Audio Signal Co-location Detection for Meeting Feedback Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
In web meetings, participants often inadvertently open multiple microphones, leading to audio feedback loops and unintended sharing of private conversations, due to the lack of automatic identification and management of co-located client devices.
Innovation Solution
An online meeting server sends audio signals to client devices to identify co-located devices, automatically muting unnecessary microphones and associating them with a single username to prevent feedback loops and ensure proper identification of participants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple client devices are allowed to connect to the same web meeting, then participant flexibility and accessibility are improved, but audio feedback loops and unintended microphone sharing occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by sending audio signals to client devices before actual participation begins. When a device captures another device's audio signal, the system proactively identifies the co-location relationship and prevents feedback loops by automatically muting one of the microphones, rather than waiting for the feedback problem to occur
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses audio feedback mechanisms to detect co-located devices. By monitoring whether audio signals from one device are captured by another device's microphone, the system identifies potential feedback loop conditions and automatically takes corrective action by muting the appropriate microphone
2Reliability
If user identification codes are required to prevent feedback loops, then audio feedback issues are reduced, but user convenience and ease of connection deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically detecting co-located devices through audio signal monitoring and autonomously muting the appropriate microphones. This eliminates the need for users to manually enter identification codes or configure audio settings, as the system handles feedback prevention automatically based on real-time audio environment detection
3Reliability
If automatic device identification is implemented, then feedback loop prevention is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical or manual identification methods with acoustic field-based detection. By using audio signals already present in the environment and monitoring them through existing microphones, the system identifies co-located devices without requiring additional hardware or complex configuration mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
A technique manages an online meeting. The technique includes providing an audio output signal to a first client device currently participating in the online meeting. The audio output signal directs the first client device to play a particular sound (e.g., a unique tone or a unique series of tones). The technique further involves receiving an audio input signal from a second client device. The audio input signal includes the particular sound. The technique further involves identifying the second client device as being co-located with the first client device in response to the audio input signal which includes the particular sound. Such operation enables the electronic circuitry (e.g., a processing circuit of an online meeting server) to learn whether any client devices are co-located and accordingly associate multiple devices to a single user connected to the online meeting.