Pickup extension method, conference equipment and pickup system

Abstract

The invention relates to a pickup extension method, conference equipment and a pickup system.The method comprises the steps that first pickup coverage information capable of being covered by the conference equipment in a target pickup area and pickup distance information of to-be-extended equipment are obtained, and then when at least one piece of to-be-extended equipment is located at different positions of the target pickup area, the first pickup coverage information and the pickup distance information of the to-be-extended equipment are obtained circularly; and the pickup coverage range growth rate of the target pickup area. And under the condition that the pickup coverage range growth rate is greater than or equal to a preset growth threshold, pushing the number of the to-be-expanded devices corresponding to the pickup coverage range growth rate and the position information of the to-be-expanded devices in the target pickup area. According to the method, the to-be-expanded equipment with the pickup function is utilized to expand the pickup coverage range, and a user can add the to-be-expanded equipment according to the number of the to-be-expanded equipment and the position information of the to-be-expanded equipment in the target pickup area. Therefore, when the user is far away from the conference equipment, effective pickup can still be carried out through the to-be-expanded equipment, and the pickup reliability is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of sound pickup technology, and in particular to a sound pickup expansion method, conference equipment and a sound pickup system. Background Art

[0002] With the development of science and technology and the increase in conference needs, conference equipment equipped with cameras, microphones and speakers is becoming more and more widely used in various conference rooms, bringing great convenience to the convening of meetings.

[0003] However, in the related art, the effective sound pickup range of the conference equipment is limited, and when the user is far away from the conference equipment, the sound is often not effectively picked up. Summary of the invention

[0004] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a sound pickup expansion method, conference equipment and sound pickup system to solve the problem that the sound cannot be effectively picked up when the user is far away from the conference equipment.

[0005] A sound pickup extension method comprises: obtaining first sound pickup coverage information of conference equipment in a target sound pickup area, and sound pickup distance information of a device to be extended; obtaining, according to the first sound pickup coverage information and the sound pickup distance information, a sound pickup coverage growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one device to be extended is in different positions of the target sound pickup area; if the sound pickup coverage growth rate is greater than or equal to a preset growth threshold, outputting the number of devices to be extended and the position information of the devices to be extended in the target sound pickup area.

[0006] The above-mentioned sound pickup expansion method first obtains the first sound pickup coverage range information that the conference device can cover in the target sound pickup area, and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded, and then combines the first sound pickup coverage range information and the sound pickup distance information to cyclically obtain the sound pickup coverage range growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one device to be expanded is in different positions of the target sound pickup area. When the sound pickup coverage range growth rate is greater than or equal to the preset growth threshold, the number of devices to be expanded corresponding to the sound pickup coverage range growth rate and the location information of the devices to be expanded in the target sound pickup area are pushed. This solution uses the devices to be expanded with sound pickup function to expand the sound pickup coverage range of the target sound pickup area, and the user can add the devices to be expanded according to the number of devices to be expanded and the location information in the target sound pickup area. As a result, when the user is far away from the conference device, the device to be expanded can still effectively pick up the sound, thereby improving the sound pickup reliability.

[0007] A conference device comprises a camera, a microphone, a speaker, a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor implements the steps of the above-mentioned sound pickup expansion method when executing the computer program.

[0008] A conference system comprises conference equipment and equipment to be expanded, wherein the conference equipment is used to implement the steps of the above-mentioned sound pickup expansion method. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a sound pickup expansion method in one embodiment of the present application;

[0010] Figure 2 This is a flow chart of a sound pickup expansion method in another embodiment of the present application;

[0011] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a conference scene in an embodiment of the present application;

[0012] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a conference scene in another embodiment of the present application;

[0013] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a conference scene in another embodiment of the present application;

[0014] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a conference scene in another embodiment of the present application;

[0015] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a target sound pickup area acquisition process in one embodiment of the present application;

[0016] Figure 8 This is a flow chart of a sound pickup expansion method in another embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of an extended confirmation process in one embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of the process of verifying the location of the device to be expanded in one embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Fig.11 This is a schematic diagram of a frequency-energy reception curve in one embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Fig.12 This is a schematic diagram of a process for confirming the pickup coverage growth rate in one embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Fig.13 This is a schematic diagram of the range information push process in one embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Fig.14 This is a flow chart of a sound pickup expansion method in yet another embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Fig.15 This is a schematic diagram of an extended scenario in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Fig.16 This is a schematic diagram of an extended scenario in another embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Fig.17 This is a schematic diagram of an extended scenario in another embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Fig.18 This is a schematic diagram of the conference equipment structure in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0028] The embodiment of the present application provides a sound pickup expansion method, which is applied in a scene with a sound pickup requirement, specifically, it can be a conference scene with a sound pickup requirement, that is, the sound pickup expansion method can be specifically applied in the conference equipment of the conference room. The conference equipment includes a microphone, a speaker and a camera, which can not only realize sound playback and transmission, but also realize video acquisition, that is, the conference equipment in the embodiment of the present application has audio and video functions, and can start an audio and video conference according to actual needs. The conference equipment also includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and when the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the sound pickup expansion method in each embodiment of the present application can be implemented.

