MULTI-AURAL MMSE ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR CLARIFYING AUDIO SIGNALS
First Claim
1. A method for clarifying an audio signal comprising:
- receiving audio signals with at least two microphones of an electronic device, each audio signal including a plurality of frequency bands, a target component and a noise component, the at least two microphones including a primary microphone for receiving the target component at a higher power than a reference microphone will receive the target component;
determining a noise estimate from a reference audio signal received by the reference microphone;
incorporating the noise estimate into a minimum mean squared error analysis;
subjecting each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of a primary audio signal received by the primary microphone to the minimum mean squared error analysis;
assigning a confidence interval to each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands based on a result of the minimum mean squared analysis;
modifying an audio output level of each frequency band of the primary audio signal based on the confidence interval of that frequency band to provide a modified output frequency band; and
combining modified output frequency bands for each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the primary audio signal to provide a clarified output audio signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for processing audio signals include removing noise from the audio signals or otherwise clarifying the audio signals prior to outputting the audio signals. The disclosed techniques may employ minimum mean squared error (MMSE) analyses on audio signals received from a primary microphone and at least one reference microphone, and to techniques in which the MMSE analyses are used to reduce or eliminate noise from audio signals received by the primary microphone. Optionally, confidence intervals may be assigned to different frequency bands of an audio signal, with each confidence interval corresponding to a likelihood that its respective frequency band includes targeted audio, and each confidence interval representing a contribution of its respective frequency band in a reconstructed audio signal from which noise has been removed.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for clarifying an audio signal comprising:
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receiving audio signals with at least two microphones of an electronic device, each audio signal including a plurality of frequency bands, a target component and a noise component, the at least two microphones including a primary microphone for receiving the target component at a higher power than a reference microphone will receive the target component; determining a noise estimate from a reference audio signal received by the reference microphone; incorporating the noise estimate into a minimum mean squared error analysis; subjecting each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of a primary audio signal received by the primary microphone to the minimum mean squared error analysis; assigning a confidence interval to each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands based on a result of the minimum mean squared analysis; modifying an audio output level of each frequency band of the primary audio signal based on the confidence interval of that frequency band to provide a modified output frequency band; and combining modified output frequency bands for each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the primary audio signal to provide a clarified output audio signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for clarifying an audio signal comprising:
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receiving audio signals with at least two microphones of an electronic device, each audio signal including a plurality of frequency bands, a target component and a noise component, the at least two microphones including a primary microphone that receives the target component at a higher power than a reference microphone receives the target component; subjecting a primary audio signal received by the primary microphone to an adaptive time domain filter to provide a filtered audio signal; determining a noise estimate using a reference audio signal received by the reference microphone; tailoring a minimum mean squared error analysis based on the noise estimate; and subjecting each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands the filtered audio signal to the minimum mean squared error analysis. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An electronic device configured to receive an audio signal, comprising:
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a primary microphone for receiving and communicating a primary audio signal; a reference microphone for receiving and communicating a reference audio signal; a processor programmed to; receive the primary audio signal and the reference audio signal; process the reference audio signal to provide a noise estimate; generate a minimum mean squared error analysis that accounts for the noise estimate; subject a plurality of frequency bands of the primary audio signal to the minimum mean squared error analysis; compare a result of the minimum mean squared analysis of each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the primary audio signal to a result of the minimum mean squared analysis of a corresponding frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the reference audio signal to provide a frequency band comparison; assign a confidence interval to each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the primary audio signal based on the frequency band comparison that corresponds to that frequency band; adjust an output power of the frequency band based on the confidence interval to provide a modified output frequency band; and combine modified output frequency bands for each frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands of the primary audio signal to provide a clarified output audio signal; and cause an output element to output the clarified output audio signal; and the output element, in communication with the processor. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification