Method and system for improving voice quality of a vocoder

A method for improving voice quality of a vocoder, comprising the steps of:

• generating a pitch contour of a voice signal;
• monitoring the pitch contour of the voice signal;
• at a transmitting unit, when the pitch contour reaches a predetermined threshold, shifting the pitch of the voice signal from a first level to at least a portion of a predetermined range;
• transmitting the pitch-shifted voice signal to a receiving unit;
• and
• at the receiving unit, reshifting the pitch-shifted voice signal to a second level that is at least substantially equal to the first level.

A system for improving voice quality of a vocoder, comprising:

• a pitch analysis section, wherein the pitch analysis section monitors a pitch of a voice signal;
• a pitch shifter coupled to the pitch analysis section, wherein when the pitch analysis section determines that the pitch of the voice signal has reached a predetermined threshold, the pitch shifter shifts the pitch of the voice signal to at least a portion of a predetermined range;
• an encoding section coupled to the pitch shifter, wherein the encoding block encodes the voice signal and provides pitch-shifting information in the voice signal;
• and
• a transmission section coupled to the encoding section, wherein the transmission section transmits the pitch-shifted voice signal to a receiving unit, wherein the receiving unit uses the pitch-shifting information to reshift the pitch-shifted voice signal to a level that compensates the pitch shifting performed by the pitch shifter.

A system for improving voice quality of a vocoder, comprising:

• a pitch analysis section, wherein the pitch analysis section generates a pitch contour of a voice signal and monitors the pitch contour of the voice signal;
• a pitch shifter coupled to the pitch analysis section, wherein when the pitch contour reaches a predetermined threshold, the pitch shifter shifts the pitch of the voice signal from a first level to at least a portion of a predetermined range;
• an encoding section coupled to the pitch shifter, wherein the encoding block encodes the voice signal and provides pitch-shifting information in the voice signal;
• and
• a transmission section coupled to the encoding section, wherein the transmission section transmits the pitch-shifted voice signal to a receiving unit, wherein the receiving unit uses the pitch-shifting information to reshift the pitch-shifted voice signal to a second level, wherein the second level is at least substantially equal to the first level.

A machine readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections executable by a portable computing device for causing the portable computing device to perform the steps of:

• monitoring a pitch of a voice signal;
• at a transmitting unit, when the pitch of the voice signal reaches a predetermined threshold, shifting the pitch of the voice signal to at least a portion of a predetermined range;
• and
• transmitting the pitch-shifted voice signal to a receiving unit;
• wherein at the receiving unit, the pitch-shifted voice signal is reshifted to a level that compensates the step of shifting the pitch of the voice signal at the transmitting unit.