Wireless conference call telephone
View Patent ↗A wireless conference call telephone system uses body-worn wired or wireless audio endpoints comprising microphone arrays and, optionally, speakers. These audio-endpoints, which include headsets, pendants, and clip-on microphones to name a few, are used to capture the user's voice and the resulting data may be used to remove echo and environmental acoustic noise. Each audio-endpoint transmits its audio to the telephony gateway, where noise and echo suppression can take place if not already performed on the audio-endpoint, and where each audio-endpoint's output can be labeled, integrated with the output of other audio-endpoints, and transmitted over one or more telephony channels of a telephone network. The noise and echo suppression can also be done on the audio-endpoint. The labeling of each user's output can be used by the outside caller's phone to spatially locate each user in space, increasing intelligibility.
1. A system comprising:
a wireless communication device (WCD) worn by a near-end participant during a telephone call with a far-end participant, wherein the WCD includes a microphone array, a WCD wireless radio, and a WCD processor configured to execute control, transmission, and audio processing algorithm;
a telephony gateway remote to the WCD and including a-gateway processor coupled to a gateway wireless radio that forms an audio channel with the WCD,
wherein the WCD processor is configured to electronically detect and pair, using the WCD wireless radio, with at least one other WCD within a pre-specified range of the WCD, and
wherein the WCD processor is configured to pair, using the WCD wireless radio, with the telephony gateway; and
wherein the gateway processor generates a first audio signal from signals received from the WCD, wherein the telephony gateway comprises a connection component coupled to the gateway processor and to a network carrying the telephone call, wherein the connection component couples the first audio signal to the network for transmission to the far-end participant, wherein the connection component receives a second audio signal from the far-end participant; and
a speaker coupled to the connection component and outputting the second audio signal.
2. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the microphone array comprises at least one omnidirectional microphone.
3. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the WCD is hard-coded to the telephony gateway.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the WCD includes a detector that electronically detects at least one other WCD within a pre-specified range of the WCD.
5. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the telephony gateway includes the speaker.
6. The system of claim 1 , comprising a telephone interface coupled to the connection component, wherein the telephone interface is used to control parameters of the telephone call.
7. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the WCD wireless radio comprises a Bluetooth radio, and the gateway wireless radio comprises a Bluetooth radio.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the telephony gateway includes a pairing mode, wherein in the pairing mode the telephony gateway searches for the WCD with which to electronically pair.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic pairing between the WCD and the telephony gateway is classified as transient, wherein the pairing classified as transient is subsequently erased by the telephony gateway.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gateway processor performs demultiplexing on each incoming signal from each WCD.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gateway processor performs echo cancellation on each incoming signal from each WCD.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gateway processor performs noise suppression on each incoming signal from each WCD.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gateway processor performs voice activity detection on each incoming signal from each WCD.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gateway processor performs spatialization on each incoming signal from each WCD.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gateway processor performs equalization on each incoming signal from each WCD.
16. A method comprising:
establishing an electronic pairing between a plurality of wireless communication devices (WCDs) and a telephony gateway that is remote to the plurality of WCDs, wherein the plurality of WCDs is worn by a plurality of near-end participants;
forming a virtual microphone array at each WCD using microphone signals of the WCD and receiving at the telephony gateway audio signals from the plurality of WCDs;
establishing an electronic pairing between at least two WCDs among the plurality of WCDs;
executing control, transmission, and audio processing algorithms on at least one WCD among the plurality of WCDs
generating WCD audio signals by at least one WCD among the plurality of WCDs;
generating in response to the WCD audio signals a first audio signal, the generating comprising integrating the WCD audio signals from the plurality of WCDs; and
establishing a conference call between the plurality of near-end participants and a far-end participant by coupling the first audio signal to a network that transmits the first audio signal to the far-end participant.