Speaker phone noise suppression method and apparatus
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for removing noise from an audible signal are provided. More particularly, a vibration sensor is used to obtain a vibration signal from an environment including a communication device. The signal from the vibration sensor is combined with a signal from a microphone associated with the communication device, to create a modified audible signal. More particularly, a filtering or subtraction process can be performed with respect to the audible signal, at a time corresponding to an event detected as part of the vibration signal. The resulting modified audible signal can have reduced noise as compared to the original audible signal.
1. A communication system, comprising:
a first microphone in a first communication device;
a second microphone in a second communication device;
a plurality of vibration sensors comprising at least a first vibration sensor in the first communication device and at least a second vibration sensor in the second communication device; and
a filter, wherein a plurality of vibration signals from the plurality of vibration sensors are received at the filter, wherein a first audible signal from the first microphone and a second audible signal from the second microphone are received at the filter, wherein the filter applies the plurality of vibration signals from the plurality of vibration sensors to modify the audible signals from the first microphone and the second microphone, and wherein the filter outputs a modified audible signal.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a processor, wherein the filter is implemented through the execution of a filter application by the processor.
3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising:
memory, wherein the filter application is stored in the memory.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of vibration signals are subtracted from the first and second audible signals.
5. The system of claim 2 , wherein a portion of the plurality of vibration signals having at least a first component within an audible frequency is subtracted from the first and second audible signals.
6. The system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of vibration signals provide timing information to the filter application that is used by the filter application to remove noise associated with the plurality of vibration signals from the first and second audible signals.
7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a combiner, wherein the filter includes the combiner, and wherein the plurality of vibration signals are subtracted from the first and second audible signals by the combiner.
8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a communication interface, wherein the modified audible signal is provided from the filter to the communication interface.
9. The system of claim 8 ,
wherein the communication interface, is provided by the first communication device.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the filter is provided by the first communication device.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least first vibration sensor is in physical contact with first support surface, wherein the at least second vibration sensor is in physical contact with a second support surface, and wherein the first support surface and the second support surface are in contact with an intermediate structure.
12. A method of removing non-speech noise from a plurality of audible signals, comprising:
receiving a first audible signal at a first microphone in a first communication device;
receiving a second audible signal at a second microphone in a second communication device;
receiving a plurality of vibration signals at a plurality of vibration sensors comprising at least a first vibration sensor in the first communication device and at least a second vibration sensor in the second communication device;
providing the first and second audible signals and the plurality of vibration signals to a filter;
modifying, in the filter, the first and second audible signals by applying the plurality of vibration signals to create a modified audible signal; and
outputting from the filter the modified audible signal.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein modifying the first and second audible signals includes subtracting the plurality of vibration signals from the first and second audible signals.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein modifying the first and second audible signals includes subtracting at least a first range of frequencies from the first and second audible signals at a time corresponding to the plurality of vibration signals.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of vibration sensors are in physical contact with a plurality of support surfaces, and wherein the plurality of vibration signals includes a plurality of vibrations in the plurality of support surfaces.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of vibration sensors are in physical contact with the plurality of support surfaces through an intermediate structure.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein a portion of the plurality of vibration signals having at least a first component within an audible frequency is subtracted from the first and second audible signals.
18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions causing a processor to execute a method for removing non-speech noise from a plurality of audible signals, the computer executable instructions comprising:
instructions to receive a first audible signal from a first microphone in a first communication device;
instructions to receive a second audible signal from a second microphone in a second communication device;
instructions to identify a plurality of non-speech signals received from a plurality of vibration sensors comprising at least a first vibration sensor in the first communication device and at least a second vibration sensor in the second communication device; and
instructions to modify the first and second audible signals to remove at least a first portion of the first and second audible signals corresponding to the identified plurality of non-speech signals received from the plurality of vibration sensors.
19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the first and second audible signals are modified by subtracting at least an audible frequency included in the plurality of non-speech signals from the first and audible signals.
20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the first and second audible signals are modified by subtracting a waveform corresponding to the plurality of non-speech signals from the first and second audible signals.