Method and apparatus for active speaker selection using microphone arrays and speaker recognition
First Claim
1. A method for enabling active speaker selection during a teleconference, the active speaker to be selected from a plurality of active speakers participating in said teleconference and co-located at a given originating physical location, the selection of an active speaker to be made by one or more participants in the teleconference located at a remote physical location, the method comprising the steps of:
- generating a plurality of estimated speech signals, each estimated speech signal comprising speech representative of a single one of said plurality of active speakers co-located at the given originating physical location;
performing speaker recognition on each of said estimated speech signals to generate corresponding speaker identities associated with the active speakers represented thereby;
transmitting a plurality of said speaker identities, each speaker identity corresponding to one of said estimated speech signals, to said remote physical location; and
transmitting one or more of said estimated speech signals to said remote physical location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for performing active speaker selection in teleconferencing applications illustratively comprises a microphone array module, a speaker recognition system, a user interface, and a speech signal selection module. The microphone array module separates the speech signal from each active speaker from those of other active speakers, providing a plurality of individual speaker'"'"'s speech signals. The speaker recognition system identifies each currently active speaker using conventional speaker recognition/identification techniques. These identities are then transmitted to a remote teleconferencing location for display to remote participants via a user interface. The remote participants may then select one of the identified speakers, and the speech signal selection module then selects for transmission the speech signal associated with the selected identified speaker, thereby enabling the participants at the remote location to listen to the selected speaker and neglect the speech from other active speakers.
59 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for enabling active speaker selection during a teleconference, the active speaker to be selected from a plurality of active speakers participating in said teleconference and co-located at a given originating physical location, the selection of an active speaker to be made by one or more participants in the teleconference located at a remote physical location, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating a plurality of estimated speech signals, each estimated speech signal comprising speech representative of a single one of said plurality of active speakers co-located at the given originating physical location; performing speaker recognition on each of said estimated speech signals to generate corresponding speaker identities associated with the active speakers represented thereby; transmitting a plurality of said speaker identities, each speaker identity corresponding to one of said estimated speech signals, to said remote physical location; and transmitting one or more of said estimated speech signals to said remote physical location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for performing active speaker selection during a teleconference, the active speaker to be selected from a plurality of active speakers participating in said teleconference and co-located at a given originating physical location, the active speaker selection performed by one or more participants in the teleconference located at a remote physical location, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, from said given originating physical location, a plurality of speaker identities, each speaker identity corresponding to one of said plurality of active speakers located at said given originating physical location; selecting one of said received speaker identities; receiving, from said given originating physical location, one or more estimated speech signals, each received estimated speech signal corresponding to one of said plurality of active speakers located at said given originating physical location, said one or more received estimated speech signals including the estimated speech signal corresponding to the active speaker which corresponds to the selected one of said received speaker identities; and outputting through a loudspeaker, at the remote physical location, the estimated speech signal corresponding to the active speaker which corresponds to the selected one of said received speaker identities. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for enabling active speaker selection during a teleconference, the active speaker to be selected from a plurality of active speakers participating in said teleconference and co-located at a given originating physical location, the selection of an active speaker to be made by one or more participants in the teleconference located at a remote physical location, the apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of microphones; a microphone array processor operable to generate, based on signals from said plurality of microphones, a plurality of estimated speech signals, each estimated speech signal comprising speech representative of a single one of said plurality of active speakers co-located at the given originating physical location; a speaker recognition system operable to perform speaker recognition on each of said estimated speech signals to generate a corresponding speaker identity associated with the active speaker represented thereby; and a transmitter operable to transmit a plurality of said speaker identities, each speaker identity corresponding to one of said estimated speech signals, to said remote physical location, the transmitter further operable to transmit one or more of said estimated speech signals to said remote physical location. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification