US 12,490,023 B2
Adjustable lobe shape for array microphones
Brent Robert Shumard, Mount Prospect, IL (US); and Mathew T. Abraham, Colorado Springs, CO (US)
Assigned to Shure Acquisition Holdings, Inc., Niles, IL (US)
Filed by Shure Acquisition Holdings, Inc., Niles, IL (US)
Filed on Apr. 18, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/659,595.
Application 17/659,595 is a continuation of application No. 16/576,549, filed on Sep. 19, 2019, granted, now 11,310,596.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/733,779, filed on Sep. 20, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0386022 A1, Dec. 1, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04R 19/04 (2006.01); H04R 1/40 (2006.01); H04R 3/00 (2006.01)
CPC H04R 3/005 (2013.01) [H04R 1/406 (2013.01); H04R 19/04 (2013.01); H04R 2201/003 (2013.01); H04R 2430/20 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An array microphone, comprising:
a plurality of microphone elements, each microphone element of the plurality of microphone elements configured to detect sound and output an audio signal; and
a processor in communication with the plurality of microphone elements, the processor configured to:
receive the audio signal from each microphone element of the plurality of microphone elements;
form one or more lobes of a pickup pattern of the array microphone based on combining the audio signals, using a beamforming technique; and
apply a weight to a magnitude of each audio signal of one or more subsets of microphone elements of the plurality of microphone elements such that the beamforming technique is altered to result in asymmetrically adjusting, about a steering vector, a shape of the one or more lobes of the pickup pattern of the array microphone, wherein the weight is based on a frequency of sound to be detected by the one or more subsets of microphone elements of the plurality of microphone elements.