WO2007017810A2

WO2007017810A2 - A headset, a communication device, a communication system, and a method of operating a headset

Info

Publication number: WO2007017810A2
Application number: PCT/IB2006/052676
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ronaldus Aarts
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Priority date: 2005-08-11
Filing date: 2006-08-03
Publication date: 2007-02-15
Also published as: WO2007017810A3

Abstract

A headset (200) for a communication device, the headset (200) comprising at least one microphone (401 to 403) adapted to detect audio signals (404 to 406), and a speaker (410) adapted to reproduce the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by the at least one microphone (401 to 403), wherein the headset (200) is adapted to provide the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by the at least one microphone (401 to 403) for transmission to another communication device communicatively connectable to the communication device for reproduction by a speaker (413) of the other communication device.

Description

A headset, a communication device, a communication system, and a method of operating a headset

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a headset.

Beyond this, the invention relates to a communication device. Moreover, the invention relates to a communication system. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of operating a headset.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

More and more noisy circumstances as well as motion intensive activities may hamper speech communication of a user of a headset communicating with another user over a mobile phone communication network. Moreover, a user usually wears earphones while on the move or to enjoy her or his favorite music. Some users also use noise suppressing earphones or headphones in order to reduce ambient noise.

It may be problematic in speech communication in a noisy environment to be able to capture the user's speech with sufficiently few background noise, for instance in a scenario in which two users are communicating by means of two mobile phones.

WO 03/015460 A2 discloses a sound processing system including at least one microphone, an audio processor, and at least one output device. The audio processor includes an analog beam-former, a microphone equalizer, and an apparent incidence processor. The properties of individual waves of a sound field, in which the sound processing system is situated, are estimated. Thus, it shall be made possible to implement arbitrary directivity responses using a small number of microphones only. By taking this measure, improved noise reduction also for environments with many independent noise sources shall be made possible.

WO 2004/016037 Al discloses an array of miniature microphones embedded in an upper edge of a spectacle frame while earphones are affixed to the temple bars. A variable step size adaptive beam-forming algorithm may be used with the microphone array for noise reduction. Signal processing technology may be employed to reduce residual noise to improve the signal to noise ratio further and improve the intelligibility of the desired signal. However, it may happen that, when a user of a headset talks to someone else over a mobile telephone communication network, the sound in the environment of the user includes so much noise that the audio signals received by the remote user do not have sufficient quality for a proper communication.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to enable communication with sufficient audio quality.

In order to achieve the object defined above, a headset, a communication device, a communication system, and a method of operating a headset according to the independent claims are provided.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a headset for a communication device is provided, the headset comprising at least one microphone adapted to detect audio signals, and a speaker adapted to reproduce the audio signals detected by the at least one microphone, wherein the headset is adapted to provide the audio signals detected by the at least one microphone for transmission to another communication device communicatively connectable to the communication device for reproduction by a speaker of the other communication device.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a communication device is provided, comprising a headset having the above mentioned features, and a communication unit which is supplyable with the audio signals detected by the at least one microphone of the headset, and which is adapted for transmitting the audio signals to the other communication device.

According to still another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a communication system is provided, comprising a communication device having the above- mentioned features, and a further communication unit adapted to receive the audio signals transmitted by the communication unit of the communication device.

According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method of operating a headset for a communication device is provided, the method comprising the steps of detecting audio signals by means of at least one microphone of the headset, reproducing the audio signals detected by the at least one microphone by means of a speaker of the headset, and providing the audio signals detected by the at least one microphone for transmission to another communication device communicatively connected to the communication device for reproduction by a speaker of the other communication device. Beyond this, according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a computer-readable medium is provided, in which a computer program of operating a headset for a communication device is stored, which computer program, when being executed by a processor, may be adapted to control or carry out the above-mentioned method steps. Moreover, a program element of operating a headset for a communication device is provided according to still another exemplary embodiment of the invention, which program element, when being executed by a processor, is adapted to control or carry out the above-mentioned method steps.

Processing audio data according to the invention can be realised by a computer program, that is to say by software, or by using one or more special electronic optimization circuits, that is to say in hardware, or in hybrid form, that is to say by means of software components and hardware components.

