Patent ID: 7672446

Claim:
A communication device for connection to a telecommunication network for communicating with at least one distant interlocutor, having at least one loudspeaker and at least one microphone, the communication device comprising: echo processing means for attenuating coupling due to a signal emitted by at least one loudspeaker of at least one other communication device situated close to said communication device, said echo processing means including: (a) a receiver for receiving from said at least one other communication device information representative of a signal emitted by at least one loudspeaker of said at least one other communication device, the receiver being arranged to be responsive to the information via a digital connection distinct from said telecommunication network, all the communication devices being situated in the same premises and connected to one another through digital connections, (b) means for obtaining a piece of information representative of a distance separating a loudspeaker of one of said at least one other communication device from a microphone of said communication device, (c) means for determining weighting coefficients to be applied to each of the broadcasted signals reproduced by each of the loudspeakers of said at least one other communication device, taking account of said pieces of information representative of the distance, (d) an audio interface for: (i) weighting said of at least one broadcasted signal received by a microphone of said communication device, using said weighting coefficients and thus providing a signal Sxa corresponding to the adding of the signals broadcasted by the other telecommunication devices; (ii) adding said signal Sxa to an input signal received by one of said at least one loudspeaker of said communication device, thus providing for a reference signal of said one loudspeaker, (e) an echo control module modifying a signal Y 1 n picked-up by one of said at least one microphone of the communication device, as a function of said reference signal, and providing a modified signal Y 2 n; and (f) an interface for transferring the modified signal, with a view to a transmission thereof over the telecommunication network.