Sound area configuration method for visual ceiling microphone, electronic device, and storage medium

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention are a sound area configuration method for a visual ceiling microphone, an electronic device, and a storage medium. The sound area configuration method for a visual ceiling microphone comprises: after a ceiling microphone device is hoisted, deployed, and debugged in a conference room, acquiring a floor plan of the conference room input by the configuration personnel; acquiring a simulated ceiling microphone device added to or removed from the floor plan by the configuration personnel, and obtaining data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device; and acquiring an online ceiling microphone device, and issuing the data and the parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device to the ceiling microphone device.

Description

Visual ceiling microphone zone configuration method, electronic device and storage medium

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202311696400.6 filed on December 11, 2023 and Chinese patent application No. 202410752667.0 filed on June 12, 2024. The entire contents of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of ceiling microphones, and in particular to a method for configuring visual ceiling microphone sound zones, an electronic device, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0004] Large array microphones are primarily found in high-end ceiling microphones, often featuring at least 28 microphones and up to 100 or more. These arrays are installed in large spaces like conference rooms and lecture halls, collecting sound for remote calls or local sound reinforcement.

[0005] High-end ceiling microphones use either a petal-shaped pickup pattern or a matrix-shaped pickup pattern. In the petal-shaped pickup pattern, since the equipment is installed in a large indoor space, the coverage scheme uses a high-end ceiling microphone as the center, with multiple conical pickup patterns divided 360 degrees to cover the area below the microphone. In the rectangular pickup pattern, the coverage scheme uses the flat area covered by a single device as the basis, and arbitrarily divides the rectangular pickup pattern within that area.

[0006] The inventors discovered that the aforementioned pickup zone implementations are unable to provide precise coverage of indoor spaces. Specifically, the petal-shaped pickup zone configuration scheme cannot precisely capture sound from specific flat surfaces; it can only roughly control the coverage of the projection area by adjusting the pitch angle of the cone-shaped beam projected by the high-end ceiling microphone. Compared to the petal-shaped pickup zone, the rectangular pickup zone configuration scheme can better capture sound from flat surfaces, but it can only capture rectangular areas, so areas that are not intended to be captured will also be framed.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone, an electronic device, and a storage medium, for solving at least one of the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0009] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone sound zone, comprising: after the ceiling microphone device is hoisted, deployed and debugged in the conference room, obtaining a floor plan of the conference room imported by a configuration personnel; obtaining the configuration personnel to add or remove a simulated ceiling microphone device in the floor plan to obtain data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device; obtaining an online ceiling microphone device, and sending the data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device to the ceiling microphone device.

[0010] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device comprising: at least one processor, and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform any of the above-mentioned methods for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone of the present invention.

[0011] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium storing one or more programs including execution instructions, wherein the execution instructions can be read and executed by an electronic device (including but not limited to a computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute any of the above-mentioned visual ceiling microphone zone configuration methods of the present invention.

[0012] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program stored on a storage medium, wherein the computer program comprises program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer is caused to execute any of the above-mentioned methods for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone.

[0013] The method in this application uses a top-down view of a mock conference room as a canvas. Then, a mock ceiling microphone is added to set the placement and height of the ceiling microphone. Call pickup zones and amplified pickup zones are then added to the simulated device to set the device's pickup range. Once configured, the computer where the software is installed and the ceiling microphone are placed on the same network. The simulated data set in the software is then sent to the real ceiling microphone, which will automatically take effect, achieving precise pickup settings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0015] FIG1 is a flow chart of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] FIG2 is a flowchart of another method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] FIG3 is a configuration diagram of a sound pickup area according to a related art embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] FIG4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a sound pickup area according to a specific example of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone sound area provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] FIG5 is a flowchart of a specific example of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] FIG6 is a flowchart of a ceiling microphone sound zone configuration method according to a specific example of a visual ceiling microphone sound zone configuration method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] FIG7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein simulated data is sent to a real device;

[0022] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a specific example of a method for configuring sound zones for a visual ceiling microphone provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIG9 is a schematic diagram illustrating data distribution according to a specific example of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] Please refer to FIG. 1 , which shows a flow chart of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] As shown in FIG1 , in step 101, after the ceiling microphone device is hoisted, deployed, and debugged in the conference room, a floor plan of the conference room imported by a configuration personnel is obtained;

[0028] In step 102, the configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view, and obtains data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device;

[0029] In step 103, an online ceiling microphone device is obtained, and the data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device are sent to the ceiling microphone device.

