Echo canceler and double-talk detector for use in a communications unit

A double-talk detector for use in a communications unit, comprising:

• a downlink voice activity detector coupled to a down converter for determining whether an incoming signal includes voice;
• a downlink peak power memory element coupled to said down converter for determining a peak power of said incoming signal over an interval;
• and
• an uplink voice activity detector coupled to said downlink peak power memory element for detecting double-talk when power of an outgoing voice signal is greater than predetermined threshold above said peak power of said incoming signal.

A hands-free communications unit which detects a double-talk condition comprising:

• a speaker for conveying an incoming audio signal to a user;
• a microphone for conveying an outgoing audio signal from a user;
• a downlink voice activity detector coupled to said speaker for determining whether said incoming audio signal includes voice;
• a downlink peak power memory element coupled to said downlink voice activity detector for determining a peak power of said incoming audio signal over an interval;
• and
• an uplink voice activity detector coupled to said downlink peak power memory element and to said microphone, said uplink voice activity detector detecting said double-talk condition when power of an outgoing voice exceeds a double-talk threshold, said double-talk threshold being calculated using said peak power of said incoming audio signal.