Poincare maps and pitch detection in speech

A novel nonlinear algorithm is proposed for epoch marking in voiced speech signals. In speech coding, synthesis and recognition epoch detection is necessary, as it estimates the moment of glottal closure and the instantaneous pitch. The technique functions entirely in the state space, by operating on a 3 dimensional reconstruction of the speech signal which is formed by embedding. The fact that one revolution of this reconstructed attractor is equal to one pitch period is used to find points which are pitch synchronous by the use of a Poincare section. The epoch pulses are pitch synchronous and therefore can be marked. Results from applying the technique to real speech signals are presented to illustrate its performance