WO2020151303A1

WO2020151303A1 - Audio collection apparatus, and device and method for audio processing

Info

Publication number: WO2020151303A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/116331
Authority: WO
Inventors: 滕海; 陈仁武; 顾凤香; 董敏亚
Original assignee: 阿里巴巴集团控股有限公司
Priority date: 2019-01-23
Filing date: 2019-11-07
Publication date: 2020-07-30
Also published as: TW202029781A; CN109951768A

Abstract

Disclosed is an audio collection apparatus. The audio collection apparatus comprises: a bottom plate, wherein the bottom plate comprises a plurality of sound collection structures; and a microphone array, the microphone array comprising a plurality of microphones, wherein the plurality of microphones are respectively placed in corresponding sound collection structures, and the sound collection structures are constructed to enhance the audio collection capability of a corresponding microphone in a specific direction. Further disclosed are a device and method for audio processing.

Description

Audio collection device and equipment and method for processing audio

Technical field

The present invention relates to audio processing, and in particular to an audio collection device and equipment and method for audio processing.

Background technique

With the rapid development of voice interaction technology, audio collection technology based on microphone arrays has been widely used. The microphone array usually includes multiple microphones used to collect audio to achieve audio enhancement, sound source localization, or de-reverberation.

The microphones currently used in microphone arrays are usually omnidirectional microphones without directivity. However, in voice interaction scenarios, the sound in a specific direction is often concerned. A microphone array composed of omnidirectional microphones is prone to loss of audio information, especially high-frequency information, and cannot collect information in a specific direction, which increases the difficulty of subsequent processing.

Therefore, there is a need for a cost-effective solution that can enhance the directivity of the microphone array and enhance the collection of audio, especially the high frequency part of the audio.

Summary of the invention

In order to overcome the defects of the prior art, the present invention provides a technical solution capable of enhancing the directivity of the microphone array.

The present invention achieves its above objectives through the following technical solutions.

In one aspect, an audio collection device is disclosed. The audio collection device includes: a base plate, the base plate includes a plurality of sound collecting structures; and a microphone array, the microphone array includes a plurality of microphones, wherein the plurality of The microphones are each placed in a corresponding sound collecting structure, which is configured to enhance the audio collection capability of the corresponding microphone in a specific direction.

Preferably, the sound collecting structure is a recess in the bottom plate, the microphone is placed at the bottom of the recess, and the area of the opening of the recess is larger than the area of the bottom of the recess.

Preferably, the concave portion has a conical shape.

Preferably, the shape of the cross section of the recess is at least one of a part of a ring, a part of a parabola, and a part of a triangle.

Preferably, each sound collecting structure has the same shape.

Preferably, audio from multiple microphones is processed using the same processing parameters.

Preferably, multiple microphones are connected to the same audio processing device.

Preferably, the plurality of microphones are arranged in a linear array.

Preferably, the plurality of microphones are arranged in an area array.

In another aspect, a device for processing audio is disclosed. The device includes: the audio collection device as described above; and an audio processing device that receives the audio received by the audio collection device and Process the audio.

Preferably, the audio processing device includes a preprocessing unit that amplifies and/or denoises the audio.

Preferably, the audio processing device includes a voice recognition unit that performs voice recognition on the audio to recognize a voice command.

Preferably, the audio processing device includes a command execution unit, and the command execution unit executes the recognized voice command.

Preferably, each sound collecting structure in the audio collection device has the same shape, and the audio processing device uses the same processing parameters to process the audio from each microphone in the audio collection device.

Preferably, the audio collection device is installed on a user-facing panel of the device.

In yet another aspect, a method for processing audio is disclosed, the method comprising: receiving audio collected by an audio collecting device as described above; performing voice recognition on the received audio to recognize a voice command; and Execute the recognized voice command.

Preferably, the same processing parameters are used to process audio from multiple microphones of the audio collection device.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention can have the following beneficial effects:

Enhance audio, especially the collection of high-frequency parts of audio;

Enhance the collection performance of audio in a specific direction;

Simplify audio processing; and

The cost is very low and easy to manufacture.

Of course, implementing any technical solution of the present application does not need to achieve all the above technical effects at the same time.

