Conferencing apparatus

1. A conferencing apparatus for a conference between a local end and a far end that combines a microphone array that performs a beamforming operation with an acoustic echo canceller, comprising:

a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones where each microphone is configured to sense acoustic waves and the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;

a processor, memory, and storage operably coupled to the microphone array, the processor configured to:

perform a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array 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 configurable fixed beam with pre-computed parameters where the configurable fixed beam is user and/or installer configurable;

perform an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals;

perform a direction of arrival determination on more than one microphone signal; and

select, in response to the direction of arrival determination, one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

2. The claim of claim 1 where the processor is further configured to perform a partial acoustic echo cancellation operation with a partial acoustic echo canceller on a subset of microphone signals which is greater than one and less than the plurality of microphone signals where the partial acoustic echo cancellation operation is used to improve the direction of arrival determination for estimating a direction of the talker.

3. The claim of claim 1 where the processor is further configured to noise filter the plurality of combined echo cancelled signals.

4. The claim of claim 1 where the acoustic echo cancellation operation is performed on each fixed beam with a separate acoustic echo canceller.

5. The claim of claim 1 where the processor is further configured to enhance the direction of arrival determination with a voice activity detector.

6. A method to manufacture a conferencing apparatus for a conference between a local end and a far end that combines a microphone array that performs a beamforming operation with an acoustic echo canceller, comprising:

providing a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones where each microphone is configured to sense acoustic waves and the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;

operably coupling a processor, memory, and storage to the microphone array, the processor configured to:

perform a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array 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 configurable fixed beam with pre-computed parameters where the configurable fixed beam is user and/or installer configurable;

perform an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals;

perform a direction of arrival determination on more than one microphone signal; and

select, in response to the direction of arrival determination, one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

7. The claim of claim 6 where the processor is further configured to perform a partial acoustic echo cancellation operation with a partial acoustic echo canceller on a subset of the microphone signals that is greater than one and less than the plurality of microphone signals wherein the partial acoustic echo cancellation operation is used to improve the direction of arrival determination for estimating a direction of the talker.

8. The claim of claim 6 where the processor is further configured to noise filter the plurality of combined echo cancelled signals.

9. The claim of claim 6 where the acoustic echo cancellation operation is performed on each fixed beam with a separate acoustic echo canceller.

10. The claim of claim 6 where the processor is further configured to enhance the direction of arrival determination with a voice activity detector.

11. A method performed by a conferencing apparatus for a conference between a local end and a far end that combines a microphone array that performs a beamforming operation with an acoustic echo canceller, comprising:

sensing acoustic waves with a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones where the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;

providing a processor, memory, and storage operably coupled to the microphone array, the processor configured to:

perform a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array 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 configurable fixed beam with pre-computed parameters where the configurable fixed beam is user and/or installer configurable;

perform an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals;

perform a direction of arrival determination on more than one microphone signal; and

select, in response to the direction of arrival determination, one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

12. The claim of claim 11 where the processor is further configured to perform a partial acoustic echo cancellation operation with a partial acoustic echo canceller on a subset of the microphone signals that is greater than one and less than the plurality of microphone signals where the partial acoustic echo cancellation operation is used to improve the direction of arrival determination for estimating a direction of the talker.

13. The claim of claim 11 where the processor is further configured to noise filter the plurality of combined echo cancelled signals.

14. The claim of claim 11 where the acoustic echo cancellation operation is performed on each fixed beam with a separate acoustic echo canceller.

15. The claim of claim 11 where the processor is further configured to enhance the direction of arrival determination with a voice activity detector.

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 performed by a conferencing apparatus for a conference between a local end and a far end that combines a microphone array that performs a beamforming operation with an acoustic echo canceller, comprising:

sensing acoustic waves with a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones where the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;

providing a processor, memory, and storage operably coupled to the microphone array, the processor configured to:

perform a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array to 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 configurable fixed beam with pre-computed parameters where the configurable fixed beam is user and/or installer configurable;

perform an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals;

perform a direction of arrival determination on more than one microphone signal; and

select, in response to the direction of arrival determination, one of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

17. The claim of claim 16 where the processor is further configured to perform a partial acoustic echo cancellation operation with a partial acoustic echo canceller on a subset of the microphone signals that is greater than one and less than the plurality of microphone signals where the partial acoustic echo cancellation operation is used to improve the direction of arrival determination for estimating a direction of the talker.

18. The claim of claim 16 where the processor is further configured to noise filter the plurality of combined echo cancelled signals.

19. The claim of claim 16 where the acoustic echo cancellation operation is performed on each fixed beam with a separate acoustic echo canceller.

20. The claim of claim 16 where the processor is further configured to enhance the direction of arrival determination with a voice activity detector.

21. The claim of claim 1 where the step to select in response to the direction of arrival determination transmits a plurality of the combined echo cancelled signals to the far end.

22. The claim of claim 6 where the step to select in response to the direction of arrival determination transmits a plurality of the combined echo cancelled signals to the far end.

23. The claim of claim 11 where the step to select in response to the direction of arrival determination a plurality of the combined echo cancelled signals to the far end.

24. The claim of claim 16 where the step to select in response to the direction of arrival determination transmits a plurality of the combined echo cancelled signals to the far end.

25. A conferencing apparatus for a conference between a local end and a far end that combines a microphone array that performs a beamforming operation with an acoustic echo canceller, comprising:

means for sensing acoustic waves with a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones where each microphone is configured to sense acoustic waves and the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;

a processor, memory, and storage operably coupled to the microphone array, the processor configured to:

perform a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array 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 configurable fixed beam with pre-computed parameters where the configurable fixed beam is user and/or installer configurable:

perform an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals:

perform a direction of arrival determination on more than one microphone signal; and

select, in response to the direction of arrival determination, one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

26. The claim of claim 25 where the processor is further configured to perform a partial acoustic echo cancellation operation with a partial acoustic echo canceller on a subset of microphone signals which is greater than one and less than the plurality of microphone signals where the partial acoustic echo cancellation operation is used to improve the direction of arrival determination for estimating a direction of the talker.

27. The claim of claim 25 where the processor is further configured to noise filter the plurality of combined echo cancelled signals.

28. The claim of claim 25 where the acoustic echo cancellation operation is performed on each fixed beam with a separate acoustic echo canceller.

29. The claim of claim 25 where the processor is further configured to enhance the direction of arrival determination with a voice activity detector.

30. The claim of claim 25 where the step to select in response to the direction of arrival determination transmits a plurality of the combined echo cancelled signals to the far end.