Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy Environments
Temporal modulation processing is a promising technique for improving the intelligibility and quality of speech in noise. We propose a speech enhancement algorithm that constructs the temporal envelope (TEV) in the time-frequency domain by means of an embedded convolutional neural network (CNN). To...
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IEEE
2023-01-01
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Series: | IEEE Access |
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Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10014997/ |
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author | Rahim Soleymanpour Mohammad Soleymanpour Anthony J. Brammer Michael T. Johnson Insoo Kim |
author_facet | Rahim Soleymanpour Mohammad Soleymanpour Anthony J. Brammer Michael T. Johnson Insoo Kim |
author_sort | Rahim Soleymanpour |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Temporal modulation processing is a promising technique for improving the intelligibility and quality of speech in noise. We propose a speech enhancement algorithm that constructs the temporal envelope (TEV) in the time-frequency domain by means of an embedded convolutional neural network (CNN). To accomplish this, the input speech signals are divided into sixteen parallel frequency bands (subbands) with bandwidths approximating 1.5 times that of auditory filters. The corrupted TEVs in each subband are extracted and then fed to the 1-dimensional CNN (1-D CNN) model to restore the TEVs distorted by noise. The method is evaluated using 2,700 words from nine different talkers, which are mixed with speech-spectrum shaped random noise (SSN), and babble noise, at different signal-to-noise ratios. The Short-time Objective Intelligibility (STOI) and Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) metrics are used to evaluate the performance of the 1-D CNN algorithm. Results suggest that the 1-D CNN model improves STOI scores on average by 27% and 34% for SSN and babble noise, respectively, and PESQ scores on average by 19% and 18%, respectively, compared to unprocessed speech. The 1-D CNN model is also shown to outperform a conventional TEV-based speech enhancement algorithm. |
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format | Article |
id | doaj.art-b374a666d2dd4a349542ee65c68ad018 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2169-3536 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-10T20:49:24Z |
publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
publisher | IEEE |
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series | IEEE Access |
spelling | doaj.art-b374a666d2dd4a349542ee65c68ad0182023-01-24T00:00:42ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362023-01-01115328533610.1109/ACCESS.2023.323624210014997Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy EnvironmentsRahim Soleymanpour0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7848-4138Mohammad Soleymanpour1Anthony J. Brammer2Michael T. Johnson3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5424-4877Insoo Kim4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6539-1776Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USADepartment of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USADepartment of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USATemporal modulation processing is a promising technique for improving the intelligibility and quality of speech in noise. We propose a speech enhancement algorithm that constructs the temporal envelope (TEV) in the time-frequency domain by means of an embedded convolutional neural network (CNN). To accomplish this, the input speech signals are divided into sixteen parallel frequency bands (subbands) with bandwidths approximating 1.5 times that of auditory filters. The corrupted TEVs in each subband are extracted and then fed to the 1-dimensional CNN (1-D CNN) model to restore the TEVs distorted by noise. The method is evaluated using 2,700 words from nine different talkers, which are mixed with speech-spectrum shaped random noise (SSN), and babble noise, at different signal-to-noise ratios. The Short-time Objective Intelligibility (STOI) and Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) metrics are used to evaluate the performance of the 1-D CNN algorithm. Results suggest that the 1-D CNN model improves STOI scores on average by 27% and 34% for SSN and babble noise, respectively, and PESQ scores on average by 19% and 18%, respectively, compared to unprocessed speech. The 1-D CNN model is also shown to outperform a conventional TEV-based speech enhancement algorithm.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10014997/Speech enhancementtemporal envelope (TEV)convolution neural network (CNN) |
spellingShingle | Rahim Soleymanpour Mohammad Soleymanpour Anthony J. Brammer Michael T. Johnson Insoo Kim Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy Environments IEEE Access Speech enhancement temporal envelope (TEV) convolution neural network (CNN) |
title | Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy Environments |
title_full | Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy Environments |
title_fullStr | Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy Environments |
title_full_unstemmed | Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy Environments |
title_short | Speech Enhancement Algorithm Based on a Convolutional Neural Network Reconstruction of the Temporal Envelope of Speech in Noisy Environments |
title_sort | speech enhancement algorithm based on a convolutional neural network reconstruction of the temporal envelope of speech in noisy environments |
topic | Speech enhancement temporal envelope (TEV) convolution neural network (CNN) |
url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10014997/ |
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