Bluetooth Microphone Array Noise Suppression via Signal Extraction

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional wireless telephone systems struggle to effectively suppress background noise in noisy environments without requiring additional signal processing capabilities and algorithms, which is not feasible due to power consumption and cost constraints in Bluetooth headsets.

Innovation Solution

A wireless telephone system utilizing microphone arrays and multi-channel Bluetooth transmission to transmit audio signals to a wireless telephone for noise suppression, leveraging the telephone's signal processing resources rather than the Bluetooth transceiver's capabilities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If additional signal processing capabilities and algorithms are provided in the Bluetooth headset to suppress background noise, then background noise suppression is improved, but power consumption and device complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebackground noise suppressionVSAvoidpower consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the signal processing function from the Bluetooth headset and relocates it to the wireless telephone. The Bluetooth headset only performs audio capture and transmission, while the wireless telephone performs background noise suppression processing, thereby reducing power consumption and complexity in the headset while maintaining noise suppression capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces multi-channel Bluetooth transmission as an intermediary mechanism to transmit separate audio signals from multiple microphones to the wireless telephone. This enables the telephone to perform noise suppression algorithms on the transmitted signals without requiring the headset to contain complex processing capabilities

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If additional signal processing capabilities and algorithms are provided in the Bluetooth headset to suppress background noise, then background noise suppression is improved, but device complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebackground noise suppressionVSAvoidsignal processing capabilities

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the signal processing function from the Bluetooth headset and relocates it to the wireless telephone. The Bluetooth headset only performs audio capture and transmission, while the wireless telephone performs background noise suppression processing, thereby reducing power consumption and complexity in the headset while maintaining noise suppression capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The wireless telephone serves multiple functions: it acts as both the Bluetooth receiver and the signal processing unit for background noise suppression. By consolidating these functions in the telephone rather than distributing them across multiple devices, the overall system complexity is reduced

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If multiple microphones are used with additional signal processing in the Bluetooth headset, then background noise suppression is improved, but implementation becomes overloaded and less cost effective

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebackground noise suppressionVSAvoidimplementation cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the signal processing function from the Bluetooth headset and relocates it to the wireless telephone. The Bluetooth headset only performs audio capture and transmission, while the wireless telephone performs background noise suppression processing, thereby reducing power consumption and complexity in the headset while maintaining noise suppression capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses standard, low-cost Bluetooth transceivers in the headset without requiring expensive specialized signal processing hardware. By offloading the processing to the telephone, the headset can use simpler, more cost-effective components while still achieving background noise suppression functionality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

Data Source

PatentUS8295771B2Bluetooth microphone array

Publication Date: 2012.10.23 NXP BV

AI summary

The present invention discloses a wireless telephone system using microphone arrays together with additional signal processing to suppress the background noise in the surrounding environment. The signal processing resources of a wireless telephone and multi-channel transmission capabilities of the Bluetooth transmission are used to suppress the background noise. The wireless telephone system includes a Bluetooth transceiver communicating to a wireless telephone through a multi-channel Bluetooth transmission, and an array of microphones coupled to the Bluetooth transceiver. The array of microphones includes a first microphone producing a first audio signal output and a second microphone producing a second audio signal output. The first audio signal output and second audio signal output are transmitted to the wireless telephone through the first channel and second channel of multi-channel Bluetooth transmission respectively. The system and method of the present invention allows using low cost Bluetooth transceiver(s) with multiple microphone arrays to provide the background noise suppression.