ESTIMATING A PITCH LAG

• US 20120072209A1
• Filed: 09/08/2011
• Published: 03/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Krishnan, Venkatesh, Villette, Stephane Pierre
• Granted Patent: US 9,082,416 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/207
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/097 using prototype waveform decomposition or prototype waveform interpolative [PWI] coders
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/90 Pitch determination of speech signals

Abstract

An electronic device for estimating a pitch lag is described. The electronic device includes a processor and executable instructions stored in memory that is in electronic communication with the processor. The electronic device obtains a current frame. The electronic device also obtains a residual signal based on the current frame. The electronic device additionally determines a set of peak locations based on the residual signal. Furthermore, the electronic device obtains a set of pitch lag candidates based on the set of peak locations. The electronic device also estimates a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates.

Claims

1. An electronic device for estimating a pitch lag, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor;

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable to;

obtain a current frame;

obtain a residual signal based on the current frame;

determine a set of peak locations based on the residual signal;

obtain a set of pitch lag candidates based on the set of peak locations; and

estimate a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein determining a set of peak locations comprises:

calculating an envelope signal based on an absolute value of samples of the residual signal and a window signal;

calculating a first gradient signal based on a difference between the envelope signal and a time-shifted version of the envelope signal;

calculating a second gradient signal based on a difference between the first gradient signal and a time-shifted version of the first gradient signal;

selecting a first set of location indices where a second gradient signal value falls below a first threshold;

determining a second set of location indices from the first set of location indices by eliminating location indices where an envelope value falls below a second threshold relative to a largest value in the envelope; and

determining a third set of location indices from the second set of location indices by eliminating location indices that do not meet a difference threshold with respect to neighboring location indices.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein obtaining the set of pitch lag candidates comprises:

arranging the set of peak locations in increasing order to yield an ordered set of peak locations; and

calculating a distance between consecutive peak location pairs in the ordered set of peak locations.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable to:

perform a linear prediction analysis using the current frame and a signal prior to the current frame to obtain a set of linear prediction coefficients; and

determine a set of quantized linear prediction coefficients based on the set of linear prediction coefficients.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein obtaining the residual signal is further based on the set of quantized linear prediction coefficients.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable to calculate a set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates.

7. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein calculating the set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates is based on a signal envelope and consecutive peak location pairs in an ordered set of the peak locations.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein calculating the set of confidence measures comprises, for each pair of peak locations in the ordered set of the peak locations:

selecting a first signal buffer based on a range around a first peak location in a pair of peak locations;

selecting a second signal buffer based on a range around a second peak location in the pair of peak locations;

calculating a normalized cross-correlation between the first signal buffer and the second signal buffer; and

adding the normalized cross-correlation to the set of confidence measures.

9. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the pitch lag is estimated based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm.

10. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the instructions are further executable to:

add a first approximation pitch lag value that is calculated based on the residual signal of the current frame to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

add a first pitch gain corresponding to the first approximation pitch lag value to the set of confidence measures.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the first approximation pitch lag value is estimated and the first pitch gain is estimated by:

estimating an autocorrelation value based on the residual signal of the current frame;

searching the autocorrelation value within a range of locations for a maximum;

setting the first approximation pitch lag value as a location at which the maximum occurs; and

setting the first pitch gain value as a normalized autocorrelation at the first approximation pitch lag value.

12. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the instructions are further executable to:

add a second approximation pitch lag value that is calculated based on a residual signal of a previous frame to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

add a second pitch gain corresponding to the second approximation pitch lag value to the set of confidence measures.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the second approximation pitch lag value is estimated and the second pitch gain is estimated by:

estimating an autocorrelation value based on the residual signal of the previous frame;

searching the autocorrelation value within a range of locations for a maximum;

setting the second approximation pitch lag value as the location at which the maximum occurs; and

setting the pitch gain value as a normalized autocorrelation at the second approximation pitch lag value.

14. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein estimating the pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm comprises:

calculating a weighted mean using the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures;

determining a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing a confidence measure corresponding to the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of confidence measures;

determining whether a remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to a designated number; and

determining the pitch lag based on one or more remaining pitch lag candidates if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to the designated number.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further executable to iterate if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is not equal to the designated number.

16. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein calculating the weighted mean is accomplished according to an equation

17. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein determining a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates is accomplished by finding a d_k such that |M_w−

d_k|>

|M_w−

d_i| for all i, where i≠

k, wherein d_k is the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean, M_w is the weighted mean, {d_i} is the set of pitch lag candidates and i is an index number.

18. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable to transmit the pitch lag.

19. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a wireless communication device.

20. An electronic device for estimating a pitch lag, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor;

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable to;

obtain a speech signal;

obtain a set of pitch lag candidates based on the speech signal;

determine a set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

estimate a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm.

21. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein estimating the pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm comprises:

calculating a weighted mean using the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures;

determining a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from a weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing a confidence measure corresponding to the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of confidence measures;

determining whether a remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to a designated number; and

determining the pitch lag based on one or more remaining pitch lag candidates if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to the designated number.

22. A method for estimating a pitch lag on an electronic device, comprising:

obtaining a current frame;

obtaining a residual signal based on the current frame;

determining a set of peak locations based on the residual signal;

obtaining a set of pitch lag candidates based on the set of peak locations; and

estimating a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein determining a set of peak locations comprises:

calculating an envelope signal based on an absolute value of samples of the residual signal and a window signal;

calculating a first gradient signal based on a difference between the envelope signal and a time-shifted version of the envelope signal;

calculating a second gradient signal based on a difference between the first gradient signal and a time-shifted version of the first gradient signal;

selecting a first set of location indices where a second gradient signal value falls below a first threshold;

determining a second set of location indices from the first set of location indices by eliminating location indices where an envelope value falls below a second threshold relative to a largest value in the envelope; and

determining a third set of location indices from the second set of location indices by eliminating location indices that do not meet a difference threshold with respect to neighboring location indices.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein obtaining the set of pitch lag candidates comprises:

arranging the set of peak locations in increasing order to yield an ordered set of peak locations; and

calculating a distance between consecutive peak location pairs in the ordered set of peak locations.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

performing a linear prediction analysis using the current frame and a signal prior to the current frame to obtain a set of linear prediction coefficients; and

determining a set of quantized linear prediction coefficients based on the set of linear prediction coefficients.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein obtaining the residual signal is further based on the set of quantized linear prediction coefficients.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising calculating a set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein calculating the set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates is based on a signal envelope and consecutive peak location pairs in an ordered set of the peak locations.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein calculating the set of confidence measures comprises, for each pair of peak locations in the ordered set of the peak locations:

selecting a first signal buffer based on a range around a first peak location in a pair of peak locations;

selecting a second signal buffer based on a range around a second peak location in the pair of peak locations;

calculating a normalized cross-correlation between the first signal buffer and the second signal buffer; and

adding the normalized cross-correlation to the set of confidence measures.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the pitch lag is estimated based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

adding a first approximation pitch lag value that is calculated based on the residual signal of the current frame to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

adding a first pitch gain corresponding to the first approximation pitch lag value to the set of confidence measures.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the first approximation pitch lag value is estimated and the first pitch gain is estimated by:

estimating an autocorrelation value based on the residual signal of the current frame;

searching the autocorrelation value within a range of locations for a maximum;

setting the first approximation pitch lag value as a location at which the maximum occurs; and

setting the first pitch gain value as a normalized autocorrelation at the first approximation pitch lag value.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

adding a second approximation pitch lag value that is calculated based on a residual signal of a previous frame to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

adding a second pitch gain corresponding to the second approximation pitch lag value to the set of confidence measures.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the second approximation pitch lag value is estimated and the second pitch gain is estimated by:

estimating an autocorrelation value based on the residual signal of the previous frame;

searching the autocorrelation value within a range of locations for a maximum;

setting the second approximation pitch lag value as the location at which the maximum occurs; and

setting the pitch gain value as a normalized autocorrelation at the second approximation pitch lag value.

35. The method of claim 30, wherein estimating the pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm comprises:

calculating a weighted mean using the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures;

determining a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing a confidence measure corresponding to the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of confidence measures;

determining whether a remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to a designated number; and

determining the pitch lag based on one or more remaining pitch lag candidates if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to the designated number.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising iterating if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is not equal to the designated number.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein calculating the weighted mean is accomplished according to an equation

38. The method of claim 35, wherein determining a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates is accomplished by finding a d_k such that |M_w−

d_k|M_w−

d_i| for all i, where i≠

k, wherein d_k is the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean, M_w is the weighted mean, {d_i} is the set of pitch lag candidates and i is an index number.

