A Wiener-based implementation of equalization-cancellation pre-processing for binaural speech intelligibility prediction

Abstract

This paper presents a precursor to an objective measure to predict speech intelligibility in binaural listening conditions. Such measures typically consist of a binaural pre-processing stage followed by intelligibility prediction using a monaural measure such as the Speech Intelligibility Index. In this work, an implementation of the equalization-cancellation process using Wiener filters is presented as a binaural pre-processing stage. The model is tested in simulated sound-field listening. Preliminary assessment is performed by comparison with recent work in this field. Speech intelligibility measurements from the literature are also used to qualitatively assess the improvements in signal-to-noise ratio obtained. This work will form the basis for a complete binaural intelligibility prediction system involving nonlinear input signals common in hearing aids.