Method and apparatus for increasing speech intelligibility in noisy environments
US8364477B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 30, 2012 |
| Grant date | Jan 29, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 30, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG10L25/15
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method (400, 500) and apparatus (220) seeks to improve the intelligibility of speech emitted into a noisy environment. Formants are identified (426) and perceptual frequency scale band is selected (502) that includes at least one of the identified formants. The SNR in each band is compared (504) to a threshold and, if the SNR for that band is less than the threshold, the method increases a formant enhancement gain for that band. A set of high pass filter gains (338) is combined (516) with the formant enhancement gains yielding combined gains that are then clipped (518), scaled (520) according to a total SNR, normalized (526), smoothed across time (530) and frequency (532), and used to reconstruct (532, 534) an audio signal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.