39. The method of claim 22, further comprising transmitting the pitch lag.

40. The method of claim 22, wherein the electronic device is a wireless communication device.

41. A method for estimating a pitch lag on an electronic device, comprising:

obtaining a speech signal;

obtaining a set of pitch lag candidates based on the speech signal;

determining a set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

estimating a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein estimating the pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm comprises:

calculating a weighted mean using the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures;

determining a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from a weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of pitch lag candidates;

removing a confidence measure corresponding to the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of confidence measures;

determining whether a remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to a designated number; and

determining the pitch lag based on one or more remaining pitch lag candidates if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to the designated number.

43. A computer-program product for estimating a pitch lag, comprising a non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium having instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

code for causing an electronic device to obtain a current frame;

code for causing the electronic device to obtain a residual signal based on the current frame;

code for causing the electronic device to determine a set of peak locations based on the residual signal;

code for causing the electronic device to obtain a set of pitch lag candidates based on the set of peak locations; and

code for causing the electronic device to estimate a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates.

44. The computer-program product of claim 43, wherein the code for causing the electronic device to determine a set of peak locations comprises:

code for causing the electronic device to calculate an envelope signal based on an absolute value of samples of the residual signal and a window signal;

code for causing the electronic device to calculate a first gradient signal based on a difference between the envelope signal and a time-shifted version of the envelope signal;

code for causing the electronic device to calculate a second gradient signal based on a difference between the first gradient signal and a time-shifted version of the first gradient signal;

code for causing the electronic device to select a first set of location indices where a second gradient signal value falls below a first threshold;

code for causing the electronic device to determine a second set of location indices from the first set of location indices by eliminating location indices where an envelope value falls below a second threshold relative to a largest value in the envelope; and

code for causing the electronic device to determine a third set of location indices from the second set of location indices by eliminating location indices that do not meet a difference threshold with respect to neighboring location indices.

45. A computer-program product for estimating a pitch lag, comprising a non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium having instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

code for causing an electronic device to obtain a speech signal;

code for causing the electronic device to obtain a set of pitch lag candidates based on the speech signal;

code for causing the electronic device to determine a set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

code for causing the electronic device to estimate a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm.

46. The computer-program product of claim 45, wherein the code for causing the electronic device to estimate the pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm comprises:

code for causing the electronic device to calculate a weighted mean using the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures;

code for causing the electronic device to determine a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from a weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates;

code for causing the electronic device to remove a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of pitch lag candidates;

code for causing the electronic device to remove a confidence measure corresponding to the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of confidence measures;

code for causing the electronic device to determine whether a remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to a designated number; and

code for causing the electronic device to determine the pitch lag based on one or more remaining pitch lag candidates if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to the designated number.

47. An apparatus for estimating a pitch lag, comprising:

means for obtaining a current frame;

means for obtaining a residual signal based on the current frame;

means for determining a set of peak locations based on the residual signal;

means for obtaining a set of pitch lag candidates based on the set of peak locations; and

means for estimating a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the means for determining a set of peak locations comprises:

means for calculating an envelope signal based on an absolute value of samples of the residual signal and a window signal;

means for calculating a first gradient signal based on a difference between the envelope signal and a time-shifted version of the envelope signal;

means for calculating a second gradient signal based on a difference between the first gradient signal and a time-shifted version of the first gradient signal;

means for selecting a first set of location indices where a second gradient signal value falls below a first threshold;

means for determining a second set of location indices from the first set of location indices by eliminating location indices where an envelope value falls below a second threshold relative to a largest value in the envelope; and

means for determining a third set of location indices from the second set of location indices by eliminating location indices that do not meet a difference threshold with respect to neighboring location indices.

49. An apparatus for estimating a pitch lag, comprising:

means for obtaining a speech signal;

means for obtaining a set of pitch lag candidates based on the speech signal;

means for determining a set of confidence measures corresponding to the set of pitch lag candidates; and

means for estimating a pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the means for estimating the pitch lag based on the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures using an iterative pruning algorithm comprises:

means for calculating a weighted mean using the set of pitch lag candidates and the set of confidence measures;

means for determining a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from a weighted mean in the set of pitch lag candidates;

means for removing a pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of pitch lag candidates;

means for removing a confidence measure corresponding to the pitch lag candidate that is farthest from the weighted mean from the set of confidence measures;

means for determining whether a remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to a designated number; and

means for determining the pitch lag based on one or more remaining pitch lag candidates if the remaining number of pitch lag candidates is equal to the designated number.