Description of the drawings

The above content of the invention and the following specific embodiments of the present invention will be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are only examples of the claimed invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals represent the same or similar elements.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an audio collection device according to an embodiment of the present specification.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an audio collecting device according to an embodiment of the present specification.

Fig. 3 shows an operation scene of the audio collection device according to an embodiment of the present specification.

4A-4E are examples showing the shape of the sound collecting structure of the audio collecting device according to the embodiment of the present specification.

FIG. 5 is an example showing the shape of the opening of the sound collecting structure of the audio collecting device according to the embodiment of the present specification.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the arrangement of microphones of an audio collecting device according to an embodiment of the present specification.

7A-7B are schematic diagrams showing a device including an audio collecting device according to an embodiment of the present specification.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a device including an audio collecting device according to an embodiment of the present specification.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a method of processing audio according to an embodiment of the present specification.

detailed description

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail below in the specific embodiments. The content is sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and according to the specification, claims and drawings disclosed in this specification Those skilled in the art can easily understand the related objectives and advantages of the present invention.

In order to enhance the performance of audio collection in a specific direction while simplifying audio processing, the present invention requires a cost-efficient audio collection device and audio processing equipment and method.

Audio collection device

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic diagram of an audio collection device 100 according to an embodiment of the present specification. The audio collection device 100 may include a microphone array 102. The microphone array 102 includes a plurality of microphones 106.

Preferably, the audio collection device 100 may further include a bottom plate 104, and the bottom plate 104 supports the microphone array 102. For example, in the example of the television as shown in FIG. 7A, the bottom plate 104 may be the frame of the television. Alternatively, the bottom plate 104 may not be the frame of the TV, but another bottom plate, which may be fixed to the frame or other positions of the TV.

It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the bottom plate 104 includes a plurality of sound collecting structures 108. The sound collecting structure 108 is configured to enhance the audio collection capability of the corresponding microphone in a specific direction.

Preferably, refer to the perspective view of the audio collection device 100 according to the embodiment of the present specification as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the sound collecting structure 108 is a recess in the bottom plate. The recess is configured to enhance the audio collection capability of the microphone in a specific direction. The shape of the sound collecting structure 108 will be described in detail below.

Alternatively, the sound gathering structure 108 may also take other forms. For example, the sound collecting structure may partially protrude from the bottom plate (not shown in the figure).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, each microphone 106 of the microphone array 102 is located in the sound collecting structure 108. Preferably, the microphone 106 is located at the bottom of the sound collecting structure 108, such as the center of the bottom. This will be further described below in conjunction with the shape of the converging structure.

Shape of polyphonic structure

Preferably, the concave portion constituting the sound collecting structure 108 is conical, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2. At this time, the microphone 106 may be placed at the bottom of the cone (that is, at the apex of the cone), for example. It can be understood that, compared with the traditional solution in which the microphone is simply placed in the small hole on the side of the frame, in the sound collecting structure of the embodiment of this specification, the audio collection ability in the direction facing the cone axis is lower It is reinforced with respect to other directions, as explained below in conjunction with FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, it shows an operation scene of the audio collection device 100 according to an embodiment of the present specification. Preferably, the included angle of the cone of the sound collecting structure 108 is 74°, and the depth of the cone is 2 cm. After testing, under this parameter, when the distance between the point sound source 302 and the microphone 106 is 1 meter, compared to an omnidirectional microphone that does not use the sound-concentrating structure, the microphone is at 0° (the point sound source is in the sound-concentrating structure The normal voice (different from the single-frequency sound used in other tests) collected by the normal voice (different from the single-frequency tone used in other tests) at 90° (the line connecting the sound source and the concentrating structure is perpendicular to the axis of the concentrating structure) The difference increases by 8db and 4db respectively. In other words, under this parameter, the directivity can reach 4db.

It is understood that any other suitable dimensional parameters can also be used. It can be appreciated that those skilled in the art can design the cone angle and the depth of the cone of the sound collecting structure according to the common distance between the sound source and the microphone, so as to achieve the best sound collecting effect.

For example, in the example of a tablet computer, the distance between the sound source and the microphone is usually 30-50 cm. In this case, the included angle of the conical shape of the sound collecting structure 108 can be designed to be 25 degrees, and the depth can be designed to be 0.35 cm.

