IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,549,917
Granted Patent B2
US 12,549,917 · App. 18/124,344 · Granted Feb 10, 2026

System for dynamically forming a virtual microphone coverage map from a combined array to any dimension, size and shape based on individual microphone element locations

Inventors: Kael Blais (Englewood, CO); Richard Dale Ferguson (Okotoks, CA); Aleksander Radisavljevic (Victoria, CA); David Gregory Popovich (Ottawa, CA); Linshan Li (Calgary, CA)
Assignee: NUREVA, INC.
H04S7/30H04R3/005H04R5/027H04R2201/401H04S2400/15
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,549,917
App. No.
18/124,344
Granted
Feb 10, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system for automatically dynamically forming a virtual microphone coverage map using a combined microphone array in a shared 3D space is provided. The system includes a combined microphone array comprising a plurality of microphones and a system processor communicating with the combined microphone array. The microphones in the combined microphone array are arranged along various microphone arrangements. The system processor is configured to perform operations including obtaining locations of the microphones within the combined microphone array throughout the shared 3D space, generating coverage zone dimensions based on the locations of the microphones, and populating the coverage zone dimensions with virtual microphones.

Claims (38)

1 . A system for automatically dynamically forming a virtual microphone coverage map in a shared 3D space, comprising:

one or more microphone arrays comprising a plurality of microphones, wherein the microphones in each microphone array are arranged along one or more microphone axes; and

a system processor communicating with the one or more microphone arrays, wherein the system processor is configured to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, in real-time, locations of microphone elements of the one or more microphone arrays throughout the shared 3D space and integrating, in real-time, the one or more microphone arrays, by measuring delays to each microphone element of the one or more microphone arrays, to build a single cohesive microphone element comprising the microphone elements of the one or more microphone arrays, wherein the single cohesive microphone element is capable of generating a consolidated coverage zone dimension based on the single cohesive microphone element to distribute virtual microphones in the consolidated coverage zone dimension;

determining coverage zone dimensions based on configuration parameters comprising positions of one or more boundary devices in the shared 3D space and/or predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space; and

aligning and distributing the virtual microphones in the determined coverage zone dimensions based on parameters comprising geometric patterns of the one or more boundary devices and/or the predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the geometric patterns of the boundary devices include a 2D microphone plane in the shared 3D space.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the geometric patterns of the boundary devices include a microphone hyperplane in the shared 3D space.

4 . The system of claim 1 where the single cohesive microphone element is built by further integrating one or more discrete microphones not collocated within the one or more microphone arrays.

5 . The system of claim 1 where the single cohesive microphone element comprises one or more discrete microphones and the microphone elements of the one or more microphone arrays.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the boundary devices comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of wall-mounted microphones, ceiling microphones, suspended microphones, table-top microphones and free-standing microphones.

7 . The system of claim 1 wherein the aligning and distributing the virtual microphones in the determined coverage zone dimensions comprises incorporating constraints to optimize placement of the virtual microphones.

8 . The system of claim 7 wherein the constraints include one or more selected from the group consisting of hardware/memory resources, a number of physical microphones that can be supported, and a number of virtual microphones that can be allocated.

9 . The system of claim 1 wherein the predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space include one or more selected from the group consisting of dimensions of the shared 3D space and offsets in the dimensions of the shared 3D space.

10 . A method for automatically dynamically forming a virtual microphone coverage map in a shared 3D space, comprising:

obtaining locations of microphone elements of one or more microphone arrays throughout the shared 3D space and integrating, in real-time, the one or more microphone arrays, by measuring delays to each microphone element of the one or more microphone arrays, to build a single cohesive microphone element comprising the microphone elements of the one or more microphone arrays, wherein the single cohesive microphone element is capable of generating a consolidated coverage zone dimension based on the single cohesive microphone element to distribute virtual microphones in the consolidated coverage zone dimension, wherein the microphone arrays comprise a plurality of microphones and the microphones in each microphone array are arranged along one or more microphone axes;

determining coverage zone dimensions based on configuration parameters comprising positions of one or more boundary devices in the shared 3D space and/or predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space; and

aligning and distributing the virtual microphones in the determined coverage zone dimensions based on parameters comprising geometric patterns of the one or more boundary devices and/or the predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space.

