System and method for improved speech acquisition for hands-free voice telecommunication in a noisy environment

A system for an improved acquisition of speech comprising:

• a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors to detect spoken input and to output signals in response thereto;
• a highpass filter to filter a preselected first noise portion from said signals received from said linearly arrayed sensors;
• a beamformer, connected to said highpass filter, to cancel a preselected second noise portion from said filtered signals thereby producing a processed signal;
• and
• a speech application system, connected to receive said processed signal from said beamformer, for receiving and responding to said processed signal, wherein said speech application system is a speech coder with a communications link.

A system for an improved acquisition of speech comprising:

• a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors to detect spoken input and to output signals in response thereto;
• a highpass filter to filter a preselected first noise portion from said signals received from said linearly arrayed sensors;
• a beamformer, connected to said highpass filter, to cancel a preselected second noise portion from said filtered signals thereby producing a processed signal;
• and
• a speech application system, connected to receive said processed signal from said beamformer, for receiving and responding to said processed signal, wherein said speech application system is a speech recognition system.

A system for improved acquisition of speech, comprising of:

• a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors to detect spoken input and to output signals in response thereto;
• a beamformer, connected to said linearly arrayed sensors, to cancel a preselected noise portion of said signals thereby producing a processed signal, said beamformer including an adaptive noise canceler and an adder which produces said processed signal;
• and
• a speech application system, connected to receive said processed signal from said beamformer, for receiving and responding to said processed signal, wherein said adaptive noise canceler comprises a blocking matrix, an adaptive filter and an adder, and wherein said adaptive filter further comprises enable/disable circuitry for selectively adapting said adaptive filter for a predetermined period of time.

A system for improved acquisition of speech, comprising of:

• a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors to detect spoken input and to output signals in response thereto;
• a beamformer, connected to said linearly arrayed sensors, to cancel a preselected noise portion of said signals thereby producing a processed signal, said beamformer including an adaptive noise canceler and an adder which produces said processed signal;
• and
• a speech application system, connected to receive said processed signal from said beamformer, for receiving and responding to said processed signal, wherein said speech application system includes a speech coder and a communications link.

A system for improved acquisition of speech, comprising of:

• a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors to detect spoken input and to output signals in response thereto;
• a beamformer, connected to said linearly arrayed sensors, to cancel a preselected noise portion of said signals thereby producing a processed signal, said beamformer including an adaptive noise canceler and an adder which produces said processed signal;
• and
• a speech application system, connected to receive said processed signal from said beamformer, for receiving and responding to said processed signal, wherein said speech application system is a speech recognition system.

A system for improved acquisition of speech, comprising:

• a plurality of linearly arrayed sensors to detect spoken input and to output signals in response thereto;
• a beamformer, connected to said linearly arrayed sensors, to cancel a preselected noise portion of said signals thereby producing a processed signal;
• and
• a speech recognition system, connected to receive said processed signal from said beamformer, for receiving and responding to said processed signal, said speech recognition system including a speaker recognition algorithm which is adaptable by a predetermined amount of training by a speaker.

A method for improved acquisition of speech during hands-free cellular telephony, comprising the steps of:

• detecting spoken signals, including a speech portion and a noise portion, with linearly arrayed sensors;
• filtering a preselected portion of said noise portion of said signals by a highpass filter;
• processing said filtered signals with a beamformer including an adaptive filter and enable/disable circuitry for selectively adapting said adaptive filter for a predetermined period of time;
• recognize said speech portion;
• and
• responding to said processed signal.