Beam rejection in multi-beam microphone systems
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computing device comprising:
- memory;
one or more processors;
an audio player module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to cause a speaker to generate a reference sound based on a reference signal;
a plurality of microphones that receive the reference sound and generate a plurality of audio signals;
a beamforming module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to receive the audio signals and to generate a plurality of beamformed signals;
an acoustic echo cancellation module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to use the reference signal to perform echo cancellation on each beamformed signal of the plurality of beamformed signals, wherein the acoustic echo cancellation module outputs filter coefficients for each beamformed signal; and
a beam rejection module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to;
determine, using the filter coefficients, that a first beamformed signal of the plurality of beamformed signals comprises a reflection of the reference sound, wherein the reflection is associated with a first time delay;
determine that the computing device is proximate to a reflective surface in a direction of the first beamformed signal when the first time delay is less than or equal to a threshold; and
exclude from further processing, at least temporarily, a beamformed signal having a direction that is at least substantially the same as the direction of the first beamformed signal.
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Abstract
The systems, devices, and processes described herein may identify a beam of a voice-controlled device that is directed toward a reflective surface, such as a wall. The beams may be created by a beamformer. An acoustic echo canceller (AEC) may create filter coefficients for a reference sound. The filter coefficients may be analyzed to identify beams that include multiple peaks. The multiple peaks may indicate presence of one or more reflective surfaces. Using the amplitude and the time delay between the peaks, the device may determine that it is close to a reflective surface in a direction of the beam.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A computing device comprising:
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memory; one or more processors; an audio player module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to cause a speaker to generate a reference sound based on a reference signal; a plurality of microphones that receive the reference sound and generate a plurality of audio signals; a beamforming module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to receive the audio signals and to generate a plurality of beamformed signals; an acoustic echo cancellation module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to use the reference signal to perform echo cancellation on each beamformed signal of the plurality of beamformed signals, wherein the acoustic echo cancellation module outputs filter coefficients for each beamformed signal; and a beam rejection module stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to; determine, using the filter coefficients, that a first beamformed signal of the plurality of beamformed signals comprises a reflection of the reference sound, wherein the reflection is associated with a first time delay; determine that the computing device is proximate to a reflective surface in a direction of the first beamformed signal when the first time delay is less than or equal to a threshold; and exclude from further processing, at least temporarily, a beamformed signal having a direction that is at least substantially the same as the direction of the first beamformed signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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under control of one or more processors of a computing device, generating, by a speaker, audio using an audio signal; receiving, from a microphone array, a plurality of received audio signals generated by the microphone array from the audio; creating a first beamformed signal using at least one of (i) the plurality of received audio signals or (ii) a plurality of processed signals derived from the plurality of received audio signals; generating a plurality of filter coefficients by performing acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) on at least one of (i) the first beamformed signal, (ii) a first received audio signal of the plurality of received audio signals, or (iii) a processed signal derived from at least one of the plurality of received audio signals; determining, based at least in part on the plurality of filter coefficients, at least one of an amplitude or a time delay corresponding to a reflection of the audio; determining that the computing device is proximate to a reflective surface in a direction of the first beamformed signal using at least one of the amplitude or the time delay; and excluding from further processing, at least temporarily, a beamformed signal having a direction that is at least substantially the same as the direction of the first beamformed signal. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing compute-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
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causing a speaker to generate audio from an audio signal; receiving, from a microphone array, a plurality of received audio signals; creating a plurality of filter coefficients by acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) of the received audio signals; creating a first beamformed signal using the plurality of received audio signals; associating the plurality of filter coefficients with the first beamformed signal; analyzing the filter coefficients to identify a time delay corresponding to a reflection of the audio; determining that the time delay is less than or equal to a threshold; and excluding from further processing, at least temporarily, a beamformed signal having a direction that is at least substantially the same as the first beamformed signal. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification