Adaptive, multi-channel teleconferencing system
A method is disclosed to determine the presence of one or more cellular phones in the same sound field as an endpoint that is dedicated for teleconferencing, such as a speakerphone. The teleconference bridge of the illustrative embodiment continually receives geo-location information about the cell phone. Based on the geo-location of the cell phone relative to the position of the speakerphone, the bridge determines whether to include or exclude signals that are received from the cell phone when preparing a signal for transmission to the speakerphone during a conference call. The bridge also determines whether to refrain from transmitting an audio signal to the cell phone, when the bridge infers that the cell phone is being used as a satellite microphone, such as when the cell phone is placed on a conference room table. As a result, each conference call participant is able to use his or her own cell phone as a personal satellite microphone, which can improve the sound quality of the conference call.
1. A method comprising:
establishing, at a teleconference bridge, a first teleconference call that involves at least a first endpoint assigned to a first port, a second endpoint assigned to a second port, and a third endpoint assigned to a third port, wherein first endpoint is capable of having a telephone call independently of the teleconference bridge, and wherein the second endpoint and the third endpoint are acoustically isolated from each other;
receiving, at the teleconference bridge, a first receive audio signal s 1 from the first endpoint via the first port, a second receive audio signal s 2 from the second endpoint via the second port, and a third receive audio signal s 3 from the third endpoint via the third port;
determining whether to transmit any audio signal that is based on at least one of the signal s 2 and the signal s 3 to the first endpoint, based on i) the terminal type of the first endpoint, ii) whether the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the second endpoint, and iii) whether the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the third endpoint; and
transmitting a first transmit audio signal x 1 to the third endpoint, wherein the signal x 1 is based on at least one of the signal s 1 and the signal s 2 .
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting a second transmit signal x 2 to the second endpoint, wherein the signal x 2 is based on the signal s 3 , and wherein at least a component of the signal s 1 is excluded from the signal x 2 when the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the second endpoint.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first endpoint comprises cellular telephone functionality and the second endpoint is a conference telephone.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
transmitting, from the teleconference bridge, a third transmit audio signal x 3 to the second endpoint;
receiving a fourth receive audio signal s 4 from the first endpoint; and
determining that the signal s 4 is sufficiently correlated with the signal x 3 and, as a result, that the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the second endpoint.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the second endpoint and the third endpoint are determined to be acoustically isolated from each other, based on comparing the identifier of the second endpoint and the identifier of the third endpoint to a database of endpoints.
6. A method comprising:
monitoring whether a first endpoint is acoustically collocated with a second endpoint, by comparing one or more geo-location values of the first endpoint with a geo-location value of the second endpoint, wherein the first endpoint is capable of having a telephone call independently of a teleconference bridge and is capable of moving into or out from being acoustically collocated with the second endpoint;
receiving, at the teleconference bridge, a first receive audio signal s 1 from the first endpoint via a first port, a second receive audio signal s 2 from the second endpoint via a second port, and a third receive audio signal s 3 from a third endpoint via a third port, wherein the first endpoint, the second endpoint, and the third endpoint are part of a first conference call that is handled by the teleconference bridge;
transmitting, from the teleconference bridge, a first transmit audio signal x 1 to the third endpoint and a second transmit audio signal x 2 to the second endpoint, wherein the signal x 1 is based on at least one of signal s 1 and signal s 2 , and wherein signal x 2 is based on at least one of the signal s 1 and the signal s 3 ; and
when the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the second endpoint, excluding at least a component of the signal s 1 from the signal x 2 .
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the first endpoint comprises cellular telephone functionality and the second endpoint is a conference telephone.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprising, when the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the second endpoint, refraining from transmitting any audio signals to the first endpoint during at least a first portion of the first conference call.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the refraining is based on a predetermined characteristic of a fourth receive audio signal s 4 received from the first endpoint.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the predetermined characteristic is audio level.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the refraining is based on the spatial proximity of the first endpoint to the second endpoint.
12. The method of claim 8 further comprising transmitting a third transmit audio signal x 3 to the first endpoint during a second portion of the first conference call, wherein the signal x 3 is based on the signal s 3 .
13. The method of claim 6 wherein the second endpoint and the third endpoint are determined to be acoustically isolated from each other, based on comparing the identifier of the second endpoint and the identifier of the third endpoint to a database of endpoints.
14. The method of claim 6 wherein the monitoring of whether the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the second endpoint further comprises:
transmitting, from the teleconference bridge, a third transmit audio signal x 3 to the second endpoint;
receiving a fourth receive audio signal s 4 from the first endpoint; and
determining whether the signal s 4 is sufficiently correlated with the signal x 3 .
15. A method comprising:
monitoring whether a first endpoint is acoustically collocated with a second endpoint, wherein the first endpoint comprises cellular telephone functionality;
receiving, at a teleconference bridge, a first receive audio signal s 1 from the first endpoint via a first port and a second receive audio signal s 2 from the second endpoint via the second port, wherein the first endpoint and the second endpoint are part of a first conference call that is handled by the teleconference bridge;
transmitting, from the teleconference bridge, a first transmit audio signal x 1 to a third endpoint that is also part of the conference call and a second transmit audio signal x 2 to the second endpoint, wherein the signal x 1 is based on at least one of signal s 1 and signal s 2 ; and
when the first endpoint is acoustically collocated with the second endpoint, i) excluding at least a component of the signal s 1 from the signal x 2 and ii) refraining from transmitting any audio signals to the first endpoint during at least a first portion of the first conference call.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the refraining is based on a predetermined characteristic of a third receive audio signal s 3 received from the first endpoint.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the predetermined characteristic is audio level.
18. The method of claim 15 wherein the refraining is based on the spatial proximity of the first endpoint to the second endpoint.
19. The method of claim 15 further comprising transmitting a third transmit audio signal x 3 to the first endpoint during a second portion of the first conference call.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the transmitting of the signal x 3 is based on a movement of the first endpoint away from the second endpoint.