This application claims priority from US patent application no. 61/805,469 filed on 26 March 2013, the contents of which are to be taken as incorporated herein by this reference. This application is related to and if required claims priority from US patent application nos. 61/805,406, 61/805,432, 61/805,466, 61/805,449 and 61/805,463 all filed on 26 March 2013, the contents of which are to be taken as incorporated herein by these references. This application is also related to and if required claims priority from US patent application no. 61/819,630 filed on 5 May 2013 and US patent application no. 61/903,225 filed on 12 November 2013, the contents of which are to be taken as incorporated herein by these references.

Technical Field

The present invention relates broadly to a method of digitally filtering an audio signal. The invention relates particularly although not exclusively to digitally filtering an audio signal in audio equalisation (EQ). The invention extends to other digital filtering including filtering images and other signals including signals associated with digital communications and processing.

Background Art

In digital recording and playback an analog signal representative of audio is converted into a digital signal which lends itself to manipulation and storage. The conversion is performed in an analog to digital converter (ADC). The stored digital signal can be converted back to an analog signal in a digital to analog converter (DAC). The analog signal is played back using conventional audio equipment such as amplifiers and speakers. The digital signal can be manipulated prior to the DAC to improve its quality before playback. This manipulation includes audio EQ where selected parts of the frequency spectrum of the audio are filtered to, for example, compensate for irregularities in the frequency response. The digital signal may also be filtered to resolve problems from its conversion into a digital signal or back to an analog signal. Summary of Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of digitally filtering an audio signal, said method may comprise the steps of:

providing an audio filter at a predetermined sample rate including neighbouring sample points;

providing another audio filter at the predetermined sample rate including an intervening sample point between adjacent of its neighbouring sample points;

applying the audio filter to the other audio filter to provide a composite audio filter, said filter being applied at an adjusted sampling rate relative to the other audio filter; and

filtering the audio signal using the composite audio filter.

Preferably the adjusted sampling rate is inversely proportional to the number of intervening sample points relative to the number of neighbouring sample points for the other filter.

Preferably the step of applying the audio filter to the other audio filter may involves convolution of the audio filter at each of the neighbouring sample points with the other audio filter at least at each of the intervening sample points. More preferably the convolution involves shifting the audio filter at the adjusted sampling rate relative to the other audio filter where at least one of the neighbouring sample points of the audio filter corresponds with at least one of the intervening sample points of the other audio filter.

Preferably the intervening sample points are located substantially midway between adjacent of its neighbouring sample points wherein the adjusted sampling rate for applying the filters to one another is substantially one-half the predetermined sample rate.

Preferably the method also comprises the step of increasing the sample rate of the audio filters to an increased sample rate from the predetermined sample rate.

Preferably the step of increasing the sample rate of the audio filters may includes: defining intermediate sample points at the increased sample rate located between neighbouring sample points at the predetermined sample rate;

calculating a weighting for each of the intermediate sample points including the steps of (i) nominating neighbouring audio signals at respective of the neighbouring sample points; (ii) shifting each of the nominated neighbouring samples in the time domain between the neighbouring sample point and the intermediate sample point, and (iii) combining values for the shifted neighbouring samples at the intermediate sample point to derive the weighting; and

applying the weighting to the audio signal or an associated audio signal at respective of the intermediate sample points.

Preferably the nominated neighbouring samples are shifted in the time domain substantially midway between the neighbouring sample point and the intermediate sample point.

Preferably the step of increasing the sample rate of the audio filters includes:

defining intermediate sample points at the increased sample rate located between neighbouring sample points at the predetermined sample rate;

calculating a weighting for each of the intermediate sample points including the steps of (i) providing a hypothetical audio signal of a waveform corresponding to the audio signal and shifted in its time domain to align with the intermediate sample point (ii) expanding the shifted hypothetical audio signal in the time domain (iii) combining values for the expanded hypothetical audio signal at the neighbouring sample points to derive the weighting;

applying the weighting to the audio signal or an associated audio signal at respective of the intermediate sample points.

Preferably the nominated neighbouring samples are expanded in the time domain by a factor of substantially two.

Preferably the weighting is applied across a predetermined number of said neighbouring sample points. Preferably the composite audio filter includes a bank of filters. More preferably the bank of filters together define a frequency bandwidth generally representative of the audio signal to be filtered.

Preferably the composite audio filter is a lowpass or bandpass filter which approaches the Nyquist frequency.

Preferably the audio filter and/or the other audio filter are represented by an impulse response produced by an impulse fed to said filter. More preferably the method also comprises the step of applying an averaging curve to the impulse response. Still more preferably the averaging curve is adjusted to a width proportional to the frequency of the impulse response to which it is applied.

