Use of dynamic programming for automatic synchronization of two similar speech signals

A number of applications exist in basic speech research for Dynamic Programming (DP) algorithms that can produce accurate time registration data for aligning one speech signal with a similar speech signal. In this paper, a further application for time-alignment algorithms is described, in which replacement dialogue for a film soundtrack may be automatically synchronized to reference dialogue recorded during filming. This is being carried out in a digital signal processing system that uses a DP algorithm capable of aligning utterances of indeterminate length accurately and efficiently in real-time. The main features of this system and the DP algorithm will be described.