Other

Wolfson Microelectronics Limited

Craven, Peter Graham

Travis, Christopher Julian

Christopher Julian Travis

Peter Graham Craven

A compact multi-element microphone has two rings of directional sensors. Using simple analog electronics, it delivers first-order outputs with low noise, wide bandwidth and tight transient response. The double-ring structure provides exceptionally high directional fidelity in the horizontal plane, while also keeping out-of-plane behaviour under control. This enables faithful capture of ambience, reflections and reverberation. A non-radial capsule arrangement moderates cavity resonances and reduces shading. Combined with digital electronics, the array can efficiently provide second-order and higher-order horizontal directivities that maintain their performance over a wider frequency range than with prior solutions. Outputs can be mono, two-channel stereo and multichannel surround sound. Applications include 360-degree immersive audio, with-height concert hall recording, and advanced voice capture using electronic steering of beams and nulls.

Microphone arrays providing improved horizontal directivity

A hybrid numeric-analog clock synchronizer for establishing a clock or carrier locked to a frequency reference. The clock synchronizer is typically a clock multiplier and a jitter attenuator. The reference may have a low update rate. The synchronizer achieves high jitter rejection, low phase noise and wide frequency range. It can be integrated on chip.

Clock synchronizer and method of establishing an output clock

A hybrid numeric-analog clock synchronizer, for establishing a clock or carrier locked to a timing reference. The clock may include a framing component. The reference may have a low update rate. The synchronizer achieves high jitter rejection, low phase noise and wide frequency range. It can be integrated on chip. It may comprise a numeric time-locked loop (TLL) with an analog phase-locked loop (PLL). Moreover a high-performance number-controlled oscillator (NCO), for creating an event clock from a master clock according to a period control signal. It processes edge times rather than period values, allowing direct control of the spectrum and peak amplitude of the justification jitter. Moreover a combined clock-and-frame asynchrony detector, for measuring the phase or time offset between composite signals. It responds e.g. to event clocks and frame syncs, enabling frame locking with loop bandwidths greater than the frame rate.

Method of establishing an oscillator clock signal

A communications bus operates using transition coding, for example NRZI coding, with transition-dominant signalling. That is, when the signal takes a first binary value, binary '1', the component drives the bus line to its opposite state, and, when the signal takes a second binary value, binary '0', the component does not actively drive the bus line. During arbitration, each arbitrating component writes a unique arbitrand onto the bus, and arbitration is lost by each component that writes a binary &#x201c;0&#x201d; when at least one other component writes a binary &#x201c;1&#x201d;. The components preferably do not use transition-dominant signalling when transmitting data payloads. For such traffic they actively drive the binary &#x201c;0&#x201d;s as well as binary &#x201c;1&#x201d;s.

Bus-based communication system

On a communications bus, a relatively low frequency timing reference is distributed by regularly transmitting numbers that represent its instantaneous phase. An active framer component maintains a wrapping count of root superframes and, during each block, transmits in encoded form an expected value for the root superframe count at the start of the following block.

Growing community of inventors

Wotton-under-Edge, United Kingdom

Christopher Julian Travis