Speech synthesis method and device

• US 4,716,591 A
• Filed: 11/08/1985
• Issued: 12/29/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Miyazaki, Hiroshi, Masuzawa, Sigeaki, Iwase, Tetsuo, Shibata, Shinya
• Primary Examiner(s): Kemeny, E. S.
• Application Number:
  US06/795,760
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• Field of Search: 381/51-53, 364/513.5
• US Class Current: 704/268
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/08 Text analysis or generation of parameters for speech synthesis out of text, e.g. grapheme to phoneme translation, prosody generation or stress or intonation determination

Abstract

Speech synthesis is improved by using normalized values of pitch and amplitude data to modify phoneme signals which are further processed by a quantizing noise filter which computes and interleaves the average value between adjacent samples.

Claims

1. A method for synthesizing speech waveforms comprising the steps of:

(a) storing digital speech information designating speech phonemes in a first addressable memory;

(b) storing in a second addressable memory digital compression command information in a normalized form, said compression command information being capable of modifying the phonemes at least with respect to pitch cycle and amplitude and reading said phonemes out of said first memory means either selectively or sequentially;

(c) reading out the compression command information in the normalized form from said second memory;

(d) decoding the normalized form of said compression command information into the actual digital form;

(e) modifying said phonemes using the actual digital form of said compression command information to form continuously digitalized synthetic speech waveforms;

(f) converting the digitalized synthetic speech waveforms into analog waveforms; and

(g) quantizing said continuously digitalized synthetic waveform at predetermined spaced sampling times, computing the average value of the waveform between adjacent spaced sampling times, interleaving said average values into said waveform between said adjacent spaced sampling times to generate a composite quantized digital waveform and converting said composite quantized digital waveform into an analog waveform.

2. An apparatus for synthesizing speech waveforms comprising:

(a) first addressable memory means for storing digital speech information designating speech phonemes;

(b) second addressable memory means for storing digital compression command information in a normalized form, said compression command information being capable of modifying the phonemes at least with respect to pitch cycle and amplitude and reading said phonemes out of said first memory means either selectively or sequentially;

(c) means for reading out the compression command information in the normalized form from said second memory;

(d) means for decoding the normalized form of said compression command information into the actual digital form;

(e) means for modifying said phonemes using the actual digital form of said compression command information to form continuously digitalized synthetic speech waveforms;

(f) means for converting the digitalized synthetic speech waveforms into analog waveforms;

(g) means for quantizing said continuously digitalized synthetic waveform at predetermined spaced sampling times;

(h) means for computing the average value of the waveform between adjacent spaced sampling times;

(j) means for interleaving said average values into said waveform between said adjacent spaced sampling times to generate a composite quantized digital waveform; and

(j) means for converting said composite quantized digital waveform into an analog waveform.