[0030] In this embodiment, step 101 requires first installing the ceiling microphone in the conference room and commissioning it. Specifically, it can be preferably installed closer to the sound pickup area or in the center of the conference room, though there are no restrictions. After installation and commissioning, the configuration software connected to the ceiling microphone requires access to the conference room floor plan imported by the configuration personnel.

[0031] Then, for step 102, after obtaining the floor plan, it is also necessary to obtain the configuration personnel to add or remove the simulated ceiling microphone device in the floor plan, and at the same time, the sound zone configuration of the simulated ceiling microphone can be set. For example, the ceiling microphone device arranged in the conference room can be one or more, which can be determined according to the area of ​​the conference room. For example, if the area of ​​the conference room is less than or equal to 60 square meters, only one can be set. If the area of ​​the conference room is greater than 60 square meters, two can be set, and so on. I will not go into details here.

[0032] Finally, in step 103, the visual ceiling microphone zone configuration device and the ceiling microphone device are placed on the same local area network, enabling communication between the visual ceiling microphone zone configuration device and the ceiling microphone. Opening the visual ceiling microphone zone configuration device automatically discovers online ceiling microphone devices. After acquiring online ceiling microphone devices, the simulated ceiling microphone device data and parameters are transmitted to the ceiling microphone device via a proprietary protocol, completing the ceiling microphone audio parameter configuration and mapping the simulated sound pickup configuration to the real environment.

[0033] The method of this embodiment uses the above solution to add or remove simulated ceiling microphone devices after the ceiling microphone devices are deployed and debugged, and then sends the data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone devices to the real ceiling microphone devices, thereby achieving accurate sound pickup settings.

[0034] In some optional embodiments, obtaining the configuration personnel to add or remove the simulated ceiling microphone device in the floor plan includes: obtaining the configuration personnel to set the sound zone configuration of the simulated ceiling microphone device in the floor plan, so that the configuration personnel can customize each pickup zone of the conference room, wherein the sound zone configuration includes a call pickup zone and a sound amplification pickup zone.

[0035] For example, for the sound amplification pickup area, a ceiling microphone is configured to collect the sound in the sound amplification pickup area, and then sent to the local sound amplification module, and low-latency and high-fidelity sound amplification is achieved through the AI-AFC (Adaptive Feedback Cancellation, a howling suppression method) module; for the call pickup area, the high-end ceiling microphone is configured to collect the sound in the call pickup area, and then sent to the remote call module, and the processed audio is transmitted to the remote end through the AI ​​noise reduction module, AI de-reverberation module and AI automatic gain module; for the silent area, the high-end ceiling microphone is configured to collect the sound in the silent area, and then the sound in the silent area is shielded and neither transmitted to the remote end nor amplified. By setting different pickup areas, the sounds in different areas can be processed differently, thereby realizing the function of the pickup area.

[0036] In some optional embodiments, the configuration of the call pickup area includes a mute switch, AES (Acoustic Echo Suppression) level configuration, equalizer configuration, AGC (Automatic Gain Control) configuration, output gain, steady-state noise reduction level, AI noise reduction level, and reverberation suppression level.

[0037] AES, or acoustic echo suppression, is a technology used to reduce echo interference and is commonly used in voice communication systems (such as conference calls and video calls). Echo occurs when a sound signal, after being played through a speaker, is recaptured by a microphone, causing the user to hear their own voice. The main purpose of AES is to reduce this echo through signal processing algorithms, thereby improving communication quality.

[0038] An equalizer (EQ) is an audio processing technique used to adjust the volume of different frequency ranges in an audio signal. This can help improve the overall sound quality of the audio or emphasize certain frequency characteristics. EQ is widely used in music production, broadcasting, recording, and real-time audio processing.

[0039] AGC is a technology that automatically adjusts the gain of an audio signal to maintain a constant output signal amplitude. AGC is widely used in various audio devices, such as audio amplifiers, recording equipment, and communication systems. AGC works by measuring the input signal strength and adjusting the gain based on these measurements to ensure that the output signal amplitude remains within a controllable range.

