Voice enhancement method

• US 9,666,205 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2015
• Issued: 05/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airoha Technology Corporation (MediaTek, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Airoha Technology Corporation (MediaTek, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hou, Wen-Sheng, Lin, Chien-Chen, Lin, Heng-Chih
• Primary Examiner(s): JACKSON, JAKIEDA R
• Application Number:
  US14/967,786
• Publication Number:
  US 20160275960A1
• Time in Patent Office: 533 Days
• Field of Search: 704226, 704228
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02082 the noise being echo, reverberation of the speech
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02166 Microphone arrays; Beamforming
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/02 Speech enhancement, e.g. noise reduction or echo cancellation reducing echo effects in line transmission systems H04B3/20; echo suppression in hands-free telephones H04M9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

A voice enhancement method is disclosed. The method of the present invention is adapted for a distributed system. In the present invention, a plurality of picking devices are disposed in a space for picking voice signal. After determining the positions of the picking devices, an enhancement operation is performed on the waveform signals from the picking devices to generate an enhanced voice signal.

Claims

1. A voice enhancement method, adapted for a distributed system having a plurality of picking devices and a host device, wherein the plurality of picking devices are disposed in a space and communicate with the host device, the voice enhancement method comprising:

acquiring positions of each of the plurality of picking devices and a source;

actuating each of the plurality of picking devices to receive a voice signal generated by the source and generate a waveform signal corresponding to the received voice signal;

actuating each of the plurality of picking devices to transmit the waveform signal to the host device;

performing an enhancement operation on the waveform signals based on the relative positions of the picking and host devices and the source, and generating an enhanced voice signal, the enhancement operation including determining and comparing distances between picking devices and the source and selecting the waveform signal generated by the picking device closest to the source as the enhanced voice signal;

transmitting the enhanced voice signal to at least one other picking device; and

actuating at least one of the plurality of picking devices to play the enhanced voice signal.

2. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the positioning of the plurality of picking devices and the source is selected from the group consisting of:

global positioning system positioning, an assisted global positioning system positioning, and an image recognition positioning.

3. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the enhancement operation is selected from the group consisting of:

a beamforming operation, an echo cancellation operation, a noise reduction operation, a de-reverberation operation, a gain boost operation, and a combination thereof.

4. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of picking devices includes a speaker for playing the enhanced voice signal.

5. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of picking devices communicate with the host device by wired transmission or wireless transmission.

6. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the wireless transmission is selected from the group consisting of:

a Bluetooth transmission, wireless network transmission, a radio frequency transmission, and an acoustic transmission.

7. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of picking devices is selected from the group consisting of:

a speakerphone, a wired telephone, a wireless telephone, a mobile phone, a Bluetooth headset, a wired microphone, a wireless microphone, a wired speaker with microphone, a wireless speaker with microphone, and a notebook computer.

8. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising positioning the plurality of picking devices and the source periodically in a predetermined period.

9. A voice enhancement method, adapted for a distributed system having a first picking device and at least one second picking device, wherein the first picking device and the at least one second picking device are disposed in a space and communicate with each other, the voice enhancement method comprising:

acquiring positions of each of the first picking device and the at least one second picking device, and determining a position of the source based thereon;

actuating each of the first picking device and the at least one second picking device to receive a voice signal generated by the source and generate a waveform signal corresponding to the received voice signal;

actuating the at least one second picking device to transmit the waveform signal thereof to the first picking device;

performing an enhancement operation on the waveform signals based on the relative positions of the first and second picking devices and the source, and generating an enhanced voice signal, the enhancement operation including determining and comparing distances between first and second picking devices and the source and selecting the waveform signal generated by the picking device closest to the source as the enhanced voice signal;

transmitting the enhanced voice signal to the at least one second picking device; and

actuating the at least one second picking device to play the enhanced voice signal.

10. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the enhancement operation is selected from the group consisting of:

a beamforming operation, an echo cancellation operation, a noise reduction operation, a de-reverberation operation, a gain boost operation, and a combination thereof.

11. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 9, wherein each of the first picking device and the at least one second picking device includes a speaker for playing the enhanced voice signal.

12. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the positioning of the first picking device and the at least one second picking device is selected from the group consisting of:

wireless transmission positioning, acoustic transmission positioning, global positioning system positioning, assisted global positioning system positioning, and image recognition positioning.

13. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising positioning the first picking device and the at least one second picking device periodically in a predetermined period.

14. The voice enhancement method as claimed in claim 9, wherein each of the first picking device and the at least one second picking device is selected from the group consisting of:

a speakerphone, a wired telephone, a wireless telephone, a mobile phone, a Bluetooth headset, a wired microphone, a wireless microphone, a wired speaker with microphone, a wireless speaker with microphone, and a notebook computer.