The characterizing features of the invention may particularly have the advantage that the audio quality of a communication between a user and a (for instance remotely located) communication partner of the user, for instance via a mobile phone communication network, may be improved by sending the speech signal received by a microphone of a headset of the user as a feedback signal to this user, in addition to sending the signal to the communication partner for reproduction on sound reproduction means there. The microphone may, besides receiving the speech signal of the user, also receive noise signals of the surrounding area the user is located in. By sending the feedback signal to the user, the user may be made aware of the real-time quality of her or his noise-containing speech audio signal. Consequently, the user can recognize that a current environment is too noisy for enabling the communication partner to receive an audio signal of the user's voice with a sufficient quality. The user may then react on such a recognition by, for instance, turning his head, turning on a noise suppression function of her or his headset, moving to a less noise position, or in any other manner in order to reduce background noise from the transmitted audio signal. This may enable the user to manually reduce noise by using her or his human intelligence, instead of simply relying on a pure automatic noise reduction. However, the combination of a user-triggered noise reduction and an automatic machine- detected noise reduction is also possible according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

By providing a feedback signal to a user, the user may take any appropriate measure to improve the audio communication, for instance to strengthen directivity of her or his microphone (array) so as to efficiently suppress background noise or any other disturbing audio signals with regard to the desired speech signal.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a headset for (mobile) phones with directionality may be provided. In this respect, a method may be provided to use a microphone or a microphone array as a part of a headset to obtain directionality, which may increase the speech intelligibility, both at the near end (that is to say at the position of the user) as well as at the far end of (mobile) phones (that is to say at the position of the communication partner). The near end user may get a kind of feedback by her or his own voice which may enforce her or him to look into the direction of reduced or minimal noise to improve the intelligibility at the far end.

An extra benefit for the near end user may be that, if the near end caller is talking at the same time with someone in its neighborhood, this near end communication partner will get a good speech intelligibility as well, and this may be particularly beneficial for noisy environments and hearing impaired users. In applications like hearing aids, mobile phones, and walkie-talkies, some directionality may be obtained to suppress unwanted sounds (for instance noise) from other angles than the desired direction (so-called aiming angle or looking angle). By combining such directionality with the feedback feature according to an embodiment of the invention, good speech intelligibility may be realized at the far end, and additionally good speech intelligibility may also be obtained for the near end.

In conventional mobile phones, there is in many cases no directionality in the headset, but in the phone itself. Using a headset may thus have the consequence that this directionality can be lost. Thus, conventionally, in noise environments, both a near end speaker as well as a far end speaker may suffer from the noise. In contrast to this, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a directionality that may be provided in a headset for mobile phones may be increased, rather than the directionality of the mobile phone itself. Therefore, the mobile phone can be in a pocket, suitcase, or at another place than the place where the sound is captured.

Exemplary fields of use of embodiments of the invention are mobile phones, and in particular any applications for noisy environments and the hearing impaired. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a headset is provided comprising a microphone array having a plurality of microphones, and further comprises a delay and sum beam former (DSBF) for generating a sum signal, wherein the sum signal of the beam former may be provided to a loudspeaker of a near end user (that is to say a user wearing the headset) as well as to a loudspeaker of a far end user (that is to say a communication partner using another phone and being provided with audio signals from the near end user's mobile phone).

Thus, the far end caller (user) may have proper speech intelligibility, whereas the near end caller (that is to say the user wearing the headset) may turn the head or the body such that the sound coming from the loudspeaker of the near end user has a reduced or minimal noise.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the headset may be fixed with the head of the user. Thus, a first user wears the headset, for instance in a noisy environment (like a party, a bar, a car, etc.) and may turn her or his head until a (more)

"quiet" position and/or orientation has been reached, and a first user will hear his own voice in the local speaker. This is like a "monitoring" of the own voice, thereby making it possible to find improved or optimum speech intelligibility when turning the head. Even if the head is not in a "null" of the noise source, the microphone or microphones is or are close to the mouth (which may be denoted as "close miking"). In case of freehand use (for instance a Bluetooth connection between the headset and the mobile phone), the headset will do much better than conventional hands-free (using the microphone in the mobile itself).

In directional mobile phones, there may be more than one microphone to obtain a directionality effect. In the context of this description, the term "directional mobile phone" may particularly denote a mobile phone having a sensitivity for capturing audio data which depends on an angle, for instance like a dipole.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, some kind of "audio user interface" is provided. Such a user interface may include at least two loudspeakers, one locally near the microphone (array) and one remote, for instance at the position of a mobile phone of someone else.