[0040] In some optional embodiments, the configuration of the sound amplification pickup area includes a sound amplification area channel switch, AFC level configuration, equalizer configuration, AGC configuration, output gain, steady-state noise reduction level, AI noise reduction level, and reverberation suppression level.

[0041] AFC is a technology that eliminates feedback in sound systems through self-adjustment. It is widely used in sound reinforcement systems, teleconferencing systems, hearing aids, conference rooms, public address systems, and smart speakers. For example, in sound reinforcement systems, feedback between microphones and speakers can easily occur, causing high-frequency howling. AFC can detect and eliminate this feedback in real time, ensuring clean, noise-free sound.

[0042] Please further refer to Figure 2, which shows another method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone sound zone provided by an embodiment of the present invention. This flowchart is mainly a flowchart of the steps that further define the process of "obtaining the configuration personnel to add or remove simulated ceiling microphone equipment in the plan view" in flowchart 1.

[0043] As shown in FIG2 , in step 201, the position of the ceiling microphone device on the plan view and the height of the ceiling microphone device above the ground, as calibrated by the configuration personnel, are obtained. Based on the position and the height above the ground, the ceiling microphone device is mapped onto the plan view and the beam coverage density per unit area is calculated.

[0044] In step 202, in response to the configuration personnel drawing each pickup zone in the conference room on the plan and setting the pickup zone type of each pickup zone, it is determined whether each drawn pickup zone meets the corresponding pickup zone beam coverage requirement;

[0045] In step 203, if the corresponding sound pickup area beam coverage requirement is met, the configuration information of the simulated ceiling microphone device is adjusted to realize the functions of different sound pickup areas.

[0046] In this embodiment, for step 201, after obtaining the floor plan, it is also necessary to obtain the position and height from the ground of the high-end ceiling microphone calibrated by the configuration personnel in the floor plan, and then map the high-end ceiling microphone to the floor plan based on the position and height from the ground and calculate the beam coverage density per unit area. If the beam coverage density does not meet the preset requirements, it is necessary to adjust the installation position of the high-end ceiling microphone, where the preset requirements can be that the number of beams per unit area is not less than 10, or not less than 8, which will not be elaborated here. The number of high-end ceiling microphones arranged in the conference room can be one or more, which can be determined specifically according to the area of ​​the conference room. For example, if the conference room area is less than or equal to 60 square meters, only one can be set; if the conference room area is greater than 60 square meters, two can be set, and so on, which will not be elaborated here.

[0047] Then, for step 202, the pickup areas drawn by the configuration personnel on the floor plan and the pickup area types set for each pickup area are obtained to determine whether the drawn pickup areas meet the corresponding pickup area beam coverage requirements, where the pickup area types may include amplification pickup areas and call pickup areas.

[0048] Finally, for step 203, if the pickup areas drawn by the configuration personnel meet the corresponding pickup area beam coverage requirements, the functions of different types of pickup areas can be realized by adjusting the configuration information of the simulated ceiling microphone device. For example, the call pickup area can perform targeted processing on the call after picking up the sound, and the sound amplification pickup area can perform sound amplification processing after picking up the sound, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0049] Furthermore, if the pickup areas drawn by the configuration personnel do not meet the corresponding pickup area beam coverage requirements, the configuration personnel will be prompted that the pickup areas drawn are unavailable. For example, when the pickup area drawn by the user or the pickup area type set is unreasonable, it will not meet the pickup area beam coverage requirements. At this time, the drawn pickup area will prompt that it is unavailable, such as using a red frame display, or text or voice prompt that the area is unavailable. This application is not limited here. Furthermore, the functions of different types of pickup areas can be realized by adjusting the configuration information of the high-end ceiling microphone. For example, the silent area can mute the sound in the area after picking up the sound, the call pickup area can perform targeted call processing after picking up the sound, and the amplified pickup area can amplify the sound after picking up the sound, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0050] The method of this embodiment uses the above solution to divide the pickup zones and implement the functions of the pickup zones after the high-end ceiling microphone is deployed and debugged, so that configuration personnel can customize the pickup zones of the conference room.

