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US5617507A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Speech segment coding and pitch control methods for speech synthesis systems

Assignee: KT Corp
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Filing: 1994-07-14
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Granted: 1997-04-01
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Expires: 2014-07-14
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Abstract

Abstract The present invention relates to a method and system for synthesizing speech utilizing a periodic waveform decomposition and relocation coding scheme. According to the scheme, signals of voiced sound interval among original speech are decomposed into wavelets, each of which corresponds to a speech waveform for one period made by each glottal pulse. These wavelets are respectively coded and stored. The wavelets nearest to the positions where the wavelets are to be located are selected from stored wavelets and decoded. The decoded wavelets are superposed to each other such that original sound quality can be maintained and duration and pitch frequency of speech segment can be controlled arbitrarily.

Inventors

  • 👤 Chong R. Lee
  • 👤 Yong K. Park

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-28 00:09
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10L; G10L21/00; G10L21/04; G10L13/00; G10L13/02; G10L13/04; G10L19/00; G10L19/04; G10L19/08; G10L19/09; G10L25/00; G10L25/27

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 139 words
A speech coding method for use in speech synthesis, comprising: obtaining a set of spectral envelope parameters that represents an estimated spectral envelope of a voiced speech signal by using a spectrum estimation technique; deconvolving said voiced speech signal, with an impulse response that is a time-domain representation of said estimated spectral envelope of said voiced speech signal, into a pitch pulse train signal having a sequence of periodically located pitch pulses; forming an excitation signal by appending zero-valued samples to each pitch pulse signal of one period such that one pitch pulse is contained in each period; convolving said excitation signal with said impulse response into wavelets; obtaining wavelet codes by coding the wavelets of all periods; and storing in memory wavelet codes and information of corresponding pitch pulse locations of all wavelets, for use in speech synthesis.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 139 words
A speech coding method for use in speech synthesis, comprising: obtaining a set of spectral envelope parameters that represents an estimated spectral envelope of a voiced speech signal by using a spectrum estimation technique; deconvolving said voiced speech signal, with an impulse response that is a time-domain representation of said estimated spectral envelope of said voiced speech signal, into a pitch pulse train signal having a sequence of periodically located pitch pulses; forming an excitation signal by appending zero-valued samples to each pitch pulse signal of one period such that one pitch pulse is contained in each period; convolving said excitation signal with said impulse response into wavelets; obtaining wavelet codes by coding the wavelets of all periods; and storing in memory wavelet codes and information of corresponding pitch pulse locations of all wavelets, for use in speech synthesis.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 91 words
A speech synthesis method in a speech synthesis system which uses the speech coding method of claim 1, comprising: determining appropriate time points which represent a desired pitch pattern; selecting from all wavelet codes a wavelet code whose pitch pulse location is nearest to each of said time points; obtaining a wavelet signal by decoding each selected wavelet code; localizing said wavelet signal so that the pitch pulse location of said wavelet signal coincides with said time point; and superposing all of said localized wavelet signals, thereby obtaining a synthetic speech.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 51 words
The speech coding method of claim 1 wherein a wavelet code is formed by mating information obtained by coding said pitch pulse signal of one period, with information obtained by coding a set of said spectral envelope parameters of the same period as the one period of said pitch pulse signal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 140 words
A speech synthesis method in a speech synthesis system which uses the speech coding method of claim 3, comprising: determining appropriate time points which represent a desired pitch pattern; selecting from all wavelet codes a wavelet code whose pitch pulse location is nearest to each of said time points; decoding a coded pitch pulse signal and a set of coded spectral envelope parameters of each selected wavelet code; forming an excitation signal by appending zero-valued samples after each decoded pitch pulse signal; obtaining a wavelet signal by convolving said excitation signal with an impulse response which is a time-domain representation of a set of said decoded spectral envelope parameters; localizing said wavelet signal so that pitch pulse location of said wavelet signal coincides with said time point; and superposing all of said localized wavelet signals, thereby obtaining a synthetic speech.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 132 words
A speech synthesis method in a speech synthesis system which uses the speech coding method of claim 3, comprising: determining appropriate time points which represent a desired pitch pattern; selecting from all wavelet codes a wavelet code whose pitch pulse location is nearest to each of said time points; decoding a coded pitch pulse signal and a set of coded spectral envelope parameters in each selected wavelet code; localizing said decoded pitch pulse signal so that the pitch pulse location of said decoded pitch pulse signal coincides with said time point; forming an excitation signal by superposing all of said localized pitch pulse signals; and convolving said excitation signal with an impulse response which is a time-domain representation of a set of said decoded spectral envelope parameters, thereby obtaining a synthetic speech.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 105 words
A speech coding method for use in speech synthesis, comprising: obtaining a set of spectral envelope parameters of a voice speech signal by spectrum estimation; deconvolving the voice speech signal, with an impulse response that is representative of the spectral envelope parameters set of the voice speech signal, into a pitch pulse train signal having a plurality of pitch pulses; forming an excitation signal by segmenting the pitch pulse train signal such that one pitch pulse is contained in each period; convolving the excitation signal with the impulse response into a plurality of wavelets; and storing the plurality of wavelets for use in speech synthesis.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 105 words
A speech coding method for use in speech synthesis, comprising: obtaining a set of spectral envelope parameters of a voice speech signal by spectrum estimation; deconvolving the voice speech signal, with an impulse response that is representative of the spectral envelope parameters set of the voice speech signal, into a pitch pulse train signal having a plurality of pitch pulses; forming an excitation signal by segmenting the pitch pulse train signal such that one pitch pulse is contained in each period; convolving the excitation signal with the impulse response into a plurality of wavelets; and storing the plurality of wavelets for use in speech synthesis.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 33 words
The speech coding method of claim 6 wherein the step of forming an excitation signal further includes the step of appending zero-valued samples to each segmented pitch pulse train signal of one period.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 129 words
A speech coding method for use in speech synthesis, comprising: obtaining a set of spectral envelope parameters of a voice speech signal by spectrum estimation; deconvolving the voice speech signal, with an impulse response that is representative of the set of spectral envelope parameters, into a pitch pulse train signal having a substantially flat spectral envelope and a sequence of periodically located pitch pulses; forming an excitation signal by adding zero-valued samples to each pitch pulse train signal of one period such that one pitch pulse is contained in each period; convolving the excitation signal with the impulse response into wavelets with each wavelet being associated with one pitch pulse; and storing the wavelets and the locations of the associated pitch pulses in memory for use in speech synthesis.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 129 words
A speech coding method for use in speech synthesis, comprising: obtaining a set of spectral envelope parameters of a voice speech signal by spectrum estimation; deconvolving the voice speech signal, with an impulse response that is representative of the set of spectral envelope parameters, into a pitch pulse train signal having a substantially flat spectral envelope and a sequence of periodically located pitch pulses; forming an excitation signal by adding zero-valued samples to each pitch pulse train signal of one period such that one pitch pulse is contained in each period; convolving the excitation signal with the impulse response into wavelets with each wavelet being associated with one pitch pulse; and storing the wavelets and the locations of the associated pitch pulses in memory for use in speech synthesis.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3700815A Cited
US4912768A Cited
US4914701A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2000-03-31 2000-09-30 2001-04-01 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
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