For another example, in the example of a television, the distance between the sound source and the microphone is usually 3-5 meters (or other distances, depending on the size of the television). In this case, the included angle of the conical shape of the sound collecting structure 108 can be designed to be 60 degrees, and the depth can be designed to be 0.7 cm. For example, you can choose different size parameters through experimentation to achieve the best polyphonic effect.

It can be understood that when selecting the parameters of the sound-converging structure, other factors may also be considered, such as ease of manufacture, manufacturing cost, and product aesthetics.

It can be appreciated that the concave portion can take various other shapes, and these shapes can all be selected to enhance the audio collection capability of the microphone in a specific direction. Generally, the microphone is placed at the bottom of the recess, and the area of the opening of the cross section of the recess is larger than the area of the bottom of the recess, so as to achieve a sound focusing effect.

4A-4E, which show more examples of the shape of the sound collecting structure of the audio collecting device according to the embodiment of the present specification.

As shown in FIGS. 4A-4C, the shape of the cross-section of the recess may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a part of a ring (FIG. 4A), a part of a parabola (FIG. 4B), and a part of a triangle (FIG. 4C). By. The recessed portion can also take other shapes, as shown in Figure 4D. Although the openings are shown as circular in FIGS. 4A-4D, it should be appreciated that the openings may be other shapes, such as rectangular, as shown in FIG. 4E. The shape of the opening will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 5 below.

It can be appreciated that, generally, the size of the cross section of the recess at the opening is generally larger than the size of the bottom (ie, the position opposite to the opening). For example, in the example of a circular ring section, the size of the opening of the circular ring is larger than the size of its apex. In the example of a parabolic section, the size of the opening of the parabola is larger than the size of its apex. In the example of a triangular section, the size of the sides of the triangle is larger than the size of the vertices.

Accordingly, the microphone 106 can usually be placed at the bottom of the recess. For example, in the example of a circular ring section, the microphone 106 may be placed at the end opposite to the opening (ie, the position farthest from the opening). In the example of a parabolic section, the microphone 106 may be placed at its apex. In the example of a triangular cross-section, the microphone 106 may be placed at the vertex opposite to the side of the opening. With this configuration, the sound entering the recessed portion from the opening will be concentrated at the position of the microphone, thereby achieving a better audio focusing effect.

It can be appreciated that these are only examples of the cross section of the sound collecting structure, and the shape of the cross section of the sound collecting structure of the present invention is not limited to this.

Referring to FIG. 5, it shows an example of the opening of the sound collecting structure of the audio collecting device according to the embodiment of the present specification. The opening of the recessed portion as shown in FIG. 5 can also take various shapes, including but not limited to a circle, a square, or other polygons. It can be appreciated that these are only examples of the opening of the sound collecting structure, and the shape of the opening of the sound collecting structure of the present invention is not limited thereto. As mentioned above, the cross-sectional shape of the recessed portion can be combined with the shape of the opening shown in Fig. 5 in any suitable manner.

Preferably, the sound collecting structure or the bottom plate is formed by 3D printing. It can also be manufactured in other ways. It can be appreciated that this simple structure is easy to manufacture and low in cost.

Preferably, the sound collecting structures have the same shape. It has been found that this solution is particularly advantageous. The same shape of the sound-concentrating structure not only reduces the difficulty of manufacturing, but also makes the frequency response of each microphone consistent, thereby simplifying the subsequent audio processing. In this case, the audio from the multiple microphones is processed with the same processing parameters. Preferably, the multiple microphones are connected to the same processor, and the same processor uses the same processing parameters to process audio from the multiple microphones.

Microphone placement

Refer to FIG. 6, which shows a schematic diagram of an example of the arrangement of the microphone (and the corresponding sound collecting structure) of the audio collecting device according to the embodiment of the present specification.

In order to achieve audio enhancement, sound source localization, or de-reverberation, microphones can be arranged in a microphone array.

Preferably, as shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of microphones are arranged in a linear array. For example, the plurality of microphones may be arranged in a row or a column, that is, arranged in a one-dimensional array. This arrangement is particularly easy to manufacture.

Alternatively, the plurality of microphones may be arranged in other ways. For example, the plurality of microphones may be arranged in an area array, that is, arranged in a two-dimensional array. Preferably, the area array includes, but is not limited to, a square array, a circular array, an elliptical array, and the like. The area array may include other two-dimensional arrays, such as L-shaped arrays, irregular arrays, and the like.

