IP Library Patent Application 11928251
Patent Application
App. No. 11/928,251

MODEL-BASED SIGNAL ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM

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Patent No.
US None
App. No.
11/928,251
Abstract

A signal processing system enhances a speech input signal. A signal reconstruction circuit receives the speech input signal and extracts a spectral envelope. The signal reconstruction circuit generates an excitation signal based on the input signal, and generates a reconstructed speech signal based on the extracted spectral envelope and an excitation signal. A combining circuit combines the noise reduced signal and the reconstructed speech signal. Signal reconstruction and signal combinations may be based on a signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal or another input.

Claims (83)

1 . A method for processing a speech input signal, comprising:

estimating an input-signal-to-noise ratio or a signal-to-noise ratio of the speech input signal;

generating an excitation signal corresponding to the speech input signal;

extracting a spectral envelope of the speech input signal;

generating a reconstructed speech signal based on the excitation signal and the extracted spectral envelope;

filtering the speech input signal with a noise reduction circuit to generate a noise reduced signal; and

combining the reconstructed speech signal and the noise reduced signal based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio to generate an enhanced speech output signal.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating a weight corresponding to the reconstructed speech signal based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio to generate a weighted reconstructed speech signal;

calculating a weight corresponding to the noise reduced signal based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio to obtain a weighted noise reduced signal; and where

generating the enhanced speech output signal comprises combining the weighted reconstructed speech signal and the weighted noise reduced signal.

3 . The method according to claim 1 where estimating the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio further comprises:

estimating the short-time power density spectrum of noise corresponding to the speech input signal; and

determining a short-time spectrogram of the speech input signal.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , where estimating the short-time power density spectrum of the noise further comprises:

smoothing the short-time power density spectrum of the speech input signal in time to generate a first smoothed short-time power density spectrum;

smoothing the first smoothed short-time power density spectrum in a positive frequency direction to generate a second smoothed short-time power density spectrum;

smoothing the second smoothed short-time power density spectrum in a negative frequency direction to obtain a third smoothed short-time power density spectrum; and

determining a minimum of the third smoothed short-time power density spectrum for a discrete time index n and the estimated short-time power density spectrum of the noise for a discrete time index n−1.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , where the excitation signal is generated using an excitation codebook.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , where the reconstructed speech signal is based on an estimated spectral envelope derived from the extracted spectral envelope and a spectral envelope codebook.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

generating a prototype spectral envelope corresponding to the spectral envelope codebook, the prototype spectral envelope providing a best match to the extracted spectral envelope corresponding to portions of the speech input signal having an input-signal-to-noise ratio greater than a predetermined threshold; and

where the estimated spectral envelope further comprises:

the prototype spectral envelope best match; and

the extracted spectral envelope corresponding to portions of the speech input signal having an input-signal-to-noise ratio less than or equal to the predetermined threshold.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , further comprising generating the estimated spectral envelope as sub-bands based on a weighted sum of the extracted spectral envelope smoothed in frequency and the prototype spectral envelope best match.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , further comprising generating the excitation signal based on filtered excitation sub-band signals, where the filtered excitation sub-band signals are generated using a spread noise reduction filter.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

generating sub-band signals corresponding to the reconstructed speech signal;

generating sub-band signals corresponding to the noise reduced signal;

adapting phases of the sub-band signals corresponding to the reconstructed speech signal to phases of the sub-band signals corresponding to the noise reduced signal; and

where adapting the phases is based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio of the speech input signal.

11 . A computer-readable storage medium having processor executable instructions to process a speech input signal by performing the acts of:

estimating an input-signal-to-noise ratio or a signal-to-noise ratio of the speech input signal;

generating an excitation signal corresponding to the speech input signal;

extracting a spectral envelope of the speech input signal;

generating a reconstructed speech signal based on the excitation signal and the extracted spectral envelope;

filtering the speech input signal with a noise reduction circuit to generate a noise reduced signal; and

combining the reconstructed speech signal and the noise reduced signal based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio to generate an enhanced speech output signal.

