Conferencing apparatus with an automatically adapting beamforming microphone array
View Patent ↗This disclosure describes a conferencing apparatus with an automatically adapting beamforming microphone array for teleconferencing applications. The conferencing apparatus includes a processor coupled to memory, storage, and a housing. The apparatus further includes a communication element, a plurality of microphones arranged in the housing and configured as a beamforming microphone array, and an orientation sensor. Additionally, the apparatus includes executing a series of steps including: (a) adapting a signal-processing characteristic of the beamforming microphone array responsive to the orientation signal, (b) beamforming to combine the plurality of microphone signals to a plurality of combined signals, (c) performing an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo-canceled signals, and (d) selecting one or more of the plurality of combined echo-canceled signals for transmission.
1. A conferencing apparatus with an automatically adapting beamforming microphone array for teleconferencing applications, comprising:
a processor coupled to memory, and storage included in a housing;
a communication element coupled to said processor for communicating with other devices and or communication networks;
a plurality of microphones arranged in said housing and configured as a beamforming microphone array, said beamforming microphone array oriented to cover a plurality of direction vectors and develop a plurality of microphone signals;
an orientation sensor that generates an orientation signal indicative of an orientation of with a predetermined spatial arrangement relative to said beamforming microphone array, said orientation sensor couples to said processor;
wherein said processor executes a series of computing instructions that include the following steps:
adapting a signal-processing characteristic of said beamforming microphone array responsive to said orientation signal;
beamforming to combine said plurality of microphone signals to a plurality of combined signals;
performing an acoustic echo cancelation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo-canceled signals; and
selecting one or more of said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals for transmission.
2. The claim according to claim 1 further comprising performing a direction-of-arrival determination on said plurality of microphone signals.
3. The claim according to claim 1 further comprising adjusting the signal-processing characteristic by selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns.
4. The claim according to claim 1 further comprising selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns in response to the orientation signal.
5. The claim according to claim 1 further comprising noise filtering the selected one or more said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals.
6. A method of making a conferencing apparatus with an automatically adapting beamforming microphone array for teleconferencing applications, comprising:
coupling a processor, memory, and storage together in a housing;
coupling a communication element to said processor for communicating with other devices and or communication networks;
arranging a plurality of microphones in said housing and configured as a beamforming microphone array, said beamforming microphone array oriented to cover a plurality of direction vectors and develop a plurality of microphone signals;
coupling an orientation sensor to said processor, said orientation sensor generates an orientation signal indicative of an orientation of with a predetermined spatial arrangement relative to said beamforming microphone array;
wherein said processor executes a series of computing instructions that include the following steps:
adapting a signal-processing characteristic of said beamforming microphone array responsive to said orientation signal;
beamforming to combine said plurality of microphone signals to a plurality of combined signals;
performing an acoustic echo cancelation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo-canceled signals; and
selecting one or more of said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals for transmission.
7. The claim according to claim 6 further comprising performing a direction-of-arrival determination on said plurality of microphone signals.
8. The claim according to claim 6 further comprising adjusting the signal-processing characteristic by selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns.
9. The claim according to claim 6 further comprising selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns in response to the orientation signal.
10. The claim according to claim 6 further comprising noise filtering the selected one or more said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals.
11. A method of using a conferencing apparatus with an automatically adapting beamforming microphone array for teleconferencing applications, comprising:
providing a processor coupled to memory, and storage included in a housing;
communicating with other devices and or communication networks using a communication element coupled to said processor;
configuring a plurality of microphones arranged in said housing as a beamforming microphone array, said beamforming microphone array oriented to cover a plurality of direction vectors and develop a plurality of microphone signals;
generating an orientation signal indicative of an orientation of with a predetermined spatial arrangement relative to said beamforming microphone array with an orientation sensor, said orientation sensor couples to said processor;
wherein said processor executes a series of computing instructions that include the following steps:
adapting a signal-processing characteristic of said beamforming microphone array responsive to said orientation signal;
beamforming to combine said plurality of microphone signals to a plurality of combined signals;
performing an acoustic echo cancelation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo-canceled signals; and
selecting one or more of said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals for transmission.
12. The claim according to claim 11 further comprising performing a direction-of-arrival determination on said plurality of microphone signals.
13. The claim according to claim 11 further comprising adjusting the signal-processing characteristic by selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns.
14. The claim according to claim 11 further comprising selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns in response to the orientation signal.
15. The claim according to claim 11 further comprising noise filtering the selected one or more said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals.
16. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a computing device that tangibly embodies a program of instructions executable by the computing device to perform a method to use a conferencing apparatus with an automatically adapting beamforming microphone array for teleconferencing applications, comprising:
providing a processor coupled to memory, and storage included in a housing;
communicating with other devices and or communication networks using a communication element coupled to said processor;
configuring a plurality of microphones arranged in said housing as a beamforming microphone array, said beamforming microphone array oriented to cover a plurality of direction vectors and develop a plurality of microphone signals;
generating an orientation signal indicative of an orientation of with a predetermined spatial arrangement relative to said beamforming microphone array with an orientation sensor, said orientation sensor couples to said processor;
wherein said processor executes a series of computing instructions that include the following steps:
adapting a signal-processing characteristic of said beamforming microphone array responsive to said orientation signal;
beamforming to combine said plurality of microphone signals to a plurality of combined signals;
performing an acoustic echo cancelation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo-canceled signals; and
selecting one or more of said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals for transmission.
17. The claim according to claim 16 further comprising performing a direction-of-arrival determination on said plurality of microphone signals.
18. The claim according to claim 16 further comprising adjusting the signal-processing characteristic by selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns.
19. The claim according to claim 16 further comprising selecting one of a fixed number of pre-determined beam patterns in response to the orientation signal.
20. The claim according to claim 16 further comprising noise filtering the selected one or more said plurality of combined echo-canceled signals.