System and method for utilizing omni-directional microphones for speech enhancement
First Claim
1. A system for enhancing speech, comprising:
- a primary and secondary microphone configured to receive a primary acoustic signal and a secondary acoustic signal;
a differential microphone array (DMA) module configured to determine a cardioid primary signal and a cardioid secondary signal based on a primary electric signal converted from the primary acoustic signal and secondary electric signal converted from the secondary acoustic signal, the differential microphone array module being further configured to determine the cardioid primary signal based at least in part on delaying at least one of the primary electric signal and the secondary electric signal; and
an inter-microphone level difference module configured to non-linearly combine components of the cardioid primary signal and the cardioid secondary signal to obtain an inter-microphone level difference.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for utilizing inter-microphone level differences (ILD) to attenuate noise and enhance speech are provided. In exemplary embodiments, primary and secondary acoustic signals are received by omni-directional microphones, and converted into primary and secondary electric signals. A differential microphone array module processes the electric signals to determine a cardioid primary signal and a cardioid secondary signal. The cardioid signals are filtered through a frequency analysis module which takes the signals and mimics a cochlea implementation (i.e., cochlear domain). Energy levels of the signals are then computed, and the results are processed by an ILD module using a non-linear combination to obtain the ILD. In exemplary embodiments, the non-linear combination comprises dividing the energy level associated with the primary microphone by the energy level associated with the secondary microphone. The ILD is utilized by a noise reduction system to enhance the speech of the primary acoustic signal.
283 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system for enhancing speech, comprising:
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a primary and secondary microphone configured to receive a primary acoustic signal and a secondary acoustic signal; a differential microphone array (DMA) module configured to determine a cardioid primary signal and a cardioid secondary signal based on a primary electric signal converted from the primary acoustic signal and secondary electric signal converted from the secondary acoustic signal, the differential microphone array module being further configured to determine the cardioid primary signal based at least in part on delaying at least one of the primary electric signal and the secondary electric signal; and an inter-microphone level difference module configured to non-linearly combine components of the cardioid primary signal and the cardioid secondary signal to obtain an inter-microphone level difference. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for enhancing speech, comprising:
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receiving a primary acoustic signal at a primary microphone and a secondary acoustic signal at a secondary microphone; determining a cardioid primary signal and a cardioid secondary signal based on a primary electric signal converted from the primary acoustic signal and a secondary electric signal converted from the secondary acoustic signal; determining the cardioid primary signal further based at least in part on delaying at least one of the primary electric signal and the secondary electric signal; and non-linearly combining components of the cardioid primary signal and cardioid secondary signal to obtain an inter-microphone level difference. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, the program being executable by a processor to perform a method for enhancing speech, the method comprising:
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receiving a primary acoustic signal at a primary microphone and a secondary acoustic signal at a secondary microphone; determining a cardioid primary signal and a cardioid secondary signal based on a primary electric signal converted from the primary acoustic signal and a secondary electric signal converted from the secondary acoustic signal; determining the cardioid primary signal further based at least in part on delaying at least one of the primary electric signal and the secondary electric signal; and non-linearly combining components of the cardioid primary signal and the cardioid secondary signal to obtain an inter-microphone level difference.
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Specification