Voice activity detector (VAD) -based multiple-microphone acoustic noise suppression
DC CAFCFirst Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for removing noise from acoustic signals, comprising:
- receiving at least two acoustic signals using at least two acoustic microphones positioned in a plurality of locations;
receiving a voice activity signal that includes information on vibration of human tissue associated with human voicing activity of a user;
generating a voice activity detection (VAD) signal using the voice activity signal;
generating at least two transfer functions representative of a ratio of energy of the acoustic signal received using at least two different acoustic microphones of the at least two acoustic microphones when the VAD indicates that user voicing activity is absent, wherein the at least two transfer functions comprise a first transfer function and a second transfer function; and
removing acoustic noise from at least one of the acoustic signals by applying the first transfer function and at least one combination of the first transfer function and the second transfer function to the acoustic signals and generating denoised acoustic signals.
18 Assignments
Litigations
6 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Acoustic noise suppression is provided in multiple-microphone systems using Voice Activity Detectors (VAD). A host system receives acoustic signals via multiple microphones. The system also receives information on the vibration of human tissue associated with human voicing activity via the VAD. In response, the system generates a transfer function representative of the received acoustic signals upon determining that voicing information is absent from the received acoustic signals during at least one specified period of time. The system removes noise from the received acoustic signals using the transfer function, thereby producing a denoised acoustic data stream.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for removing noise from acoustic signals, comprising:
-
receiving at least two acoustic signals using at least two acoustic microphones positioned in a plurality of locations; receiving a voice activity signal that includes information on vibration of human tissue associated with human voicing activity of a user; generating a voice activity detection (VAD) signal using the voice activity signal; generating at least two transfer functions representative of a ratio of energy of the acoustic signal received using at least two different acoustic microphones of the at least two acoustic microphones when the VAD indicates that user voicing activity is absent, wherein the at least two transfer functions comprise a first transfer function and a second transfer function; and removing acoustic noise from at least one of the acoustic signals by applying the first transfer function and at least one combination of the first transfer function and the second transfer function to the acoustic signals and generating denoised acoustic signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A system for removing acoustic noise from the acoustic signals, comprising:
-
a receiver that receives at least two acoustic signals via at least two acoustic microphones positioned in a plurality of locations; at least one sensor that receives human tissue vibration information associated with human voicing activity of a user; a processor coupled among the receiver and the at least one sensor that generates a plurality of transfer functions, wherein the plurality of transfer functions includes a first transfer function representative of a ratio of energy of acoustic signals received using at least two different acoustic microphones of the at least two acoustic microphones, wherein the first transfer function is generated in response to a determination that voicing activity is absent from the acoustic signals for a period of time, wherein the plurality of transfer functions includes a second transfer function representative of the acoustic signals, wherein the second transfer function is generated in response to a determination that voicing activity is present in the acoustic signals for the period of time, wherein acoustic noise is removed from the acoustic signals using the first transfer function and at least one combination of the first transfer function and the second transfer function to produce the denoised acoustic data stream. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
- 18. A signal processing system coupled among a user and an electronic device, wherein the signal processing system includes a denoising subsystem for removing acoustic noise from acoustic signals, the denoising subsystem comprising a processor coupled among a receiver and at least one sensor, wherein the receiver is coupled to receive the acoustic signals via at least two microphones, wherein the at least one sensor detects human tissue vibration associated with human voicing activity of a user, wherein the processor generates a plurality of transfer functions, wherein a first transfer function representative of a ratio of acoustic energy received by the two microphones is generated in response to a determination that voicing activity is absent from the acoustic signals for a specified period of time, wherein a second transfer function representative of the acoustic signals is generated in response to a determination that voicing activity is present in the acoustic signals for a specified period of time, wherein acoustic noise is removed from the acoustic signals using the first transfer function and at least one combination of the first transfer function and the second transfer function to produce a denoised acoustic data stream.
Specification