Virtual Broadside Scan for Speakerphone Talker Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Speakerphones face challenges in acoustic echo cancellation, noise suppression, device location tracking, and compensating for the proximity effect, especially when multiple users speak simultaneously and in environments with ambient noise and reflective surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a virtual broadside scan to identify acoustic sources, classify them as intelligence or noise, and combine directed beam signals from the highest amplitude sources to generate an output signal, which is then transmitted to remote devices, using an array of microphones arranged in various configurations and processed by a system with a processor to enhance speech clarity and suppress noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If acoustic echo cancellation is performed to make the received signal more intelligible, then speech clarity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces beamforming as an intermediary signal processing technique that directs acoustic beams toward specific spatial regions where talkers are located. This mediator approach enhances speech signals before they undergo echo cancellation, improving the overall intelligibility while managing system complexity through spatial filtering
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the acoustic environment into multiple spatial zones using beamforming, creating directed beams that focus on specific talkers. This segmentation allows the echo cancellation system to process signals from different spatial regions separately, improving speech clarity by isolating target speakers from background noise and reflections
2Quantity of substance
If the microphone picks up voices of local persons and their echoes from reflective structures, then complete voice capture is achieved, but echo interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating spatially selective acoustic beams that focus on specific regions where talkers are located. Each beam has enhanced sensitivity in its target direction and reduced sensitivity in other directions, allowing the system to capture voices from specific locations while naturally suppressing echoes from reflective structures in other spatial zones
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of acoustic reflections into a beneficial spatial filtering mechanism. By analyzing the spatial distribution of acoustic energy from multiple microphones, the system identifies and enhances direct path signals while suppressing reflected paths, effectively using the multi-path nature of acoustic propagation to distinguish between desired and unwanted signals
3Measurement precision
If noise sources are suppressed to improve voice intelligibility, then speech clarity is improved, but loss of speech information may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically changes the parameters of beamforming filters based on the spatial and temporal characteristics of acoustic sources. By adjusting beam directions, widths, and gains in real-time, the system enhances speech signals from identified talkers while suppressing noise sources, maintaining speech integrity through adaptive parameter optimization that responds to changing acoustic environments
4Productivity
If multiple talkers speak simultaneously, then communication capacity is improved, but voice separation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds the spatial dimension to voice separation by using beamforming with multiple microphones arranged in specific geometries. This dimensional approach allows the system to separate simultaneous talkers based on their spatial locations, creating independent beamformed signals for each talker from their respective spatial regions, thereby enabling clear capture of multiple concurrent speakers
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively captures and transmits clear speech signals from multiple talkers while suppressing noise, even in noisy environments, and compensates for the proximity effect, improving the overall quality of voice communication in speakerphone systems.
Implementation Method 1
A method involving a virtual broadside scan to identify acoustic sources
Implementation Method 2
combining the beam signals corresponding to the one or more intelligence sources having highest amplitudes into an output signal
Data Source
AI summary
A communication system (e.g., a speakerphone) includes an array of microphones, a speaker, memory and a processor. The processor may be configured to perform acoustic echo cancellation, to track multiple talkers with highly directed beams, to design beams with nulls pointed at noise sources, to generate a 3D model of the physical environment, to compensate for the proximity effect, and to perform dereverberation of a talker's voice signal. The processor may also be configured to use a standard codec in non-standard ways. The processor may perform a virtual broadside scan on the microphone array, analyze the resulting amplitude envelope for acoustic source angles, examine each of the source angles with a directed beam, combine the beam outputs that show the characteristics of intelligence or speech.