[0029] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, each of the following embodiments can be understood as the sound pickup expansion method being executed by the processor of the conference device. Figure 1 , a sound pickup expansion method includes step 102, step 104 and step 106.

[0030] Step 102: Acquire first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area and sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded.

[0031] Specifically, the target sound pickup area is the area where sound pickup may be required in actual application scenarios. The first sound pickup coverage information is the area formed by the maximum distance between the sound source and the conference device when the conference device satisfies reliable sound pickup, and the information corresponding to the overlapping part of the target sound pickup area.

[0032] The specific type of target sound pickup area is not unique. In a more detailed embodiment, since users generally gather around the conference table in a meeting scene, the area formed by the conference table and chairs can be used as the target sound pickup area. In another embodiment, it can also be considered that users will sit at the edge of the conference table in a meeting scene, and there is a certain distance between the user's position and the conference table. The area formed by the conference table and chairs can be extended outward as the target sound pickup area.

[0033] Furthermore, in a more detailed embodiment, taking into account the possibility that users may move in the meeting area during the meeting, the room where the conference tables and chairs are located (ie, the meeting area or conference room) can be used as the target pickup area, and the selection can be made based on actual needs.

[0034] The device to be expanded is a device that has a sound pickup function and is waiting to be expanded for sound pickup. The sound pickup distance information is the maximum distance that can be reached between the sound source and the device to be expanded when the device to be expanded achieves reliable sound pickup or a good sound pickup effect.

[0035] The specific type of the device to be expanded is not unique, as long as it can communicate with the conference device and has the function of picking up sound. For example, in a more detailed embodiment, the device to be expanded can be an expansion microphone, that is, through the technical solution of the present application, the connection between the conference device and at least one expansion microphone is realized. Furthermore, in another embodiment, the device to be expanded can also be a conference device, that is, through the solution of this embodiment, the connection between multiple conference devices is realized.

[0036] When the user has a need to expand sound pickup, the processor of the conference device first obtains the first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area, and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded.

[0037] Step 104: acquiring a sound pickup coverage range growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one device to be expanded is located at different positions of the target sound pickup area according to the first sound pickup coverage range information and the sound pickup distance information.

[0038] Specifically, the sound pickup coverage range growth rate is the proportion of the sound pickup coverage range that can be increased in the target sound pickup area based on the sound pickup coverage range corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage range information after adding at least one device to be expanded, in the area range of the target sound pickup area.

[0039] In actual conference scenarios, conference equipment has a sound pickup function, and the sound pickup range of the conference equipment and the range of the target sound pickup area often overlap partially, that is, the area corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage range information. For this partially overlapping area, it can already effectively pick up sound. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of the expansion analysis of the equipment to be expanded, when analyzing the different positions of the equipment to be expanded in the target sound pickup area, it is possible to avoid the sound pickup range corresponding to the conference equipment in the target sound pickup area, that is, avoid the first sound pickup coverage range information, and obtain the sound pickup coverage range growth rate at each position outside the first sound pickup coverage range information.

[0040] After obtaining the first sound pickup coverage information and the sound pickup distance information, the processor of the conference device cyclically assumes that the device to be expanded is at different positions in the target sound pickup area, and analyzes and obtains the sound pickup coverage growth rate corresponding to each position point. More specifically, it can be firstly assumed that one device to be expanded is at different positions in the target sound pickup area, and the sound pickup coverage growth rate of each position point is respectively obtained. After the device to be expanded traverses all positions in the target sound pickup area except for the coverage range corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage information, two devices to be expanded are added.

[0041] In another embodiment, the processor may analyze the target sound pickup area, the coverage area corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage range information, and the sound pickup distance information to determine whether the remaining sound pickup area to be covered in the target sound pickup area (i.e., the area outside the coverage area corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage range information in the target sound pickup area) is too different from the sound pickup area that can be reached by a single device to be expanded. If the difference is too large, two or more devices to be expanded may be used to start a loop to traverse the position points of the target sound pickup area to obtain the corresponding sound pickup coverage range growth rate.

[0042] Step 106: If the growth rate of the sound pickup coverage area is greater than or equal to the preset growth threshold, the number of devices to be expanded and the location information of the devices to be expanded in the target sound pickup area are output.

[0043] Specifically, the preset growth threshold is the preset minimum value that the pickup coverage growth rate should reach when the pickup coverage of the target pickup area increases to meet the actual pickup demand. In one embodiment, each time the processor obtains the pickup coverage growth rate, it compares and analyzes the pickup coverage growth rate with the preset growth threshold. When the analysis shows that the pickup coverage growth rate is greater than or equal to the preset growth threshold, it is considered that the current pickup coverage of the target pickup area meets the meeting requirements. At this time, the expansion plan corresponding to the pickup coverage growth rate, that is, the currently assumed number of devices to be expanded and the location information of each device to be expanded in the target pickup area, will be pushed to the user so that the user can place the corresponding devices to be expanded.

