Granted Patent B2

US 10,219,093 · App. 13/830,770 · Granted Feb 26, 2019

Abstract

Claims (55)

1. A method comprising:

receiving data representing a message to present acoustically at a loudspeaker;

determining whether an audio signal is in communication with the loudspeaker, including determining no audio signal is in communication with the loudspeaker, and generating a reference audio signal;

determining a type of the message associated with the message;

modulating spatially a message audio signal for the message as a function of the type of message to form a spatially-modulated message audio signal;

forming a mono-spatial audio signal based on the audio signal and the spatially-modulated message; and audio signal, a mono-spatial audio space overlay being used to form the mono-spatial audio signal after the mono-spatial audio space overlay is generated and configured to simulate an originating location, direction, or distance associated with the mono-spatial audio signal; and

transmitting the mono-spatial audio signal to the loudspeaker.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the mono-spatial audio signal to the loudspeaker comprises:

generating a monaural signal as the mono-spatial audio signal; and

transmitting the monaural signal to the loudspeaker.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein modulating spatially the message audio signal for the message as the function of the type of message comprises: generating a monaural signal configured to acoustically interact with a space to form a spatial environment in which a user perceives an origination of a source of a portion of the monaural signal associated with the spatially-modulated message audio signal at different locations.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the space comprises:

an ear canal.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein generating the monaural signal comprises:

generating a white noise signal as the audio signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein modulating spatially the message audio signal comprises:

determining a subset of modulation parameters for the type of message; and

shifting either a phase or a frequency, or both, of the message audio signal based on the subset of modulation parameters to form the spatially-modulated message audio signal.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the subset of modulation parameters comprises:

data based on a data model of an ear canal.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining a subset of the modulation parameters for the type of message associated with an amplitude; and

modulating the volume of the message audio signal based on the subset of the modulation parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the type of the message comprises:

identifying a primary message type associated with the message; and

selecting a first subset of modulation parameters configured to form the spatially-modulated message audio signal associated with a first direction.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein selecting the first subset of modulation parameters comprises:

selecting modulation parameters configured to simulate origination of the first direction between 0 degrees and 90 degrees relative to a reference point.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the type of the message comprises:

identifying a secondary message type associated with the message; and

selecting a second subset of modulation parameters configured to form the spatially-modulated message audio signal associated with a second direction.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein selecting the second subset of modulation parameters comprises:

selecting modulation parameters configured to simulate origination of the second direction between 90 degrees and 180 degrees relative to a reference point.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the type of the message comprises:

identifying an alert message type associated with the message; and

selecting a third subset of modulation parameters configured to form the spatially-modulated message audio signal associated with multiple directions over an interval of time.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a terminal at which an audio signal is received;

a reference signal generator configured to generate a reference signal as the audio signal;

a processor configured to execute instructions to implement a mono-spatial modulator configured to:

determine a type of a message associated with the message;

modulate spatially a message audio signal for the message as a function of the type of message to form a spatially-modulated message audio signal;

form a modulated audio signal based on the audio signal and the spatially-modulated message audio signal, a mono-spatial audio space overlay being used to form the mono-spatial audio signal after the mono-spatial space overlay is generated and configured to simulate an originating location, direction, or distance associated with the mono-spatial audio signal; and

transmitting the modulated audio signal to a loudspeaker.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to:

generate the modulated audio signal as a mono-spatially modulated audio signal; and

transmit the mono-spatially modulated audio signal to the loudspeaker,

wherein the modulated audio signal is a monaural signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to:

determine no audio signal is in communication with the loudspeaker;

generate a reference audio signal as the audio signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions to:

determine a subset of modulation parameters for the type of message; and

shift either a phase or a frequency, or both, of the message audio signal based on the subset of modulation parameters to form the spatially-modulated message audio signal.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the type of message is one of a primary message, a secondary message, and an alert message.

Assignments (18)