Preferably, the interval between the microphones is uniform. Or, the interval between the microphones may also be uneven.

Those skilled in the art can conceive other arrangements, all of which fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Using the combination of the microphone array and the sound collecting structure of the embodiment of the present specification can uniformly and consistently improve the sound collecting ability of each microphone in the microphone array in a specific direction, thereby achieving a better audio collection effect.

Equipment including audio capture device

Some devices, such as tablet computers, already include a microphone, which is usually located on the side of the frame. The microphone in a traditional tablet computer is usually not facing the sound source.

Moreover, in a conventional tablet computer, a microphone is placed in a small hole, which is usually not specially designed to have a shape suitable for enhancing the audio collection capability in a specific direction.

Referring to Figs. 7A-7B, there are shown overall diagrams of equipment in which the audio collection device according to the embodiments of the present specification can be used.

In the example of FIG. 7A, the device is, for example, a television. As shown in FIG. 7A, the television may include a frame 702 on which the audio collection device 100 as described in the embodiment of the present specification can be implemented.

In some embodiments, the audio collected by the audio collecting device 100 can simply be recorded, played or performed by a TV set.

In other preferred embodiments, the audio collected by the audio collecting device 100 can be used to control the device. For example, a television can collect the user's audio through the audio collection device, and perform voice recognition on the collected audio, so that the command that the user wants to execute can be determined. For example, the user can say "pause playback" to the TV, and the audio collection device can collect this audio, recognize the "pause playback" command from it, and pause the current video or audio playback on the TV.

In the example of FIG. 7B, the device is, for example, a tablet computer. As shown in FIG. 7B, the tablet computer may also include a frame 706 and implement the audio collection device 100 as described in the embodiment of this specification on the frame.

Preferably, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the audio collection device may be placed on the front of the frame to face the sound source (for example, the user). Placing the audio collection device on the front of the frame helps the audio collection device according to the embodiment of the present specification to enhance audio collection in the direction of the sound source.

Although the audio collection device is implemented in the upper frame in the example of FIGS. 7A and 7B, it can be appreciated that the audio collection device can be implemented in any position of the frame. Alternatively, the audio collection device may be implemented in other structures outside the frame (for example, the base 704, etc.).

Those skilled in the art can understand that the audio collection device in the embodiments of this specification can be implemented in other devices (such as vending machines, smart speakers, etc.) besides televisions and tablet computers, and the embodiments of this specification are not limited to specific devices.

Block diagram of equipment including audio capture device

Refer to FIG. 8, which shows a block diagram of a device including an audio collection device according to an embodiment of the present specification. The device may be, for example, the tablet computer, TV, vending machine, etc. described above with reference to FIGS. 7A-7B, but is not limited thereto.

The device may include the audio collection device 100 as described above. With the audio collection device of the present invention, audio in a specific direction can be enhanced, thereby facilitating subsequent processing.

The device may also include an audio processing device 802. The audio processing device 802 receives and processes audio from the audio collection device 100. In some simpler embodiments, the audio processing device 802 can simply store or play audio. For example, the audio processing device 802 may store the collected audio in a voice memo.

In other preferred embodiments, the audio processing device 802 may include a preprocessing unit 804. The preprocessing unit can preprocess the received audio. For example, operations such as amplification and denoising can be performed on the received audio.

In an embodiment, the audio processing device 802 may further include a voice recognition unit 806. The voice recognition unit 806 can perform voice recognition on the collected audio, so as to be able to determine the command that the user wants to execute. For example, the user can say "pause playback" to the TV, and the audio collection device can collect this audio and recognize the "pause playback" command from it.

In an embodiment, the audio processing device 802 may further include a command execution unit 808. The command execution unit 808 can execute the command recognized by the voice recognition unit 806, such as pausing the current video or audio playback on the TV.

Whether each function is implemented by hardware (for example, a general-purpose processor or a special audio processor, etc.) or software, and the distribution of each function in each software/hardware unit can be designed by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. These fall into this specification Scope of the embodiment.

Preferably, multiple microphones in the audio collection device 100 are connected to the same audio processing device 802.

As described above, when the sound gathering structure adopts the same shape, the same audio processing device can use the same processing parameters to process audio from multiple microphones, thereby reducing processing complexity and improving processing performance.

Audio processing method

Refer to FIG. 9, which shows a flowchart of a method 900 for processing audio according to an embodiment of the present specification. The method 900 may include: in step 902, receiving audio collected by the audio collecting device as described above.

The method 900 may further include: optionally, in step 904, preprocessing the received audio. Preferably, the same processing parameters are used to process audio from multiple microphones of the audio collection device. For example, as described above, when the sound collecting structure adopts the same shape, the same processor can use the same processing parameters to process audio from multiple microphones, thereby reducing processing complexity and improving processing performance.

The method 900 may further include: in step 906, performing voice recognition on the received audio to recognize the command. Since the audio collected by the audio collecting device of the embodiment of this specification can enhance the audio in a specific direction, the voice commands spoken by the user in the specific direction can be collected more clearly, thereby improving the effect of voice recognition.

The method 900 may also include: in step 908, executing the recognized voice command.

It should be understood that the description of an element in the singular form herein or the display of only one element in the drawings does not mean that the number of the element is limited to one. In addition, modules or elements described or shown as separate herein may be combined into a single module or element, and modules or elements described or shown herein as a single module or element may be split into multiple modules or elements.

It should also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein are only for description, and the present invention should not be limited to these terms and expressions. The use of these terms and expressions does not mean to exclude any equivalent features of the illustration and description (or part of them), and it should be recognized that various modifications that may exist should also be included in the scope of the claims. Other modifications, changes and replacements may also exist. Accordingly, the claims should be regarded as covering all these equivalents.

Similarly, it should be pointed out that although the present invention has been described with reference to the current specific embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should realize that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, and without departing from the present invention. Various equivalent changes or substitutions can be made in the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, as long as the changes and modifications of the above-mentioned embodiments are within the essential spirit of the present invention, they will fall within the scope of the claims of this application.

Claims

An audio collection device, characterized in that the audio collection device includes:

A bottom plate including a plurality of sound collecting structures; and

A microphone array, the microphone array includes a plurality of microphones,

The plurality of microphones are each placed in a corresponding sound collecting structure, and the sound collecting structure is configured to enhance the audio collection capability of the microphones in the sound collecting structure in a specific direction.
The audio collecting device of claim 1, wherein the sound collecting structure is a recess in the bottom plate, the microphone is placed at the bottom of the recess, and the area of the opening of the recess is Larger than the area of the bottom of the recess.
3. The audio collecting device of claim 2, wherein the recessed portion is conical.
3. The audio collecting device according to claim 2, wherein the shape of the cross section of the recessed portion is at least one of a part of a circular ring, a part of a parabola, and a part of a triangle.
5. The audio collecting device of claim 1, wherein each sound collecting structure has the same shape.
5. The audio collection device of claim 5, wherein the audio from the multiple microphones is processed using the same processing parameters.
5. The audio collection device of claim 5, wherein the multiple microphones are connected to the same audio processing device.
The audio collecting device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of microphones are arranged in a linear array.
3. The audio collection device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of microphones are arranged in an area array.
A device for processing audio, characterized in that the device includes:

The audio collection device according to any one of claims 1-9; and

An audio processing device, which receives the audio received by the audio collection device and processes the audio.
The device according to claim 10, wherein the audio processing device comprises a preprocessing unit, and the preprocessing unit amplifies and/or denoises the audio.
The device according to claim 10, wherein the audio processing device includes a voice recognition unit, and the voice recognition unit performs voice recognition on the audio to recognize a voice command.
The device according to claim 12, wherein the audio processing device comprises a command execution unit, and the command execution unit executes the recognized voice command.
The device according to claim 10, wherein each sound collecting structure in the audio collecting device has the same shape, and the audio processing device adopts the same processing parameters to The audio of each microphone is processed.
The device of claim 10, wherein the audio collection device is installed on a user-facing panel of the device.
A method for processing audio, characterized in that the method includes:

Receiving audio collected by the audio collecting device according to any one of claims 1-9;

Perform voice recognition on the received audio to recognize voice commands; and

Execute the recognized voice command.
15. The method of claim 16, wherein the same processing parameters are used to process audio from the multiple microphones of the audio collection device.