Teleconferencing system with multiple channels at each location
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- determining, at a teleconference bridge, whether a first endpoint is acoustically collocated with a second endpoint;
receiving a first receive audio signal s1 from the first endpoint via a first port and a second receive audio signal s2 from the second endpoint via a second port at the teleconference bridge; and
transmitting a first transmit audio signal x1 for the first endpoint and a second transmit audio signal x2 for the second endpoint, wherein at least a component of the signal s1 is excluded from the signal x2 based on the first endpoint being acoustically collocated with the second endpoint.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is disclosed that breaks the “one line, one location” paradigm of teleconferencing in the prior art. The teleconference bridge in the illustrative embodiment is able to utilize more than one audio channel from each location, where there are multiple signal sources present in the room. As a result, the bridge is able to determine acoustically whether two are more endpoints are collocated with each another. During an initialization sequence, the bridge transmits special audio signals to one or more endpoints present in a particular sound field; those endpoints then play the signals out of their loudspeakers. Based on a characteristic (e.g., amount of correlation, signal strength, etc.) of the signals received at each microphone present in the same sound field, the bridge determines whether to include or exclude signals that are received from a first endpoint when preparing a signal for transmission to a second endpoint during a conference call.
15 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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determining, at a teleconference bridge, whether a first endpoint is acoustically collocated with a second endpoint; receiving a first receive audio signal s1 from the first endpoint via a first port and a second receive audio signal s2 from the second endpoint via a second port at the teleconference bridge; and transmitting a first transmit audio signal x1 for the first endpoint and a second transmit audio signal x2 for the second endpoint, wherein at least a component of the signal s1 is excluded from the signal x2 based on the first endpoint being acoustically collocated with the second endpoint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method comprising:
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transmitting, from a teleconference bridge, a first transmit audio signal x1 to a first endpoint via a first port and a second transmit audio signal x2 to a second endpoint via a second port at the teleconference bridge; receiving a first receive audio signal s1 from the first endpoint and a second receive audio signal s2 from the second endpoint; determining whether the signal s1 is sufficiently correlated with the signal x2; and when the signal s1 is sufficiently correlated with the signal x2, adjusting a first transfer function to exclude, during a conference call, at least a component of a third receive audio signal s3 received from the first endpoint from a third transmit audio signal x3 transmitted to the second endpoint. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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selecting, at a teleconference bridge, a plurality of endpoints that comprises a first endpoint and a second endpoint, wherein the teleconference bridge is able to receive signals from each endpoint of the plurality via a different port dedicated to each endpoint; transmitting a predetermined audio signal x0 to the second endpoint; receiving at least a first receive audio signal s1 from at least the first endpoint of the plurality after the transmission of the signal x0 to the second endpoint has started; determining whether the signal s1 is sufficiently correlated with the signal x0; and when the signal s1 is sufficiently correlated with the signal x0, adjusting a first transfer function to exclude, during a conference call, at least a component of a second receive audio signal s2 that is received from the first endpoint, from a first transmit audio signal x1 that is transmitted to the second endpoint. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification