Speech processing apparatus

Claim 2

A speech processing apparatus comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal representing the speech of the plurality of talkers; detection means, comprising at least one first processor element, for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from said speech signal, said first processor element comprising a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set so as to entrained at the first frequency; and extraction means, connected to said conversion means and detection means, for extracting the aural signal of the specified talker from said speech signal when detection means detects said first frequency in said speech signal.

Claim 3

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of nonlinear oscillators is a van der Pol oscillator circuit.

Claim 4

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first frequency characterizing the aural signal of the specified talker is the average pitch frequency contained in the aural signal of the specified talker.

Claim 5

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first processor element comprises two nonlinear oscillators and an oscillation control circuit for setting the basic frequencies in the oscillators, respectively, the difference between the basic frequencies for two nonlinear oscillators and the average frequency thereof respectively corresponding to the band width and the central frequency within a range where said entrainment takes place.

Claim 6

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said extraction means comprises a plurality of second processor elements for extracting the aural signal for the specified talker from said aural signals input therein, each of said second processor elements comprising a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at a frequency which is an integral multiple of said first frequency.

Claim 7

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein each of said second processor elements comprises two nonlinear oscillators and an oscillation control circuit for setting the basic frequencies in the oscillators, the difference between said basic frequencies of said two nonlinear oscillators and the average frequency thereof respectively corresponding to the band width and the central frequency in a range where said entrainment takes place.

Claim 8

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising modification means for modifying each of said first frequencies which is so set that said at least one first processor element is entrained.

Claim 9

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising means for inhibiting any entrainment of at least said one first processor element.

Claim 10

A speech processing apparatus for specifying a plurality of specified talkers from the speech thereof, comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of the plurality of specified talkers and outputting a speech signal thereof; and detection means, connected to said conversion means and comprising a plurality of first processor elements, for detecting first frequencies each of which characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from the speech signal, each of said first processor elements comprising a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set so as to entrained at the first frequency.

Claim 11

A speech processing apparatus for specifying a plurality of specified talkers from the speech thereof, comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of the plurality of specified talkers and outputting a speech signal thereof; and detection means, connected to said conversion means and comprising a plurality of first processor elements, for detecting first frequencies each of which characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from the speech signal, each of said first processor elements comprising a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set so as to entrained at the first frequency.

Claim 12

A speech procesing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said plurality of nonlinear oscillators are a van der Pol oscillator circuits.

Claim 13

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein each of said first frequencies characterizing said speech of a specified talker is the average pitch frequency of the specified talker.

Claim 14

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein each of said first processor elements comprises two nonlinear oscillators and an oscillator control circuit for setting the basic frequencies of the oscillators, the difference between said basic two frequencies of said two nonlinear oscillators and the average value thereof respectively corresponding to the band width and the central frequency within the range where said entrainment takes place.

Claim 15

A speech processing system comprising: conversion means for inputting speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting the aural signals thereof; detection means, comprising at least one first processor element for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signals of a talker to be specified from said aural signals of the plurality of talkers, said first processor element comprising a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency; extraction means, connected to said conversion means and said detection means, for extracting the aural signal of the talker to be specified from the aural signals of the plurality of talkers when said detection means detects the first frequency in said aural signal of the plurality of talkers; and information processing means connected to said extraction means for performing information processing on said aural signal of said particular extracted by said extraction means.

Claim 16

A speech processing system comprising: conversion means for inputting speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting the aural signals thereof; detection means, comprising at least one first processor element for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signals of a talker to be specified from said aural signals of the plurality of talkers, said first processor element comprising a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency; extraction means, connected to said conversion means and said detection means, for extracting the aural signal of the talker to be specified from the aural signals of the plurality of talkers when said detection means detects the first frequency in said aural signal of the plurality of talkers; and information processing means connected to said extraction means for performing information processing on said aural signal of said particular extracted by said extraction means.

Claim 17

A speech processing system according to claim 13, wherein said information processing means comprises modification means for modifying said first frequency which is so set that said at least one first processor element is entrained.

