Audio Processing Evaluation Using Acoustic Event Thresholds
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Solution Overview
Problem
The process of finding an optimal audio processing scheme for noise suppression or other audio processing tasks is cumbersome due to the large variety of techniques available, and it is difficult to quantify acoustic distortions, leading to a lengthy trial-and-error process with subjective assessments.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for evaluating audio processing schemes by extracting acoustic features from segment pairs, determining differences exceeding an event threshold, and calculating a performance metric based on these differences, which includes the number of segment pairs affected and the maximum difference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual or automatic noise suppression algorithms are used, then noise suppression performance is improved, but the complexity of selecting and evaluating the optimal scheme increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual trial-and-error evaluation process with an automated objective evaluation system that uses acoustic feature extraction and comparison algorithms to automatically assess noise suppression performance, thereby reducing the complexity of scheme selection while maintaining reliable performance assessment
Solution Approach 2:
The evaluation system enables the audio processing scheme itself to be self-assessed by automatically extracting acoustic features from input and output signals, computing performance metrics, and providing objective feedback without requiring external manual evaluation, thus simplifying the overall selection process
2Reliability
If more noise suppression is applied, then noise reduction is improved, but acoustic distortions of the desired audio signal increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an objective evaluation system that provides feedback on both noise suppression performance and acoustic distortion levels, enabling the selection of processing schemes that achieve the optimal balance between noise reduction and signal preservation by quantifying both aspects simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The system evaluates multiple audio processing schemes with different parameter configurations and selects the optimal scheme by comparing their performance metrics, thereby finding the parameter settings that achieve maximum noise suppression with minimum acoustic distortion
3Measurement precision
If trial and error method is used to evaluate audio processing schemes, then comprehensive assessment is possible, but the evaluation time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the time-consuming manual trial-and-error evaluation with an automated objective evaluation system that rapidly processes audio signals, extracts acoustic features, and computes performance metrics, thereby maintaining comprehensive assessment accuracy while dramatically reducing evaluation time
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclose related to a system (1) and method for evaluating the performance of an audio processing scheme. The system (1) comprises an acoustic feature extractor (10A, 10B), configured to receive a plurality of segment pairs, each segment pair comprising a segment (101) and a processed segment (201). The acoustic feature extractor (10A, 10B) determines an acoustic feature associated with each segment and the system (1) further comprises an event detector (11), configured to receive the at least one acoustic feature of each segment (101, 201) and determine, for each segment pair and acoustic feature, if a difference between the acoustic feature of the segment and processed segment exceeds an event threshold. The system also comprises an event analyzer (12), configured to determine a performance metric based on each segment pair associated with a difference exceeding the event threshold.