[0051] In some optional embodiments, the acquiring configuration personnel adding or removing a simulated ceiling microphone device from the floor plan further includes:

[0052] The configuration personnel draw different pickup areas in the conference room on the floor plan, including selecting areas where pickup is required and avoiding areas where pickup is not required by drawing points. The shape of the pickup area supports irregular shapes. Specifically, when drawing the pickup area, the user can use irregular shapes, such as "L" shape, "F" shape, "concave" shape, etc., which are not limited in this application.

[0053] In some optional embodiments, after the configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view and obtains the data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device, the method includes:

[0054] The data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device are set to the first simulated ceiling microphone configuration. Then, the configuration personnel can add or remove the simulated ceiling microphone device from the floor plan to obtain the second simulated ceiling microphone configuration. This allows you to set up multiple ceiling microphone configurations based on the conference room's usage scenario.

[0055] In some optional embodiments, obtaining an online ceiling microphone device and transmitting the data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device to the ceiling microphone device further includes obtaining a first set of simulated ceiling microphone configurations or a second set of simulated ceiling microphone configurations selected by a configuration personnel, and transmitting the first set of simulated ceiling microphone configurations or the second set of simulated ceiling microphone configurations to the ceiling microphone device. This allows for flexible switching of ceiling microphone configurations based on different conference room usage scenarios.

[0056] In some optional embodiments, if there are multiple call pickup zones, the method further includes: in response to the configuration personnel's priority configuration of the multiple call pickup zones, preferentially picking up and processing the audio of the call pickup zones with higher priorities. For example, if there are three call pickup zones, the user can choose to configure the priorities of these three call pickup zones, so that the audio of the call pickup zones with higher priorities will be picked up and processed first.

[0057] In some optional embodiments, the high-end ceiling microphone has more than 800 pickup beams, and the high-end ceiling microphone includes at least 10 available beams per square meter, so that the pickup beams per unit area are sufficient to meet various subsequent processing requirements.

[0058] In some optional embodiments, the directivity, narrow beam width, and anti-interference capability of each beam meet the 20dB isolation of the pickup area, thereby ensuring that the isolation of the pickup area is good enough to better meet various subsequent processing requirements.

[0059] To meet various subsequent processing requirements, the high-end ceiling microphone is positioned at a height of 2.7m or greater and 5m or less above the ground. This ensures that the high-end ceiling microphone has a moderate effective sound pickup distance, allowing the beam to spread out in a flat space without being too sparse, thereby minimizing the microphone's sound pickup performance.

[0060] In a specific example, the inventors found that the implementation of the sound pickup area depends on the number of sound pickup waves per unit area, and the more sound pickup areas per unit area there are, the more difficult it is to implement the signal algorithm.

[0061] High-end ceiling microphones all involve configuring a pickup zone. Regardless of how the pickup zone is configured, the fundamental requirement is that it must contain at least one pickup beam. These high-end ceiling microphones often have eight or more beams within their pickup zones, and the more beams, the more difficult it is to achieve. Pickup beaming is a sound capture and localization technology that uses an array microphone or sensor to focus and capture sound in a specific direction.

[0062] Please refer to FIG3 , the left side shows a petal-shaped pickup area configuration scheme, and the right side shows a rectangular pickup area configuration scheme.

[0063] Among them, the petal-shaped pickup area is formed by the projection of multiple fixed beam combinations, so it has been solidified in the equipment program during product design. The projected petal pickup area is roughly adjusted by adjusting the pitch angle of the combined beam.

[0064] Rectangular pickup zones offer greater flexibility. Each beam's pitch angle is fixed and projected onto a flat surface. Equipment deployers draw rectangular pickup zones based on the equipment's mounting location and the desired pickup area below it. These zones can be large or small, granularly defined to specific locations, and their boundaries can be controlled. The only requirement is that the rectangular zone contain at least one beam projection. The more beam projections per unit area, the finer the rectangular zone.

[0065] For conference scenarios with irregular indoor layouts, configuring a rectangular pickup area may include areas that do not need to be covered. For example, the air conditioning cabinet in Figure 4 cannot be avoided by selecting a rectangular pickup area. In this case, it is necessary to draw the irregular pickup area below.

