Speech-duration detector and computer program product therefor

A speech-duration detector comprising:

• a characteristic extracting unit that extracts a characteristic of an input acoustic signal;
• a starting-end-candidate detecting unit that detects a starting end of a third duration where the characteristic exceeds a threshold value as a candidate point for a starting point of speech, when the third duration continues for a fourth time length;
• a starting-end-candidate determining unit that determines the candidate point as a starting end of a speech-duration, when measurement starts from the candidate point and a forth duration where the characteristic exceeds a threshold value continues for a fifth time length;
• and
• a trailing-end detecting unit that detects a starting end of a fifth duration where the characteristic is lower than the threshold value as a trailing end of the speech-duration, when the fifth duration continues for a sixth time length after the starting end of the speech-duration is determined.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium including programmed instructions for detecting speech-duration, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform:

• extracting a characteristic of an input acoustic signal;
• detecting a starting end of a first duration where the characteristic exceeds a threshold value as a starting end of a speech-duration, when the first duration continues for a first time length;
• detecting a starting end of a second duration where the characteristic is lower than the threshold value as a candidate point, when the second duration continues for a second time length after the starting end of the speech-duration is detected;
• and
• determining the candidate point as a trailing end of the speech-duration, when the second duration where the characteristic exceeds the threshold value does not continue for the first time length while a third time length elapses from measurement at the candidate point.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium including programmed instructions for detecting speech-duration, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform:

• extracting a characteristic of an input acoustic signal;
• detecting a starting end of a third duration where the characteristic exceeds a threshold value as a candidate point, when the third duration continues for a fourth time length;
• determining the candidate point as a starting end of a speech-duration, when measurement starts from the candidate point for the starting end of speech and a forth duration where the characteristic exceeds a threshold value continues for a fifth time length;
• and
• detecting a starting end of a fifth duration where the characteristic is lower than the threshold value as a trailing end of the speech-duration, when the fifth duration continues for a sixth time length after the starting end of the speech-duration is determined.