Claim 18

A speech processing system according to claim 13, wherein said information processing means further comprises means for inhibiting any entrainment of at least said one first processor element.

Claim 19

A speech processing apparatus comprising: conversion means for inputting speech information; supply means for supplying recognition information for recognizing a talker; processing means, having a processing unit comprising a first input unit, a second input unit and a nonlinear oscillator, for processing said speech information input from said conversion means therein through said first input unit by changing the processing form of said input speech information on the basis of said recognition information input from said second input unit, and for outputting the processed speech information; and means for applying to said second input unit said recognition information supplied from said supply means for processing said speech information in said processing means, said speech information being input from said conversion means through said first input unit and being processed using said recognition information input from said second input unit.

Claim 20

A speech processing apparatus comprising: conversion means for inputting speech information; supply means for supplying recognition information for recognizing a talker; processing means, having a processing unit comprising a first input unit, a second input unit and a nonlinear oscillator, for processing said speech information input from said conversion means therein through said first input unit by changing the processing form of said input speech information on the basis of said recognition information input from said second input unit, and for outputting the processed speech information; and means for applying to said second input unit said recognition information supplied from said supply means for processing said speech information in said processing means, said speech information being input from said conversion means through said first input unit and being processed using said recognition information input from said second input unit.

Claim 21

A speech processing apparatus for specifying a plurality of specified talkers from the speech thereof, comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of the plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal thereof; detection means, connected to said conversion means, comprising a plurality of sets of first processor elements for detecting first frequencies each of which characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from the speech signal, each of said first processor elements comprising a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators each of which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency, where the number of the sets of said first processor elements equals the number of talkers to be specified; extraction means for extracting the aural signal of a specified talker from said speech signal, said extraction means including a plurality of second processor elements, each of which comprises a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at a frequency which is an integral multiple of a second frequency; and modification means, connected to said detection means and said extraction means, for changing the values of the second frequency to the first frequency at which said first processor elements of said detection means are entrained.

Claim 22

A speech processing apparatus for specifying a plurality of specified talkers from the speech thereof, comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of the plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal thereof; detection means, connected to said conversion means, comprising a plurality of sets of first processor elements for detecting first frequencies each of which characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from the speech signal, each of said first processor elements comprising a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators each of which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency, where the number of the sets of said first processor elements equals the number of talkers to be specified; extraction means for extracting the aural signal of a specified talker from said speech signal, said extraction means including a plurality of second processor elements, each of which comprises a circuit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at a frequency which is an integral multiple of a second frequency; and modification means, connected to said detection means and said extraction means, for changing the values of the second frequency to the first frequency at which said first processor elements of said detection means are entrained.

Claim 23

A speech processing apparatus comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal representing the speech of the plurality of talkers; detection means, comprising at least one first processor element, for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from said speech signal, said first processor element comprising a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency.

Claim 24

A speech processing apparatus comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal representing the speech of the plurality of talkers; detection means, comprising at least one first processor element, for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from said speech signal, said first processor element comprising a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency.

Claim 25

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising extraction means, connected to said conversion means and detection means, for extracting the aural signal of the specified talker from said speech signal when detection means detects said first frequency in said speech signal.

Claim 26

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said plurality of nonlinear oscillators comprise a van der Pol oscillator.

Claim 27

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said first frequency characterizing the aural signal of the specified talker is the average pitch frequency contained in the aural signal of the specified talker.

Claim 28

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said first processor element comprises two nonlinear oscillators and oscillation control means for setting the basic frequencies in the oscillators, respectively, the difference between the basic frequencies for two nonlinear oscillators and the average frequency thereof respectively corresponding to the band width and the central frequency within a range where said entrainment takes place.

Claim 29

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said extraction means comprises a plurality of second processor elements for extracting the aural signal for the specified talker from said aural signals input therein, each of said second processor elements comprising a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at a frequency which is an integral multiple of said first frequency.

Claim 30

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein each of said second processor elements comprises two nonlinear oscillators and oscillation control means for setting the basic frequencies in the oscillators, the difference between said basic frequencies of said two nonlinear oscillators and the average frequency thereof respectively corresponding to the band width and the central frequency in a range where said entrainment takes place.

Claim 31

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising modification means for modifying each of said first frequencies which is so set that said at least one first processor element is entrained.

Claim 32

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 18 further comprising means for inhibiting any entrainment of said at least one first processor element.

Claim 33

A speech processing system comprising: conversion means for inputting speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting the aural signals thereof; detection means, comprising at least one first processor element for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signals of a talker to be specified from said aural signals of the plurality of talkers, said first processor element comprising a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency; extraction means, connected to said conversion means and said detection means, for extracting the aural signal of the talker to be specified from the aural signals of the plurality of talkers when said detection means detects the first frequency in said aural signal of the plurality of talkers; and information processing means connected to said extraction means for performing information processing on said aural signal of said particular talker extracted by said extraction means.

Claim 34

A speech processing system comprising: conversion means for inputting speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting the aural signals thereof; detection means, comprising at least one first processor element for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signals of a talker to be specified from said aural signals of the plurality of talkers, said first processor element comprising a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency; extraction means, connected to said conversion means and said detection means, for extracting the aural signal of the talker to be specified from the aural signals of the plurality of talkers when said detection means detects the first frequency in said aural signal of the plurality of talkers; and information processing means connected to said extraction means for performing information processing on said aural signal of said particular talker extracted by said extraction means.

Claim 35

A speech processing system according to claim 27, wherein said information processing means comprises modification means for modifying said first frequency which is so set that said at least one first processor element is entrained.

Claim 36

A speech processing system according to claim 27, wherein said information processing means further comprises means for inhibiting any entrainment of said at least one first processor element.

Claim 37

A speech processing apparatus for specifying a plurality of specified talkers from the speech thereof, comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of the plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal thereof; detection means, connected to said conversion means, comprising a plurality of sets of first processor elements for detecting first frequencies each of which characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from the speech signal, each of said first processor elements comprising a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators each of which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency, where the number of the sets of said first processor elements equals the number of talkers to be specified; extraction means for extracting the aural signal of a specified talker from said speech signal, said extraction means including a plurality of second processor elements, each of which comprises a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at a frequency which is an integral multiple of a second frequency; and modification means, connected to said detection means and said extraction means, for changing the values of the second frequency to the first frequency at which said first processor elements of said detection means are entrained.

Claim 38

A speech processing apparatus for specifying a plurality of specified talkers from the speech thereof, comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of the plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal thereof; detection means, connected to said conversion means, comprising a plurality of sets of first processor elements for detecting first frequencies each of which characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified from the speech signal, each of said first processor elements comprising a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators each of which are so set as to be entrained at the first frequency, where the number of the sets of said first processor elements equals the number of talkers to be specified; extraction means for extracting the aural signal of a specified talker from said speech signal, said extraction means including a plurality of second processor elements, each of which comprises a unit having a plurality of nonlinear oscillators which are so set as to be entrained at a frequency which is an integral multiple of a second frequency; and modification means, connected to said detection means and said extraction means, for changing the values of the second frequency to the first frequency at which said first processor elements of said detection means are entrained.

Claim 39

A speech processing apparatus comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal representing the speech of the plurality of talkers; and detection means comprising at least one first processor element, for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified, from said speech signal, said first processor element having generators for generating signals which are entrained at the first frequency.

Claim 40

A speech processing apparatus comprising: conversion means for inputting the speech of a plurality of talkers and outputting a speech signal representing the speech of the plurality of talkers; and detection means comprising at least one first processor element, for detecting a first frequency that characterizes the aural signal of a talker to be specified, from said speech signal, said first processor element having generators for generating signals which are entrained at the first frequency.

Claim 41

A speech processing apparatus according to claim 31, further comprising: extraction means, connected to said conversion means and detection means, for extracting the aural signal of the specified talker from said speech signal when detection means detects said first frequency in said speech signal.