[0066] As shown in Figure 4, the solution of the embodiment of the present application is aimed at the scenarios covered by high-end ceiling microphone products, and has introduced the ability to support configurable irregular pickup areas. At the same time, the pickup areas can be defined into three different types: amplification pickup areas, call pickup areas, and silent areas. For different purposes, combined with the flexible configuration of the shape of the pickup areas, the product can better meet the pickup and amplification needs in different conference scenarios. In addition, we also provide priority configuration for the call pickup areas to ensure that the voices of speakers in fixed areas are picked up first. Among them, the number of call pickup areas can be up to 6 or 8, and this application has no restrictions here. The priority setting can be set when configuring the high-end ceiling microphone, or it can be temporarily modified during the meeting, which will not be elaborated here.

[0067] The irregular pickup area appears to have a different shape, but in fact it has a higher requirement on the number of pickup beams per unit area. When drawing the irregular pickup area, it must be ensured that the necessary number of pickup beams are included in any case to ensure the best pickup and amplification effects of the pickup area.

[0068] As mentioned above, the three pickup zone types provide a call pickup zone for remote calls, a dedicated amplification pickup zone for local sound amplification, and a quiet zone designed to shield noise sources or other areas not needed for sound pickup. Implementing these three pickup zone types also requires sufficient isolation between the pickup zones. When the call pickup zone and the amplification pickup zone are placed adjacent to each other, they do not interfere with each other. The isolation of the pickup zones refers to the degree to which the audio signal is separated from external interference or other sound sources during recording. The quality of isolation directly affects the clarity and quality of the audio.

[0069] The realization of the quiet zone is to separate the sound signals outside the quiet zone from the signals within the quiet zone through sound source positioning and separation algorithms, thereby capturing and silencing the sounds within the quiet zone.

[0070] The realization of the sound amplification pickup area performs signal processing on the sound signals captured by the microphone, such as equalization and dynamic range control, to optimize the sound quality and adapt to different environmental requirements, and amplify the sound in the pickup area and transmit it through the sound amplification system.

[0071] The call pickup area is implemented to process the sound signals captured by the microphone, such as AI noise reduction, AI dereverberation, AI automatic gain, etc., and finally transmit the sound to the remote device through the cloud conference software.

[0072] Configuring irregular pickup zones requires a sufficient number of high-end ceiling microphones to achieve sufficient fixed beams and a high enough beam density per unit area. This ensures that when drawing the pickup zone, there is no need to overly consider whether sufficient beams can be covered, which could lead to a poor pickup experience. However, achieving a sufficient number of microphones and fixed beams presents significant technical challenges. For example, at least 10 usable beams must be available per square meter, and each beam must have sufficient directivity, narrow beam width, and anti-interference capabilities to achieve a 20dB isolation level in the pickup zone. Due to these challenges, configuring irregular pickup zones has not been implemented in previous product solutions.

[0073] The pickup zones are categorized into call pickup zones, amplification pickup zones, and quiet zones, allowing for flexible adaptation to various pickup requirements in conference scenarios. However, the isolation in each zone must be sufficiently large and stable to achieve the desired effect. Examples include AI noise reduction, AI dereverberation, and clear sound quality in the call pickup zone; low latency, high fidelity, and over 10dB amplification in the amplification pickup zone; and absolute sound shielding in the quiet pickup zone.

[0074] Further referring to FIG5 , it shows a flow chart of configuration of the pickup area.

[0075] In the embodiment of the present application, when configuring the pickup area for a high-end ceiling microphone, accurate plane mapping must be performed strictly according to the position of the indoor space where the high-end ceiling microphone is located. The specific process is as follows:

[0076] Step 1: Complete the indoor installation, deployment, and commissioning of the high-end ceiling microphone. For example, if there are supporting products, commissioning and coordination are required.

[0077] Step 2: Import the floor plan of the conference room into the configuration software;

[0078] Step 3: Accurately calibrate the high-end ceiling microphone's position on the floor plan and its height from the ground. The recommended height is greater than 2.7 meters and less than 5 meters. If it's too low, the effective pickup range of the high-end ceiling microphone will be too small, and the beam will not be able to spread across the plane. If it's too high, the beam distribution will be too sparse, affecting the high-end ceiling microphone's sound pickup performance.

