Personal Sound Zones by Subband Filtering and Time Domain Optimization

[EN] Personal Sound Zones (PSZ) systems aim to render independent sound signals to multiple listeners within a room by using arrays of loudspeakers. One of the algorithms used to provide PSZ is Weighted Pressure Matching (wPM), which computes the filters required to render a desired response in the listening zones while reducing the acoustic energy arriving to the quiet zones. This algorithm can be formulated in time and frequency domains. In general, the time-domain formulation (wPM-TD) can obtain good performance with shorter filters and delays than the frequency-domain formulation (wPM-FD). However, wPM-TD requires higher computation for obtaining the optimal filters. In this article, we propose a novel approach to the wPM algorithm named Weighted Pressure Matching with Subband Decomposition (wPMSD), which formulates an independent time-domain optimization problem for each of the subbands of a Generalized Discrete Fourier Transform (GDFT) filter bank. Solving the optimization independently for each subband has two main advantages: 1) lower computational complexity than wPM-TD to compute the optimal filters; 2) higher versatility than the classic wPM algorithms, as it allows different configurations (sets of loudspeakers, filter lengths, etc.) in each subband. Moreover, filtering the input signals with a GDFT filter bank (as in wPM-SD) requires lower computational effort than broadband filtering (as in wPM-TD and wPM-FD), which is beneficial for practical PSZ systems. We present experimental evaluations showing that wPM-SD offers very similar performance to wPM-TD. In addition, two cases where the versatility of wPM-SD is beneficial for a PSZ system are presented and experimentally validated.This work was supported by Grants RTI2018-098085-B-C41 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), RED2018-102668-T and PROMETEO/2019/109. The work of Vicent Moles-Cases has been supported by Spanish Ministry of Education under Grant FPU17/01288.Molés-Cases, V.; Piñero, G.; Diego Antón, MD.; Gonzalez, A. (2020). Personal Sound Zones by Subband Filtering and Time Domain Optimization. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio Speech and Language Processing. 28:2684-2696. https://doi.org/10.1109/TASLP.2020.3023628S268426962