Thus, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a near end loudspeaker and a remote end loudspeaker may be combined. A plurality of near end microphones may be provided in such a system for directionality.

Referring to the dependent claims, further exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in the following.

Next, exemplary embodiments of the headset will be described. However, these embodiments also apply for the communication device, for the communication system and for the method of operating a headset for a communication device. The speaker (for instance a loudspeaker) may be adapted to reproduce audio signals received by the communication device and transmitted by the other communication device. Thus, simultaneously or sequentially, the "own" voice and the communication partner's voice may both be played back via the speaker of the headset so that the user of the headset may have both information, the speech information of the communication partner to understand what the communication partner wishes to express, and the information whether the user's own speech signal has a sufficient quality to be understood acoustically by the communication partner.

The speaker may be adapted to reproduce the audio signals detected by the at least one microphone and to simultaneously reproduce audio signals received by the communication device and transmitted via the other communication device. This simultaneous reproduction may allow for an uninterrupted high quality speech communication in a noisy environment, for instance a party, a bar or a car.

The speaker of the headset may be provided on and/or in an earphone or a headphone. For instance, a user may place earpieces close to her or his head so that the audio signals detected by the headset may be played back in a close vicinity to the ears of the user. In the case of a headphone, a hanger or the like may connect two earpieces so that a user simply has to place the hanger over the head to bring the speaker or speakers in close vicinity to the ear or ears of the user. It is possible that the headset includes a single speaker, or an individual speaker for each of the ears of the human user.

The microphone or microphone array may be placed in close vicinity to a mouth of a human speaker, and may, for instance, be realized as an extension of a speaker housing or, in an embodiment with a wired connection between the headset and, for instance, a mobile phone, the speaker may also be provided at a wire or cable connecting the speaker with the coupled communication unit.

The at least one microphone may be adapted in a manner so as to obtain directionality. This can be achieved, for instance, by providing a hole with a special shape in the microphone, so that the sensitivity of the microphone is dependent of the direction from which the sound originates. For instance, http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/student_area/bsc2/audio_production/Lecture_5.doc or http://members.aol.com/mihartkopf/lexicon.htm disclose a microphone having directivity functionality the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

The headset may comprise a plurality of microphones, wherein each of the plurality of microphones may be adapted to individually detect audio signals. By taking this measure, directivity of the detection may be achieved, so that particular noise coming from a predefined direction may be detected preliminarily, for instance sound coming from the direction of the mouth of the user. Thus, the plurality of microphones may be arranged in a manner so as to obtain directionality. Furthermore, an adding unit may be provided which may be adapted to sum up the audio signals detected by each of the plurality of microphones. Such an adding unit may generate a sum signal indicative of the sum of the individually captured audio signals.

Furthermore, the headset may comprise a delay unit for delaying the audio signals detected by each of the plurality of microphones. The delay function and the adding function may be realized isolated from one another, or may be combined in a single member, for instance in a delay and sum beam former (DSBF). In other words, the adding unit may have a delay-functionality. That is to say, the adding unit may delay the reproduction of the audio signals with respect to the detection of the audio signals. For instance, B. D. Van Veen and K. M. Buckley, "Beamforming: A Versatile approach to spatial filtering", IEEE ASSP Magazine, pages 4-24, April, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988, describes delaying captured audio signals in the context of beamforming.

In the following, exemplary embodiments of the communication device will be described. However, these embodiments also apply for the headset, for the communication system and for the method of operating a headset for a communication device. The communication unit may be supplyable with the audio signals detected by the at least one microphone of the headset in a wired or in a wireless manner. In other words, the communication between the headset and the communication unit may be a wired or a wireless communication. A wired communication may be realized via a conventional cable electrically transporting the signals. In a wireless configuration, the communication between the headset and the communication unit may be realized, for instance, via the exchange of electromagnetic waves, for example using a technology like Bluetooth.

Furthermore, the communication unit may be adapted for transmitting the audio data to the other communication unit in a wired or in a wireless manner. Thus, even the communication between the communication unit and the other communication device (for instance another mobile phone or another walkie-talkie) may be realized via a conventional wiring, that is to say by transporting an electric signal. Alternatively, a wireless communication may be realized, like the communication via the exchange of electromagnetic radiation, for instance in the frequency domain of radio frequency or infrared.

