Systems, devices and methods related to design and production of active noise cancellation devices
In some embodiments, a method for evaluating headphones during a manufacturing process can include generating a test sound and measuring a response to the test sound from a headphone being evaluated. The method can further include configuring and/or calibrating the headphone based on the measurement. In some embodiments, such a method can be implemented as part of a process for manufacturing of a large number of headphones having active noise cancellation functionality.
1. A method for evaluating headphones during a manufacturing process, the method comprising:
generating a test sound;
measuring a response to the test sound from a headphone being evaluated to include a sound received on an outside portion of the headphone;
measuring a response to the test sound from a test platform; and
configuring and/or calibrating the headphone based on the measurements from the headphone and the test platform, the sound received on the outside portion of the headphone being utilized to evaluate a feed-forward active noise cancellation functionality of the headphone.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the configuring and/or calibrating of the headphone includes configuring and/or calibrating an active noise cancellation component of the headphone.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the active noise cancellation component of the headphone is included in an audio processing chip or module.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the configuring and/or calibrating the active noise cancellation component includes configuring and/or calibrating coefficients of filters of the active noise cancellation component.
5. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating of the test sound includes generating a sound representative of a noise to be actively canceled by the headphone.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the test platform includes a head-and-torso simulator having a sensor.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the measuring of the response from the headphone further includes measurement of a sound received on an inside portion of the headphone.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the sound received on the inside portion of the headphone is utilized to evaluate a feed-back active noise cancellation functionality of the headphone.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the measuring of the response from the test platform includes measurement of a sound received at the platform to simulate a sound that would be received at ears of a user using the headphone.
10. A method for manufacturing headphones, the method comprising:
assembling N headphones, quantity N being an integer greater than one;
evaluating each of the N headphones, each evaluating including generating a test sound, measuring a response to the test sound from the respective headphone being evaluated to include a sound received on an outside portion of the headphone, the evaluating further including measuring a response to the test sound from a test platform, and configuring and/or calibrating the headphone based on the measurements from the headphone and the test platform, the sound received on the outside portion of the headphone being utilized to evaluate a feed-forward active noise cancellation functionality of the headphone; and
analyzing the evaluation of the N headphones to identify a performance issue and/or a manufacturing defect.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the evaluation of the N headphones includes a statistical analysis.
12. The method of claim 10 further comprising adjusting a manufacturing process based on the evaluation of the N headphones.
13. The method of claim 10 further comprising adjusting an acoustic design based on the evaluation of the N headphones.
14. A system for evaluating a headphone, comprising:
a sound generator configured to generate a test sound;
a test platform for mounting of the headphone; and
a computing device configured to measure a response to the test sound from the headphone being evaluated to include a sound received on an outside portion of the headphone, and to measure a response to the test sound from the test platform, the computing device further configured to generate a control signal to configure and/or calibrate the headphone based on the measured responses from the headphone and the test platform, the sound received on the outside portion of the headphone being utilized to evaluate a feed-forward active noise cancellation functionality of the headphone.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein the control signal is tailored to configure and/or calibrate an active noise cancellation component of the headphone.
16. The system of claim 14 wherein the test platform includes a head-and-torso simulator having a sensor.