Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement Systems
In this paper, we address the problem of howling detection in speech reinforcement system applications for utilization in howling control mechanisms. A general speech reinforcement system acquires speech from a speaker’s microphone, and delivers a reinforced speech to other listeners in the same roo...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Acoustics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-599X/4/4/60 |
| _version_ | 1797461946447953920 |
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| author | Yehav Alkaher Israel Cohen |
| author_facet | Yehav Alkaher Israel Cohen |
| author_sort | Yehav Alkaher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, we address the problem of howling detection in speech reinforcement system applications for utilization in howling control mechanisms. A general speech reinforcement system acquires speech from a speaker’s microphone, and delivers a reinforced speech to other listeners in the same room, or another room, through loudspeakers. The amount of gain that can be applied to the acquired speech in the closed-loop system is constrained by electro-acoustic coupling in the system, manifested in howling noises appearing as a result of acoustic feedback. A howling detection algorithm aims to early detect frequency-howls in the system, before the human ear notices. The proposed algorithm includes two cascaded stages: Soft Howling Detection and Howling False-Alarm Detection. The Soft Howling Detection is based on the temporal magnitude-slope-deviation measure, identifying potential candidate frequency-howls. Inspired by the temporal approach, the Howling False-Alarm Detection stage considers the understanding of speech-signal frequency components’ magnitude behavior under different levels of acoustic feedback. A comprehensive howling detection performance evaluation process is designed, examining the proposed algorithm in terms of detection accuracy and the time it takes for detection, under a devised set of howling scenarios. The performance improvement of the proposed algorithm, with respect to a plain magnitude-slope-deviation-based method, is demonstrated by showing faster detection response times over a set of howling change-rate configurations. The two-staged proposed algorithm also provides a significant recall improvement, while improving the precision decrease via the Howling False-Alarm Detection stage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:27:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0ab01f62738f4f188ea1575cb04b97bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-599X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:27:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acoustics |
| spelling | doaj.art-0ab01f62738f4f188ea1575cb04b97bb2023-11-24T12:34:47ZengMDPI AGAcoustics2624-599X2022-11-014496799510.3390/acoustics4040060Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement SystemsYehav Alkaher0Israel Cohen1Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa 3200003, IsraelAndrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa 3200003, IsraelIn this paper, we address the problem of howling detection in speech reinforcement system applications for utilization in howling control mechanisms. A general speech reinforcement system acquires speech from a speaker’s microphone, and delivers a reinforced speech to other listeners in the same room, or another room, through loudspeakers. The amount of gain that can be applied to the acquired speech in the closed-loop system is constrained by electro-acoustic coupling in the system, manifested in howling noises appearing as a result of acoustic feedback. A howling detection algorithm aims to early detect frequency-howls in the system, before the human ear notices. The proposed algorithm includes two cascaded stages: Soft Howling Detection and Howling False-Alarm Detection. The Soft Howling Detection is based on the temporal magnitude-slope-deviation measure, identifying potential candidate frequency-howls. Inspired by the temporal approach, the Howling False-Alarm Detection stage considers the understanding of speech-signal frequency components’ magnitude behavior under different levels of acoustic feedback. A comprehensive howling detection performance evaluation process is designed, examining the proposed algorithm in terms of detection accuracy and the time it takes for detection, under a devised set of howling scenarios. The performance improvement of the proposed algorithm, with respect to a plain magnitude-slope-deviation-based method, is demonstrated by showing faster detection response times over a set of howling change-rate configurations. The two-staged proposed algorithm also provides a significant recall improvement, while improving the precision decrease via the Howling False-Alarm Detection stage.https://www.mdpi.com/2624-599X/4/4/60speech reinforcementacoustic feedbackelectro-acoustic couplinghowling detectionhowling control |
| spellingShingle | Yehav Alkaher Israel Cohen Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement Systems Acoustics speech reinforcement acoustic feedback electro-acoustic coupling howling detection howling control |
| title | Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement Systems |
| title_full | Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement Systems |
| title_fullStr | Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement Systems |
| title_short | Temporal Howling Detector for Speech Reinforcement Systems |
| title_sort | temporal howling detector for speech reinforcement systems |
| topic | speech reinforcement acoustic feedback electro-acoustic coupling howling detection howling control |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-599X/4/4/60 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yehavalkaher temporalhowlingdetectorforspeechreinforcementsystems AT israelcohen temporalhowlingdetectorforspeechreinforcementsystems |