Hands-Free Phone Microphone Sensitivity Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional telephone systems with hands-free or speakerphone capabilities lack user control over microphone sensitivity and selectivity, leading to suboptimal performance in varying environments, such as noisy conditions or group discussions, as settings are predetermined and not adjustable by the user.
Innovation Solution
A telephone system with a user-selectable microphone operating range, allowing users to manually set sensitivity and selectivity through an onscreen menu, enabling control over the ambience perceived by the listener, including options for near, intermediate, and far settings, and the ability to override predefined settings for customized gain, frequency response, and activity thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If preset factory settings are used for microphone operating range, then the system can work adequately under most conditions with simple design, but the actual performance is less than optimal and users cannot control the ambience perceived by the listener
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustability of microphone operating range by allowing users to select between multiple preset levels (close, intermediate, far range) and enabling automatic adjustment based on detected speech levels. This transforms the static factory presets into a dynamic system that adapts to user needs and environmental conditions, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the sensitivity and selectivity parameters of the microphone circuit by allowing users to select different preset levels that define different operating ranges. Each preset level corresponds to specific parameter settings for sensitivity, background noise filtering, and echo cancellation, enabling users to optimize performance for different conditions without increasing overall system complexity.
2Productivity
If sensitivity is set to low for close range setting, then processor overhead is reduced, but users must be close to the microphone for reasonable sound levels which limits usefulness for large group participation
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides dynamic switching between different sensitivity levels through user-selectable preset options. Users can switch from low-sensitivity close-range mode to high-sensitivity far-range mode depending on the number of participants and environmental conditions, thereby achieving both processing efficiency and adaptability without compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
The microphone system is designed to perform multiple functions by incorporating multiple preset levels that can handle different scenarios - from one-on-one conversations to large group discussions. The same hardware infrastructure supports various operating ranges and sensitivity levels, making the system universally applicable to diverse usage conditions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If sensitivity is set to high for far range setting, then the microphone can pick up speech from distant users, but environmental noise such as radio or TV is also picked up which is difficult to filter out
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces noise filtering and echo cancellation algorithms as intermediary processing layers between the microphone input and the transmitted signal. These intermediary processes selectively filter out environmental noise while preserving speech signals, even in high-sensitivity far-range mode, thereby resolving the contradiction between detection range and noise interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adjusts multiple parameters simultaneously when switching between preset levels - not only sensitivity but also background noise thresholds, echo cancellation aggressiveness, and gain control settings. This coordinated parameter adjustment allows the system to optimize the balance between speech detection and noise rejection for each operating mode.
Data Source
AI summary
A communications device having a user configurable speakerphone feature is provided. A user may be provided with a plurality of selectable settings for configuring the operation of a microphone or the processing of speech. For example, a user may select settings to filter ambient noise for a cleaner sound or increase a microphone's sensitivity in a conference call environment. In one embodiment, the user may select a setting that changes a microphone level or microphone operating range. When the microphone detects speech, the speech may be processed in accordance with user selected processing settings. For example, a user may select settings to specify a gain control, a frequency response, or an activity threshold. Thus, a user may configure a speakerphone to improve sound quality on the receiving end.