[0044] It should be noted that the processor is not limited to outputting the quantity and location information in a unique manner. In one embodiment, the quantity and location information may be output in the form of text. In another embodiment, the quantity and location information may be output in the form of a picture or video screen. For example, an image corresponding to the target sound pickup area and the location of the device to be expanded in the image are displayed to the user.

[0045] It is understood that in another embodiment, after the number of devices to be expanded is selected, the number and location information of the devices to be expanded can be determined by combining the growth rate of the pickup coverage of all positions after the devices to be expanded traverse all the remaining pickup areas that need to be covered in the target pickup area. In more detail, the expansion schemes (i.e., the number of devices to be expanded and their location information) corresponding to all the pickup coverage growth rates that are greater than or equal to a preset growth threshold can be output. It is also possible to output the expansion scheme corresponding to the smallest number and / or the largest pickup coverage growth rate for the user to select.

[0046] The above-mentioned sound pickup expansion method first obtains the first sound pickup coverage range information that the conference device can cover in the target sound pickup area, and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded, and then combines the first sound pickup coverage range information and the sound pickup distance information to cyclically obtain the sound pickup coverage range growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one device to be expanded is in different positions of the target sound pickup area. When the sound pickup coverage range growth rate is greater than or equal to the preset growth threshold, the number of devices to be expanded corresponding to the sound pickup coverage range growth rate and the location information of the devices to be expanded in the target sound pickup area are pushed. This solution uses the devices to be expanded with sound pickup function to expand the sound pickup coverage range of the target sound pickup area, and the user can add the devices to be expanded according to the number of devices to be expanded and the location information in the target sound pickup area. As a result, when the user is far away from the conference device, the device to be expanded can still effectively pick up the sound, thereby improving the sound pickup reliability.

[0047] See also Figure 2 In one embodiment, before step 102 , the method further includes step 202 .

[0048] Step 202: Obtain position parameters and size parameters of conference tables and chairs, and determine a target sound pickup area.

[0049] Specifically, the solution of this embodiment is described in a conference scene, taking the area formed by the conference tables and chairs as the target sound pickup area as an example. The processor can determine the final target sound pickup area by obtaining the position parameters and size parameters of the conference tables and chairs. The size and shape of the target sound pickup area will be different depending on the position parameters and size parameters of the conference tables and chairs. In a more detailed embodiment, you can refer to Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 and Figure 6 , the camera is located in the conference equipment, and several common conference scenes are listed in the figure, but the actual conference scenes are not limited to the ones shown in the figure. Through this solution, the position parameters and size parameters of the conference table and chairs are used to determine the target sound pickup area, which has a high accuracy in determining the target sound pickup area.

[0050] See also Figure 7 In one embodiment, step 202 includes step 702 , step 704 , and step 706 .

[0051] Step 702, obtaining image information of conference tables and chairs.

[0052] Step 704: Determine the position parameters and size parameters of the conference table and chairs based on the image information.

[0053] Step 706: Determine the target sound pickup area according to the position parameter and the size parameter.

[0054] Specifically, the scheme of this embodiment obtains the position parameters and size parameters of conference tables and chairs by means of image visual recognition. Specifically, the conference equipment has an image acquisition function. After triggering the process of determining the target sound pickup area, the camera of the conference equipment takes a picture of the conference space (conference room), obtains at least one image including the conference tables and chairs, and transmits it to the processor. Then, the processor determines the position information of the conference tables and chairs in the conference space and the size parameters of the conference tables and chairs based on image visual recognition. Finally, the processor determines the target sound pickup area based on the obtained position parameters and size parameters, that is, the area covered by the conference tables and chairs in the conference room is used as the target sound pickup area. This scheme obtains the position parameters and size parameters of the conference tables and chairs by means of image visual recognition through taking pictures, thereby improving the accuracy of the obtained target sound pickup area.

[0055] See also Figure 8 , in one embodiment, step 202 includes step 802 .

[0056] Step 802: receiving position parameters and size parameters of conference tables and chairs, and determining a target sound pickup area according to the position parameters and size parameters.

[0057] Specifically, in the solution of this embodiment, the position parameters and size parameters of the conference tables and chairs can be directly input by the user, which has the advantages of simple acquisition method and high acquisition efficiency.

[0058] It should be noted that there is not only one way for users to input the position parameters and size parameters of conference tables and chairs. In one embodiment, the conference device may have an interactive interface, and the user may directly input the position parameters and size parameters in the interactive interface. In another embodiment, the conference device may communicate with a remote device (such as a mobile phone, a computer, etc.), and the user may input the position parameters and size parameters through the remote device.

[0059] It can be understood that in the above embodiment, the position parameters and size parameters received by the processor from the user may be the position parameters and size parameters corresponding to the conference tables and chairs in the conference room in the actual application scenario, so as to obtain the target sound pickup area in the actual conference scenario. It can also be the number, position, length and width of tables and chairs defined by the user in the interactive interface or remote device, that is, the customized position parameters and size parameters, so as to obtain the target sound pickup area required in the customized scenario, and the selection can be made in combination with the actual scenario.

