Acoustic Management Module for Virtual Conference Audio Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In virtual conferencing systems, co-located participants experience audio issues due to a single active device per locale, leading to varied intelligibility and poor communication quality, exacerbated by room acoustics and increased feedback loops when multiple participants use their personal devices, which reduces user engagement and overall experience.
Innovation Solution
A method for managing sound in virtual conferencing systems that detects active client devices using sensors and controls the acquisition and synchronization of audio signals to ensure only one active device forwards outgoing audio to remote participants, minimizing feedback loops and enhancing audio quality through processing and playback control mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple participants use their personal devices to participate in the virtual conference, then participation and user experience are enhanced, but the number of feedback loops increases dramatically, damaging conference quality and creating echo cancellation problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful feedback loops from the system by implementing selective audio routing that prevents outgoing audio signals from being picked up by local microphones. The audio management module actively identifies and removes feedback paths by controlling which devices receive and transmit audio signals, thereby eliminating the harmful echo and feedback while maintaining multi-device participation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an audio management module as an intermediary between multiple client devices and the virtual conference server. This intermediary actively manages audio signal flow, preventing direct feedback loops by routing audio through controlled paths and blocking signals that would create echo or feedback, thus enabling multiple devices to participate without the harmful effects of uncontrolled feedback loops.
2Device complexity
If a single audio-enabled device is used per locale, then device complexity is reduced, but audio intelligibility varies significantly based on participant distance from the device
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by enabling different audio characteristics for different spatial locations. Multiple client devices are strategically positioned throughout the locale, each providing optimal audio capture and playback for nearby participants. The system dynamically selects which device is active based on participant location and speech activity, ensuring that audio quality is optimized locally for each participant rather than uniformly from a single device.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the active audio device configurable and changeable based on real-time conditions. The system dynamically determines which client device should be active based on factors such as participant speech activity, device location, and audio quality metrics. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize audio intelligibility for different speaking participants and listener positions without requiring complex hardware configurations.
3Measurement precision
If multiple microphones are used to capture participant speech, then speech coverage is improved, but echo cancellation and feedback loop management become very difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the feedback component from the audio signal processing by implementing selective routing that prevents outgoing audio from entering local microphones. The audio management module actively identifies feedback paths and removes them by controlling signal flow, allowing multiple microphones to capture speech without the complicating factor of feedback loops that would require complex echo cancellation algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a controlled feedback mechanism where the audio management module actively monitors and manages audio signal flow between devices. By introducing intelligent feedback control that prevents harmful feedback loops while allowing useful audio transmission, the system can use multiple microphones for improved speech capture without the detrimental effects of uncontrolled feedback, simplifying the overall processing requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method, related virtual conferencing system, a related acoustic management module, a related client device for managing sound in a virtual conferencing system comprising a virtual conference server and a plurality of client devices coupled to said virtual conference server said plurality of client devices comprising a first subset of co-located client devices and a second subset of remote client devices, said method comprising the steps of detecting, by an Active client detection means, at least one active client device from/of said subset of co-located client devices based on detected input signals of a user of said client devices; and controlling, by an Acquisition control means, an acquisition of an outgoing audio signal exclusively from each of said at least one active co-located device and forwarding by only one active co-located device of said at least one active co-located device of a single outgoing audio signal comprising said outgoing audio signal acquired exclusively from each of said active co-located device, through said virtual conference server (10), to remote devices of said second subset of remote devices (3001, 3002.