Improving Perceptual Quality of Speech in a Noisy Environment by Enhancing Temporal Envelope and Pitch

Abstract

This letter proposes a new method of improving perceptual quality of speech in a noisy environment. Based on the perception theory that the temporal envelope plays a major role in assessing intelligibility, the proposed method uses a novel operation that enhances the fluctuation of the band-wise temporal envelope. It also contains pitch enhancement in frequency domain to further improve the perceptual quality. A new subjective evaluation scheme employing binaural listening is proposed in order to measure perceptual quality more reliably. The subjective evaluation shows that the proposed method improves perceptual quality of speech in various noisy environments.