[0060] See also Fig. 9 In one embodiment, after step 104 , the method further includes steps 902 , 904 , and 906 .

[0061] Step 902, detecting whether a confirmation instruction is received within a preset time period.

[0062] Step 904: If a confirmation instruction is received, it is detected whether the device to be expanded is located at a location point corresponding to the location information.

[0063] Step 906: If the device to be expanded is located at the location point, output expansion success prompt information.

[0064] Specifically, after analyzing and obtaining the expansion plan of the device to be expanded, the processor pushes the expansion plan to the user, who makes further confirmation. If the processor receives a confirmation instruction returned by the user according to the expansion plan within a preset time, it is considered that the user agrees to place the device to be expanded according to the pushed expansion plan. Therefore, after receiving the confirmation instruction, the processor will further detect the placement of the device to be expanded. When the position points corresponding to the position information in the expansion plan are all located, it is considered that the sound pickup expansion is completed, and a prompt message of successful expansion is output.

[0065] It is understandable that the preset duration is not unique and can be determined based on the actual scenario. For example, it can be set to 10 seconds, etc., and no specific limitation is made here.

[0066] The above scheme, after analyzing and obtaining the number and location information of the devices to be expanded, pushes the number and location information of the devices to be expanded to the user, and the user determines whether to finally select the output expansion scheme, and performs placement detection based on the devices to be expanded actually placed by the user, effectively improving the reliability of sound pickup expansion.

[0067] It should be noted that, in one embodiment, if the processor receives an instruction not to expand with the current expansion plan within a preset time, or does not receive any instruction within a preset time, it is considered that the user does not want to expand the sound pickup with the pushed expansion plan. Therefore, in this case, the processor can directly end the sound pickup expansion, or output the target sound pickup area, the first sound pickup coverage information, etc. in the form of a picture or video, and the user determines the number and position of the devices to be expanded, that is, manually placing the devices to be expanded.

[0068] See also Fig.10 In one embodiment, step 904 includes step 1002 and step 1004 .

[0069] Step 1002: Acquire distance information between the conference device and the device to be expanded.

[0070] Step 1004: Check, based on the distance information, whether the device to be expanded is located at a location point corresponding to the location information.

[0071] Specifically, the solution of this embodiment combines the distance information between the conference device and the device to be expanded during the actual placement process of the user to provide guidance on the placement of the device to be expanded, and can feed back the position of the device to be expanded in the target sound pickup area to the interactive interface or remote device in real time for the user to view. This solution verifies whether the device to be expanded is located at the position point corresponding to the position information by means of the distance information between the conference device and the device to be expanded, and has a high verification accuracy.

[0072] It should be pointed out that in the scheme of this embodiment, a distance detector is provided in the conference device and / or the device to be expanded. The distance detector can detect the distance information between the conference device and the device to be expanded in real time, thereby realizing the positioning between the conference device and the device to be expanded, and guiding the user to place the device to be expanded to the corresponding location point.

[0073] It can be understood that the specific type of distance detector is not unique. In a more detailed embodiment, the distance detector can be a UWB (Ultra Wide Band) distance detector. UWB can be used to achieve indoor positioning function, thereby more accurately guiding users to place the device to be expanded.

[0074] In one embodiment, obtaining first sound pickup coverage information of a conference device in a target sound pickup area includes: obtaining reverberation time and area range information of the target sound pickup area; determining the sound pickup distance of the conference device according to the reverberation time and a first correspondence between a preset reverberation time and a sound pickup distance; determining first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area according to the sound pickup distance and the area range information;

[0075] And / or, in one embodiment, obtaining the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded includes: obtaining the reverberation time, and determining the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded according to the reverberation time and a preset second correspondence between the reverberation time and the sound pickup distance.

[0076] Specifically, reverberation time refers to the time required for the sound pressure level to decrease by a preset decibel after the sound source stops making sound, measured in seconds. The process of sound attenuation in a room is called the reverberation process. For a room, the length of the reverberation is determined by its sound absorption and volume. A room with a large volume and small sound absorption has a long reverberation time, while a room with strong sound absorption and a small volume has a short reverberation time. The scheme of this embodiment combines the sound pickup of the conference equipment and the sound pickup of the equipment to be expanded, and uses the reverberation time to determine the sound pickup distance information of the equipment to be expanded and the sound pickup distance of the conference equipment in the current conference scene, to ensure the accuracy of the sound pickup distance.

[0077] Therefore, in actual scenarios, the first correspondence between reverberation time and sound pickup distance and the second correspondence between reverberation time and sound pickup distance can be measured and stored for conference rooms of different materials and volumes in advance. In the subsequent analysis process, it is necessary to further obtain the room volume and room material to match the first correspondence and the second correspondence for the current meeting scene, thereby achieving the matching solution of the sound pickup distance and the sound pickup distance information, and obtaining higher-precision sound pickup distance and sound pickup distance information.

