US 12,252,252 B2
Directional array intercom for internal communication on aircraft
Stefan Eling, Savannah, GA (US); Justin Maas, Savannah, GA (US); Bethany Davis, Savannah, GA (US); Scott Bohanan, Savannah, GA (US); Jim Jordan, Savannah, GA (US); and Tongan Wang, Savannah, GA (US)
Assigned to GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE CORPORATION, Savannah, GA (US)
Filed by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Savannah, GA (US)
Filed on Oct. 15, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/502,783.
Prior Publication US 2023/0122420 A1, Apr. 20, 2023
Int. Cl. B64D 11/00 (2006.01); G10L 15/08 (2006.01); G10L 15/26 (2006.01); H04R 1/40 (2006.01)
CPC B64D 11/0015 (2013.01) [G10L 15/08 (2013.01); G10L 15/26 (2013.01); H04R 1/403 (2013.01); H04R 1/406 (2013.01); H04R 2499/13 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An intercom for an aircraft having a flight deck and cabin which define a plurality of spatially disparate zones, where the plurality of spatially disparate zones includes at least a first zone in the flight deck and at least a second zone in the cabin and a third zone in the cabin, comprising:
a plurality of microphone arrays, one each of the plurality of microphone arrays being disposed in each of the plurality of spatially disparate zones, and each of the plurality of microphone arrays comprising multiple microphone transducers;
a plurality of speaker arrays, one each of the plurality of speaker arrays being disposed in each of the plurality of spatially disparate zones, each of the plurality of speaker arrays producing an individually controllable steerable acoustic beam, and each of the plurality of speaker arrays comprising multiple speaker transducers;
a speech recognizer coupled to each of the plurality of microphone arrays and operable to generate recognition text corresponding to utterances derived from acoustic signals picked up by the plurality of microphone arrays;
a direction control processor coupled to each of the plurality of microphone arrays and to each of the plurality of speaker arrays; and
a dialogue manager processor coupled to the speech recognizer and to each of the plurality of microphone arrays and plurality of speaker arrays;
the dialogue manager processor being programmed to respond to at least one keyword in a set of predefined keywords to selectively open a communication channel between a microphone array and a speaker array in the first zone and a microphone array and a speaker array in the second zone to establish two-way communication between the first zone and the second zone, and wherein the dialogue manager processor is further programmed to respond another at least one keyword of the set of predefined keywords to selectively open a communication channel between the microphone array and the speaker array in the first zone and a microphone array and a speaker array in the third zone to establish two-way communication between the first zone and the third zone; wherein:
the direction control processor is programmed to analyze arrival time of signals from the microphone arrays in the second zone to identify locations of speaking users in the second zone, and to analyze arrival times of signals from the microphone arrays in the third zone to identify locations of speaking users in the third zone;
the directional control processor is programmed to steer an acoustic beam from the speaker array in the second zone toward the identified locations of the speaking users in the second zone, and to steer an acoustic beam from the speaker array in the third zone toward the identified locations of the speaking users in the third zone.