# US 2014/0154968 A1 · Audio system with centralized audio signal processing > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0154968 A1 - Document ID: US20140154968A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/693,210 - Filed: 2012-12-04 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-12-04 - Assignees: Revolabs, Inc. - Inventors: Timothy D. Root; Mark Desmarais; Holger Stoltze - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140154968A1 ## CPC - H04W 4/06: Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services - H04H 20/61: for local area broadcast, e.g. instore broadcast - H04M 3/568: {audio processing specific to telephonic conferencing, e.g. spatial distribution, mixing of participants (echo suppression in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/02; sound field processing per se H04S7/30)} - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - H04H: BROADCAST COMMUNICATION (multiplex communication H04J; pictorial communication aspects of broadcast systems H04N) - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) ## Abstract One or more audio conferencing systems are connected to a local network, and each conferencing system is comprised of a plurality of wireless microphones in communication with a plurality of antennas deployed in an array configuration. Each of the antennas comprising one of the audio conferencing systems is in direct communication with a base station and in indirect communication with a server which runs a centralized digital signal processing functionality. The digital signal processing functionality operates on audio information received from one or more far-end audio sources and from each of the one or more audio conferencing system. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A wireless audio system, comprising: a plurality of geographically distributed wireless microphone groups each group having at least one wireless microphone and being associated with at least one of a plurality of loudspeakers; at least one antenna comprising each of a plurality of geographically distributed antenna groups, each one of the antenna groups comprising an antenna array and each one of the antenna groups in communication with one of the wireless microphone groups; a base station in communication with each one of the plurality of the geographically distributed antenna groups, the base station having digital signal processing functionality; and each of the wireless microphones comprising each of the plurality of geographically distributed wireless microphone groups, each of the antennas comprising each of the plurality of geographically distributed antenna groups, and the base station operate to run a time synchronization protocol that coordinates the time at which the base station captures a first sample of audio information and the time at which one of the microphones captures a second sample of audio information; wherein the first and second samples of audio information are used by the digital signal processing functionality to remove substantially all of the acoustic echo associated with the second sample of audio information. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second samples of audio information are substantially the same. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the first sample of audio information comprises information captured from the audio signal transmitted over a wired medium and the second sample of audio information comprises information captured from the audio signal transmitted over a wireless medium. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The system of claim 3, wherein the second sample of audio information comprises an acoustic echo component that is cancelled by the digital signal processing functionality at the base station. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising a device for wirelessly controlling the operation of the audio system. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising any one of the wireless microphones roaming from one of the plurality of the geographically distributed wireless microphone groups to another one of the plurality of the geographically distributed wireless microphone groups. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each of the antennas have at least one receiver device for receiving signals having audio information from one of the wireless microphones. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each wireless microphone is associated with one of an audio signal reproduction device (earphone). ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the digital signal processing functionality operates to cancel acoustic echo in the second sample of audio information received from any one of the wireless microphone. ### Claim 10 A wireless audio system, comprising: two or more sets of a plurality of geographically distributed wireless microphone groups, each of the wireless microphone groups having at least one wireless microphone and each of the wireless microphone groups being associated with at least one of a plurality of loudspeakers; two or more antenna arrays each comprising a plurality of geographically distributed antenna groups, each one of the antenna groups having at least one antenna which is in communication with one of the plurality of geographically distributed wireless microphone groups; and a digital signal processor in communication with each one of the two or more antenna arrays, the digital signal processor having functionality that operates to remove acoustic echo from audio signals received from each of the two or more antenna arrays. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, further comprising the wireless audio system having functionality that operates to run a time synchronization protocol that coordinates the time at which the digital signal processing functionality captures a first sample of audio information and the time at which one of the microphones captures a second sample of audio information. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the first and second samples of audio information are substantially the same. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the first sample of audio information comprises information captured from the audio signal transmitted over a wired medium and the second sample of audio information comprises information captured from the audio signal transmitted over a wireless medium. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the second sample of audio information comprises an acoustic echo component that is cancelled by the digital signal processing functionality at the base station. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, further comprising a device for wirelessly controlling the operation of the audio system. ### Claim 16 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein each of the antennas have at least one receiver device for receiving signals having audio information from one of the wireless microphones. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein each wireless microphone is associated with one of an audio signal reproduction device (earphone). ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the digital signal processing functionality operates to cancel acoustic echo in the second sample of audio information received from any one of the wireless microphone. ### Claim 19 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, further comprising each of the two or more base stations are in communication with a far-end audio system over a public network. ### Claim 20 A method of processing an audio signal in a wireless audio system, comprising: capturing, at a digital signal processor, a first sample of audio information from the audio signal at a first system time, and transmitting the audio signal to at least one of two or more of an antenna array, each antenna array having a plurality of geographically distributed antenna groups and each antenna group having at least one antenna; transmitting the audio signal to a loudspeaker associated with at least one of the antenna groups in at least one of the two or more of the antenna arrays, and the loudspeaker playing the audio signal; receiving and capturing, at a wireless microphone associated with the at least one of the antenna groups, at a second system time a second sample of audio information in an acoustic audio signal that substantially corresponds to audio information captured from the audio signal in the first sample of audio information at the first system time, and sending the second sample of audio information to the digital signal processor, and using audio information derived from the first sample of audio information captured at the first system time to cancel substantially all of the audio information comprising the second sample of audio information captured at the second system time. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, further comprising the wireless audio system running a time synchronization protocol that correlates the time at which the digital signal processor captures a first sample of audio information and the time at which one of the wireless microphones captures a second sample of audio information. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, wherein the digital signal processor comprises a computational device that is in communication with each of the two or more of the antenna arrays. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The method of claim 22, further comprising the digital signal processor being in communication with a public or a private network. ### Claim 24 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, wherein the audio signal is received by the wireless audio system from a public network or the audio signal is generated by an audio source and captured by the wireless audio system. ### Claim 25 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, wherein the first sample of audio information comprises information captured from the audio signal transmitted over a wired medium and the second sample of audio information comprises information captured from the audio signal transmitted over a wireless medium. ### Claim 26 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, wherein the audio information that is cancelled is audio information associated with acoustic echo.