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ClearOne Awarded New Beamforming Microphone Array Systems Patent

ClearOne Beamforming Microphone Array Systems PatentClearOne announced it has been awarded a new patent relating to Beamforming Microphone Array Systems. U.S. Patent No. 11,240,597 was issued on Feb. 1, 2022.

The patent, titled “Ceiling Tile Beamforming Microphone Array System,” claims a ceiling tile microphone array that can be physically separated from the processors running the beamforming algorithm. The separation enables a single computing engine to run multiple beamforming algorithms for multiple microphone arrays, lowering the overall system cost compared to an integrated design that is limited to a single computing engine with a single microphone array.

As an example, when a first system is installed, one microphone array may be supported by one remote computing engine running a beamforming algorithm. Over time, the processing power of computing engines increases for the same price, enabling more microphone arrays to connect to a single computing engine. This reduces the cost of multiple beamforming systems deployed in an organization.

ClearOne says another benefit of this functional partitioning of the system is that it can extend the useful life of a ceiling tile beamforming microphone array. When the beamforming algorithm is performed “off-board” in a separate computing engine, the engine can be upgraded over time to support more advanced beamforming algorithms without requiring changes to the microphone array.

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