Method and system for updating noise estimates during pauses in an information signal
First Claim
1. A method for estimating the power of frequency components of an information signal from an input signal containing both the information signal and noise and updating an estimation of noise power of the frequency components, said method comprising:
- producing a set of frequency components of the information signal;
calculating the total power in each frequency component of the set of frequency components;
estimating the power of a previous noise reduced output;
calculating a gain for each frequency component as a function of the total power in each frequency component of the information signal, the estimated power of the previous noise reduced output and an estimate of a noise power of the noise;
multiplying each frequency component of the set of frequency components by a corresponding said gain to produce an estimate of the power of each frequency component of said information signal;
detecting a pause in the information signal, further comprising for each frequency component;
determining whether the total power in each frequency component of said information signal exceeds a first predetermined threshold, andif the total power in each frequency component of said information signal exceeds the first predetermined threshold, then determining whether a threshold value exceeds a second predetermined thresholds wherein the pause is detected if the threshold value exceeds the second predetermined threshold, andupdating the estimate of the noise power during the pause detected in the information signal.
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Abstract
The invention relates to an improved adaptive spectral estimator for estimating the spectral components in a signal containing both an information signal, such as speech, and noise. A method and system provide for generating noise estimates and then only updating the noise estimates during pauses in an information signal, when speech or other information is not detected, rather than continuously updating the noise estimates. A noise estimate is calculated for each frequency band and provides for the inclusion of a variable mathematical factor that can be set by the user to produce the best sound quality.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for estimating the power of frequency components of an information signal from an input signal containing both the information signal and noise and updating an estimation of noise power of the frequency components, said method comprising:
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producing a set of frequency components of the information signal; calculating the total power in each frequency component of the set of frequency components; estimating the power of a previous noise reduced output; calculating a gain for each frequency component as a function of the total power in each frequency component of the information signal, the estimated power of the previous noise reduced output and an estimate of a noise power of the noise; multiplying each frequency component of the set of frequency components by a corresponding said gain to produce an estimate of the power of each frequency component of said information signal; detecting a pause in the information signal, further comprising for each frequency component; determining whether the total power in each frequency component of said information signal exceeds a first predetermined threshold, and if the total power in each frequency component of said information signal exceeds the first predetermined threshold, then determining whether a threshold value exceeds a second predetermined thresholds wherein the pause is detected if the threshold value exceeds the second predetermined threshold, and updating the estimate of the noise power during the pause detected in the information signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. The system for estimating the noise power of frequency components of an information signal from an input signal containing both the information signal and noise, said system comprising:
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means to produce a set of frequency components of the information signal; a first calculating means for calculating the total power in each frequency component of the set of frequency components; an estimating means for estimating the power of each frequency component of the information signal and for updating a previously made estimate of a noise power of the noise only during a pause detected in the information signal by the estimating means, wherein the estimating means comprises; an adder that is provided with an input spectral power signal and a first predetermined threshold value; a first comparison element that receives the estimate of the power of the information signal and the first predetermined threshold value from the adder, wherein the first comparison element determines whether the estimate of the power of the information signal exceeds the first predetermined threshold value; and a second comparison element coupled to the first comparison element that determines whether a threshold value exceeds a second predetermined threshold value if the estimate of the power of the information signal exceeds the first predetermined threshold value, wherein if the threshold value exceeds the second predetermined threshold value then the pause is detected and the estimating means updates the previously made estimate of the noise power; a second calculating means for calculating a modified gain for each frequency component as a function of the total power of each frequency component of the information signal, the estimate of the power of a previous noise reduced output and the updated estimate of the noise power; and gain multiplying means for multiplying each frequency component by a corresponding gain to produce an updated estimate of the power of each frequency component of said information signal. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification