Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Skype Limited

Karsten Vandborg Sørensen

Koen Bernard Vos

Sriram Srinivasan

Per Ahgren

Jon Bergenheim

Puneet Rana

Stefan Strömmer

Karlheinz Wurm

Network communication speech handling systems are provided herein. In one example, a method of processing audio signals by a network communications handling node is provided. The method includes processing an audio signal to determine a pitch cycle property associated with the audio signal, determining transfer times for encoded segments of the audio signal based at least in part on the pitch cycle property, and transferring packets comprising one or more encoded segments for delivery to a target node in accordance with the transfer time.

Early transmission in packetized speech

Techniques for real-time audio communication including supplying an initial audio signal to an audio signal processor configured to process the initial audio signal and output a processed audio signal to an audio output means, obtaining a loopback audio signal corresponding to the processed audio signal, generating a plurality of audio features for the initial audio signal and the loopback audio signal, generating a similarity measure estimating a similarity of the initial audio signal to the first loopback audio signal based on at least the plurality of audio features, adjusting an adaptation rate for an audio signal processing operation based on at least the similarity measure, and controlling, based on at least the adjusted adaptation rate, an echo cancellation process for cancelling an estimated echo from a near-end audio signal received via an audio input means in proximity to the audio output means.

Similarity measure assisted adaptation control

An audio signal processing device comprises: an audio input configured to receive an audio signal to be coded; an audio codec configured to apply audio coding to the audio signal, thereby generating coded audio data, having an audio bandwidth, for transmission to a remote device; a network interface configured to receive from the remote device an indication of at least one characteristic of an audio output device of the remote device; and an audio bandwidth selector configured to set an audio bandwidth parameter of the audio codec based on the indication received from the remote device, thereby setting the audio bandwidth of the coded audio data in dependence on the at least one characteristic of the audio output device.

Audio signal processing

A method implemented during a communication event conducted between a user device and at least one further user device over a communications network, the method comprising: receiving an audio signal that is to be output from a speaker of said user device, said audio signal comprising at least one microphone signal transmitted from the at least one further user device; detecting that said audio signal comprises at least one audio component of a microphone signal transmitted from one or more of one of said at least one further user device that is co-located with said user device; and based on this detection, removing said at least one audio component from said audio signal to produce an output audio signal for output from said speaker.

Reversed echo canceller

An estimated system gain spectrum of an acoustic system is generated, and updated in real-time to respond to changes in the acoustic system. Peak gains in the estimated system gain spectrum are tracked as the estimated system gain spectrum is updated. Based on the tracking, at least one frequency at which the estimated system gain spectrum is currently exhibiting a peak gain is identified. Based on the identification of the at least one frequency, an audio equalizer is controlled to apply, to a first speech containing signal to be played out via an audio output device of the audio device and/or to a second speech containing signal received via an audio input device of the audio device, an equalization filter to reduce the level of that signal at the identified frequency. The equalization filter is applied continuously throughout intervals of both speech activity and speech inactivity in that signal.

A method of processing audio signals during a communication session between a user device and a remote node, includes receiving a plurality of audio signals at audio input means at the user device including at least one primary audio signal and unwanted signals and receiving direction of arrival information of the audio signals at a noise suppression means. Known direction of arrival information representative of at least some of said unwanted signals is provided to the noise suppression means and the audio signals are processed at the noise suppression means to treat as noise, portions of the signal identified as unwanted dependent on a comparison between the direction of arrival information of the audio signals and the known direction of arrival information.

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Stockholm, Sweden

Karsten Vandborg Sørensen