[0078] It is understood that when obtaining the reverberation time, the preset decibel size of the sound pressure level reduction is not unique. In one embodiment, the preset decibel may be 60 dB, that is, in an actual scenario, the time required to reduce the sound pressure level by 60 dB is taken as the reverberation time T60. In other embodiments, the preset decibel may be set to 50 dB, 70 dB, etc. according to actual needs, and the specifics are not limited.

[0079] In one embodiment, the reverberation time is obtained by at least one of the following:

[0080] The first item: obtaining the test sound wave signal played by the conference device and the first sound reception curve when the sound is received by the microphone of the conference device; determining the reverberation time according to the first sound reception curve.

[0081] The second item: obtaining the test sound wave signal played by the conference device and the second sound reception curve when the sound is received by the device to be expanded; determining the reverberation time according to the second sound reception curve.

[0082] The third item: obtaining a third sound reception curve when the test sound wave signal played by one of the devices to be expanded is received by another device to be expanded; and determining the reverberation time according to the third sound reception curve.

[0083] Specifically, when obtaining the reverberation time, one method is to use a conference device to play any specific sound wave (including a pink noise or a swept frequency signal, but not limited to these), and then use the conference device's own microphone to collect the sound to obtain a first recording curve, that is, a curve of the sound pressure level changing with time. The reverberation time can be determined by calculating in combination with the recording curve.

[0084] Secondly, any specific sound wave is played through the conference equipment, and then the sound is collected through the equipment to be expanded to obtain a second collection curve, that is, a curve of sound pressure level changing with time. The reverberation time can be determined by calculation combined with the collection curve.

[0085] The third method is to play any specific sound wave through one of the devices to be expanded, and then collect the sound through another device to be expanded to obtain a third collection curve, that is, a curve of sound pressure level changing with time. The reverberation time can be determined by combining the collection curve for calculation.

[0086] Specifically, the sound reception curves obtained by the above three test methods are converted into the relationship between frequency and energy to obtain the following: Fig.11 The curve (the horizontal axis represents frequency, the vertical axis represents energy) shows that the final reverberation time obtained by the three tests is different to a certain extent, which is 0.5 seconds, 1.8 seconds and 1.2 seconds respectively.

[0087] Therefore, in the actual test plan, one or more of the above three methods can be used for testing. When multiple test methods are used for testing, the average of multiple test results can be solved to obtain a reverberation time with higher accuracy.

[0088] It should be noted that, in one embodiment, the relevant optimization model can be used to optimize the reverberation time of the conference equipment or the equipment to be expanded, so as to obtain a farther sound reception distance or sound reception distance information, and then expand the sound pickup with a better sound reception distance. For example, when the T60 reverberation time is calculated according to the default parameters and the sound reception curve completed by the sweep second, it is obtained that the sound pickup distance of the conference equipment is 4 meters, and the sound pickup distance of the equipment to be expanded is 1.8 meters. After optimization using the optimization model, it can be obtained that the sound pickup distance of the conference equipment is 4.5 meters, and the sound pickup distance of the equipment to be expanded is 2 meters, and then the expansion design is carried out with a better sound pickup distance, which can reduce the number of devices to be expanded to a certain extent and save expansion costs.

[0089] See also Fig.12 In one embodiment, step 104 includes step 122 , step 124 , and step 126 .

[0090] Step 122, obtaining first area range information of the target sound pickup area.

[0091] Step 124: Determine second sound pickup coverage information when the device to be expanded is at different positions in the target sound pickup area according to the sound pickup distance information.

[0092] Step 126: Determine a sound pickup coverage range growth rate according to the first sound pickup coverage range information, the second sound pickup coverage range information and the first area range information.

[0093] Specifically, the first area range information is the cumulative coverage area of ​​the target sound pickup area in the conference room. The first area range information can be obtained by solving the size parameters of the target sound pickup area, and is not specifically limited. In the scheme of this embodiment, when the device to be expanded is located at different positions of the target sound pickup area, the target sound pickup area will increase a certain sound pickup coverage range. Correspondingly, the coverage range corresponding to the second sound pickup coverage range information will also partially overlap with the coverage range corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage range information. At this time, the overlapping part cannot be used as the increased sound pickup coverage range. That is, the increased sound pickup coverage range is essentially the part of the coverage range corresponding to the second sound pickup coverage range information that does not overlap with the sound pickup coverage range of the conference device.

[0094] Therefore, when the processor obtains the first sound pickup coverage range information, the second sound pickup coverage range information and the first area range information, it can determine the increased sound pickup coverage range in the target sound pickup area, and compare the increased sound pickup coverage range with the range corresponding to the first area range information to obtain the sound pickup coverage range growth rate, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the sound pickup coverage range growth rate.

[0095] See also Fig.13 In one embodiment, before step 102 , the method further includes steps 132 and 134 .

[0096] Step 132, obtaining first area range information of the target sound pickup area and second area range information of the conference area where the conference tables and chairs are located.

[0097] Step 134: Push the first area range information and the second area range information.

