Title :
Microphone array for hearing aid and speech enhancement applications
Author :
Wang, A. ; Yao, K. ; Hudson, R.E. ; Korompis, D. ; Lorenzellii, F. ; Soli, S. ; Gao, S.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., California Univ., Los Angeles, CA, USA
Abstract :
Microphone array technology has been proposed for various audio, teleconference, hearing aid and voice recognition applications. By forming a focused beam toward the desired speech source, attenuating background noises and rejecting discrete spatial interferers, a microphone array can enhance the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) in a noisy environment with notable improvement in speech intelligibility. At the threshold of intelligibility, a one dB improvement in SNR can increase 10-15% speech intelligibility. It is also known that increasing SNR can result in significant improvement in the recognition rate of various automatic voice recognition systems. We propose a novel electronically steerable microphone array based on the maximum energy (ME) concentration criterion, which results in high SNR in rooms with reverberations and competing interferences. We present a prototype PC-based microphone array system designed for hearing aid applications but also applicable to other tasks
Keywords :
calibration; hearing aids; interference (signal); microphones; reverberation; speech enhancement; speech intelligibility; speech synthesis; PC-based microphone array system; automatic voice recognition systems; electronically steerable microphone array; focused beam; hearing aid; maximum energy concentration criterion; microphone array; noisy environment; reverberations; signal-to-noise-ratio; speech enhancement applications; speech intelligibility; speech source; teleconference; voice recognition applications; Auditory system; Automatic speech recognition; Background noise; Microphone arrays; Reverberation; Signal to noise ratio; Speech enhancement; Speech recognition; Teleconferencing; Working environment noise;
Conference_Titel :
Application Specific Systems, Architectures and Processors, 1996. ASAP 96. Proceedings of International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Chicago, IL
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-7542-X
DOI :
10.1109/ASAP.1996.542818
