Patent · US Active

Conferencing device with microphone beamforming and echo cancellation

US11539846B1 · kind B1 · utility

1Cited by
22References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 28, 2021
Grant dateDec 27, 2022
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 28, 2041

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04R2499/11
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

This disclosure describes an apparatus and method of an embodiment of an invention that is a conferencing device that includes a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones; a processor configured to execute the following steps: performing a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphones into a plurality of combined signals that is greater in number than one and less in number than the plurality of microphone signals, each of the plurality of combined signals corresponding to a different fixed beam; wherein performing the beamforming operation includes applying beamforming weights to the signals from each microphone to achieve a desired pickup pattern that includes a main lobe and sidelobes together with nulls for each fixed beam; performing an acoustic echo cancellation operation generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals; and selecting one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.