Preferably the impulse response is in the time domain represented by a sine function. Alternatively the impulse response is in the time domain represented by a sine function of absolute values.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a computer or device- readable medium including instructions for digitally filtering an audio signal using a plurality of audio filters each of a predetermined sample rate, said instructions when executed by a processor cause said processor to:

apply one of the filters to another of the filters to provide a composite audio filter, said one of the filters being applied at an adjusted sampling rate relative to the other of the filters; and

filter the audio signal using the composite audio filter.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a system for digitally filtering an audio signal, the system may include:

a plurality of audio filters; and

a processor configured to:

apply one of the filters to another of the filters to provide a composite audio filter, said one of the filters being applied at an adjusted sampling rate relative to the other of the filters; and

filter the audio signal using the composite audio filter. According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a method of digitally filtering a signal, said method may comprise the steps of:

providing a filter at a predetermined sample rate including neighbouring sample points;

providing another filter at the predetermined sample rate including an intervening sample point between adjacent of its neighbouring sample points;

applying the filter to the other filter to provide a composite filter, said filter being applied at an adjusted sampling rate relative to the other filter; and

filtering the signal using the composite filter.

Preferably the signal is an image or a pixel from an image. Alternatively the signal is an electronic signal derived from displacement of a transducer or measurement device.

Brief Description of Drawings

Some embodiments of the present invention described herein relate to a method of digitally filtering an audio signal, which will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic of application of embodiments of the invention in digital audio recording and playback;

Figure 2 is an impulse response of an audio filter of some embodiments of the invention;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the impulse response of figure 2 with an increased sample rate;

Figure 4 is a schematic of an example technique for increasing the sample rate of an impulse response;

Figure 5 is a graph depicting weightings for intermediate sample points to be applied to relevant audio values;

Figures 6 is a schematic of an example technique for adjusting the sampling rate according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 7 is a schematic of another example technique for increasing the sample rate of an impulse response;

Figures 8 and 9 illustrate averaging curves applied to respective impulse responses according to some embodiments of the invention; Figure 10 is a graph depicting averaging curves of different widths as a function of the frequency of the impulse response;

Figure 11 is a frequency response of a filter of an embodiment of the invention with adjusted sampling compared with frequency response without adjusted sampling (shown in broken line detail).

Description of Embodiments

Some embodiments of the present invention herein are directed to a method of digitally filtering an audio signal by applying a composite audio filter. The composite audio filter may be obtained by applying one audio filter to another audio filter each having the same predetermined sample rate including neighbouring sample points. The other audio filter may also include one or more intervening sample points between adjacent of its neighbouring sample points. The one audio filter may be applied to the other audio filter at an adjusted sampling rate relative to the other audio filter. In some embodiments, the adjusted sampling rate may be inversely proportional to the number of intervening sample points relative to the number of neighbouring sample points for the other filter.

Figure 1 shows application of some embodiments of the invention in the course of digital audio recording and playback. The analog audio signal 10 may be converted to a digital audio signal at an analog to digital converter (ADC) 12. The digital audio signal may then be subject to signal processing at digital processor 14, for example in audio equalisation (EQ). The processed digital signal may be down-sampled and stored at storage memory 16 before a sample rate increase to increase its resolution prior to playback. The relatively high resolution digital audio signal may be then converted back to an analog signal 20 at a digital to analog converter (DAC 18).

It will be understood that some embodiments of the invention can be applied: i) at the ADC 12 where the digital audio signal undergoes a sample rate increase or over-sampling, in some embodiments with weighting;

ii) at the digital signal processor 14 or a digital filter associated with EQ where, for example, the digital signal may be filtered with a lowpass filter or bandpass filter; and/or iii) downstream of the storage memory 16 where the filtered audio signal may undergo a sample rate increase or up-sampling prior to playback.

Some embodiments herein relate to a method embodied in computer program code or software. The digital filter of the digital signal processor 14 may be represented by a particular frequency response. The particular frequency response may be generally dependent on the impulse response of the filter which may be characterised by the software or techniques of the various embodiment of this invention. Some embodiments described herein may cover the basic types of frequency response by which digital filters may be classified including lowpass, highpass, bandpass and bandreject or notch filters. The digital filters may be broadly categorised as Finite Impulse Response (FIR) or Infinite Impulse Response (MR) filters.

To ease understanding of the audio filtering involving an adjusted sampling rate, in some embodiments, the composite audio filter is for simplicity derived from two (2) audio filters although it would be appreciated that any number of filters may be used. The composite audio filter may generally include a bank of filters.

