Multi-zone audio system with integrated cross-zone and zone-specific tuning

Abstract

The technology described in this document can be embodied in a method that includes receiving information indicative of a volume setting corresponding to each listening zone of a plurality of listening zones. The method also includes generating a zone-specific adjustment signal for each of the plurality of listening zones, wherein the zone-specific adjustment signal for a given listening zone accounts for a cross-zone effect associated with a volume setting corresponding to another listening zone, and is configured to adjust an output of corresponding zone-specific circuitry. The method further includes generating an additional adjustment signal configured to adjust an output of a cross-zone equalization filter. The output of the cross-zone equalization filter is configured to generate a target acoustic distribution across multiple listening zones. The method also includes generating an output of an acoustic transducer of the multi-zone audio system based on the zone-specific adjustment signals and the additional adjustment signal.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving information indicative of a user setting corresponding to each listening zone of a plurality of listening zones associated with a multi-zone audio system;   generating, by one or more processing devices, a zone-specific adjustment signal for each of the plurality of listening zones, wherein the zone-specific adjustment signal for a given listening zone accounts for a cross-zone effect associated with a user setting corresponding to another listening zone;   generating, by the one or more processing devices, an additional adjustment signal configured to adjust an output of a cross-zone equalization filter, wherein the output of the cross-zone equalization filter is configured to generate a target acoustic distribution across multiple listening zones; and   generating an output of an acoustic transducer of the multi-zone audio system based on the zone-specific adjustment signals and the additional adjustment signal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the zone-specific circuitry comprises a zone-specific equalization filter configured to process an input signal representing audio content for the corresponding listening zone. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the zone-specific circuitry comprises a first zone-specific equalization filter configured to process a first input signal in a first frequency range, and at least a second zone-specific equalization filter configured to process a second input signal in a second frequency range that is at least partially non-overlapping with the first frequency range. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the filter coefficients of the cross-zone equalization filter are selected in accordance with a target acoustic distribution across the multiple listening zones. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the zone-specific adjustment signals comprises computing a gain for each of the plurality of listening zones based on the information indicative of the corresponding user settings. 
     
     
         6 - 7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the zone-specific adjustment signals comprises accessing a representation of a look-up table that stores adjustment values for each of the plurality of listening zones as a function of combinations of user settings in the plurality of listening zones. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the look-up table also stores adjustment values associated with the additional adjustment signal as a function of combinations of user settings in the plurality of listening zones. 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the output of the acoustic transducer comprises:
 generating a plurality of zone-specific signals by adjusting the outputs of zone-specific circuitry using the corresponding zone-specific adjustment signals;   generating a multi-zone signal by adjusting the output of the cross-zone equalization filter using the additional adjustment signal; and   combining the plurality of zone-specific signals and the multi-zone signal to drive the acoustic transducer.   
     
     
         12 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . An audio system configured to deliver audio to a plurality of listening zones, the system comprising:
 multiple acoustic transducers disposed in the plurality of listening zones;   zone specific circuitry corresponding to one or more of the plurality of listening zones;   a cross-zone filter configured to control one or more of the acoustic transducers to generate a target acoustic distribution across multiple listening zones; and   an adjustment engine comprising one or more processing devices, the adjustment engine configured to:
 receive information indicative of a user setting corresponding to each listening zone of the plurality of listening zones, 
 generate a zone-specific adjustment signal for each of the plurality of listening zones, wherein the zone-specific adjustment signal for a given listening zone accounts for a cross-zone effect associated with a user setting corresponding to another listening zone, 
 generate an additional adjustment signal configured to adjust an output of the cross-zone filter, 
 wherein the zone-specific adjustment signals and the additional adjustment signal are combined to generate an output from at least one of the multiple acoustic transducers. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein each of the zone-specific circuitry comprises a zone-specific filter configured to process an input signal representing audio content for the corresponding listening zone. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein each of the zone-specific circuitry comprises a first zone-specific filter configured to process a first input signal in a first frequency range, and at least a second zone-specific filter configured to process a second input signal in a second frequency range that is at least partially non-overlapping with the first frequency range. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the filter coefficients of the cross-zone filter are selected in accordance with a target acoustic distribution across the multiple listening zones. 
     
     
         18 - 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the adjustment engine is configured to generate the zone-specific adjustment signals by accessing a representation of a look-up table that stores adjustment values for each of the plurality of listening zones as a function of combinations of user settings in the plurality of listening zones. 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein generating the output of the at least one of the multiple acoustic transducers comprises:
 generating a plurality of zone-specific signals by adjusting the outputs of zone-specific circuitry using the corresponding zone-specific adjustment signals;   generating a multi-zone signal by adjusting the output of the cross-zone filter using the additional adjustment signal; and   combining the plurality of zone-specific signals and the multi-zone signal to drive the at least one of the multiple acoustic transducers.   
     
     
         23 - 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . One or more machine-readable storage devices having encoded thereon computer readable instructions for causing one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:
 receiving information indicative of a user setting corresponding to each listening zone of a plurality of listening zones associated with a multi-zone audio system;   generating a zone-specific adjustment signal for each of the plurality of listening zones, wherein the zone-specific adjustment signal for a given listening zone accounts for a cross-zone effect associated with a user setting corresponding to another listening zone; and   causing generation of an output of an acoustic transducer of the multi-zone audio system based on the zone-specific adjustment signals.   
     
     
         26 . The one or more machine-readable storage devices of  claim 25  having instructions for further operations comprising:
 generating a plurality of zone-specific signals by adjusting the outputs of zone-specific circuitry using the corresponding zone-specific adjustment signals; 
 generating a multi-zone signal; and 
 combining the plurality of zone-specific signals and the multi-zone signal to cause generation of the output of the acoustic transducer. 
 
     
     
         27 . The one or more machine-readable storage devices of  claim 25 , wherein the user setting is an audio source selection. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user setting is an audio source selection. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the user setting is an audio source selection.