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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8189807 | Satellite microphone array for video conferencing Speakers are identified based on sound origination detection through use of infrared detection of satellite microphones, estimation of distance between satellite microphones and base unit utilizing captured audio, and/or estimation of satellite microphone orientatio... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8189808 | Signal processing system and method for calibrating channel signals supplied from an array of sensors having different operating characteristics In a signal processing system, a set of channel signals from an array of sensors of different operating characteristics are processed in calibration circuitry that calculates individual average values of the channel signals and calculates an average of the individua... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8189806 | Sound collection apparatus A sound collection apparatus includes a target sound collection unit that collects a sound including a target sound and outputs a collected-sound signal, a non-target sound collection unit, provided at positions different from each other, forms dead zones of sensiti... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8189805 | Allpass array Allpass arrays of arbitrary order are presented. The transducers in the arrays are configured with weights corresponding to the FIR approximation of an allpass filter such that a nearly uniform array response is provided. ... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8180068 | Noise eliminating apparatus A noise eliminating apparatus includes a first microphone, a second microphone and a signal processing unit, the signal processing unit includes a linear prediction filter and a noise resynthesis filter, the linear prediction filter receives an output signal of the ... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8180067 | System for selectively extracting components of an audio input signal An apparatus for selectively extracting components of an input signal comprises a plurality of microphones for detecting an audio signal in a plurality of spaced locations. A plurality of signal samplers sample each spaced version of the audio signal. A microphone p... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8170234 | Deconvolution methods and systems for the mapping of acoustic sources from phased microphone arrays Mapping coherent/incoherent acoustic sources as determined from a phased microphone array. A linear configuration of equations and unknowns are formed by accounting for a reciprocal influence of one or more cross-beamforming characteristics thereof at varying grid l... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8165317 | Method and system for position detection of a sound source A position detection method, system, and computer readable article of manufacture tangibly embodying computer readable instructions for executing the method for detecting the position of a sound source using at least two microphones. The method includes the steps of... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8160270 | Method and apparatus for acquiring multi-channel sound by using microphone array Provided are a method and an apparatus for acquiring a multi-channel sound by using a microphone array. The method estimates positions of sound sources corresponding to sound source signals, which are mixed together, from the sound source signals input via a microph... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8160269 | Methods and apparatuses for adjusting a listening area for capturing sounds In one embodiment, the methods and apparatuses adjust a listening area of a microphone includes detecting an initial listening zone; capture a captured sound through a microphone array; identify an initial sound based on the captured sound and the initial listening ... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8155345 | Wearable terminal, mobile imaging sound collecting device, and device, method, and program for implementing them A wearable terminal is constantly worn by a user and continually picks up images and sounds from the surroundings. Even when using a directional microphone to sensitively pick up targeted audio, the wearable terminal can reduce noise occurring due to motion of the d... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8155346 | Audio source direction detecting device A sound source direction detector comprises FFT analysis sections (103(1) to 103(3)) for generating a frequency spectrum in at least one frequency band of acoustic signals for each of the acoustic signals collected by two or more micropho... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8150061 | Sound generating method, sound generating apparatus, sound reproducing method, and sound reproducing apparatus The present invention provides a sound generating method of generating sound signals related to a video signal, which comprises a step of generating independently each of the sound signals matched to a horizontal direction and a vertical direction of a video, and a ... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8150062 | Determination of the adequate measurement window for sound source localization in echoic environments A method for sound source localization comprises the steps of computing an envelope of a signal; performing a non-linear, onset preserving smoothing of the envelope; and evaluating cues for sound source localization, using the points where the smoothing changes from... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8150063 | Stabilizing directional audio input from a moving microphone array A device includes a microphone array fixed to the device. A signal processor produces an audio output using audio beamforming with input from the microphone array. The signal processor aims the beamforming in a selected direction. An orientation sensor—such as a c... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8135144 | Microphone system, sound input apparatus and method for manufacturing the same A microphone system, includes: a housing, adapted to be placed in a reference position relative to a sound source; a first microphone, configured to receive sound from the sound source at a first position within the housing; a second microphone, configured to receiv... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8135143 | Remote conference apparatus and sound emitting/collecting apparatus A speaker array and microphone arrays positioned on both sides of the speaker array are provided. A plurality of focal points each serving as a position of a talker are set in front of the microphone arrays respectively symmetrically with respect to a centerline of ... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8135142 | Method for reducing interferences of a directional microphone The interference powers with directional microphones are to be suppressed as far as possible. To this end, provision is made to adaptively filter the microphone of a number of microphones as a function of at least one parameter. The directional effect of the directi... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8130977 | Cluster of first-order microphones and method of operation for stereo input of videoconferencing system An arbitrarily positioned cluster of three microphones can be used for stereo input of a videoconferencing system. To produce stereo input, right and left weightings for signal inputs from each of the microphones are determined. The right and left weightings corresp... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8130978 | Dynamic switching of microphone inputs for identification of a direction of a source of speech sounds This disclosure describes techniques of automatically identifying a direction of a speech source relative to an array of directional microphones using audio streams from some or all of the directional microphones. Whether the direction of the speech source is identi... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8121310 | Sound receiving apparatus and method A plurality of sound receiving units is installed onto an equipment body. An initial information memory stores an initial direction of the equipment body in a terminal coordinate system based on the equipment body. An orientation detection unit detects an orientatio... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8121309 | Adapting a directional microphone signal to long-lasting influences The directional effect of a static directional microphone is to be improved. In particular shadowing effects of the head for a hearing device worn on the head of the user are to be taken into account when adjusting at the directional microphone. To this end it is pr... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8116479 | Sound collection/reproduction method and device To provide a sound collection system using a plurality of microphones arranged in the proximity to one another and having an excellent directivity for an arbitrary position in the sound field space. A plurality of control points are set around a plurality of sound c... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8116478 | Apparatus and method for beamforming in consideration of actual noise environment character Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for beamforming in consideration of characteristics of an actual noise environment. The apparatus includes a microphone array having at least microphone, the microphone array outputting a signal input through the microphone; a... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8111838 | Conferencing apparatus for echo cancellation using a microphone arrangement A voice conference apparatus includes a sound collecting unit and a loudspeaker, while the sound collecting unit has a directional polar sensitivity characteristic which has a higher sensitivity with respect to sounds which are radiated from at least one direction, ... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8111839 | Always on headwear recording system A system that records audio and stores the recording is provided. The system includes first and second monitoring assemblies mounted in an earpiece that occludes and forms an acoustic seal of an ear canal. The first monitoring assembly includes an ambient sound micr... | 02/07/2012 |
| 8107642 | Spatial noise suppression for a microphone array A noise reduction system and a method of noise reduction includes a microphone array comprising a first microphone, a second microphone, and a third microphone. Each microphone has a known position and a known directivity pattern. An instantaneous direction-of-arriv... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8103018 | Sound pickup apparatus An A/D converter sets a sound pickup signal to low sensitivity and inputs the signal to a sound pickup beam generation unit. The A/D converter sets a sound pickup signal to high sensitivity and inputs the signal to the sound pickup beam generation unit. A sound dete... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8098843 | Sound source direction detecting apparatus, sound source direction detecting method, and sound source direction detecting camera Disclosed herein is a sound source direction detecting apparatus including: a plurality of microphones configured to collect sounds from a sound source in order to form an audio frame; a frequency decomposition section configured to decompose the audio frame into fr... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8098842 | Enhanced beamforming for arrays of directional microphones A novel enhanced beamforming technique that improves beamforming operations by incorporating a model for the directional gains of the sensors, such as microphones, and provides means of estimating these gains. The technique forms estimates of the relative magnitude ... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8094833 | Sound source localization system and sound source localization method A sound source localization system and a sound source localization method. The sound source localization system includes sound capturing devices and an arithmetic unit. The sound capturing devices sense a sound source to output time domain signals. The arithmetic un... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8094834 | Remote auditory spatial communication aid The present invention provides a means for two or more remotely-located individuals to communicate information about the spatial coordinates of a location of mutual interest in a more rapid, robust, and intuitive manner than is possible with any current voice commun... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8090117 | Microphone array and digital signal processing system A digital microphone array is configured in an open geometry such as a sphere with a large number of inexpensive microphone elements mounted in opposite-facing pairs. The microphone array with DSP is intended to be placed in a three-dimensional sound field, such as ... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8081773 | Audio signal processing apparatus, audio signal processing method and imaging apparatus An audio signal processing apparatus includes first, second and third omni-directional microphones each of which receives sound and generates an omni-directional audio signal and which are spaced apart by a predetermined distance, a first adder section that adds aud... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8077878 | Low-power on-chip headset switch detection An integrated circuit within a cellular telephone has a wake mode and a sleep mode. In the wake mode, a voltage regulator supplies a regulated voltage onto a MIC BIAS terminal. This voltage biases a microphone of a headset/microphone accessory that is coupled to the... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8073157 | Methods and apparatus for targeted sound detection and characterization Targeted sound detection methods and apparatus are disclosed. A microphone array has two or more microphones M0 . . . MM. Each microphone is coupled to a plurality of filters. The filters are configured to filter input signals corresponding to ... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8068619 | Method and apparatus for noise suppression in a small array microphone system A small array microphone system includes an array microphone having a plurality of microphones and operative to provide a plurality of received signals, each microphone providing one received signal. A first voice activity detector (VAD) provides a first voice detec... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8064618 | Direction detection apparatus, direction detection method and direction detection program, and direction control apparatus, direction control method, and direction control program A direction detection apparatus is disclosed. The direction detection apparatus includes a distribution obtainment section, an emphasis section, and a direction selection section. The distribution obtainment section obtains a distribution of intensities of sounds in... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8064617 | Microphone non-uniformity compensation system A microphone compensation system responds to changes in the characteristics of individual microphones in an array of microphones. The microphone compensation system provides a communication system with consistent performance despite microphone aging, widely varying ... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8054990 | Method of recognizing speech from a plurality of speaking locations within a vehicle A speech recognition method includes the steps of receiving a location-specific command from a vehicle occupant, and adjusting either the shape or magnitude of a pick up pattern of at least one microphone in response to the location-specific command. The microphone ... | 11/08/2011 |
