Comfort noise generation by a headset that is associated with a voip-enabled device

A Voice over Internet Protocol-enabled (VoIP-enabled) device comprising:

• a packet monitor configured to detect a silence packet in an incoming communication that is received via a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication channel, the incoming communication including voice data which represents speech and the silence packet which indicates a period of silence in the speech;
• and
• a wireless transmitter configured to:
• wirelessly transmit a voice signal to a headset, the voice signal representing the speech without comfort noise with respect to the period of silence;
• and
• wirelessly transmit a silence indicator to the headset in response to detection of the silence packet in the incoming communication, the silence indicator specifying that the headset is to generate comfort noise and to incorporate the comfort noise in the speech during the period of silence.

A method comprising:

• receiving an incoming communication that includes a plurality of voice packets via a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication channel at a VoIP-enabled device, the plurality of voice packets representing speech that includes a period of silence;
• analyzing the plurality of voice packets to detect the period of silence in the speech;
• wirelessly transmitting a voice signal to a headset, the voice signal representing the speech without comfort noise with respect to the period of silence;
• and
• wirelessly transmitting a silence indicator to the headset in response to detection of the period of silence in the speech, the silence indicator specifying that the headset is to generate comfort noise and to incorporate the comfort noise in the speech during the period of silence.

A method comprising:

• receiving a digital communication that includes a plurality of voice packets via a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication channel at a VoIP-enabled device, the plurality of voice packets representing speech;
• converting the digital communication to an analog communication that includes the speech;
• determining that the speech includes a period of silence based on at least one characteristic of a portion of the analog communication that includes the period of silence;
• wirelessly transmitting a voice signal to a headset, the voice signal representing the speech without comfort noise with respect to the period of silence;
• and
• wirelessly transmitting a silence indicator to the headset in response to determining that the speech includes the period of silence, the silence indicator specifying that the headset is to generate comfort noise and to incorporate the comfort noise in the speech during the period of silence.

A method comprising:

• detecting a silence indicator in an incoming communication that is received via a wireless communication channel by a headset from a Voice over Internet Protocol-enabled device, the incoming communication including a voice signal which represents speech that does not include comfort noise with respect to a period of silence in the speech and the silence indicator which specifies that the headset is to generate comfort noise and to incorporate the comfort noise in the speech during the period of silence;
• and
• performing one of:
• generating the comfort noise and incorporating the comfort noise in the speech during the period of silence in response to detecting the silence indicator in the incoming communication;
• or
• not generating the comfort noise, and decreasing an operating power of the headset to place the headset in a power saving state during the period of silence in response to detecting the silence indicator in the incoming communication.

A headset comprising:

• a monitor module configured to detect a silence indicator in an incoming communication that is received via a wireless communication channel from a Voice over Internet Protocol-enabled device, the incoming communication including a voice signal which represents speech that does not include comfort noise with respect to a period of silence in the speech and the silence indicator which specifies that the headset is to generate comfort noise and to incorporate the comfort noise in the speech during the period of silence;
• a power management module configured to decrease an operating power of the headset to place the headset in a power saving state for a duration of the period of silence in response to detection of the silence indicator in the incoming communication;
• and
• a noise generator configured to generate comfort noise for the duration of the period of silence in response to detection of the silence indicator in the incoming communication.