Formant-Based Speech Enhancement for Hearing-Loss Intelligibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing speech enhancement techniques fail to effectively improve speech intelligibility for individuals with hearing loss, particularly those who lose sensitivity in specific frequency bands or require greater loudness differentiation between sounds in close proximity.
Innovation Solution
A speech enhancement device and method that utilize formant detection and analysis to combine adjacent audio frames with valid formants, apply gain processing, and enhance speech characteristics, thereby improving speech recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If formant detection and gain processing are applied to enhance speech intelligibility, then speech recognition is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The audio signal is divided into multiple audio frames, and formant analysis is performed on each frame independently. This segmentation allows the complex enhancement task to be broken down into manageable units, improving speech intelligibility through targeted formant enhancement while keeping the processing complexity at each stage manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
Gain processing is applied selectively to specific frequency bands where formants are detected, rather than uniformly across the entire spectrum. This local quality approach enhances speech intelligibility by focusing computational resources on the most relevant frequency regions, thereby improving recognition without proportionally increasing overall device complexity.
2Productivity
If adjacent audio frames are combined into audio segments for formant analysis, then processing efficiency is improved, but loss of information may occur
Solution Approach 1:
Adjacent audio frames are combined into audio segments for formant analysis to improve processing efficiency. By merging multiple frames, the system reduces the total number of analysis operations required, thereby enhancing productivity while maintaining adequate speech detail through the preservation of formant characteristics across the combined segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies formant analysis to combined audio segments rather than every individual frame, representing a partial action approach. This selective analysis improves processing efficiency by reducing computational load, while still capturing sufficient speech detail through the formant characteristics preserved in the segmented analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
The present application discloses a speech enhancement device. The speech enhancement device includes an audio input circuit and a processor. The audio input circuit is configured to convert an audio input signal to a first audio data. The processor is configured to: generate a plurality of audio frames according to the first audio data; perform formant analysis on the audio frames to determine whether to combine adjacent audio frames of the audio frames into an audio segment; apply gain processing to the audio segment including the combined audio frames; and combine the audio segment and one or more uncombined audio frames of the audio frames into a second audio data.