# US 2021/0241744 A1 · Directional noise suppression > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0241744 A1 - Document ID: US20210241744A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/783,059 - Filed: 2020-02-05 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-02-05 - Assignees: Motorola Mobility LLC - Applicants: Motorola Mobility LLC - Inventors: Malay Gupta; Joel Clark - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210241744A1 ## CPC - G10K 11/175: using interference effects; Masking sound - G10K 11/346: {using phase variation} - G10L 17/00: Speaker identification or verification techniques - G10L 21/0208: Noise filtering - H04R 1/406: {microphones} - H04R 3/005: {for combining the signals of two or more microphones (specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407)} - G10L 15/00: Speech recognition (G10L17/00 takes precedence) - G10L 2021/02166: {Microphone arrays; Beamforming} - H04R 2430/25: Array processing for suppression of unwanted side-lobes in directivity characteristics, e.g. a blocking matrix - G10K: SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICES; METHODS OR DEVICES FOR PROTECTING AGAINST, OR FOR DAMPING, NOISE OR OTHER ACOUSTIC WAVES IN GENERAL; ACOUSTICS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING - H04R: LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS (producing sounds with frequency not determined by supply frequency G10K) ## Abstract Systems and methods of providing improved directional noise suppression in an electronic device implement a technique that specifies a direction or speaker of interest, determines the directions corresponding to speakers not lying in the direction of interest, beam forms the reception pattern of the device microphone array to focus in the direction of interest and suppresses signals from the other directions, creating beam formed reception data. A spatial mask is generated as a function of direction relative to the direction of interest. The spatial mask emphasizes audio reception in the direction of interest and attenuates audio reception in the other directions. The beam formed reception data is then multiplied by the spatial mask to generate an audio signal with directional noise suppression. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An electronic device having improved directional noise suppression, the device comprising: a microphone array having a plurality of microphones resulting in a reception pattern; and a processor linked to the microphone array and being configured to: specify a direction of interest; determine directions corresponding to directions of speakers not lying in the direction of interest; beam form the reception pattern of the microphone array to focus in the direction of interest and to suppress signals from the directions of speakers not lying in the direction of interest, creating beam formed reception data; generate a spatial mask as a function of direction relative to the direction of interest, the spatial mask emphasizing audio reception in the direction of interest and attenuating audio reception in the directions of speakers not lying in the direction of interest; and multiply the beam formed reception data by the spatial mask to generate an audio signal with directional noise suppression. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to suppress ambient noise received by the microphone array. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to apply speaker/voice identification to the audio signal with directional noise suppression. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to apply automatic speech recognition to speech of the speaker of interest to identify a command. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the command. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to identify the speaker other than the speaker of interest via speaker/voice identification. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to identify the speaker of interest by applying speaker/voice identification to audio signals received at the microphone array. ### Claim 8 A method of providing improved directional noise suppression in an electronic device having a microphone array made up of a plurality of microphones resulting in a reception pattern, the method comprising: specifying a direction of interest; determining directions corresponding to directions of speakers not lying in the direction of interest; beam forming the reception pattern of the microphone array to focus in the direction of interest and to suppress signals from the directions of speakers not lying in the direction of interest, creating beam formed reception data; generating a spatial mask as a function of direction relative to the direction of interest, the spatial mask emphasizing audio reception in the direction of interest and attenuating audio reception in the directions of speakers not lying in the direction of interest; and multiplying the beam formed reception data by the spatial mask to generate an audio signal with directional noise suppression. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, further comprising suppressing ambient noise received by the microphone array. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, further comprising applying speaker/voice identification to the audio signal with directional noise suppression. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, further comprising applying automatic speech recognition to speech of the speaker of interest to identify a command. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method according to claim 11, further comprising executing the command. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, further comprising identifying the speaker other than the speaker of interest via speaker/voice identification. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, further comprising identifying the speaker of interest by applying speaker/voice identification to audio signals received at the microphone array. ### Claim 15 An electronic device having improved directional noise suppression, the device comprising: a microphone array having a plurality of microphones; and a processor linked to the microphone array and being configured to: specify a direction of interest; and generate a spatial mask reception pattern of the microphone array to focus in the specified direction and to suppress signals from all other directions. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to suppress ambient noise received by the microphone array. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to apply speaker/voice identification to the audio signal with directional noise suppression. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to apply automatic speech recognition to speech of the speaker of interest to identify a command. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the command. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to identify the speaker of interest by applying speaker/voice identification to audio signals received at the microphone array.