SBIR Phase I: Enhanced Voice Capture for Mobile Devices Using a Mixed-Response-Type Array

SBIR 第一阶段：使用混合响应型阵列增强移动设备的语音捕获

• 批准号: 1248931
• 负责人: Aaron Jones
• 金额: $ 14.73万
• 依托单位: Sonistic, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-01-01 至 2013-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1248931&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Enhanced; Voice; Capture

The innovation is to develop very small audio subsystems for mobile audio devices with unprecedented noise and interference reduction. Audio subsystems are fundamental to many high-volume portable devices such as mobile phones, media tablets, and digital voice recorders. Multiple microphones can enhance audio capture and improve signal quality by reducing acoustic noise interference, but current arrays of separated omni-directional microphones require large spacing between microphones to achieve high discrimination. The small size of mobile communication devices thus fundamentally degrades the performance of existing array technologies. "Zero-aperture" mixed-response-type arrays that retain high directional selectivity with very closely spaced microphones coupled with innovative signal-processing methods may achieve unprecedented background noise and interference reduction with high target signal quality. The research will extend existing free-field arrays and adaptive beamforming methods to the different acoustics when embedded in handheld devices, will develop a novel real-time robust beamformer for small arrays, and will greatly increase noise and interference reduction through new multichannel noise-reduction processing. Successful research could fundamentally improve the signal capture and noise rejection of small mobile electronic voice communication devices, thus greatly improving their most fundamental function and enabling their effective use in a wider range of environments.The broader/commercial impact is to enhance and facilitate mobile voice communication for mobile device users. The voice and audio subsystem is a fundamental component of mobile devices including cell phones, smartphones and media tablets. Background noise interference during voice communication presents a major problem for many users, especially the millions of hearing impaired and elderly individuals who often struggle to communicate using current voice communications technology. Major device manufacturers have recently begun to implement microphone arrays in commercial devices, yet current voice capture systems fail to utilize the full potential of array technology for mobile applications. Market research has predicted that dedicated voice processor sales will grow to 1.6 billion units in 2015 from 63 million in 2010. Prior research has enabled the development of innovative mixed-response-type array technology, allowing arrays to be implemented effectively in smaller devices. However, a number of unsolved technical problems have prevented commercialization of the technology within the mobile market. This Phase I project will address these problems to deliver a disruptive voice processing solution, setting a new standard for voice capture performance in mobile devices.

这项创新是为移动音频设备开发非常小的音频子系统，以前所未有的方式降低噪音和干扰。音频子系统是许多大容量便携式设备（例如移动电话、媒体平板电脑和数字录音机）的基础。多个麦克风可以通过减少声学噪声干扰来增强音频捕获并提高信号质量，但当前的分离式全向麦克风阵列需要麦克风之间有较大的间距才能实现高分辨力。因此，移动通信设备的小尺寸从根本上降低了现有阵列技术的性能。 “零孔径”混合响应型阵列通过非常紧密的麦克风保持高方向选择性，再加上创新的信号处理方法，可以实现前所未有的背景噪声和干扰减少，同时具有高目标信号质量。该研究将现有的自由场阵列和自适应波束形成方法扩展到嵌入手持设备中时的不同声学效果，将为小型阵列开发一种新型实时鲁棒波束形成器，并将通过新的多通道降噪大大提高噪声和干扰减少加工。成功的研究可以从根本上改善小型移动电子语音通信设备的信号捕获和噪声抑制，从而极大地改善其最基本的功能并使其能够在更广泛的环境中有效使用。更广泛/商业的影响是增强和促进移动语音移动设备用户的通信。语音和音频子系统是移动设备（包括手机、智能手机和媒体平板电脑）的基本组件。语音通信过程中的背景噪声干扰给许多用户带来了主要问题，尤其是数以百万计的听力受损者和老年人，他们经常难以使用当前的语音通信技术进行通信。主要设备制造商最近开始在商业设备中实施麦克风阵列，但当前的语音捕获系统未能充分利用阵列技术在移动应用中的潜力。市场研究预测，专用语音处理器的销量将从 2010 年的 6300 万个增长到 2015 年的 16 亿个。之前的研究已经实现了创新混合响应型阵列技术的开发，使阵列能够在更小的设备中有效实施。然而，许多未解决的技术问题阻碍了该技术在移动市场的商业化。第一阶段项目将解决这些问题，提供颠覆性的语音处理解决方案，为移动设备的语音捕获性能设立新标准。