High frequency compression integration
First Claim
1. A speech system that improves the intelligibility and quality of a processed speech, comprising:
- an acoustic echo canceler that dampens repetitive sounds created by a reflection from a surface;
a frequency transformer that converts speech signals into a spectrum of frequencies; and
a spectral compressor electrically coupled to the frequency transformer that compresses a pre-selected high frequency band and maps the compressed high frequency band to a lower band limited frequency range;
where some of the speech signals have been modified by the acoustic echo canceler.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A speech enhancement system that improves the intelligibility and the perceived quality of processed speech includes a frequency transformer and a spectral compressor. The frequency transformer converts speech signals from the time domain to the frequency domain. The spectral compressor compresses a pre-selected portion of the high frequency band and maps the compressed high frequency band to a lower band limited frequency range. The speech enhancement system may be built into, may be a unitary part of, or may be configured to interface other systems that process audio or high frequency signals.
122 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A speech system that improves the intelligibility and quality of a processed speech, comprising:
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an acoustic echo canceler that dampens repetitive sounds created by a reflection from a surface;
a frequency transformer that converts speech signals into a spectrum of frequencies; and
a spectral compressor electrically coupled to the frequency transformer that compresses a pre-selected high frequency band and maps the compressed high frequency band to a lower band limited frequency range;
where some of the speech signals have been modified by the acoustic echo canceler. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A speech system that improves the intelligibility of a processed speech, comprising:
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a high pass filter that passes frequencies above a first frequency;
a low pass filter in communication with the high pass filter that passes frequencies below a second frequency;
an acoustic echo canceler in communication with the lowpass filter that dampens repetitive sounds created by a reflection from a surface;
a mixer that combines an output of the acoustic echo canceler with an output of the high pass filter;
a frequency transformer that converts the output of the mixer into its frequency domain;
a spectral compressor coupled to the frequency transformer that compresses a pre-selected high frequency band and maps the compressed high frequency band to a lower frequency band;
a noise detector configured to detect and estimate a level of noise present; and
a gain controller configured to adjust the gain of the compressed high frequency band proportionally to the changing level of an independent and extraneous signal. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A speech system that improves the intelligibility of a processed speech, comprising:
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a plurality of devices that detect and convert sound waves into electrical signals;
a plurality of frequency transformers that converts the output of one of the plurality of devices into its frequency domain;
a plurality of spectral compressors each of the spectral compressors being in communication with one of the plurality of frequency transformers that compresses a pre-selected high frequency band and maps the compressed high frequency band to a lower frequency band;
a plurality of noise detectors each configured to detect and estimate a level of noise present in at least one of the sound waves detected by the respective plurality of devices; and
a plurality of gain controllers each configured to adjust the gain of at least one the compressed high frequency bands proportionally to a changing level of an independent signal and an extraneous signal; and
a beamformer in communication with each of the plurality of gain controllers to increases the gain of a desired range of signals while lowering the gain of a signal traveling from an originating source of the noise. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A speech system that improves the intelligibility of a processed speech, comprising:
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a beamformer that passes selected audio signals received from a plurality of receivers;
a frequency transformer that converts speech signals from time domain into frequency domain in real time;
a spectral compressor coupled to the frequency transformer that compresses a pre-selected high frequency band and maps the compressed high frequency band to a lower frequency band within a telephone pass band;
a noise detector configured to detect and measure a background noise level of speech signals; and
a gain controller configured to apply a variable gain to the compressed high frequency band in relation to the level of the background noise. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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Specification