Sound conditioning
First Claim
1. A communication device comprising:
- a microphone array to detect sounds and to generate sound signals corresponding to the sounds, wherein the sounds comprise utterances of a user and other sounds;
an audio processor coupled to the microphone array to perform sound conditioning on the sound signals to separate the utterances of the user from the other sounds to generate conditioned sound signals; and
a display device coupled to the audio processor,wherein the audio processor;
monitors a quality of the conditioned sound signals,detects that the quality of the conditioned sound signals has fallen below a threshold, andgenerates, in response to detecting that the quality of the conditioned sound signals has fallen below the threshold, user feedback signals that instruct the user how to move relative to the microphone array to position the user in a location within a region of optimal sensitivity of the microphone array for detecting the sounds,wherein the quality of the sound conditioning by the audio processor is optimized when the user is speaking the utterances while positioned within the region of optimal sensitivity of the microphone array, andwherein the display device generates visual indicators corresponding to the user feedback signals that instruct the user how to move relative to the microphone array.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Example implementations disclosed herein can be used to generate a local sound signal corresponding to utterances of a user and other sounds detected by a microphone array coupled to a communication device and to condition the local sound signals to separate the utterances of the user from the other sounds to generate a conditioned sound signal. The conditioned sound signals are evaluated to generate a local quality score for the conditioned sound signals, and when the local quality score of the conditioned sound signals is below a threshold associated with the communication device, a local feedback message indicating a local user position change can be generated. The local feedback message can include instructions for the user to move to another location to improve the quality of the condition sound signals.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A communication device comprising:
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a microphone array to detect sounds and to generate sound signals corresponding to the sounds, wherein the sounds comprise utterances of a user and other sounds; an audio processor coupled to the microphone array to perform sound conditioning on the sound signals to separate the utterances of the user from the other sounds to generate conditioned sound signals; and a display device coupled to the audio processor, wherein the audio processor; monitors a quality of the conditioned sound signals, detects that the quality of the conditioned sound signals has fallen below a threshold, and generates, in response to detecting that the quality of the conditioned sound signals has fallen below the threshold, user feedback signals that instruct the user how to move relative to the microphone array to position the user in a location within a region of optimal sensitivity of the microphone array for detecting the sounds, wherein the quality of the sound conditioning by the audio processor is optimized when the user is speaking the utterances while positioned within the region of optimal sensitivity of the microphone array, and wherein the display device generates visual indicators corresponding to the user feedback signals that instruct the user how to move relative to the microphone array. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A non-transitory storage medium comprising instructions executable by a processor of a computing device coupled to a microphone array and a display device, the instructions executable to:
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receive a conditioned sound signal, wherein the conditioned sound signal includes utterances of a user separated from other sounds as captured by the microphone array; evaluate a quality of the conditioned sound signal; determine that the quality of the conditioned sound signal has degraded below a threshold; generate a user feedback signal that includes instructions to the user to position the user in a location within a region of optimal sensitivity for detecting sounds with the microphone array; optimize the quality of the conditioned sound signal to correct the degraded conditioned sound signal, wherein the quality of the conditioned sound signal is optimized when the user is speaking the utterances while the user is positioned within the region of optimal sensitivity of the microphone array and the degraded conditioned sound signal is corrected to a level above the threshold; and generate, on the display device, visual indicators corresponding to the user feedback signal that instruct the user how to move relative to the microphone array. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 17)
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15. A processor-implemented method of optimizing sound conditioning in a communication device coupled to a microphone array and a display device, the method comprising:
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generating, at the microphone array, a local sound signal corresponding to utterances of a user and other sounds detected by the microphone array; conditioning the local sound signal to separate the utterances of the user from the other sounds to generate a conditioned sound signal; evaluating the conditioned sound signal to generate a local quality score for the conditioned sound signal; when the local quality score of the conditioned sound signal is below a threshold associated with the communication device, generating a local feedback message instructing the user of a direction the user is to move relative to the microphone array for positioning the user in a location within a region of optimal sensitivity for detecting sounds by the microphone array such that the local quality score of the conditioned sound signal rises above the threshold; and generating, on the display device, visual indicators corresponding to the local feedback message that instruct the user of the direction the user is to move relative to the microphone array. - View Dependent Claims (16, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification