Speech signal evaluation apparatus, storage medium storing speech signal evaluation program, and speech signal evaluation method

• US 8,532,986 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2010
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Chikako
• Primary Examiner(s): PULLIAS, JESSE SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US12/730,920
• Publication Number:
  US 20100250246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,266 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 704/214
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2025/937 Signal energy in various frequency bands
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/93 Discriminating between voiced and unvoiced parts of speech signals G10L25/90 takes precedence

Abstract

A speech signal evaluation apparatus includes: an acquisition unit that acquires, as a first frame, a speech signal of a specified length from speech signals; a first detection unit that detects, on the basis of a speech condition, whether the first frame is voiced or unvoiced; a variation calculation unit that, when the first frame is unvoiced, calculates a variation in a spectrum associated with the first frame on the basis of a spectrum of the first frame and a spectrum of a second frame that is unvoiced and precedes the first frame in time; and a second detection unit that detects, on the basis of a non-stationary condition based on the variation in spectrum, whether the variation of the first frame satisfies the non-stationary condition.

Claims

1. A speech signal evaluation apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing speech signals and a plurality of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to execute,

acquiring, as a first frame, a speech signal of a specified length from the speech signals stored in the memory;

detecting, on the basis of a speech condition indicating a presence of speech, whether the first frame is voiced or unvoiced, wherein an unvoiced frame does not satisfy the speech condition and a voiced frame does satisfy the speech condition;

calculating, when the first frame is unvoiced, a variation in a spectrum associated with the first frame on the basis of a spectrum of the first frame and a spectrum of a second frame, the second frame being unvoiced and preceding the first frame in time; and

detecting, on a basis of a non-stationary condition based on the variation in spectrum, whether the variation satisfies the non-stationary condition, wherein

the variation in the spectrum is calculated on the basis of an absolute value of a difference between the spectrum of the first frame and the spectrum of the second frame at each frequency.

2. The speech signal evaluation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an evaluation of the speech signal based on at least one of the variation in spectrum and a non-stationary rate.

3. A computer-readable non-transitory medium storing a speech signal evaluation program, which when executed by a computer, causes the computer to execute:

acquiring, as a first frame, a speech signal of a specified length from speech signals stored in a memory;

detecting, on the basis of a speech condition indicating a presence of speech in a frame, whether the first frame is voiced or unvoiced, wherein an unvoiced frame does not satisfy the speech condition and a voiced frame does satisfy the speech condition;

calculating, when the first frame is unvoiced, a variation in a spectrum associated with the first frame on the basis of a spectrum of the first frame and a spectrum of a second frame, the second frame being unvoiced and preceding the first frame in time; and

detecting, on the basis of a non-stationary condition based on the variation in spectrum, whether the variation satisfies the non-stationary condition, wherein

the variation in the spectrum is calculated on the basis of an absolute value of a difference between the spectrum of the first frame and the spectrum of the second frame at each frequency.

4. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the execution of the speech signal evaluation program further causes the computer to execute:

outputting an evaluation of the speech signal based on at least one of the variation in spectrum and a non-stationary rate.

5. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the variation in the spectrum is calculated on the basis of a ratio of a value obtained by adding the absolute values of the differences at all frequencies to a value obtained by adding spectrum components of the first frame at all the frequencies.

6. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the variation in the spectrum is calculated on the basis of a ratio of a value obtained by multiplying a maximum value of the absolute values of the differences at all frequencies by a frame length to a value obtained by adding spectrum components of the first frame at all the frequencies.

7. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the variation in the spectrum is calculated on the basis of a ratio of a value obtained by adding the absolute values, weighted based on auditory characteristics, of the differences at all frequencies to a value obtained by adding spectrum components of the first frame at all the frequencies.

8. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the execution of the speech signal evaluation program further causes the computer to execute:

setting successive unvoiced frames in the speech signals as one group; and

calculating a non-stationary rate as a ratio of a number of unvoiced frames included in the group to a number of frames satisfying the non-stationary condition of the unvoiced frames in the group.

9. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the execution of the speech signal evaluation program further causes the computer to execute:

identifying, when a length of successive unvoiced frames in the speech signals is equal to or greater than a threshold value, each of the successive unvoiced frames as a long unvoiced frame;

setting the successive long unvoiced frames as one group; and

calculating a ratio of a number of the long unvoiced frames included in the group to a number of frames satisfying the non-stationary condition of the long unvoiced frames in the group.

10. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the execution of the speech signal evaluation program further causes the computer to execute:

identifying, when a length of successive unvoiced frames in the speech signals is less than a threshold value, each of the successive unvoiced frames as a short unvoiced frame;

setting the successive short unvoiced frames as one group; and

calculating a ratio of a number of short unvoiced frames included in the group to a number of frames satisfying the non-stationary condition of the short unvoiced frames in the group.

11. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the non-stationary condition indicates that a variation in the frame exceeds a set variation threshold value.

12. The medium according to claim 11, wherein the execution of the speech signal evaluation program further causes the computer to execute:

calculating an amplitude ratio of amplitudes of voiced frames to amplitudes of unvoiced frames in the speech signals to determine the variation threshold value on the basis of the amplitude ratio.

13. The medium according to claim 11, wherein the execution of the speech signal evaluation program further causes the computer to execute:

setting the first frame and unvoiced frames continuous with the first frame in the speech signals as one group;

calculating a mean spectrum in the group;

calculating a magnitude of a difference between the spectrum of the first frame and the mean spectrum; and

determining the variation threshold value on the basis of the magnitude of the difference.

14. The medium according to claim 3, wherein the speech condition is based on a voiced threshold value, and when an amplitude of a waveform of the first frame is equal to or greater than the voiced threshold value, the first frame is voiced, and when the amplitude of the waveform of the first frame does not exceed the voiced threshold value, the first frame is unvoiced.

15. A speech signal evaluation method executed by a computer, the speech signal evaluation method comprising:

acquiring, as a first frame, a speech signal of a specified length from speech signals stored in a memory;

detecting, on the basis of a speech condition indicating a presence of speech in a frame, whether the first frame is voiced or unvoiced, wherein an unvoiced frame does not satisfy the speech condition and a voiced frame does satisfy the speech condition;

calculating, when the first frame is unvoiced, a variation in a spectrum associated with the first frame on the basis of a spectrum of the first frame and a spectrum of a second frame, the second frame being unvoiced and preceding the first frame in time; and

detecting, on the basis of a non-stationary condition based on the variation in spectrum, whether the variation satisfies the non-stationary condition, wherein

the variation in the spectrum is calculated on the basis of an absolute value of a difference between the spectrum of the first frame and the spectrum of the second frame at each frequency.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising:

outputting an evaluation of the speech signal based on at least one of the variation in spectrum and a non-stationary rate.