11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the geometric patterns of the boundary devices include a 2D microphone plane in the shared 3D space.

12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the geometric patterns of the boundary devices include a microphone hyperplane in the shared 3D space.

13 . The method of claim 10 wherein the single cohesive microphone element is built by further integrating one or more discrete microphones not collocated within the one or more microphone arrays.

14 . The method of claim 10 where the single cohesive microphone element comprises one or more discrete microphones and the microphone elements of the one or more microphone arrays.

15 . The method of claim 10 wherein the boundary devices comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of wall-mounted microphones, ceiling microphones, suspended microphones, table-top microphones and free-standing microphones.

16 . The method of claim 10 wherein the aligning and distributing the virtual microphones in the determined coverage zone dimensions comprises incorporating constraints to optimize placement of the virtual microphones.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein the constraints comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of hardware/memory resources, a number of microphones that can be supported, and a number of virtual microphones that can be allocated.

18 . The method of claim 10 wherein the predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space include one or more selected from the group consisting of dimensions of the shared 3D space and offsets in the dimensions of the shared 3D space.

19 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media for automatically dynamically forming a virtual microphone coverage map in a shared 3D space, the computer-readable media comprising instructions configured to cause a system processor to perform operations comprising:

obtaining locations of microphone elements of one or more microphone arrays throughout the shared 3D space and integrating, in real-time, the one or more microphone arrays, by measuring delays to each microphone element of the one or more microphone arrays, to build a single cohesive microphone element comprising the microphone elements of the one or more microphone arrays, wherein the single cohesive microphone element is capable of generating a consolidated coverage zone dimension based on the single cohesive microphone element to distribute virtual microphones in the consolidated coverage zone dimension, wherein the microphone arrays comprise a plurality of microphones and the microphones in the combined each microphone array are arranged along one or more microphone axes;

determining coverage zone dimensions based on configuration parameters comprising positions of one or more boundary devices in the shared 3D space and/or predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space; and

aligning and distributing the virtual microphones in the determined coverage zone dimensions based on parameters comprising geometric patterns of the one or more boundary devices and/or the predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space.

20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 wherein the geometric patterns of the boundary devices include a 2D microphone plane in the shared 3D space.

21 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 wherein the geometric patterns of the boundary devices include a microphone hyperplane in the shared 3D space.

22 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 wherein the single cohesive microphone element is built by further integrating one or more discrete microphones not collocated within microphone array structures.

23 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 where the single cohesive microphone element one or more discrete microphones and the microphone elements of the one or more microphone arrays.

24 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 wherein the boundary devices comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of wall-mounted microphones, ceiling microphones, suspended microphones, table-top microphones and free-standing microphones.

25 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 wherein the aligning and distributing the virtual microphones in the determined coverage zone dimensions comprises incorporating constraints to optimize placement of the virtual microphones.

26 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 25 wherein the constraints comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of hardware/memory resources, a number of microphones that can be supported, and a number of virtual microphones that can be allocated.

27 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 wherein the predetermined boundary configuration data of the shared 3D space include one or more selected from the group consisting of dimensions of the shared 3D space and offsets in the dimensions of the shared 3D space.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 14, 2023
From: BLAIS, KAEL; FERGUSON, RICHARD DALE; RADISAVLJEVIC, ALEKSANDER; POPOVICH, DAVID GREGORY; LI, LINSHAN
To: NUREVA, INC.
Reel/Frame 065220/0815 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63322504 · Mar 22, 2022
Related Publication 20230308820A1 · Sep 28, 2023
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