Method for automatically switching to a channel for transmission on a multi-watch portable radio

A portable radio comprising:

• at least two microphones;
• a multi-watch receiver configured to operate in multi-watch mode to receive independent audio communications simultaneously on a primary channel and at least one non-primary channel;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the at least two microphones and the multi-watch receiver, the processor:
• assigns a first one of the at least two microphones to respond to communications received on the primary channel;
• assigns a second one of the at least two microphones to respond to communications received on the at least one non-primary channel;
• detects a voice command received at the first one or second one of the at least two microphones;
• determines a signal gain corresponding to the received voice command for both the first one and second one of the at least two microphones;
• switches to a first talk-back channel to respond to communications received on the primary channel when the signal gain for the first one of the at least two microphones is larger than the signal gain for the second one of the at least two microphones;
• and
• switches to a second talk-back channel to respond to communications received on the at least one non-primary channel when the signal gain for the second one of the at least two microphones is larger than the signal gain for the first one of the at least two microphones.

A method for automatically switching to a channel for transmission in a multi-watch mode on a portable radio, the method comprising:

• receiving independent audio communications simultaneously on a primary channel and at least one non-primary channel when the portable radio communication device is operating in the multi-watch mode;
• detecting a voice command signal received at first or second microphones residing in the portable radio;
• determining a microphone parameter corresponding to the detected voice command signal for both the first and second microphones;
• and
• in response to detecting the voice command signal:
• switching to a first talk-back channel to respond to communications received on the primary channel when the microphone parameter of the first microphone is larger than the microphone parameter for the second microphone;
• and
• switching to a second talk-back channel to respond to communications received on the at least one non-primary channel when the microphone parameter of the second microphone is larger than the microphone parameter for the first microphone.