[0098] Specifically, the conference area is an area in a conference scene where a target sound pickup area is set and used to conduct a meeting. Specifically, in one embodiment, the conference area refers to a conference room with conference tables and chairs. In the solution of this embodiment, when the sound pickup expansion is turned on, the area range information of the conference area and the target sound pickup area is first collected to obtain the first area range information and the second area range information, and the information is pushed to the remote device or interactive interface in the form of images or text, so that the user can intuitively view the relative positions of the conference area and the target sound pickup area in the current conference scene, so as to facilitate the subsequent user to manually expand the placement of the devices to be expanded.

[0099] In one embodiment, the region size parameter is obtained by any one of the following:

[0100] The first item: receiving the room size parameter and using the room size parameter as the area size parameter;

[0101] The second item: determine the area size parameter through the distance parameter detected by the distance detector;

[0102] Item 3: Perform camera visual recognition through conference equipment and equipment to be expanded to determine area size parameters;

[0103] Item 4: Use conference equipment to perform binocular distance measurement and determine area size parameters.

[0104] Specifically, the conference area where the conference tables and chairs are located is the conference room, and the area size parameters are the size parameters of the conference room, which are actually the room size parameters. There is no unique way to obtain the room size parameters, which can be manually input by the user (the user can obtain it by manual measurement or viewing the design drawings), or obtained by other distance detection methods, which are not specifically limited.

[0105] In the solution of this embodiment, other distance measurement means may be distance measurement by distance detector, distance measurement by camera visual recognition or distance measurement by binocular camera. When distance measurement by distance detector is adopted, distance detector needs to be set in conference equipment, and when distance measurement by binocular camera is adopted, binocular camera needs to be configured for conference equipment, and the selection can be made according to actual needs. The type of distance detector is not limited, and it may be ultrasonic distance detector or infrared distance detector, etc., which is not specifically limited.

[0106] See also Fig.14 In one embodiment, after step 102 , the method further includes steps 142 and 144 .

[0107] Step 142: Detect whether the sound pickup coverage rate corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage range information is greater than or equal to a preset coverage rate threshold.

[0108] If the sound pickup coverage is less than the preset coverage threshold, step 104 is executed.

[0109] Step 144: if the sound pickup coverage is greater than or equal to the preset coverage threshold, the sound pickup expansion operation is terminated.

[0110] Specifically, the preset coverage rate threshold is the preset minimum value that the proportion of the pickup coverage range in the target pickup area must reach when the pickup coverage area can meet the conference requirements. The pickup coverage rate corresponding to the first pickup coverage range information is the proportion of the pickup coverage area corresponding to the first pickup coverage range information in the target pickup area. In the scheme of this embodiment, the processor also pre-stores a preset coverage rate threshold. After obtaining the first pickup coverage range information of the conference equipment in the target pickup area, the pickup coverage rate is analyzed and compared with the preset coverage rate threshold. If the pickup coverage rate is greater than or equal to the preset coverage rate threshold, it means that the pickup range corresponding to the first pickup coverage range information can meet the conference requirements at this time, and there is no need to expand the pickup at this time. Therefore, in this case, the pickup expansion operation is directly terminated. In the case where the pickup coverage rate is detected to be less than the preset coverage rate threshold, further pickup expansion analysis is required to add the device to be expanded for pickup.

[0111] The above scheme, after obtaining the first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area, further analyzes whether there is a need for sound pickup expansion. When there is no need for sound pickup expansion, the sound pickup expansion is stopped, thereby further improving the expansion reliability of the sound pickup expansion.

[0112] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, the present application is explained below in conjunction with more detailed embodiments.

[0113] First, after the conference device is started and receives the relevant instructions for sound pickup expansion, the processor obtains the room size parameters according to user input, ultrasonic ranging, camera visual ranging or binocular ranging, and uses them as the size parameters of the target sound pickup area to finally determine the conference area. In addition, the processor can also obtain the position parameters and size parameters of the conference tables and chairs according to user input or camera visual recognition to determine the target sound pickup area, and display the conference area and the target sound pickup area in the form of images on the remote device for the user to view.

[0114] Then, the T60 reverberation time is obtained by using the test sound wave signal played by the conference device and the microphone of the conference device to receive the sound, or by using the test sound wave signal played by the conference device and the sound received by the device to be expanded, or by using the test sound wave signal played by one of the devices to be expanded and the sound received by the other device to be expanded. The T60 reverberation time is matched in the first correspondence relationship and the second correspondence relationship respectively to obtain the pickup distance information of the conference device and the pickup distance information of the device to be expanded. The first pickup coverage range information of the conference device in the target pickup area is determined by the pickup distance, and the second pickup coverage range information of the device to be expanded is determined by the pickup distance information.

[0115] Then, the device to be expanded is assumed to be at different positions of the target sound pickup area in a loop, and the sound pickup coverage range growth rate is calculated based on the second sound pickup coverage range information of each position point, the first sound pickup coverage range information, and the first area range information of the target sound pickup area. Finally, the expansion plan corresponding to the sound pickup coverage range growth rate greater than or equal to the preset growth threshold is recommended to the user through the remote device.

