Audio Signal Correction Apparatus and Audio Signal Correction Method

• US 20110071837A1
• Filed: 05/03/2010
• Published: 03/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Yonekubo, Hiroshi, Takeuchi, Hirokazu
• Application Number:
  US12/772,790
• Publication Number:
  US 20110071837A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/270
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/046 for differentiation between music and non-music signals, based on the identification of musical parameters, e.g. based on tempo detection
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/00 Speech or voice signal processing techniques to produce another audible or non-audible signal, e.g. visual or tactile, in order to modify its quality or its intelligibility G10L19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/78 Detection of presence or absence of voice signals switching of direction of transmission by voice frequency in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/10

Abstract

According to one embodiment, an audio signal correction apparatus has a characteristic extraction module configured to determine whether an input audio signal is a monaural signal or a stereo signal, on the basis of channel information, and to extract a plurality of characteristic parameters for determining whether the input audio signal is a speech signal or a music signal, a signal type determination module configured to calculate a speech/music discrimination score which indicates whether the input audio signal is close to the speech signal or the music signal, on the basis of the plurality of characteristic parameters and a level calculation module configured to calculate, with use of the speech/music discrimination score, output levels of a degree of speech and a degree of music.

Claims

1. An audio signal correction apparatus comprising:

a characteristic extraction module configured to determine whether an input audio signal is a monaural signal or a stereo signal, on the basis of channel information, and to extract a plurality of characteristic parameters for determining whether the input audio signal is a speech signal or a music signal;

a signal type determination module configured to calculate a speech/music discrimination score which indicates whether the input audio signal is close to the speech signal or the music signal, on the basis of the plurality of characteristic parameters;

a level calculation module configured to calculate, with use of the speech/music discrimination score, output levels of a degree of speech and a degree of music; and

a sound quality correction module configured to apply a sound quality correction process to the input audio signal on the basis of the output levels.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the characteristic extraction module is configured to determine, in a case where the input audio signal is a dual monaural signal, that the input audio signal is the monaural signal, and the characteristic extraction module is configured to determine that the input audio signal is the monaural signal in a case where the input audio signal has a format of the stereo signal and an LR power ratio of the input audio signal is less than a predetermined value.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the characteristic extraction module is configured to extract an LR power ratio as one of the plurality of characteristic parameters, in a case where the input audio signal is the stereo signal.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the signal type determination module is configured to multiply the plurality of characteristic parameters, respectively, by a plurality of weighting coefficients which are calculated by learning the plurality of characteristic parameters by using, as reference data, the speech signal and the music signal which are prepared in advance, and calculate, as the speech/music discrimination score, a sum of products of the multiplication between the plurality of characteristic parameters and the plurality of weighting coefficients.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the characteristic extraction module is configured to divide the input audio signal into a plurality of frames of a predetermined unit, and extract the plurality of characteristic parameters in association with each of the divided frames.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the level calculation module is configured to add a correction score to the speech/music discrimination score such that an intensity of correction for music is increased, in a case where the level calculation module has determined that the speech/music discrimination score of each of the divided frames, which has been calculated by the signal type determination module, is the music signal in succession for a predetermined number of times or more, and the level calculation module is configured to add a correction score to the speech/music discrimination score such that an intensity of correction for speech is increased, in a case where the level calculation module has determined that the speech/music discrimination score of each of the divided frames, which has been calculated by the signal type determination module, is the speech signal in succession for a predetermined number of times or more.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the level calculation module is configured to calculate the output levels which are smoothed by finding a moving average of the speech/music discrimination score that is corrected, with respect to the plurality of divided frames.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the level calculation module is configured to set, in a case where the input audio signal is the monaural signal, a maximum value of the output level at a lower value than in the case of the stereo signal, and vary the maximum value of the output level in accordance with a genre of the input audio signal.

9. An audio signal correction method comprising:

determining whether an input audio signal is a monaural signal or a stereo signal, on the basis of channel information, and extracting a plurality of characteristic parameters for determining whether the input audio signal is a speech signal or a music signal;

calculating a speech/music discrimination score which indicates whether the input audio signal is close to the speech signal or the music signal, on the basis of the plurality of characteristic parameters;

calculating, with use of the speech/music discrimination score, output levels of a degree of speech and a degree of music of the input audio signal; and

applying a sound quality correction process to the input audio signal on the basis of the output levels.