According to exemplary embodiments of the invention, the communication device may be realized as at least one of the group consisting of a mobile phone, a hearing aid, a dictating machine, a conference call device, a portable audio player, a portable video player, a head mounted display, a medical communication system, a body- worn device, a DVD player, a CD player, a harddisk-based media player, an internet radio device, a public entertainment device, and an MP3 player. The communication according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention may be used in any environment while a communication between two human beings occurs. A typical configuration is the communication via a mobile phone connection. Also when using a dictating machine, a user may ensure that the generated signals are reproducible by another user during dictating. This may avoid errors when writing down the dictated speech.

Although the system according to embodiments of the invention primarily intends to improve the quality of sound or audio data, it is also possible to apply the system for a combination of audio data and visual data. For instance, an embodiment of the invention may be implemented in audio-visual applications like a telephone conversation including the transmission of images of the users or their environment during the telephone conversation. In the following, exemplary embodiments of the communication system will be described. However, these embodiments also apply for the headset, for the communication unit and for the method of operating a headset for a communication device.

The further communication unit may be located remotely with respect to the communication device. Then, the communication unit and the further communication unit may communicate via the exchange of signals. The quality of the communication may be guaranteed also in a noisy environment, since one or both communication partners may become aware of problems with their own speech due to present noise. Thus, the invention may be implemented in a two-partner communication system, or also in a multi-partner communication system (like a telephone conference) with three or more participants.

The aspects defined above and further aspects of the invention are apparent from the examples of embodiment to be described hereinafter and are explained with reference to these examples of embodiment.

The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to examples of embodiment but to which the invention is not limited.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 shows a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 shows a headset according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 shows a headset according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4 shows a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The illustration in the drawing is schematically. In the following, referring to Fig. 1, a communication system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described.

The communication system 100 is formed by a first communication device 100a (see reference numerals 101 to 109) and by a second communication device 100b (see reference numerals 111 to 118). The first communication device 100a and the second communication device 100b are adapted to communicate with one another via the exchange of communication signals 110 as to constitute a bi-directional communication architecture. The first communication device 100a is a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The second communication unit is a conventional communication unit. However, in contrast to the configuration of Fig. 1, it is also within the scope of the invention to enable a communication between two communication devices according to exemplary embodiments of the invention, which, for instance, may both be constituted similar like the first communication device 100a in Fig. 1.

The communication system 100 is formed by the first communication device 100a and by the second communication device 100b, wherein the latter is adapted to receive the audio signals transmitted by a communication unit 108 of the first communication device 100a.

The first communication device 100a in Fig. 1 comprises a headset which includes a microphone array 103 (which in the shown embodiment comprises four microphones) adapted to detect audio signals 101 originating from speech of a user of the first communication device 100a. These audio signals 101 may include both, speech of the user of the first communication device 100a and noise from the environment.

Furthermore, the headset of the first communication device 100a comprises a loudspeaker 109 that is adapted to reproduce the audio signals detected by the microphone array 103. This is indicated in Fig. 1 by means of an arrow 104 symbolizing the coupling between the microphone array 103 and the loudspeaker 109. The audio signals 102 to be reproduced may be supplied to an ear canal of the user of the first communication device 100a.

Moreover, the headset is adapted to provide the audio signals 101 detected by the microphone array 103 via a wireless communication channel 105 to the communication unit 108 (in the described embodiment a mobile phone) for transmission to the second communication device 100b. The second communication device 100b is communicatively coupled to the first communication device 100a for the bi-directional exchange of the communication signals 110. The communication signals 110 transmitted from the first communication device 100a to the second communication device 100b may be played back by a loudspeaker 117 of the second communication device 100b.

Thus, the captured audio signals 101 are provided for reproduction by the speaker 117 of the second communication device 100b, and may be reproduced by the loudspeaker 109 of the first communication device 100a. By taking the latter measure, a feedback signal 102 is emitted by the first communication device 100a so that the user may recognize when, at every instance of time, her or his speech does not have a sufficient quality to be clearly understood by a user of the second communication device 100b.