[0116] If the processor receives a confirmation instruction returned by the user according to the expansion plan within the preset time, it is considered that the user agrees to place the devices to be expanded according to the pushed expansion plan. The processor will further detect the placement of the devices to be expanded. When the positions corresponding to the position information in the expansion plan are all located, the sound pickup expansion is considered to be completed and a prompt message of successful expansion is output.

[0117] If the processor receives an instruction not to expand with the current expansion plan within a preset time, or does not receive any instruction within a preset time, it is considered that the user does not want to expand the sound pickup with the pushed expansion plan. The processor can directly end the sound pickup expansion, or output the target sound pickup area, the first sound pickup coverage information, etc. in the form of a picture or video, and the user determines the number and position of the devices to be expanded, that is, manually placing the devices to be expanded.

[0118] For example, in a more detailed embodiment, the conference area is a 7m*8m room. First, we look at the area that the conference equipment can cover, and then try to let the expansion equipment (specifically, the expansion microphone) cover the rest. The wide side of the room is 8 meters. If there are two expansion microphones, they can cover 7.6 meters. Three expansion microphones will cover 10.8 meters, which is a bit wasteful. So we will first look at the two. Fig.15 and Fig.16 When expanding the pickup, the goal is to cover as many positions as possible near the table at a certain distance. By calculating the coverage area, we get Fig.15 is the best position, the processor will Fig.15 The number and position information of the corresponding extended microphones are output to the user.

[0119] If the user does not accept the above extension method, the user can also manually set the room and conference table and chairs according to the remote device. Fig.17 The expansion scheme described.

[0120] It should be understood that, although the various steps in the flowcharts involved in the above-mentioned embodiments are displayed in sequence according to the indication of the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in sequence according to the order indicated by the arrows. Unless there is a clear explanation in this article, the execution of these steps does not have a strict order restriction, and these steps can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least a part of the steps in the flowcharts involved in the above-mentioned embodiments can include multiple steps or multiple stages, and these steps or stages are not necessarily executed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and the execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily to be carried out in sequence, but can be executed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a part of the steps or stages in other steps.

[0121] See also Fig.18 The present application also provides a conference device, including a camera 181, a microphone 182, a speaker 183, a memory 184 and a processor 185, wherein the memory 184 stores a computer program, and the processor 185 implements the steps of the above-mentioned sound pickup expansion method when executing the computer program.

[0122] Specifically, the specific implementation of the sound pickup expansion method is as shown in the above-mentioned embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and will not be repeated here. This scheme first obtains the first sound pickup coverage information that the conference device can cover in the target sound pickup area, and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded, and then combines the first sound pickup coverage information and the sound pickup distance information to cyclically obtain the sound pickup coverage growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one device to be expanded is in different positions of the target sound pickup area. When the sound pickup coverage growth rate is greater than or equal to the preset growth threshold, the number of devices to be expanded corresponding to the sound pickup coverage growth rate and the location information of the devices to be expanded in the target sound pickup area are pushed. This scheme uses the devices to be expanded with sound pickup function to expand the sound pickup coverage of the target sound pickup area, and the user can add the devices to be expanded according to the number of devices to be expanded and the location information in the target sound pickup area. As a result, when the user is far away from the conference device, the device to be expanded can still be used for effective sound pickup, thereby improving the sound pickup reliability.

[0123] The present application also provides a conference system, including a conference device and a device to be expanded, wherein the conference device is used to implement the steps of the above-mentioned sound pickup expansion method.

[0124] Specifically. The specific implementation of the sound pickup expansion method is shown in the above-mentioned embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and will not be repeated here. This scheme first obtains the first sound pickup coverage information that the conference device can cover in the target sound pickup area, and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded, and then combines the first sound pickup coverage information and the sound pickup distance information to cyclically obtain the sound pickup coverage growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one device to be expanded is in different positions of the target sound pickup area. When the sound pickup coverage growth rate is greater than or equal to the preset growth threshold, the number of devices to be expanded corresponding to the sound pickup coverage growth rate and the location information of the devices to be expanded in the target sound pickup area are pushed. This scheme uses the devices to be expanded with sound pickup function to expand the sound pickup coverage of the target sound pickup area, and the user can add the devices to be expanded according to the number of devices to be expanded and the location information in the target sound pickup area. As a result, when the user is far away from the conference device, the device to be expanded can still be used for effective sound pickup, thereby improving the sound pickup reliability.

[0125] The specific type of the device to be expanded is not unique, as long as it can communicate with the conference device and has the function of picking up sound. For example, in a more detailed embodiment, the device to be expanded can be an expansion microphone, that is, through the technical solution of the present application, the connection between the conference device and at least one expansion microphone is realized. Furthermore, in another embodiment, the device to be expanded can also be a conference device, that is, through the solution of this embodiment, the connection between multiple conference devices is realized.

[0126] The technical features of the above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0127] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be construed as limiting the scope of the present application. It should be noted that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A sound pickup expansion method, characterized in that: include: Obtaining the first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded; According to the first sound pickup coverage information and the sound pickup distance information, acquiring a sound pickup coverage growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one of the devices to be expanded is located at different positions of the target sound pickup area; If the growth rate of the sound pickup coverage area is greater than or equal to a preset growth threshold, the number of the devices to be expanded and the location information of the devices to be expanded in the target sound pickup area are output.

