Speech enhancement using a portable electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10453470-B2
Application number	US-201415534803-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 11, 2014
Priority date	Dec 11, 2014
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

A system and method for speech enhancement of a portable electronic device. Embodiments may include receiving an audio signal at a portable electronic device having a first microphone and a second microphone. Embodiments may also include receiving an input from a proximity detector associated with the portable electronic device and controlling a processing component associated with at least one of the first microphone and the second microphone based upon, at least in part, the input from the proximity detector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving an audio signal at a portable electronic device having a first microphone and a second microphone;
receiving an input from a proximity detector associated with the portable electronic device; and
controlling a processing component, including at least one speech detector, associated with at least one of the first microphone and the second microphone based upon, at least in part, the input from the proximity detector, wherein controlling includes switching between use of the at least one speech detector and a second speech detector based upon, at least in part, the input from the proximity detector.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein controlling further includes deactivating the at least one speech detector.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein one of the at least one speech detector and the second speech detector includes a coherent to diffuse ratio (“CDR”).

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein one of the at least one speech detector and the second speech detector includes a signal power ratio (“SPR”).

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein controlling further includes controlling one or more adaptive filters configured to process all inputs associated with the first microphone and the second microphone.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more adaptive filters are configured to cancel a speech signal in at least one of the microphone input signals to obtain a noise reference signal.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more adaptive filters are configured to cancel a noise reference signal from at least one microphone input signal.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein controlling further includes controlling one or more additional microphones associated with the portable electronic device.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first microphone is located at the bottom of the portable electronic device and the second microphone is located at the top of the portable electronic device.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein controlling occurs during run-time.

11. A system comprising:
a portable electronic device having one or more processors, a first microphone, and a second microphone wherein the portable electronic device is configured to receive an audio signal and to receive an input from a proximity detector associated with the portable electronic device, the one or more processors further configured to control a processing component, including at least one speech detector, associated with at least one of the first microphone and the second microphone based upon, at least in part, the input from the proximity detector, wherein controlling includes switching between use of the at least one speech detector and a second speech detector based upon, at least in part, the input from the proximity detector.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein controlling further includes deactivating at least one speech detector.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein one of the at least one speech detector and the second speech detector includes a coherent to diffuse ratio (“CDR”).

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein one of the at least one speech detector and the second speech detector includes a signal power ratio (“SPR”).

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein controlling further includes controlling one or more adaptive filters configured to process all inputs associated with the first microphone and the second microphone.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more adaptive filters are configured to cancel a speech signal in at least one of the microphone input signals to obtain a noise reference signal.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more adaptive filters are configured to cancel a noise reference signal from at least one microphone input signal.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein controlling further includes controlling one or more additional microphones associated with the portable electronic device.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first microphone is located at the bottom of the portable electronic device and the second microphone is located at the top of the portable electronic device.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein controlling occurs during run-time.

Assignees

• Nuance Communications Inc

Inventors

• Faubel Friedrich
• Wolff Tobias
• Haulick Tim

Classifications

• G10L2021/02165

  Two microphones, one receiving mainly the noise signal and the other one mainly the speech signal · CPC title

• G10L21/0208 Primary

  Noise filtering · CPC title

• G06F3/01

  Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer (G06F3/16 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G10L2021/02087

  the noise being separate speech, e.g. cocktail party · CPC title

• H04R2410/05

  Noise reduction with a separate noise microphone · CPC title