# US 2015/0149166 A1 · Method and apparatus for detecting speech/non-speech section > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2015/0149166 A1 - Document ID: US20150149166A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/172,998 - Filed: 2014-02-05 - Published: 2015-05-28 - Earliest claimed: 2013-11-27 - Assignees: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute - Applicants: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute - Inventors: In Seon JANG; Woo Taek LIM - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20150149166A1 ## CPC - G10L 25/78: Detection of presence or absence of voice signals (switching of direction of transmission by voice frequency in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/10) - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING ## Abstract Provided is an apparatus for detecting a speech/non-speech section. The apparatus includes an acquisition unit which obtains inter-channel relation information of a stereo audio signal, a classification unit which classifies each element of the stereo audio signal into a center channel element and a surround element on the basis of the inter-channel relation information, a calculation unit which calculates an energy ratio value between a center channel signal composed of center channel elements and a surround channel signal composed of surround elements, for each frame, and an energy ratio value between the stereo audio signal and a mono signal generated on the basis of the stereo audio signal, and a judgment unit which determines a speech section and a non-speech section from the stereo audio signal by comparing the energy ratio values. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus for detecting a speech/non-speech section, the apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit which obtains inter-channel relation information of a stereo audio signal; a classification unit which classifies each element of the stereo audio signal into a center channel element and a surround element on the basis of the inter-channel relation information; a calculation unit which calculates an energy ratio value between a center channel signal composed of center channel elements and a surround channel signal composed of surround elements, for each frame, and an energy ratio value between the stereo audio signal and a mono signal generated on the basis of the stereo audio signal; and a judgment unit which determines a speech section and a non-speech section from the stereo audio signal by comparing the energy ratio values. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inter-channel relation information comprises information on a level difference between channels of the stereo audio signal and information on a phase difference between channels. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the inter-channel relation information further comprises inter-channel correlation information of the stereo audio signal. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the center channel signal is generated by performing an inverse spectrogram using the center channel elements, and the surround channel signal is generated by performing an inverse spectrogram using the surround elements. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the judgment unit determines that the detected section is a speech section when an energy value in a section, which is detected as the speech section on the basis of the energy value of the center channel signal for each frame, is greater than the threshold. ### Claim 6 A method of detecting a speech/non-speech section by a speech/non-speech section detection apparatus, the method comprising: obtaining inter-channel relation information of a stereo audio signal; generating a center channel signal composed of center channel elements and a surround channel signal composed of surround elements on the basis of the inter-channel relation information; calculating an energy ratio value between the center channel signal and the surround channel signal, for each frame, and an energy ratio value between the stereo audio signal and a mono signal generated on the basis of the stereo audio signal; and detecting a speech section and a non-speech section from the stereo audio signal by comparing the energy ratio values. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the inter-channel relation information comprises information on a level difference between channels of the stereo audio signal and information on a phase difference between channels. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the inter-channel relation information further comprises inter-channel correlation information of the stereo audio signal. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, after the obtaining, further comprising: classifying each element of the stereo audio signal into a center channel element and a surround element on the basis of the inter-channel relation information. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the generating comprises: generating the center channel signal by performing an inverse spectrogram using the center channel elements; and generating the surround channel signal by performing an inverse spectrogram using the surround elements. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the calculating comprises: calculating an energy ratio value between the center channel signal and the surround channel signal, for each frame, and an energy ratio value between the center channel signal and the surround channel signal, for each frame, on the basis of the energy value of the center channel signal and the surround channel signal, for each frame; and calculating an energy value of the stereo audio signal and a mono signal which is generated on the basis of the stereo audio signal, for each frame, and an energy ratio value between the mono signal and the stereo audio signal, for each frame, on the basis of the energy value of the mono signal and the stereo audio signal, for each frame. ### Claim 12 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the determining comprises: determining that the detected section is a speech section when an energy value in a section, which is detected as the speech section on the basis of the energy value of the center channel signal for each frame, is greater than the threshold, and determining that the detected section is a non-speech section when the energy value is the threshold or less.