2. The sound pickup expansion method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before obtaining the first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded, the method further includes: Get the position and size parameters of the conference table and chairs, and determine the target pickup area.

3. The sound pickup expansion method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The obtaining of the position parameters and size parameters of the conference tables and chairs and determining the target sound pickup area includes: Get the image information of conference tables and chairs; Determine the position parameters and size parameters of conference tables and chairs according to the image information; The target sound pickup area is determined according to the position parameter and the size parameter.

4. The sound pickup expansion method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The obtaining of the position parameters and size parameters of the conference tables and chairs and determining the target sound pickup area includes: The position parameters and size parameters of the conference table and chairs are received, and a target sound pickup area is determined according to the position parameters and size parameters.

5. The sound pickup expansion method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: If the growth rate of the sound pickup coverage range is greater than or equal to a preset growth threshold, after outputting the number of devices to be expanded and the location information of the devices to be expanded in the target sound pickup area, the method further includes: Detect whether a confirmation instruction is received within a preset time; If the confirmation instruction is received, detecting whether the device to be expanded is located at a location point corresponding to the location information; If the device to be expanded is located at the location, output a prompt message indicating that the expansion is successful.

6. The sound pickup expansion method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The detecting whether the device to be expanded is located at a location point corresponding to the location information includes: Acquire distance information between the conference device and the device to be expanded; According to the distance information, it is checked whether the device to be expanded is located at a location point corresponding to the location information.

7. The sound pickup expansion method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The obtaining of the first sound pickup coverage range information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area includes: obtaining the reverberation time and the area range information of the target sound pickup area; determining the sound pickup distance of the conference device according to the reverberation time and a first correspondence between the preset reverberation time and the sound pickup distance; determining the first sound pickup coverage range information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area according to the sound pickup distance and the area range information; And / or, obtaining the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded includes: obtaining the reverberation time, and determining the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded according to the reverberation time and a preset second correspondence between the reverberation time and the sound pickup distance.

8. The sound pickup expansion method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The method for obtaining the reverberation time includes at least one of the following: Item 1: Acquire a first sound reception curve when the test sound wave signal played by the conference device is received by a microphone of the conference device; Determining the reverberation time according to the first sound collection curve; Item 2: Acquire a second sound reception curve when the test sound wave signal played by the conference device is received by the device to be expanded; Determining the reverberation time according to the second sound recording curve; Item 3: Obtaining a third sound reception curve when the test sound wave signal played by one of the devices to be expanded is received by another device to be expanded; The reverberation time is determined according to the third sound recording curve.

9. The sound pickup expansion method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The acquiring, according to the first sound pickup coverage range information and the sound pickup distance information, a sound pickup coverage range growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one of the devices to be expanded is located at different positions of the target sound pickup area, comprises: Obtain first area range information of the target sound pickup area; Determine, according to the sound pickup distance information, second sound pickup coverage information of the device to be expanded at different positions of the target sound pickup area; A sound pickup coverage range growth rate is determined according to the first sound pickup coverage range information, the second sound pickup coverage range information and the first area range information.

10. The sound pickup expansion method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: Before obtaining the first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded, the method further includes: Acquire first area range information of the target sound pickup area and second area range information of the conference area where the conference tables and chairs are located; The first area range information and the second area range information are pushed.

11. The sound pickup expansion method according to claim 10, characterized in that: The method for obtaining the region size parameter includes any of the following: Item 1: receiving a room size parameter, and using the room size parameter as a region size parameter; Item 2: Determine the area size parameter by using the distance parameter detected by the distance detector; Item 3: Performing camera visual recognition on the conference device and the device to be expanded to determine area size parameters; Item 4: The conference device is used to perform binocular distance measurement to determine the area size parameters.

12. The sound pickup expansion method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: After obtaining the first sound pickup coverage information of the conference device in the target sound pickup area and the sound pickup distance information of the device to be expanded, the method further includes: Detecting whether the sound pickup coverage rate corresponding to the first sound pickup coverage range information is greater than or equal to a preset coverage rate threshold; If the sound pickup coverage rate is less than the preset coverage rate threshold, performing the step of obtaining, according to the first sound pickup coverage range information and the sound pickup distance information, a sound pickup coverage range growth rate of the target sound pickup area when at least one of the devices to be expanded is located at different positions of the target sound pickup area; If the sound pickup coverage is greater than or equal to the preset coverage threshold, the sound pickup expansion operation is terminated.

13. A conference device, comprising a camera, a microphone, a speaker, a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, characterized in that: When the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the sound pickup expansion method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 are implemented.

14. A conference system, characterized in that: It comprises a conference device and a device to be expanded, wherein the conference device is used to implement the steps of the sound pickup expansion method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. The conference system according to claim 14, characterized in that: The device to be expanded includes an expansion microphone or an expansion conference device.

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