Voice signal enhancement

A method of discriminating against far field audible components, the method comprising:

• receiving, via one or more audible sensors, an audible signal including a target voice signal;
• converting the audible signal into a corresponding plurality of time-frequency units, wherein the time dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of sequential intervals, and wherein the frequency dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of sub-bands;
• calculating one or more characterizing metrics from the plurality of time-frequency units associated with near field audible components;
• calculating a discriminating function from one or more characterizing metrics calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units;
• applying the discriminating function, calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units, to the plurality of time-frequency units to produce a corresponding plurality of corrected time-frequency units;
• converting the plurality of corrected time-frequency units into a corrected audible signal, wherein the corrected audible signal includes an improved target voice signal relative to the received audible signal;
• and
• outputting the corrected audible signal through an output device.

A voice signal enhancement device to discriminate relative to a voice signal, the device comprising:

• one or more audio sensors configured to receive and audible signal including a target voice signal;
• a first conversion module configured to convert the audible signal into a corresponding plurality of wideband time-frequency units, wherein the time dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of sequential intervals, and wherein the frequency dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of wide sub-bands;
• a second conversion module configured to convert the audible signal into a corresponding plurality of narrowband time-frequency units;
• a metric calculator configured to calculate one or more characterizing metrics from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units;
• a gain calculator configured to calculate a gain function from one or more characterizing metrics calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units;
• a filtering module configured to apply the gain function, calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units, to the plurality of narrowband time-frequency units to produce a corresponding plurality of narrowband gain-corrected time-frequency units;
• a third conversion module configured to convert the plurality of narrowband gain-corrected time-frequency units into a corrected audible signal, wherein the corrected audible signal includes an improved target voice signal relative to the received audible signal;
• and
• an output device configured to output the corrected audible signal.

A voice signal enhancement device to discriminate relative to a voice signal, the device comprising:

• means for receiving an audible signal including a target voice signal;
• means for converting the audible signal into a corresponding plurality of wideband time-frequency units, wherein the time dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of sequential intervals, and wherein the frequency dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of wide sub-bands;
• means for converting the audible signal into a corresponding plurality of narrowband time-frequency units;
• means for calculating one or more characterizing metrics from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units;
• means for calculating gain function from one or more characterizing metrics calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units;
• means for applying the gain function, calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units, to the plurality of narrowband time-frequency units to produce a corresponding plurality of narrowband gain-corrected time-frequency units;
• means for converting the plurality of narrowband gain-corrected time-frequency units into a corrected audible signal, wherein the corrected audible signal includes an improved target voice signal relative to the received audible signal;
• and
• means for outputting the corrected audible signal.

A voice signal enhancement device to discriminate relative to a voice signal, the device comprising:

• one or more audio sensors configured to receive and audible signal including a target voice signal;
• a processor;
• a memory including instructions, that when executed by the processor cause the device to:
• convert an audible signal into a corresponding plurality of wideband time-frequency units, wherein the time dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of sequential intervals, and wherein the frequency dimension of each time-frequency unit includes at least one of a plurality of wide sub-bands;
• convert the audible signal into a corresponding plurality of narrowband time-frequency units;
• calculate one or more characterizing metrics from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units;
• calculate gain function from one or more characterizing metrics calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units;
• apply the gain function, calculated from the plurality of wideband time-frequency units, to the plurality of narrowband time-frequency units to produce a corresponding plurality of narrowband gain-corrected time-frequency units;
• convert the plurality of narrowband gain-corrected time-frequency units into a corrected audible signal, wherein the corrected audible signal includes an improved target voice signal relative to the received audible signal;
• and
• output the corrected audible signal through an output device.