Model-based integration of reverberation for noise-adaptive near-end listening enhancement

Speech intelligibility in reverberant environments decreases due to overlap-masking. Unlike additive noise, the masking signal is not independent from the information bearing signal. A mathematical framework for intelligibility-enhancing signal modification prior to presentation in reverberant environments is presented in this paper. The optimal solution generalizes steady state suppression and adjusts the short-term signal power as a function of late reverberation power and signal importance. The signal modification operates in a full-band setting and preserves the time scale of the unmodified signal. Gain smoothing based on an adaptive rate-of-change constraint reduces processing artifacts and enhances performance. Subjective validation shows that the proposed method effectively reduces the impact of overlap-masking. Speech intelligibility at a reverberation time of 1.8 s was improved significantly compared to unmodified and steady-state-suppressed speech.

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Model-based integration of reverberation for noise-adaptive near-end listening enhancement

Cited by 6 publications

References 18 publications

Adaptive gain control and time warp for enhanced speech intelligibility under reverberation

Adaptive gain control and time warp for enhanced speech intelligibility under reverberation

Adaptive Gain Control for Enhanced Speech Intelligibility Under Reverberation

Generalizing Steady State Suppression for Enhanced Intelligibility Under Reverberation

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