Method for cancelling noise and electronic device thereof

• US 9,412,353 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2014
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Rhee, Min-Su
• Primary Examiner(s): Huber, Paul
• Application Number:
  US14/291,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20140369516A1
• Time in Patent Office: 802 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/002 Devices for damping, suppressing, obstructing or conducting sound in acoustic devices G10K1/06 - G10K1/10 take precedence; for electro-mechanical transducers for communication H04R3/002
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02165 Two microphones, one receiving mainly the noise signal and the other one mainly the speech signal
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0216 characterised by the method used for estimating noise

Abstract

An apparatus and method for cancelling a noise of an audio signal in an electronic device is provided. The method includes recording audio signals using a plurality of microphones and changing an audio signal which is introduced into a first microphone during a noise generation interval to an audio signal which is introduced into a second microphone, wherein the first microphone includes one or more microphones which are influenced by the noise among the plurality of microphones.

Claims

1. A method in an electronic device, the method comprising:

stereo recording audio signals using a plurality of microphones;

identifying a noise generation interval, where the noise is generated by the electronic device itself; and

replacing an audio signal which is recorder by one or more microphones which are influenced by the generated noise, during the noise generation interval with an audio signal which is recorded by a remaining microphone of the plurality of microphones during the noise generation interval.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the noise generation interval comprises determining a driving interval of one or more driving bodies of the electronic device as the noise generation interval.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more driving bodies includes a zoom lens.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the one or more microphones record noise above a predetermined level during the noise generation interval,

wherein the audio signal which is recorded by the one or more microphones during the noise generation interval is replaced by the audio signal which is recorded by the remaining microphone during the noise generation interval in response to determining the one or more microphones record noise above the predetermined level during the noise generation interval.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whether the one or more microphones record noise above the predetermined level comprises:

determining whether an average volume level of audio signals which are recorded by the one or more microphones during the noise generation interval was above the predetermined level.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the one or more microphones record noise above the predetermined level comprises:

determining whether a volume level of an audio signal which recorded by the one or more microphones during the noise generation interval is greater than the predetermined level for over a predetermined length of time.

7. An electronic device comprising:

a plurality of microphones; and

a processor operatively coupled to the plurality of microphones,

wherein the processor is configured to;

stereo record audio signals using the plurality of microphones;

identify a noise generation interval, where the noise is generated by the electronic device itself; and

replace an audio signal which is recorded by one or more microphones which are influenced by the generated noise, during the noise generation interval with an audio signal which is recorded by a remaining microphone of the plurality of microphones during the noise generation interval.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising,

one or more driving bodies,

wherein the processor is configured to identify a driving interval of the one or more driving bodies as the noise generation interval.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the one or more driving bodies includes a zoom lens.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the one or more microphones are adjacent to at least one of the one or more driving bodies and are influenced by a noise generated by the adjacent at least one of the one or more driving bodies.

11. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the one or more microphones record noise above a predetermined level during the noise generation interval using volume levels of audio signals which are recorded by the one or more microphones during the noise generation interval.

12. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the one or more microphones record noise above a predetermined level during the noise generation interval using an average volume level of audio signals which are recorded by the one or more microphones during the noise generation interval.

13. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the one or more microphones record noise above a predetermined level during the noise generation interval by determining whether a volume level of an audio signal which recorded by the one or more microphones during the noise generation interval is greater than the predetermined level for over a predetermined length of time.

14. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the one or more microphones and the remaining microphone are located in both side surfaces or both sides of a front surface of the electronic device.

15. A method of an electronic device, comprising:

stereo recording audio signals using a plurality of microphones;

identifying a noise generation interval, where the noise is generated by the electronic device itself;

during the identified noise generation interval, inactivating one or more specific microphones of the plurality of microphones; and

replacing an inactivated section recorded by the one or more specific microphones during the noise generation interval with a section of an audio signal recorded by one or more microphones of the plurality of microphones which were active during the identified noise generation interval.