Patent ID: 8374851
Filing Date: 2013-02-12
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
1. A voice activity detection method in a hands-free system, comprising the steps of: (a) estimating a near-end noise power: (b) estimating an acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) output power; (c) estimating an AEC residual power from (i) an estimate for a near-end input power and (ii) an expected AEC gain where the expected AEC gain is computed using a far-end output power, wherein said AEC gain is computed as the minimum of a first expected gain and a second expected gain, where said first expected gain is a first interpolation between a first high gain and a first low gain with first interpolation weights determined by a far-end signal power relative to a first high threshold and a first low thresholds and where said second expected gain is a second interpolation between a second high gain and a second low gain with second interpolation weights determined by a change in said far-end signal power relative to a second high threshold and a second low threshold; and (d) deciding, in one or more processors, a near-end voice activity from the results of the steps (a)-(c).