Technology that removes echo from audio signals in conferencing systems. When a far-end participant speaks, their audio comes out of the room speakers and gets picked up by the room microphones. AEC identifies and subtracts this echo so the far-end only hears the room's talker, not their own voice bounced back.
Key points:
- Every conferencing system needs AEC (Teams/Zoom rooms, DSPs, sound bars)
- Only ONE device in the signal chain should perform AEC — double-AEC causes artifacts
- AEC needs a reference signal (the speaker output) to identify what to cancel
- Room acoustics affect AEC performance — hard reflective surfaces make it work harder