12 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of:

calculating a weight corresponding to the reconstructed speech signal based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio to generate a weighted reconstructed speech signal;

calculating a weight corresponding to the noise reduced signal based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio to obtain a weighted noise reduced signal; and where

generating the enhanced speech output signal comprises combining the weighted reconstructed speech signal and the weighted noise reduced signal.

13 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of estimating the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio by:

estimating the short-time power density spectrum of noise corresponding to the speech input signal; and

determining a short-time spectrogram of the speech input signal.

14 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of estimating the short-time power density spectrum of the noise by

smoothing the short-time power density spectrum of the speech input signal in time to generate a first smoothed short-time power density spectrum;

smoothing the first smoothed short-time power density spectrum in a positive frequency direction to generate a second smoothed short-time power density spectrum;

smoothing the second smoothed short-time power density spectrum in a negative frequency direction to obtain a third smoothed short-time power density spectrum; and

determining a minimum of the third smoothed short-time power density spectrum for a discrete time index n and the estimated short-time power density spectrum of the noise for a discrete time index n−1.

15 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the act of accessing an excitation codebook to generate the excitation signal.

16 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of generating the reconstructed speech signal based on an estimated spectral envelope derived from the extracted spectral envelope and a spectral envelope codebook.

17 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of:

generating a prototype spectral envelope corresponding to the spectral envelope codebook, the prototype spectral envelope providing a best match to the extracted spectral envelope corresponding to portions of the speech input signal having an input-signal-to-noise ratio greater than a predetermined threshold; and

where the estimated spectral envelope further comprises:

the prototype spectral envelope best match; and

the extracted spectral envelope corresponding to portions of the speech input signal having an input-signal-to-noise ratio less than or equal to the predetermined threshold.

18 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of generating the estimated spectral envelope as sub-bands based on a weighted sum of the extracted spectral envelope smoothed in frequency and the prototype spectral envelope best match.

19 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of generating the excitation signal based on filtered excitation sub-band signals, where the filtered excitation sub-band signals are generated using a spread noise reduction filter.

20 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising processor executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the acts of:

generating sub-band signals corresponding to the reconstructed speech signal;

generating sub-band signals corresponding to the noise reduced signal;

adapting phases of the sub-band signals corresponding to the reconstructed speech signal to phases of the sub-band signals corresponding to the noise reduced signal; and

where adapting the phases is based on the input-signal-to-noise ratio of the speech input signal.

21 . A signal processing system for enhancing a speech input signal, comprising:

a noise reduction circuit configured to receive the speech input signal and generate a noise reduced signal;

a signal reconstruction circuit configured to receive the speech input signal and extract a spectral envelope from the speech input signal, the signal reconstruction circuit further configured to

generate an excitation signal based on the speech input signal; and

generate a reconstructed speech signal based on the extracted spectral envelope and the excitation signal;

a signal combining circuit configured to combine the noise reduced signal and the reconstructed speech signal to generate an enhanced speech output signal; and

a control circuit configured to receive the speech input signal and control the signal reconstruction circuit and the signal combining circuit based on an input-signal-to-noise ratio or a signal-to-noise ratio of the speech input signal.

22 . The system according to claim 21 , further comprising:

at least one analysis filter bank configured to transform the speech input signal into speech input sub-band signals;

at least one synthesis filter bank configured to synthesize sub-band signals generated by the noise reduction circuit and/or the signal reconstruction circuit.

23 . The system according to claim 22 , where the signal reconstruction circuit further comprises:

an excitation codebook;

a spectral envelope codebook;

an excitation estimation circuit configured to generate the excitation signal based on the excitation codebook;

a spectral envelope estimation circuit configured to generate an estimated spectral envelope based on the spectral envelope codebook; and

where the signal reconstruction circuit generates the reconstructed speech signal based on the estimated spectral envelope and the excitation signal.

24 . The system according to claim 21 , where the control circuit determines the input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio of the speech input signal, and deactivates the signal reconstruction circuit if the determined input-signal-to-noise ratio or the signal-to-noise ratio exceeds a predetermined threshold.

Assignments (1)
ASSET PURCHASE AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 19, 2010
From: HARMAN BECKER AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS GMBH
To: NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Reel/Frame 023810/0001 →