Conferencing device with microphone beamforming and echo cancellation

A method to manufacture conferencing apparatus, comprising:

• providing a microphone array that further comprises a plurality of microphones where each microphone is configured to sense acoustic waves and the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;
• operably coupling a processor, memory, and storage to the microphone array, the processor configured to execute the following steps:
• performing a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array into a plurality of combined signals that is greater in number than one and less in number than the plurality of microphone signals, each of the plurality of combined signals corresponding to a different fixed beam;
• wherein performing the beamforming operation includes applying beamforming weights to the signals from each microphone to achieve a desired pickup pattern that includes a main lobe and sidelobes together with nulls for each fixed beam;
• performing an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals;
• and
• selecting one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

A method performed by a conferencing apparatus, comprising:

• sensing acoustic waves with a plurality of microphones configured as a microphone array, the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;
• providing a processor, memory, and storage operably coupled to the microphone array, the processor configured to execute the following steps:
• performing a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array into a plurality of combined signals that is greater in number than one and less in number than the plurality of microphone signals, each of the plurality of combined signals corresponding to a different fixed beam;
• wherein performing the beamforming operation includes applying beamforming weights to the signals from each microphone to achieve a desired pickup pattern that includes a main lobe and sidelobes together with nulls for each fixed beam;
• performing an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals;
• and
• selecting one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.

A non-transitory program storage device readable by a computing device that tangibly embodies a program of instructions executable by the computing device to perform a method performed by a conferencing apparatus, comprising:

• sensing acoustic waves with a plurality of microphones configured as a microphone array, the plurality of microphones are oriented to develop a corresponding plurality of microphone signals;
• providing a processor, memory, and storage operably coupled to the microphone array, the processor configured to execute the following steps:
• performing a beamforming operation to combine the plurality of microphone signals from the microphone array into a plurality of combined signals that is greater in number than one and less in number than the plurality of microphone signals, each of the plurality of combined signals corresponding to a different fixed beam;
• wherein performing the beamforming operation incudes applying beamforming weights to the signals from each microphone to achieve a desired pickup pattern that includes a main lobe and sidelobes together with nulls for each fixed beam;
• performing an acoustic echo cancellation operation on the plurality of combined signals to generate a plurality of combined echo cancelled signals;
• and
• selecting one or more of the combined echo cancelled signals for transmission to the far end.