[0079] Step 4: Multi-channel signal algorithms place very high demands on the system. Specifically, high-end ceiling microphones require sufficient microphone channels to receive sound signals and an appropriate microphone array to meet beamforming and sound source localization requirements. The selection, layout, and calibration of the microphone array are critical challenges. Secondly, in multi-beam scenarios, interference and echo in the environment can impact algorithm performance, necessitating appropriate interference suppression and echo cancellation techniques to improve target signal intelligibility. Finally, multi-beam scenarios may require real-time processing, necessitating consideration of the algorithm's computational complexity and real-time performance. Advanced algorithm models can require significant computing resources, necessitating careful consideration and optimization in practical applications. Within a controlled mounting height, high-end ceiling microphones require high-density beam coverage. Generally, a single unit can cover a 60-square-meter area, with at least 10 beams per square meter. Therefore, to ensure high-quality sound pickup and effective per-unit area, a total of at least 800 beams is required.

[0080] Step 5: Step 4 is the basis for Step 5. In the configuration software, draw the required pickup area by drawing points on the floor plan, avoiding areas that do not need to be picked up, and select the area that must be picked up. The effectiveness of the pickup area is closely related to the number of beams it covers.

[0081] Step 6: On the basis of satisfying step 4, an irregular pickup area can be drawn, which needs to satisfy that the number of beams per unit square is more than 10.

[0082] Steps 7 to 9: Set the pickup zone type, which can be set to amplification pickup zone, call pickup zone, and silent zone.

[0083] Step 10: If the amplification pickup zone is set, the sound in the irregular pickup zone is collected and sent directly to the local amplification module, and low-latency and high-fidelity amplification is achieved through the AI-AFC module; if the silent zone is set, the sound picked up in the irregular pickup zone will be completely shielded and will not be transmitted to the remote end or amplified; if the call pickup zone is set, it will be sent directly to the remote call module, and clear audio will be transmitted to the remote end through modules such as AI noise reduction, AI dereverberation, and AI automatic gain.

[0084] In this application's embodiments, a high-end ceiling microphone specifically refers to a ceiling microphone device with nearly 100 digital microphones. This refers to a large microphone array device that must support both remote conferencing and local sound amplification. A single unit is suitable for meeting spaces of approximately 60 square meters, and cascading can accommodate larger spaces. In one specific example, a single high-end ceiling microphone supports over 800 pickup beams, with at least 10 independent beams per square meter.

[0085] A single beam has better directionality and stronger anti-interference ability. Specifically, the effect of the multiple beam sets contained in the pickup area can make the pickup area more isolated, without interference between different types of pickup areas, and there is a clear distinction between the inside and outside of the pickup area.

[0086] Please refer to FIG. 6 , which shows a flowchart of a ceiling microphone zone configuration according to a specific example of a method for visually configuring a ceiling microphone zone provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0087] As shown in Figure 6, create a canvas using a bird's-eye view of the mock conference room plane. Using the plane coordinates as a reference, you can add model devices to set their deployment positions and heights. Then, by adding call pickup zones and amplification pickup zones to the simulated devices, you can set the device's pickup range. Once configured, connect the computer where the software is installed and the ceiling microphone to the same network. The software will automatically establish communication with them. Send the simulated data set in the software to the actual ceiling microphone device, and it will automatically take effect, achieving precise pickup settings.

[0088] For example, first install a ceiling microphone in a conference room and connect the microphone and software configuration to a POE switch to ensure network connectivity. The default pickup range is a 9-meter square centered on the device. Next, open the ceiling microphone configuration software, create a conference room, enter a description, and click "Scene Configuration" to begin setting the pickup area. For example, refer to the layout of the ceiling microphone for a conference and set the desired pickup area in the software. Finally, click Apply to deploy the configuration to the setup page. The device will then update its algorithm configuration based on the pickup area coordinates and adjust the pickup range.

[0089] Please refer to FIG. 7 , which shows a schematic diagram of sending simulated data to a real device in a specific example of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0090] As shown in Figure 7, after setting up the simulated ceiling microphone device, place the computer with the software installed and the ceiling microphone on the same network. The software will then automatically establish communication with the device. The simulated data set in the software will be sent to the actual ceiling microphone device, and the device will automatically take effect, achieving accurate sound pickup settings.

