Speech synthesis apparatus and method utilizing acquisition of at least two speech unit waveforms acquired from a continuous memory region by one access

1. An apparatus for synthesizing a speech of a phoneme sequence, comprising:

a selector configured to select a plurality of speech units for synthesizing the speech of the phoneme sequence by referring to speech unit information stored in an information memory;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a speech unit waveform corresponding to each speech unit of the plurality of speech units from a plurality of speech unit waveforms stored in a waveform memory; and

a synthesizing unit configured to synthesize the speech by utilizing the speech unit waveform acquired by the acquisition unit;

wherein the acquisition unit copies at least two speech unit waveforms from a continuous region of the waveform memory onto a buffer by one access, a data quantity of the speech unit waveforms being less than or equal to a size of the buffer, the speech unit waveforms corresponding to at least two speech units included in the plurality of speech units.

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

a text input unit by which text to be converted to the phoneme sequence is input.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one of a speaker and a head phone by which the speech is output.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a computer operation system configured to execute copying by said acquisition unit of said at least two speech unit waveforms.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a middle-ware (MW) program unit configured to execute copying by said acquisition unit of said at least two speech unit waveforms.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the speech unit waveform is one of a waveform itself, a parameter to generate the waveform, encoded data of the waveform, and a pitch waveform.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

an access speed of the information memory is quicker than an access speed of the waveform memory.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the synthesizing unit synthesizes the speech by concatenating the speech unit waveform with modification or without modification.

9. A method for synthesizing a speech of an input a phoneme sequence, comprising:

selecting a plurality of speech units for synthesizing the speech of the phoneme sequence by referring to speech unit information stored in an information memory;

acquiring by an acquisition unit a speech unit waveform corresponding to each speech unit of the plurality of speech units from a plurality of speech unit waveforms stored in a waveform memory, including

copying at least two speech unit waveforms from a continuous region of the waveform memory onto a buffer by one access, a data quantity of the speech unit waveforms being less than or equal to a size of the buffer, the speech unit waveforms corresponding to at least two speech units included in the plurality of speech units; and

synthesizing the speech by utilizing the speech unit waveform acquired by the acquisition unit.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein

the copying is executed by a computer operation system.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein

the copying is executed by a middle-ware (MW) program unit.

12. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

outputting the speech by at least one of a speaker and a head phone.

13. The method according to claim 9 , wherein

the speech unit waveform is one of a waveform itself, a parameter to generate the waveform, encoded data of the waveform, and a pitch waveform.

14. The method according to claim 9 , wherein

the synthesizing includes

synthesizing the speech by concatenating the speech unit waveform with modification or without modification.

15. A non-transitory computer readable memory storing program instructions, which when executed by a computer, results in performance of a method for synthesizing a speech of a phoneme sequence, comprising steps of:

selecting a plurality of speech units for synthesizing the speech of the input phoneme sequence by referring to speech unit information stored in an information memory;

acquiring a speech unit waveform corresponding to each speech unit of the plurality of speech units from a plurality of speech unit waveforms stored in a waveform memory, including

copying at least two speech unit waveforms from a continuous region of the waveform memory onto a buffer by one access, a data quantity of the speech unit waveforms being less than or equal to a size of the buffer, the speech unit waveforms corresponding to at least two speech units included in the plurality of speech units; and

synthesizing the speech by utilizing the speech unit waveform being acquired.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 15 , wherein

the copying is executed by a computer operation system.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 15 , wherein

the copying is executed by a middle-ware (MW) program unit.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 15 , further comprising:

outputting the speech by at least one of a speaker and a head phone.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 15 , wherein

the speech unit waveform is one of a waveform itself, a parameter to generate the waveform, encoded data of the waveform, and a pitch waveform.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 15 , wherein

the synthesizing includes

synthesizing the speech by concatenating the speech unit waveform with modification or without modification.