Systems and methods for concatenating electronically encoded voice

• US 7,031,914 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2002
• Issued: 04/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Case, Eliot M.
• Primary Examiner(s): McFadden, Susan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vo, Huyen X
• Application Number:
  US10/120,476
• Publication Number:
  US 20030195747A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,469 Days
• Field of Search: 704/219, 704/207, 704/209, 704/221, 704/223, 705/17
• US Class Current: 704/223
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/07 Concatenation rules
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/09 Long term prediction, i.e. removing periodical redundancies, e.g. by using adaptive codebook or pitch predictor

Abstract

A method for concatenating a series of electronic voice segments encoded according to a source modeled algorithm is provided. The source modeled algorithm includes an excitation function such as a pitch function. The method includes evaluating an excitation function of the segments to be concatenated. The method further includes combining the segments into a sequence. The method further includes altering the excitation function such that the decoded sequence more accurately represents human speech. The alteration may include adjusting the pitch excitation function across one or more concatenation points. The alteration may also include adjusting the pitch excitation function across the sequence to more accurately reflect the content of the sequence. The source modeled algorithm may be a linear predictive algorithm such as Code Excited Linear Prediction (CELP) or Linear Predictive Coding (LCP). A system for concatenating a series of electronic voice segments is also provided.

Claims

1. A method of concatenating a plurality of electronic voice data segments, the plurality of segments being encoded according to a source modeled algorithm, the algorithm including at least one excitation function, wherein each data segment includes information relating to an excitation function and wherein at least one excitation function is usable within a Code Excited Linear Prediction system to synthesize voice, the method comprising:

evaluating the plurality of electronic voice data segments;

assembling the data segments into a sequence, thereby forming at least one concatenation point;

developing a content-based prediction of the language represented by the sequence;

extracting said at least one excitation function from the sequence; and

modifying the excitation function at the concatenation point for at least one of the data segments based in part of the evaluation and the prediction to thereby produce a voice inflection representative of the language represented by the sequence;

wherein the sequence represents a question and one of the excitation functions is related to pitch data, the method, further comprising adjusting the pitch excitation data, thereby causing the data sequence to more accurately represent a voiced question.

2. A system for producing a sequence of concatenated electronic voice data segments, comprising:

an arrangement that selects a plurality of electronic voice data segments from a collection of electronic voice data segments, the plurality of selected segments being encoded according to a source modeled algorithm; and

a processor, configured to;

evaluate the plurality of electronic voice data segments, wherein the algorithm includes at least one excitation function usable within a Code Excited Linear Predictive system to synthesize voice and each of the data segments includes information relating to the excitation function;

assemble the data segments into a sequence, thereby forming at least one concatenation point;

develop a content-based prediction of the language represented by the sequence;

extract an excitation function from the sequence;

modify the excitation function for at least one of the plurality of data segments based in part on the evaluation and the content of the prediction to thereby produce a voice inflection representative of the language represented by the sequence; and

cause the sequence to be transmitted to an external electronic device.