In some embodiments, the bank of filters together may define a frequency bandwidth representative of the audio signal or spectrum to be filtered. In some embodiments an impulse response is produced by an impulse fed to the respective filter. The impulse response for each of the filters may be represented by a sine function according to the equation: e- ^(qx) Sin[2nx/lpf]

2 πχ

Equation 1

where Ipf is the comer frequency for the lowpass filter, x is the time variable on the x- axis, and e ^{~(l?x 2} represents an averaging curve with q representing the aspect ratio of the averaging curve. It is to be understood that the sine function is the sum of cosine components.

Figure 2 illustrates the impulse response of equation 1. It is to be understood that a[0] is the instance at which the impulse occurs and a[n] designates neighbouring sample points for the impulse response where n is the number of the sample point at the predetermined sample rate. In some embodiments the predetermined sample rate may be 44.1 kHz (samples per second) although it will be appreciated that any other sample rate may be used depending on the application.

In some examples, each of the audio filters may undergo an increased sample rate from the predetermined sample rate. Figure 3 illustrates an enlarged view of the impulse response of figure 2 with a sample rate increase to the increased sample rate. For illustrative purposes only the predetermined sample rate is increased by a factor of ten (10) with nine (9) intermediate and equally spaced sample points designated a[0a] to a[0i\ located between neighbouring sample points such as a[0] and a[1]. The predetermined sample rate may in practice be increased by a factor of up to 1 ,000 where the increased sample rate is 44,100 kHz.

In some embodiments, the filters are applied to one another by convolution to obtain the composite audio filter. This convolution of impulse responses a and b may be represented by an array of samples which can also be mathematically defined by the equation:

Equation 2 where N is the number of samples for each of impulse responses a and b, and k is from 0 to N-1 for each of the samples for impulse response b. The array of samples thus includes 2N-1 rows and columns. The sum of the sample values for each row of the array may represent the composite audio filter. In some embodiments, the composite audio filter may be represented mathematically by integrating the impulse responses across an infinite number of samples.

The composite audio filter may be in some examples a lowpass filter which approaches the Nyquist frequency. The Nyquist frequencies and above are substantially removed in performing the sample rate increase on the various impulse responses. The composite filter or other composite filters may also function as band pass or band reject filter depending on the application.

In some embodiments, the composite audio filter may be"constructed" with the benefit of increased accuracy at the increased sample rate. The composite audio filter may be returned to the predetermined sample rate prior to filtering the audio signal. The composite filter may thus be applied to the audio signal at the predetermined sample rate with a virtual sample rate increase which is less demanding in terms of processor power.

The sample rate increase on each of the audio filters in some embodiments may be performed by various techniques, which may involve i) shifted neighbouring audio signals, and/or ii) expanded hypothetical audio signal.

In weighting values of the impulse response using the shifted audio signals, neighbouring impulse responses may be nominated for either side of the intermediate sample point to be determined. Each of these nominated neighbouring signals may be shifted in the time domain between the neighbouring sample point and the intermediate sample point. In some examples, the relevant weighting may be calculated by summing values which each of the shifted and nominated neighbouring impulse responses contribute at the relevant intermediate sample points. This technique is schematically illustrated in figure 4. The weighting may be applied across a predetermined number of the neighbouring sample points, for example 1 ,024 sample points.

Figure 5 illustrates the weightings for each of the intermediate sample points a[oa] to a[oi] to be applied to the relevant impulse response.

In some embodiments, the convolution of the audio filters may be performed at the adjusted sampling rate so that neighbouring sample points for the audio filter align or correspond with at least each of the intervening sample points of the other audio filter to which it is applied. This may involve shifting the audio filter at the adjusted sampling rate relative to the other audio filter. For example, if the other audio filter includes intervening sample points located substantially midway between adjacent of its neighbouring sample points, the adjusted sampling rate for applying the filters to one another may be substantially one-half the predetermined sample rate. Figure 6 schematically illustrates one technique for adjusting the sampling rate. In some embodiments, the sampling rate of the filter may be adjusted by halving the frequency of the filter to for example approximately one-half of the Nyquist frequency or around 11 kHz when the Nyquist frequency is approximately 22 kHz .

The sampling rate may be adjusted in some embodiments by convolving every other impulse response. This means the uppermost impulse response of figure 6 is convolved with the three (3) impulse responses shown in solid line detail and the other impulse responses shown in broken line detail are effectively ignored. The resulting or composite audio filter is the lowermost impulse response of figure 6 shown in broken line detail and can in some examples be represented by the following equations.

Equations 3

For a predetermined sample rate of 44.1 kHz the adjusted sampling rate in this example is 22.05 kHz. If the other audio filter includes nine (9) intervening sample points between adjacent of its neighbouring sample points the adjusted sample rate may be one tenth of the predetermined sample rate. This equates to an adjusted sampling rate of 4.41 kHz for a predetermined sample rate of 44.1 kHz. It is understood that adjusting the sampling rate "corrects" for shifting of the nominated neighbouring sample points in calculating weightings for each of the intermediate sample points. The shift in the nominated neighbouring samples in the time domain is generally proportional to the adjustment in the sampling rate in convolving the audio filters. Thus, a shift in the nominated neighbouring signals midway between neighbouring sample point and the intermediate sample point may mean an adjustment in the sampling rate by a factor of substantially one-half. This convolution of impulse responses a and b may provide an array of samples as represented by for example equation 2. However, with the adjusted sampling rate there may be N samples for impulse response a and M samples for impulse response b. The array of samples may thus include {N + M) -1 rows and M columns. The sum of the sample values for each row of the array may represent the composite audio filter.

In weighting values of the impulse response using the expanded hypothetical audio signal, the relevant impulse response may be effectively replicated as a hypothetical impulse response with its time domain shifted to align with the intermediate sample point to be determined. The hypothetical and shifted impulse response may then be expanded in the time domain. In some examples, the relevant weighting may be calculated by summing values for the expanded impulse response at the neighbouring sample points. This technique is schematically illustrated in figure 7. The weighting is preferably applied across a predetermined number of the neighbouring sample points, for example 1 ,024 sample points.

In some embodiments, the nominated neighbouring signals may be expanded in the time domain by a factor of substantially 2. This may "correct" for the adjusted sampling rate of one-half the predetermined sample rate. It will be appreciated that other expansion factors may be used in calculating the weighting for intermediate sample points in which case the adjusted sampling rate may be inversely proportional to this expansion factor.

In some embodiments, the averaging curve applied to the impulse response may be adjusted to a width proportional to the frequency of the impulse response to which it is applied. Figure 8 illustrates an averaging curve having a width of around four (4) samples applied to an impulse response having a relatively high frequency. Figure 9 shows an adjusted averaging curve having a width of around eight (8) samples applied to another impulse response having a relatively low frequency. It can be seen that in both cases the width or q of the averaging curve may be substantially proportional to the frequency of the corresponding impulse response. This is schematically shown in figure 10 where the width of the averaging curve increases in the z-axis with decreasing frequency in the impulse response.

It can be seen from the comparative frequency response curves of figure 1 that with the adjusted sampling rate the frequency response may be more indicative of an idealised lowpass filter. The frequency response with an adjusted sampling rate according to an embodiment of the invention displays a more bell-shaped characteristic compared with the frequency response without an adjusted sampling rate (shown in broken line detail).

Now that several embodiments of the invention have been described it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a method of digitally filtering an audio signal has at least the following advantages over the prior art:

1. The composite audio filter may be derived at the increased sample rate which provides a relatively "smooth" filter in its frequency response;

2. The composite filter may provide improved filtering in for example EQ;

3. The composite filter "design" may be akin to analog insofar as it is "constructed" from filters at significantly increased sample rates;

4. The composite audio filter may substantially reduce unwanted resonants inherent in analog and prior digital filters;

5. The method provides a frequency response which may be smoother and in this respect more akin to an analog filter.

6. The composite filter may be applied to the relevant audio at relatively high resolution without requiring a sample rate increase;

7. The filtered audio may be substantially phase coherent relative to the signal to be filtered

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. For example, the impulse response may be of practically any waveform. If represented by a mathematical equation, the impulse response is not limited to a sine function but includes other waveforms such as, but not limited to: i) a sine function of absolute values represented in the time domain; and

ii) a sine function of values from zero (0) to positive infinity only; iii) a sine function (sum of cosine components) for positive values only.

The processing of audio signals need not be limited to acoustics but extends to other sound applications including ultrasound and sonar. The invention also extends beyond audio signals to other signals including signals derived from a physical displacement such as that obtained from measurement devices, for example a strain gauge or other transducer which generally converts displacement into an electronic signal. The invention also covers digital filtering of signals associated with digital communications.

The invention in some embodiment may be applied to imaging. For example, each of the pixels in a matrix of pixels in the image may be filtered with a composite filter obtained by applying filters to one another at an adjusted sampling rate. The adjusted sampling rate may be inversely proportional to the number of intervening sample points relative to the number of neighbouring sample points for the other filter.

All such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description.