Voice activity detection (VAD) for a coded speech bitstream without decoding

1. A system for voice activity detection (VAD) within a digitally encoded bitstream, the system comprising:

a parameter extraction module implemented using one or more hardware processors and configured to extract parameters from a sequence of coded frames from a digitally encoded bitstream containing speech, the parameters extracted being parameters of a codec used in encoding the sequence of coded frames;

a VAD classifier selection module configured to:

determine a bit rate of the digitally encoded bitstream; and

select a given VAD classifier from among a plurality of VAD classifiers based on the determined bit rate, the given VAD classifier having been trained for the determined bit rate of the digitally encoded bitstream with a training file corresponding to the determined bit rate; and

the given VAD classifier implemented using the one or more hardware processors and configured to operate exclusively in a bitstream domain with input of the digitally encoded bitstream to output a VAD decision indicative of whether or not speech is present in one or more of the coded frames, the VAD decision determined through evaluation of the one or more of the coded frames based on bitstream coding parameter classification features and the parameters extracted.

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

a speech enhancement module configured to perform speech enhancement based on the VAD decision.

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

a VAD smoothing module configured to smooth the VAD decision for the one or more of the coded frames based on VAD decisions of some number N neighboring coded frames.

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

a hysteresis module configured to introduce a hysteresis element to the VAD decision based on at least one of: a defined hold on and hold off time.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the given VAD classifier is a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) classifier or a Deep Belief Network (DBN) classifier.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the digital bitstream is an adaptive multi-rate (AMR) coded bitstream and the bitstream coding parameter classification features are AMR encoding features.

7. A method for voice activity detection implemented as a plurality of computer processes executing on at least one hardware processor, the method comprising:

extracting parameters from a sequence of coded frames from a digitally encoded bitstream containing speech, the parameters extracted being parameters of a codec used in encoding the sequence of coded frames;

determining a bit rate of the digitally encoded bitstream;

selecting a given VAD classifier from among a plurality of VAD classifiers based on the determined bit rate, the given VAD classifier having been trained for the determined bit rate of the digitally encoded bitstream with a training file corresponding to the determined bit rate;

evaluating one or more of the coded frames with the given VAD classifier, the given VAD classifier configured to operate exclusively in a bitstream domain with input of the digitally encoded bitstream and make a VAD decision for the one or more of the coded frames based on bitstream coding parameter classification features and the parameters extracted; and

outputting the VAD decision indicating whether or not speech is present in the one or more of the coded frames.

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

based on the VAD decision, making an enhancement decision whether or not to perform speech enhancement processing.

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

smoothing the VAD decision for the one or more of the coded frames based on VAD decisions of some number N neighboring coded frames.

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

introducing a hysteresis element to the VAD decision based on at least one of: a defined hold on and hold off time.

11. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the given VAD classifier is a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) classifier or a Deep Belief Network (DBN) classifier.

12. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the digital bitstream is an adaptive multi-rate (AMR) coded bitstream and the bitstream coding parameter classification features are AMR encoding features.

13. A computer program product implemented in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium for voice activity detection, the product comprising:

program code for extracting parameters from a sequence of coded frames from a digitally encoded bitstream containing speech, the parameters extracted being parameters of a codec used in encoding the sequence of coded frames;

program code for determining a bit rate of the digitally encoded bitstream;

program code for selecting a given VAD classifier from among a plurality of VAD classifiers based on the determined bit rate, the given VAD classifier having been trained for the determined bit rate of the digitally encoded bitstream with a training file corresponding to the determined bit rate;

program code for evaluating one or more of the coded frames with the given VAD classifier, the given VAD classifier configured to operate exclusively in a bitstream domain with input of the digitally encoded bitstream and make a VAD decision for the one or more of the coded frames based on bitstream coding parameter classification features and the parameters extracted; and

program code for outputting the VAD decision indicating whether or not speech is present in the one or more of the coded frames.

14. The product according to claim 13 , further comprising:

program code for making an enhancement decision whether or not to perform speech enhancement processing based on the VAD decision.

15. The product according to claim 13 , further comprising:

program code for smoothing the VAD decision for the one or more of the coded frames based on VAD decisions of some number N neighboring coded frames.

16. The product according to claim 13 , further comprising:

program code for introducing a hysteresis element to the VAD decision based on at least one of: a defined hold on and hold off time.

17. The product according to claim 13 , wherein the given VAD classifier is a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) classifier or a Deep Belief Network (DBN) classifier.