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US4776014A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method for pitch-aligned high-frequency regeneration in RELP vocoders

Assignee: Ericsson Inc
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Filing: 1986-09-02
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Granted: 1988-10-04
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Expires: 2006-09-02
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Abstract

Abstract A method for pitch-aligned high frequency regeneration of a speech signal which has been sampled at a known sampling frequency f S and decimated at a known integer decimation ratio N practiced in the receiver portion of a RELP vocoder includes the steps of: providing at least one local carrier signal(s), (each) at a frequency which is an exact integer multiple of a baseband pitch estimate frequency recovered from received data; amplitude modulating each of the local carrier signals with baseband residual data recovered in the receiver portion to provide partial spectrum data; removing, only if the decimation ratio is even, the lower sideband data from the lowest frequency local carrier signal to obtain partial spectrum data; and adding the residual baseband data to the partial spectrum data to obtain PA-HFRed output data from which to reconstruct the speech signal. The method results in a more natural sounding regenerated spectrum than ordinary spectral folding and doesn't require modification of the existing REPL transmitter section. An even decimation ratio is preferred because an improvement in the quality of the reconstituted speech is realized and considerably less processor time and memory are required. Because even decimation ratios result in spectral inversion of the baseband signals, high-pass filtering is used is remove the lower sideband associated with a first local carrier from the rengenerated signal.

Inventors

  • 👤 Richard L. Zinser, Jr.

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-31 17:55
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10L; G10L19/00; G10L19/04; G10L19/08

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim 149 words
A method for the pitch-aligned high-frequency regeneration (PA-HFR) of a speech signal, decimated at a known decimation ratio N, in the receiver portion of a RELP vocoder, comprising the steps of: (a) providing at least one local carrier signal, each at a frequency which is an exact integer multiple of a baseband pitch estimate frequency f f recovered from received data; (b) amplitude modulating each of the local carrier signals with baseband residual data, recovered in the receiver portion, to provide partial spectrum data; (c) removing, only if the decimation ratio N is even, the lower sideband data from the lowest frequency local carrier signal to obtain partial spectrum data; and (d) adding the residual baseband data to the partial spectrum data obtained in step (b), if N is odd, or step (c), if N is even, to obtain PA-HFRed output data from which to reconstruct the speech signal.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 149 words
A method for the pitch-aligned high-frequency regeneration (PA-HFR) of a speech signal, decimated at a known decimation ratio N, in the receiver portion of a RELP vocoder, comprising the steps of: (a) providing at least one local carrier signal, each at a frequency which is an exact integer multiple of a baseband pitch estimate frequency f f recovered from received data; (b) amplitude modulating each of the local carrier signals with baseband residual data, recovered in the receiver portion, to provide partial spectrum data; (c) removing, only if the decimation ratio N is even, the lower sideband data from the lowest frequency local carrier signal to obtain partial spectrum data; and (d) adding the residual baseband data to the partial spectrum data obtained in step (b), if N is odd, or step (c), if N is even, to obtain PA-HFRed output data from which to reconstruct the speech signal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 37 words
The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) includes the step of setting the number n c of local carrier signals to be equal to (n-1)/2, if N is odd, and to N/2, if N is even.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 12 words
The method of claim 2, wherein N=4 and n c =2. 2.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 73 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the speech signal has been sampled at a sample frequency f S prior to RELP data transmission to the receiver, and step (a) further comprises the steps of setting the approximate frequency f a ,i, where l≦i≦n c , of each of the local carrier signals at f a ,i =(f s /2N)(2i), if N is odd, and f a ,i,=(f s /2N)(2i-1), if N is even.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 15 words
The method of claim 4 wherein f S is on the order of 8 kHz.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 11 words
The method of claim 5, wherein N=4 and n c =2.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method of claim 6, wherein f a ,1 is about 1 kHz. and f a ,2 is about 3 kHz.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 29 words
The method of claim 6, wherein the two local carrier signals are provided by a single signal having a substantially square waveform at the lower frequency f a ,1.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 50 words
The method of claim 4, wherein step (a) further includes the steps of: calculating a floor function integer M 1 for each local carrier; and multiplying the pitch estimate frequency f f by the associated integer M i to set the exact frequency f c ,i of the associated carrier.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 30 words
The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further includes the step of lowpass filtering the residual baseband data to remove data for frequencies greater than a predetermined maximum frequency.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 17 words
The method of claim 10, wherein the predetermined maximum frequency is substantially equal to f S /2N.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 16 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the maximum frequency is on the order of 1 kHz.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 48 words
The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: upsampling the residual baseband data by the decimation factor N, prior to the lowpass filtering of the upsampled data; and subsequent using the filtered upsampled data as the baseband residual data in each of steps (b) and (d).
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 33 words
The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) includes the step of highpass filtering the partial spectrum data obtained in step (b) to remove data for frequencies less than a predetermined minimum frequency.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 17 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined minimum frequency is substantially equal to f S /2N.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 16 words
The method of claim 15, wherein the minimum frequency is on the order of 1 kHz.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 33 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the highpass filtering step includes the step of passing all data up to at least a frequency substantially equal to one-half the sampling frequency f S .
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 98 words
The method of claim 14, wherein N=4, and step (a) includes the steps of: providing a single local carrier signal having a frequency of about f S /2N and a substantially square waveform with a predetermined amount of third harmonic content; calculating a floor function integer M; and setting the exact carrier signal frequency to the product of integer M and the pitch estimate frequency f f ; and step (c) further includes the step of compensation filtering the partial spectrum data to correct for any amplitude error of the third-harmonic content of the substantially-square waveform carrier signal.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 18 words
The method of claim 18, wherein the compensation filtering step is carried out after the highpass filtering step.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 18 words
The method of claim 1, wherein all steps are carried out in a single digital signal processing microcomputer.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US32580A Cited
US4301329A Cited
US4220819A Cited
USRE32580E Cited
US4667340A Cited
US4742550A Cited
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1991-10-04 1992-04-04 1992-10-04 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1995-10-04 1996-04-04 1996-10-04 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1999-10-04 2000-04-04 2000-10-04 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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