Distributed suppression or enhancement of audio features

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a network device, a first packet comprising audio data of an audio signal;
• receiving, at the network device, a second packet comprising an audio feature descriptor indicating an audio feature in the audio signal that is to be suppressed or enhanced during playback of the audio signal;
• locating the audio feature in the audio data based upon the audio feature descriptor;
• and
• suppressing or enhancing the audio feature during playback of the audio signal.

An apparatus comprising:

• a network interface configured to send and receive network flows over a network;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• acquire an audio signal for transmission to a receiving device;
• analyze the audio signal for an audio feature to be suppressed or enhanced during playback of the audio signal at the receiving device;
• detect, based on the analyzing, the audio feature;
• encode the audio signal for transmission over a network to the receiving device;
• transmit the encoded audio signal to the receiving device;
• generate a packet comprising an audio feature descriptor indicating where in the audio signal the audio feature is located to enable the receiving device to suppress or enhance the audio feature during playback of the audio signal;
• transmit the packet comprising the audio feature descriptor to the receiving device.

One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions and when the software is executed operable to cause a processor to:

• acquire an audio signal for transmission to a receiving device;
• analyze the audio signal for an audio feature to be suppressed or enhanced during playback of the audio signal at the receiving device;
• detect, based on the analyzing, the audio feature;
• encode the audio signal for transmission over a network to the receiving device;
• transmit the encoded audio signal to the receiving device;
• generate a packet comprising an audio feature descriptor indicating where in the audio signal the audio feature is located to enable the receiving device to suppress or enhance the audio feature during playback of the audio signal;
• transmit the packet comprising the audio feature descriptor to the receiving device.