Multiple device noise reduction microphone array

• US 9,173,023 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2012
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tahoe Research Limited (f/k/a Learndale Limited) (Vector Capital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Domingo Yaguez, Gustavo D., Shippy, Keith L., Price, Mark H., Healey, Jennifer A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao, Lun-See
• Application Number:
  US13/626,755
• Publication Number:
  US 20140086423A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,127 Days
• Field of Search: 381 56- 58, 381/92, 381/122, 381/72, 381/110, 381 941- 945, 381/71.1, 381/71.6, 381/317, 381/314, 381 7111- 7112, 700/94, 704/233, 704226-228, 37940601-40606, 379/406.08
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2410/01 Noise reduction using microphones having different directional characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2410/05 Noise reduction with a separate noise microphone
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/21 Direction finding using differential microphone array [DMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/004 for microphones H04R29/007 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/002 Damping circuit arrangements for transducers, e.g. motional feedback circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/027 Spatial or constructional arrangements of microphones, e.g. in dummy heads

Abstract

Various embodiments are directed to cooperation among communications devices having microphones to employ their microphones in unison to provide voice detection with noise reduction for voice communications. A first communications device comprises a processor circuit; a first microphone; an interface operative to communicatively couple the processor circuit to a network; and a storage communicatively coupled to the processor circuit and arranged to store a sequence of instructions operative on the processor circuit to store a first detected data that represents sounds detected by the first microphone; receive a second detected data via the network that represents sounds detected by a second microphone of a second communications device; subtractively sum the first and second data to create a processed data; and transmit the processed data to a third communications device. Other embodiments are described and claimed herein.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

storing a first detected data representing sounds detected by a first microphone of a first communications device;

receiving a second detected data via a network from a second communications device representing sounds detected by a second microphone of the second communications device;

receiving a signal specifying a characteristic of the second microphone;

deriving a transfer function based at least on a difference in characteristics between the first and second microphones;

subjecting a one of the first and second detected data representing noise sounds to the transfer function;

subtractively summing the first and second detected data, resulting in processed data; and

transmitting the processed data to a third communications device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the characteristic comprises microphone frequency response.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

signaling the second communications device to synchronize a first clock of the first communications device with a second clock of the second communications device;

timestamping the first detected data with a time maintained by the first clock;

and aligning timestamps of the first and second detected data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

locating occurrences of an acoustic feature in both the first and second detected data;

determining a difference in time of occurrence of the acoustic feature in the first detected data and in the second detected data; and

aligning the first and second detected data based on the difference in time.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

varying a signal strength of signals transmitted to the second communications device via the network to detect a distance between the first and second microphones; and

altering the transfer function based at least on the distance between the first and second microphones.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

generating a test sound;

receiving a signal from the second communications device via the network indicating a time at which the second microphone detected the test sound;

determining a distance between the first and second microphones based on the time at which the second microphone detected the test sound; and

altering the transfer function based at least on the distance between the first and second microphones.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

determining a distance between the first and second microphones; and

employing the distance between the first and second microphones as a weighting factor in subtractively summing the first and the second detected data.

8. At least one machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed by a first computing device, causes the first computing device to:

signal a second computing device via a network to synchronize a first clock of the first computing device with a second clock of the second computing device;

convert signals output by a first microphone of the first computing device into a first detected data representing sounds detected by the first microphone;

timestamp the first detected data with a time maintained by the first clock;

receive a second detected data via the network from the second computing device representing sounds detected by a second microphone of the second computing device;

subject a one of the first and second detected data representing noise sounds to a transfer function;

align timestamps of the first and second detected data;

subtractively sum the first and second detected data, resulting in a processed data; and

transmit the processed data to a third computing device.

9. The at least one machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, the first computing device caused to:

vary a signal strength of signals transmitted to the second computing device via the network to detect a distance between the first and second microphones; and

derive the transfer function based at least on the distance between the first and second microphones.

10. The at least one machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, the first computing device caused to:

generate a test sound;

receive a signal from the second computing device via the network indicating a time at which the second microphone detected the test sound;

determine a distance between the first and second microphones based on the time at which the second microphone detected the test sound; and

derive the transfer function based at least on the distance between the first and second microphones.

11. The at least one machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, the first computing device caused to:

receive a signal via the network from the second computing device specifying a characteristic of the second microphone; and

derive the transfer function based at least on a difference in characteristics between the first and second microphones.

12. The at least one machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, the characteristic comprises microphone frequency response.

13. The at least one machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, the first computing device caused to:

determine a distance between the first and second microphones; and

employ the distance between the first and second microphones as a weighting factor in subtractively summing the first and the second detected data.

14. The at least one machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, the first computing device caused to:

determine a distance between the first and second microphones; and

alter the transfer function based on the distance between the first and second microphones.