Wind Noise Suppression Using Dual Microphone Signal Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing signal processing apparatuses struggle to effectively reduce wind noise in speech signals, as nondirectional microphones are easily influenced by wind noise, making it impossible to obtain clean speech signals.
Innovation Solution
A signal processing apparatus comprising a main microphone influenced by external air movement and a sub microphone less affected by air movement, with a determiner to assess the presence of wind noise in the main speech signal and a selector to output either the main or sub speech signal based on noise levels, ensuring reduced wind noise in the output.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a nondirectional microphone is used to pick up speech, then speech can be captured from all directions, but wind noise is readily influenced and cannot be sufficiently reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The speech pickup function is segmented into two separate microphones: a main microphone that is readily influenced by wind noise and a sub microphone that is hardly influenced by wind noise. This segmentation allows the system to process signals from both microphones separately and select the appropriate signal based on wind noise conditions, thereby maintaining omnidirectional speech pickup capability while reducing wind noise influence.
2Reliability
If a main microphone readily influenced by air movement is used, then speech signal strength is improved, but wind noise interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
A determination unit acts as an intermediary between the main microphone and the output, analyzing the speech signal to determine whether it includes a predetermined amount of wind noise. This intermediary component enables the system to detect wind noise presence and trigger appropriate signal switching, thereby maintaining reliable speech signal detection while mitigating wind noise interference through selective signal routing.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If wind noise determination and signal selection processing is implemented, then wind noise is reduced in output, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts its signal processing based on real-time wind noise determination. The determination unit continuously analyzes the main speech signal, and the selection unit dynamically switches between main and sub microphone signals based on the determined wind noise level. This dynamic adaptation allows effective wind noise suppression without requiring permanently complex processing for all conditions, reducing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a signal processing apparatus that obtains a speech signal with sufficiently reduced wind noise. The signal processing apparatus includes a main microphone that is provided so as to be readily influenced by movement of air outside the signal processing apparatus, a sub microphone that is provided so as to be hardly influenced by movement of air outside the signal processing apparatus, a determiner that determines, based on a strength of a main speech signal output from the main microphone, whether the main speech signal includes a predetermined amount of wind noise, and a selector that receives the main speech signal and a sub speech signal output from the sub microphone, executes, if it is determined that the main speech signal includes the predetermined amount of wind noise, selection processing for outputting the sub speech signal, and executes, if it is determined that the main speech signal includes no predetermined amount of wind noise, selection processing for outputting the main speech signal.