DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING VOCAL SIGNAL

A method processes vocal sounds captured by a sound capture device of an electronic device. The captured vocal sounds are divided into a plurality of sound segments, and a zero-crossing rate (ZCR) and amplitude of each of the sound segments are obtained. If one or more breathing sound segments are detected to be included in the captured vocal sounds according to the ZCR and the amplitude of each of the sound segments, the captured vocal sounds are processed to decrease the amplitude of the one or more breathing sound segments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one.” The reference “a plurality of” means “at least two.”

FIG. 1is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device1. The electronic device1includes a processor10, a sound capturing device20, a storage30, and a sound processing system50. The sound capturing device20captures vocal signals. The acquired vocal signals are stored in the storage30and processed by the sound processing system50. The sound capturing device20can be a microphone of the electronic device1. The electronic device can be a smart phone, a computer, a set-top box, or other similar device. The electronic device1can include more or fewer components than those shown in the embodiment ofFIG. 1, and can have a different component configuration.

In this embodiment, the sound processing system50includes a mode detection mode51, a sound capturing module52, a sound division module53, a sound analysis module54, a determination module55, and a processing module56. The modules51-56include computerized codes in the form of one or more programs that are stored in the storage30or other storage mediums of the electronic device1. The computerized codes include computer-readable program codes (instructions) that are executed by the processor10to provide functions for the electronic device1. The storage30may be a cache or a dedicated memory, such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a flash memory.

FIG. 2is flowchart of one embodiment of a method for processing vocal sounds acquired by the sound capture device20using the functional modules of sound processing system50ofFIG. 1. Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed.

In step S101, the mode detection module51detects whether the electronic device1is operating in a singing recording mode. In the embodiment, the electronic device1can be controlled to operate in the singing recording mode and record the singing of the user. In other embodiments, the mode detection module51and the step S101can be omitted.

In step S102, when the electronic device1is working in the singing recording module, the sound capturing module52controls the sound capture device20to capture vocal sounds of the user in real-time, and stores the captured vocal sounds in the storage30to record the vocal sounds of the user.

In step S103, the sound division module53divides the captured vocal sounds into a plurality of sound segments. In this embodiment, each of the sound segments includes a predetermined time period (e.g., one second) of vocal sounds captured from the user.

In step S104, the sound analysis module54analyzes each of the sound segments to obtain a zero-crossing rate (ZCR) and an amplitude for each of the sound segments. The zero-crossing rate is a rate of sign-changes along a signal, for example, the rate at which the signal changes from positive to negative or negative to positive.

In step S105, the determination module55determines whether the captured vocal sounds include one or more breathing sound segments according to the ZCR and the amplitude of each of the sound segments. If the sound segments include one or more breathing sound segments, step S106is implemented. Otherwise, the procedure ends.

In this embodiment, the determination module55compares the ZCR of each sound segment with a predetermined rate and compares the amplitude of each sound segment with a first predetermined amplitude and a second predetermined amplitude. The second predetermined amplitude is less than the first predetermined amplitude. If the ZCR of a sound segment is greater than the predetermined rate and the amplitude of the sound segment is greater than the second predetermined amplitude and less than the first predetermined amplitude, the sound segment is determined to be a breathing sound segment. Usually, the ZCR of a breathing sound is between 50%-80%. Therefore, the predetermined rate is greater than 50% and less than 80%. Particularly, the ZCR of most breathing sounds is greater than 70. In this regard, the predetermined rate can be set as about 70%.

In step S106, the processing module56processes the captured vocal sounds to decrease the amplitude of the one or more breathing sound segments of the captured vocal sounds until the amplitude of the one or more breathing sound segments is less than the second amplitude, thereby suppressing the interference of the one or more breathing sound segments to the captured vocal sounds. The processed vocal sounds are stored in the storage30.