In such an event, the user of the first communication device 100a may take any proper measure to reduce noise, for instance change the direction of her or his head so that the directivity of the microphone array 103 may result in an improved sound quality. Alternatively, she or he may also operate a (machine-enabled) noise suppression function of the first communication device 100a. Or, the user may simply move to a place in which less noise is present. By taking one or a plurality of these exemplary measures, the use of the first communication device 100a may ensure that the user of the second communication device 100b recognizes speech signals with a sufficient tone quality.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, the second communication device 100b also comprises a communication unit 116 (for instance a mobile phone) to receive the communication signals 110 provided by the first communication device 100a and to emit communication signals 110 for transmission to the first communication device 100a. Audio signals may be supplied to the loudspeaker 117 via a wireless communication channel 115 for reproduction as audio signals 112. The loudspeaker 117 may be, for instance, positioned close to an ear of the user of the second communication device 100b.

Furthermore, for providing the user of the first communication device 100a with audio signals as speech signals of the user of the second communication device 100b, such audio signals 111 may be captured by microphone 113 of the second communication device 100b and may be transported via a wireless communication channel 114 to the mobile phone 116 for transmission as communication signals 110 to the mobile phone 108 of the first communication device 100a. Also the communication between the loudspeaker 109 and the mobile phone 108 may be realized via a wireless communication channel 106. The transmission path within the mobile phone 108 is denoted with reference numeral 107, and the communication path within the second mobile phone 116 is denoted with reference numeral 118. In the following, referring to Fig. 2, a headset 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described.

The headset 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention can be mounted over a head of a human user by means of a hanger 201 connecting two earphones 202. A microphone array 204 is provided to be located in vicinity of a mouth of a human user when the headset 200 is mounted on a human being's head. Via a cable 203, the headset 200 may communicate with a base station (for instance a mobile phone) for communication with another user, and may for instance be connected to a mobile phone.

The headset 200 comprises the microphone array 204 having a plurality of microphones for improving the directionality with respect to captured audio signals. Furthermore, a speech feedback feature is realized in the headset 200, so that the headset 200 does not only reproduce, via the earphones 202, sound from a communication partner, but also provides the speech detected by the microphone array 204 as a control for a user of the headset 200 that the sound quality transmitted to the communication partner is sufficient.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, some features of the headset 200 can be of a generic type (like normal headphones with a boom), but instead of one microphone at the end of the boom, now the microphone array 204 is used.

Fig. 3 shows another headset 300 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, having a microphone 301 and a speaker 302. The headset 300 is shown fitted to an ear (respectively hearing canal) of a user and adapted for wireless transmission to a mobile phone.

The example shown in Fig. 3 implemented directionality too, but its output is at the earphone 302, and additionally at the far end of a mobile phone user.

The headset 300 is modified according to the invention based on a headset disclosed by http://www.babble.nl/babble-specifications.pdf. In the following, referring to Fig. 4, a communication system 400 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described.

The communication system 400 comprises a near end portion (reference numerals 401 to 407, 409, 410 related to a user positioned at a first site), and comprises a far end portion (reference numerals 412, 413 related to a remotely positioned user). The communication between the near end and the far end may be realized via the wireless communication path 411. Thus, via the bi-directional transmission of signals, a communication between the near end user and the far end user is enabled.

The communication device located at the near end comprises a microphone array composed of a first microphone 401 , a second microphone 402, ... , and an n-th microphone 403. The number n may be, for instance, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or even larger than 6, as desired in the context of a particular application. Each of the microphones 401 to 403 captures sound from the environment so as to generate a first audio signal 404, a second audio signal 405, ..., and an n-th audio signal 406, respectively. The audio signals 404 to 406 are provided at corresponding inputs of a delay and sum beam former 407 (DSBF). The delayed sum signal may then be provided via a wired or wireless communication channel as a first audio output signal 409 to a near end's loudspeaker 410 as a part of the near end communication device. Furthermore, the captured audio data (composed of speech of a user of the first communication device 100a and noise from the environment) may also be provided by means of wireless communication 411 as second audio output signal 412 to a far end's loudspeaker 413. Thus, the audio data captured by the microphones 401 to 403 is output by both the near end's loudspeaker 410 for controlling the sound quality for the sound generating user, and by the far end's loudspeaker 413 as a communication signal containing the speech of the user of the first communication device 100a.

