drawing, or description for the purposes of simplifying the description and aiding understanding of one or more of the various embodiments. The method set forth in the description, however, should not be interpreted as reflecting the intent that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are explicitly stated in each claim. On the contrary, the claimed subject matter of the invention may be contained in fewer features than all the features of one option described above.

Claims (21)

1. An audio signal processing device, comprising: a first acoustic-electric transducer having a first frequency response, wherein the first acoustic-electric transducer includes a first combination structure of an acoustic channel component and an acoustic sensitive component, wherein the first acoustic-electric transducer is configured to audio reception and generating a first subband signal in accordance with the audio signal received by the first acoustic-electric transducer; and a second acoustic-electric transducer having a second frequency response, the second frequency response being different from the first frequency response, the second acoustic-electric transducer including a second combination structure of an acoustic channel component and an acoustic sensitive component, the second acoustic-electric transducer being with an opportunity audio reception and generating a second subband signal in accordance with the audio signal received by the second acoustic-electric transducer. 2. The apparatus of claim. 1, wherein the first acoustic-electric transducer has a first frequency response width, and the second acoustic-electric transducer has a second frequency response width different from the first frequency response width. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second frequency response width is greater than the first frequency response width and the second center frequency of the second acoustic-electric transducer is higher than the first center frequency of the first acoustic-electric transducer. 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first frequency response and the second frequency response intersect at a point located near the half power point of the first frequency response and the half power point of the second frequency response. 5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising: a first sampling module connected to the first acoustic-electrical converter and configured to sample the first subband signal to generate a first sampled subband signal; and a second sampling module connected to the second acoustic-electrical converter and configured to sample the second subband signal to generate a second sampled subband signal. 6. The apparatus of claim. 5, further comprising a feedback module configured to adjust at least one of the first acoustic-electrical transducer and/or the second acoustic-electrical transducer in accordance with at least one of the first sampled subband signal and the second sampled subband signal. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a processing module configured to respectively process the first sampled subband signal and the second sampled subband signal to generate a first processed subband signal and a second processed subband signal, wherein the feedback module is configured to adjust said at least one of the first acoustic-electrical transducer or the second acoustic-electrical transducer in accordance with the first processed subband signal or the second processed subband signal. 8. The device according to any one of paragraphs. 1-7, in which the first acoustic-electric transducer is a wideband high-order acoustic-electric transducer, including a plurality of acoustically sensitive components with reduced damping, connected in parallel, and the second acoustic-electrical transducer is a narrow-band high-order acoustic-electric transducer . 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said plurality of reduced damping acoustic sensing components comprises a first reduced damping acoustic sensing component having a fourth frequency response, a second reduced damping acoustic sensing component having a fifth frequency response, and a third acoustic sensing component with reduced damping, having a sixth frequency response, while: the fifth center frequency of the second acoustic sensing component with reduced damping is higher than the fourth center frequency of the characteristic of the first acoustic sensing component with reduced damping, and the sixth center frequency of the characteristic of the third acoustic sensing component with reduced damping is higher than the fifth center frequency of the characteristic of the second acoustic sensing component with reduced damping, and the fourth frequency response and the fifth frequency response intersect at a point located near the half power point of the fourth frequency response and the half power point of the fifth frequency response. 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said plurality of reduced damping acoustic sensing components comprises a first reduced damping acoustic sensing component having a fourth frequency response and a second reduced damping acoustic sensing component having a fifth frequency response, wherein the fourth frequency response and the fifth frequency response intersect at a point located near the half power point of the fourth frequency response and the half power point of the fifth frequency response.

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