Time compression/expansion of phonemes based on the information carrying elements of the phonemes
First Claim
1. A speech-synthesis method for transforming a phoneme from a first timescale to a second timescale, comprising the steps of:
- determining a set of points indicative of said phoneme;
identifying a first part of said set of points occurring at a boundary of said phoneme and having a first amount of information uniquely characterizing said phoneme, said first part corresponding to a first period in said first timescale;
identifying a second part of said set of points occurring at an interior of said phoneme and having a lesser amount of information than said first part, said second part corresponding to a second period in said first timescale;
transforming said second part to said second timescale to create a transformed second part having a third period that is different than said second period; and
transforming said first part to said second timescale to create a transformed first part having a fourth period that is equivalent or nearly equivalent to said first period so as to retain said information carried by said first part not carried by said second part.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and arrangement for transforming phonemes over a shorter or longer time than an existing phoneme. The transformation takes place asymmetrically in that a basic phoneme is divided into a number of points, the said points being identified with respect to information-carrying elements in the phoneme. This provides a weighting in the phoneme between information-carrying elements and elements carrying less information. The parts of the phoneme which elements carrying less information are transformed over a longer or, respectively, shorter time interval. Elements in the phoneme which represent information-carrying parts are transferred unchanged in time. This provides a transformation of the phoneme which retains its original character in all essentials.
By the parts of the phoneme carrying less information being identified, the invention also provides an indication of where different phonemes can be fitted into one another in the creation of artificial speech.
24 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A speech-synthesis method for transforming a phoneme from a first timescale to a second timescale, comprising the steps of:
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determining a set of points indicative of said phoneme; identifying a first part of said set of points occurring at a boundary of said phoneme and having a first amount of information uniquely characterizing said phoneme, said first part corresponding to a first period in said first timescale; identifying a second part of said set of points occurring at an interior of said phoneme and having a lesser amount of information than said first part, said second part corresponding to a second period in said first timescale; transforming said second part to said second timescale to create a transformed second part having a third period that is different than said second period; and transforming said first part to said second timescale to create a transformed first part having a fourth period that is equivalent or nearly equivalent to said first period so as to retain said information carried by said first part not carried by said second part. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A speech synthesis system that transforms a phoneme from a first timescale to a second timescale, comprising:
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a selection element configured to select said phoneme from at least one of a speech sequence or a storage device; a determination mechanism configured to determine a set of points indicative of said phoneme, said determination mechanism comprising, a first identification mechanism that identifies a first part of said set of points occurring at a boundary of said phoneme and having a first amount of information uniquely characterizing said phoneme and corresponding to a first period in said first timescale, and a second identification mechanism that identifies a second part of said set of points occurring at an interior of said phoneme having a lesser amount of information than said second part and corresponding to a second period in said first timescale; a first transforming mechanism that transforms said second part to said second timescale to create a transformed second part having a third period that is different than said second period; and a second transforming mechanism that transforms said first part to said second timescale to create a transformed first part having a fourth period equivalent or nearly equivalent to said first period so as to retain information carried by said first part not carried by said second part. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification