Method and apparatus for providing an improved feature set in speech recognition by performing noise cancellation and background masking

摘要

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating noise- attenuated feature vectors for use in recognizing speech, more particularly to a system and method providing a feature set for speech recognition that is robust to adverse noise conditions. This is done by receiving, through an input, a set of signal frames, at least some containing speech sounds, and then classifying the frames in the set of signal frames into classification groups on the basis of their energy levels. Each classification group is characterized by a mean energy value. In a specific example of implementation, the invention makes use of channel energy values to condition the frames in the set of signal frames. The frames in the set of signal frames are attenuated or noise reduced by altering the energy of the frames on the basis of the frames containing non-speech sounds. In a specific example of implementation, the invention compresses the energy of the frames in the set of signal frames such that the energy lies within a range. The invention also allows separate energy ranges to be defined for each channel.