Patent ID: 7088828

Claim:
An audio electronic device comprising an audio privacy feature for suppressing a voice, comprising: an input microphone that generates a voice signal in response to a voice input; an electronics module, in electrical communication with the input microphone, that receives the voice signal from the input microphone and generates an antivoice signal based on the voice signal, wherein the electronics module comprises an inverter that inverts the voice signal into the antivoice signal so that the antivoice signal is opposite in phase to the voice signal, and a delay module that introduces a delay in the antivoice signal so that the antivoice output generated from the delayed antivoice signal is opposite in phase to the voice input, and wherein the delay module controls a length of the delay based on a feedback signal; a suppression speaker, in electrical communication with the electronics module, that receives the antivoice signal from the electronics module and generates an antivoice output from the antivoice signal, wherein the antivoice output combines with the voice to form a voice suppression zone adjacent to the suppression speaker; and a feedback microphone in electrical communication with the electronics module, wherein the feedback microphone converts the antivoice output into the feedback signal and wherein the electronics module receives the feedback signal from the feedback microphone.