Speech Bandwidth Expansion with Noise Classification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bandwidth expansion techniques for acoustic signals often result in undesirable noise expansion, leading to audible artifacts and decreased speech intelligibility, as they fail to distinguish between speech and noise components effectively.
Innovation Solution
A multi-faceted analysis is conducted to classify noise within the acoustic signal, allowing for targeted bandwidth expansion of the speech component while limiting noise expansion, using a system comprising a noise reduction module and a bandwidth expansion module that determine the energy levels of noise and speech components to form expanded signal segments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If bandwidth expansion techniques are applied to reconstruct missing frequency components, then speech quality is improved, but noise bandwidth is also expanded causing audible artifacts and degraded intelligibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the acoustic signal into speech components and noise components using noise classification analysis. By separating these components, the system can apply bandwidth expansion selectively to speech while preventing noise expansion, thus resolving the contradiction between improving speech quality and avoiding noise artifacts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing quality to different parts of the signal: bandwidth expansion is applied to speech components while noise components are suppressed or left unexpanded. This local differentiation allows speech quality improvement without the harmful noise expansion that would occur with uniform processing.
2Length of moving object
If traditional bandwidth expansion is applied to narrow band acoustic signals, then speech bandwidth is increased, but speech intelligibility deteriorates due to noise expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the signal into speech and noise components, enabling selective bandwidth expansion on speech only. This segmentation ensures that speech bandwidth increases while noise-induced intelligibility degradation is avoided.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the processing parameters applied to different signal components: bandwidth expansion parameters are applied to speech components while suppression or no-expansion parameters are applied to noise components. This parameter differentiation maintains intelligibility while expanding speech bandwidth.
Data Source
AI summary
The present technology provides robust, high quality expansion of the speech within a narrow bandwidth acoustic signal which can overcome or substantially alleviate problems associated with expanding the bandwidth of the noise within the acoustic signal. The present technology carries out a multi-faceted analysis to accurately identify noise within the narrow bandwidth acoustic signal. Noise classification information regarding the noise within the narrow bandwidth acoustic signal is used to determine whether to expand the bandwidth of the narrow bandwidth acoustic signal. By expanding the bandwidth based on the noise classification information, the present technology can expand the speech bandwidth of the narrow bandwidth acoustic signal and prevent or limit the bandwidth expansion of the noise.