[0091] Please refer to FIG8 , which shows a sound zone configuration diagram of a specific example of a method for configuring sound zones of a visual ceiling microphone provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0092] As shown in Figure 8, create a drawing board in the software that simulates a conference room's overhead perspective. You can add and remove simulated ceiling microphone devices and set the simulated device's audio zones. These zones primarily include call pickup and amplification pickup. Call pickup zone configuration includes mute switch, AES level, EQ configuration, AGC configuration, gain, steady-state noise reduction level, AI noise reduction level, and reverberation suppression level. Amplification zone configuration includes amplification channel switch, AFC level configuration, EQ configuration, AGC configuration, output gain, steady-state noise reduction level, AI noise reduction level, and reverberation suppression level. These steps make setting ceiling microphone parameters more intuitive, efficient, and accurate. Multiple configurations can be set in the same conference room, allowing for flexible switching based on different scenarios.

[0093] Please refer to FIG. 9 , which shows a schematic diagram of data delivery according to a specific example of a method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0094] As shown in Figure 9, place the software and ceiling microphone device on the same local area network to enable communication between them. The software will automatically discover the online ceiling microphone device when you open it. The simulated ceiling microphone data and parameters set in step 1 are sent to the ceiling microphone via a proprietary protocol to complete the ceiling microphone audio parameter configuration and map the simulated sound pickup configuration to the real environment.

[0095] In the process of implementing this application, the inventors also adopted the following solutions: one is to relax the beam density requirement in the pickup zone, such as requiring at least one beam. This can reduce the number of pickup beams for high-end ceiling microphones, making their implementation easier. However, the actual effect of the pickup zone will be reduced, and isolation and boundaries will present significant issues. The value of an irregular pickup zone is lost, as it may be impossible to avoid areas on the edges where audio is not desired to be picked up. Another solution is to eliminate the need to distinguish between the amplification pickup zone and the call pickup zone, and by default, both are sent to the remote and local ends. Local amplification and long-distance calls have different sound requirements. Local amplification has higher requirements for sound quality and transmission delay, and it is necessary to avoid passing through unnecessary modules. The total end-to-end delay should be kept to 25dB as much as possible to avoid howling. Long-distance calls are less sensitive to delay and need to minimize local noise and reverberation. They also need to consider double talk, which requires more signal processing modules.

[0096] In other embodiments, the present invention further provides a non-volatile computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, which can execute the method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone in any of the above method embodiments.

[0097] As an embodiment, the non-volatile computer storage medium of the present invention stores computer-executable instructions, and the computer-executable instructions are configured as follows:

[0098] After the ceiling microphone device is hoisted, deployed, and debugged in the conference room, a floor plan of the conference room imported by the configuration personnel is obtained;

[0099] The configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view, and obtains data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device;

[0100] An online ceiling microphone device is obtained, and data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device are sent to the ceiling microphone device.

[0101] The non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system and application programs required for at least one function; the data storage area may store data generated based on the use of the visual ceiling microphone zone configuration device. Furthermore, the non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state memory device. In some embodiments, the non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may optionally include memory remotely located from the processor, and such remote memory may be connected to the visual ceiling microphone zone configuration device via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, an intranet, a local area network, a mobile communication network, and combinations thereof.

[0102] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program stored on a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer executes any of the above-mentioned methods for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone.

[0103] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10 , the device includes one or more processors 1010 and a memory 1020. Figure 10 uses one processor 1010 as an example. The device for implementing the method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone may also include an input device 1030 and an output device 1040. The processor 1010, memory 1020, input device 1030, and output device 1040 may be connected via a bus or other means. Figure 10 uses a bus connection as an example. Memory 1020 is the aforementioned non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. Processor 1010 executes the non-volatile software programs, instructions, and modules stored in memory 1020 to execute various server functions and data processing, thereby implementing the method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone according to the aforementioned embodiment. Input device 1030 can receive digital or character input and generate key signal input related to user settings and function control of the visual ceiling microphone zone configuration device. Output device 1040 may include a display device such as a screen.

[0104] The above-mentioned product can execute the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, and has the functional modules and beneficial effects corresponding to the execution method. For technical details not fully described in this embodiment, please refer to the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0105] As an embodiment, the electronic device described above is used in a device for configuring a visual ceiling microphone zone, and includes: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to:

[0106] After the ceiling microphone device is hoisted, deployed, and debugged in the conference room, a floor plan of the conference room imported by the configuration personnel is obtained;

[0107] The configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view, and obtains data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device;

[0108] An online ceiling microphone device is obtained, and data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device are sent to the ceiling microphone device.

[0109] The electronic devices of the embodiments of the present application exist in various forms, including but not limited to:

[0110] (1) Mobile communication devices: These devices are characterized by their mobile communication capabilities and primarily provide voice and data communications. These terminals include smartphones (e.g., iPhones), multimedia phones, feature phones, and low-end phones.

[0111] (2) Ultra-mobile personal computer devices: These devices fall under the category of personal computers, have computing and processing capabilities, and generally also have mobile Internet access. These terminals include PDAs, MIDs, and UMPCs, such as the iPad.

[0112] (3) Portable entertainment devices: These devices can display and play multimedia content. These devices include audio and video players (such as iPods), handheld game consoles, e-books, smart toys, and portable car navigation devices.

[0113] (4) Server: A device that provides computing services. The server consists of a processor, hard disk, memory, system bus, etc. The server is similar to a general computer architecture, but because it needs to provide highly reliable services, it has higher requirements in terms of processing power, stability, reliability, security, scalability, and manageability.

[0114] (5) Other electronic devices with data interaction functions.

[0115] The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units. That is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected based on actual needs to achieve the objectives of the present embodiment. Persons of ordinary skill in the art will be able to understand and implement the present invention without inventive effort.

[0116] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by means of software plus the necessary general hardware platform, or of course, by hardware. Based on this understanding, the essence of the above technical solution or the part that contributes to the existing technology can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc., and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods of each embodiment or certain parts of the embodiment.

[0117] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a visual ceiling microphone sound zone, comprising: After the ceiling microphone device is installed, deployed and debugged in the conference room, a floor plan of the conference room imported by the configuration personnel is obtained; The configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view, and obtains data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device; An online ceiling microphone device is obtained, and data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device are sent to the ceiling microphone device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The acquiring configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view, and further includes: The sound zone configuration of the simulated ceiling microphone device set by the configuration personnel in the plan view is obtained, wherein the sound zone configuration includes a call pickup zone configuration and a sound amplification pickup zone configuration.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The configuration of the call pickup area includes mute switch, AES level configuration, equalizer configuration, AGC configuration, output gain, steady-state noise reduction level, AI noise reduction level, and reverberation suppression level.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The configuration of the sound amplification pickup area includes the sound amplification area channel switch, AFC level configuration, equalizer configuration, AGC configuration, output gain, steady-state noise reduction level, AI noise reduction level, and reverberation suppression level.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The acquiring configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view, and further includes: Obtaining the position of the ceiling microphone device on the plan and the height of the ceiling microphone device from the ground calibrated by the configuration personnel, mapping the ceiling microphone device to the plan based on the position and the height from the ground and calculating the beam coverage density per unit area; In response to the configuration personnel drawing each pickup area in the conference room on the plan and setting the pickup area type of each pickup area, it is determined whether each drawn pickup area meets the corresponding Beam coverage requirements for pickup area; If the corresponding sound pickup area beam coverage requirements are met, the configuration information of the simulated ceiling microphone device is adjusted to realize the functions of different sound pickup areas.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The acquiring configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view, and further includes: The configuration personnel draw different sound pickup areas in the conference room on the plan, including selecting areas where sound must be picked up by drawing points and avoiding areas where sound does not need to be picked up, wherein the shape of the sound pickup area supports irregular shapes.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: After the acquiring configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan view and obtains the data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device, the following steps are included: Setting the data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device to a first set of simulated ceiling microphone configurations; The configuration personnel adds or removes the simulated ceiling microphone device in the plan to obtain a second set of simulated ceiling microphone configurations.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The acquiring of an online ceiling microphone device and sending data and parameters of the simulated ceiling microphone device to the ceiling microphone device further includes: The first group of simulated ceiling microphone configurations or the second group of simulated ceiling microphone configurations selected by a configuration personnel is obtained, and the first group of simulated ceiling microphone configurations or the second group of simulated ceiling microphone configurations are sent to the ceiling microphone device.

9. An electronic device, comprising: At least one processor, and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 are implemented.

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