The microphone array 401 to 403 and the delay and sum beam former 407 are known as such by a person skilled in the art (see for instance B. D. Van Veen and K. M. Buckley, "Beamforming: A Versatile approach to spatial filtering", IEEE ASSP Magazine, pages 4-24, April, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1988. A feature of the configuration shown in Fig. 4 is to send the output of the beam former 407 to the near end's loudspeaker 410 as well as the far end's loudspeaker 413. The far end caller has good speech intelligibility, whereas the near end caller turns the head such that the sound coming from the near end's loudspeaker 410 has minimal or reduced noise. An extra benefit for the near end speaker is that if the near end caller is talking at the same time with someone in its neighborhood, it will get a good speech intelligibility as well, this may particularly be beneficial for noisy environments and hearing impaired users.

For instance, the first communication device 100a of Fig. 4 may be a noisy environment, like a party, a pub or a car. Then the remote user will have a better speech intelligibility thanks to the directivity at the near end. The sound of the near end is transmitted via the communication path 411 to the far end. Additionally, there may be also one or more microphones at the remote end. The weighted (by the DSBF 407) microphone signals from the microphones 401 to 403 are transmitted to the loudspeaker 413 at the far end. This may have the advantage that, if the processing DSBF and the microphones 401 to 403 are in the headset, then the weighted microphone signal can be plugged into the standard input of a mobile phone. So it is possible to upgrade a phone by buying the headset which will work much better than a normal, non-directive headset.

For simplicity, Fig. 4 only shows the loudspeaker 413 at the remote end (a pars pro totum for the whole mobile phone), of course it is also possible to use directive microphones also at the remote end.

It should be noted that the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps and the "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. Also elements described in association with different embodiments may be combined.

It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A headset (200) for a communication device, the headset (200) comprising at least one microphone (401 to 403) adapted to detect audio signals (404 to 406); a speaker (410) adapted to reproduce the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by the at least one microphone (401 to 403); wherein the headset (200) is adapted to provide the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by the at least one microphone (401 to 403) for transmission to another communication device communicatively connectable to the communication device for reproduction by a speaker (413) of the other communication device.

2. The headset (200) according to claim 1, wherein the speaker (410) is adapted to reproduce audio signals (409) received by the communication device and transmitted by the other communication device.

3. The headset (200) according to claim 1 , wherein the speaker (410) is adapted to reproduce the audio signals (409) detected by the at least one microphone (401 to 403) and to simultaneously reproduce audio signals received by the communication device and transmitted by the other communication device.

4. The headset (200) according to claim 1, wherein the speaker (410) is provided on and/or in an earphone (202) or a headphone.

5. The headset (200) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one microphone (401 to 403) is adapted in a manner so as to obtain directionality.

6. The headset (200) according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of microphones (401 to 403), wherein each of the plurality of microphones (401 to 403) is adapted to individually detect audio signals (404 to 406).

7. The headset (200) according to claim 6, comprising an adding unit (407) adapted to sum up the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by each of the plurality of microphones (401 to 403).

8. The headset (200) according to claim 6, comprising a delay unit (407) for delaying the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by each of the plurality of microphones (401 to 403).

9. A communication device, comprising a headset (200) according to claim 1 ; a communication unit (108) which is supplyable with the audio signals (101) detected by the at least one microphone (103) of the headset (200) and which is adapted for transmitting the audio signals (101) to the other communication device.

10. The communication device according to claim 9, wherein the communication unit (108) is supplyable with the audio signals (101) detected by the at least one microphone (103) of the headset (200) in a wired or in a wireless manner.

11. The communication device according to claim 9, wherein the communication unit (108) is adapted for transmitting the audio signals (101) to the other communication device in a wired or in a wireless manner.

12. The communication device according to claim 9, realised as at least one of the group consisting of a mobile phone, a hearing aid, a dictating machine, a conference call device, a portable audio player, a portable video player, a head mounted display, a medical communication system, a body- worn device, a DVD player, a CD player, a harddisk-based media player, an internet radio device, a public entertainment device, and an MP3 player.

13. A communication system (100), comprising a communication device according to claim 9; a further communication unit adapted to receive the audio signals (101) transmitted by the communication unit of the communication device.

14. The communication system according to claim 13, wherein the further communication unit is operable remotely with respect to the communication device.

15. A method of operating a headset (200) for a communication device, the method comprising the steps of detecting audio signals (404 to 406) by means of at least one microphone (401 to 403) of the headset (200); reproducing the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by the at least one microphone (401 to 403) by means of a speaker (410) of the headset (200); providing the audio signals (404 to 406) detected by the at least one microphone (401 to 403) for transmission to another communication device communicatively connected to the communication device for reproduction by a speaker (413) of the other communication device.