Filter Optimization for Personal Sound Zones Systems

[ES] Los sistemas de zonas de sonido personal (o sus siglas en inglés PSZ) utilizan altavoces y técnicas de procesado de señal para reproducir sonidos distintos en diferentes zonas de un mismo espacio compartido. Estos sistemas se han popularizado en los últimos años debido a la amplia gama de aplicaciones que podrían verse beneficiadas por la generación de zonas de escucha individuales. El diseño de los filtros utilizados para procesar las señales de sonido es uno de los aspectos más importantes de los sistemas PSZ, al menos para las frecuencias bajas y medias. En la literatura se han propuesto diversos algoritmos para calcular estos filtros, cada uno de ellos con sus ventajas e inconvenientes. En el presente trabajo se revisan los algoritmos para sistemas PSZ propuestos en la literatura y se evalúa experimentalmente su rendimiento en un entorno reverberante. Los distintos algoritmos se comparan teniendo en cuenta aspectos como el aislamiento acústico entre zonas, el error de reproducción, la energía de los filtros y el retardo del sistema. Además, se estudian estrategias computacionalmente eficientes para obtener los filtros y también se compara su complejidad computacional. Los resultados experimentales obtenidos revelan que las soluciones existentes no pueden ofrecer una complejidad computacional baja y al mismo tiempo un buen rendimiento con baja latencia. Por ello se propone un nuevo algoritmo basado en el filtrado subbanda, y se demuestra experimentalmente que este algoritmo mitiga las limitaciones de los algoritmos existentes. Asimismo, este algoritmo ofrece una mayor versatilidad que los algoritmos existentes, ya que se pueden utilizar configuraciones distintas en cada subbanda, como por ejemplo, diferentes longitudes de filtro o distintos conjuntos de altavoces. Por último, se estudia la influencia de las respuestas objetivo en la optimización de los filtros y se propone un nuevo método en el que se aplica una ventana temporal a estas respuestas. El método propuesto se evalúa experimentalmente en dos salas con diferentes tiempos de reverberación y los resultados obtenidos muestran que se puede reducir la energía de las interferencias entre zonas gracias al efecto de la ventana temporal.[CA] Els sistemes de zones de so personal (o les seves sigles en anglés PSZ) fan servir altaveus i tècniques de processament de senyal per a reproduir sons distints en diferents zones d'un mateix espai compartit. Aquests sistemes s'han popularitzat en els últims anys a causa de l'àmplia gamma d'aplicacions que podrien veure's beneficiades per la generació de zones d'escolta individuals. El disseny dels filtres utilitzats per a processar els senyals de so és un dels aspectes més importants dels sistemes PSZ, particularment per a les freqüències baixes i mitjanes. En la literatura s'han proposat diversos algoritmes per a calcular aquests filtres, cadascun d'ells amb els seus avantatges i inconvenients. En aquest treball es revisen els algoritmes proposats en la literatura per a sistemes PSZ i s'avalua experimentalment el seu rendiment en un entorn reverberant. Els distints algoritmes es comparen tenint en compte aspectes com l'aïllament acústic entre zones, l'error de reproducció, l'energia dels filtres i el retard del sistema. A més, s'estudien estratègies de còmput eficient per obtindre els filtres i també es comparen les seves complexitats computacionals. Els resultats experimentals obtinguts revelen que les solucions existents no poder oferir al mateix temps una complexitat computacional baixa i un bon rendiment amb latència baixa. Per això es proposa un nou algoritme basat en el filtrat subbanda que mitiga aquestes limitacions. A més, l'algoritme proposat ofereix una major versatilitat que els algoritmes existents, ja que en cada subbanda el sistema pot utilitzar configuracions diferents, com per exemple, distintes longituds de filtre o distints conjunts d'altaveus. L'algoritme proposat s'avalua experimentalment en un entorn reverberant, i es mostra com pot mitigar satisfactòriament les limitacions dels algoritmes existents. Finalment, s'estudia la influència de les respostes objectiu en l'optimització dels filtres i es proposa un nou mètode en el que s'aplica una finestra temporal a les respostes objectiu. El mètode proposat s'avalua experimentalment en dues sales amb diferents temps de reverberació i els resultats obtinguts mostren que es pot reduir el nivell d'interferència entre zones grècies a l'efecte de la finestra temporal.[EN] Personal Sound Zones (PSZ) systems deliver different sounds to a number of listeners sharing an acoustic space through the use of loudspeakers together with signal processing techniques. These systems have attracted a lot of attention in recent years because of the wide range of applications that would benefit from the generation of individual listening zones, e.g., domestic or automotive audio applications. A key aspect of PSZ systems, at least for low and mid frequencies, is the optimization of the filters used to process the sound signals. Different algorithms have been proposed in the literature for computing those filters, each exhibiting some advantages and disadvantages. In this work, the state-of-the-art algorithms for PSZ systems are reviewed, and their performance in a reverberant environment is evaluated. Aspects such as the acoustic isolation between zones, the reproduction error, the energy of the filters, and the delay of the system are considered in the evaluations. Furthermore, computationally efficient strategies to obtain the filters are studied, and their computational complexity is compared too. The performance and computational evaluations reveal the main limitations of the state-of-the-art algorithms. In particular, the existing solutions can not offer low computational complexity and at the same time good performance for short system delays. Thus, a novel algorithm based on subband filtering that mitigates these limitations is proposed for PSZ systems. In addition, the proposed algorithm offers more versatility than the existing algorithms, since different system configurations, such as different filter lengths or sets of loudspeakers, can be used in each subband. The proposed algorithm is experimentally evaluated and tested in a reverberant environment, and its efficacy to mitigate the limitations of the existing solutions is demonstrated. Finally, the effect of the target responses in the optimization is discussed, and a novel approach that is based on windowing the target responses is proposed. The proposed approach is experimentally evaluated in two rooms with different reverberation levels. The evaluation results reveal that an appropriate windowing of the target responses can reduce the interference level between zones.Molés Cases, V. (2022). Filter Optimization for Personal Sound Zones Systems [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/18611

Individual Listening Zone with Frequency-Dependent Trim of Measured Impulse Responses

Acoustic Contrast Control (ACC) has been widely used to achieve individual audio delivery in shared environments. The effectiveness of this method is reduced when the control is performed in reverberant environments. Even if control filters are computed using measured transfer functions, the robustness of the system is affected by the presence of reverberation in the plant matrix. In this paper a new optimization method is presented to improve the ACC algorithm by applying a frequency-dependent windowing of the measured impulse response used for the filter computation, thus removing late reflections. The effects of this impulse response optimization are presented by means of sound zoning results obtained from experimental measurements performed in a car cabin

Signal-Adaptive and Perceptually Optimized Sound Zones with Variable Span Trade-Off Filters

Creating sound zones has been an active research field since the idea was first proposed. So far, most sound zone control methods rely on either an optimization of physical metrics such as acoustic contrast and signal distortion or a mode decomposition of the desired sound field. By using these types of methods, approximately 15 dB of acoustic contrast between the reproduced sound field in the target zone and its leakage to other zone(s) has been reported in practical set-ups, but this is typically not high enough to satisfy the people inside the zones. In this paper, we propose a sound zone control method shaping the leakage errors so that they are as inaudible as possible for a given acoustic contrast. The shaping of the leakage errors is performed by taking the time-varying input signal characteristics and the human auditory system into account when the loudspeaker control filters are calculated. We show how this shaping can be performed using variable span trade-off filters, and we show theoretically how these filters can be used for trading signal distortion in the target zone for acoustic contrast. The proposed method is evaluated based on physical metrics such as acoustic contrast and perceptual metrics such as STOI. The computational complexity and processing time of the proposed method for different system set-ups are also investigated. Lastly, the results of a MUSHRA listening test are reported. The test results show that the proposed method provides more than 20% perceptual improvement compared to existing sound zone control methods.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE/ACM TRANSACTIONS ON AUDIO, SPEECH, AND LANGUAGE PROCESSIN