Patent Publication Number: US-2012035919-A1

Title: Voice recording device and method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to audio recording devices and methods thereof and, particularly, to a voice recording device and a voice recording method. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Usually, speech in a meeting is received through a microphone, and recorded to an electronic audio file without any indexing to accommodate searching for a specific speaker&#39;s recording from many speakers of the recorded speech, which can be inconvenient. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The components of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of a voice recording device and a method thereof. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the voice recording device in accordance with an exemplary embodiment 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a voice recording method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an electronic device  100  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment is shown. The electronic device  100  includes a voice receiving unit  10 , a storage unit  20 , and a processor  30 . 
     The voice receiving unit  10  receives voice signals. In the embodiment, the voice receiving unit  10  is a microphone. 
     The storage unit  20  stores a number of voice models and personal information associated with each of the voice models. In the embodiment, the personal information associated with one voice model includes a name, an image, and so on. 
     The processor  30  includes a voice recording module  310 , an extracting module  320 , an identifying module  330 , a document generating module  340 , and a registration module  350 . 
     The voice recording module  310  is configured to record voice signals received by the voice receiving unit  10 , and store the received voice signals to the storage unit  20 . 
     The extracting module  320  is configured to extract speaker&#39;s voice features from the stored voice signals. In the embodiment, the method to extract speaker&#39;s features is Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC). 
     The identifying module  330  is configured to compare the extracted features with the voice models to find a match. The document generating module  340  is configured to obtain the personal information from the storage unit  20  associated with the determined voice model, obtain a storage path of the voice signals, and generate an index document according to the personal information and the storage path of the voice signals, and store the index document to the storage unit  20 . The document generating module  340  may be further configured to record duration of receiving a speaker&#39;s voice signals, and generate an index document according to the personal information, the duration, and the storage path of the voice signals. The duration may include the beginning time and the end time of receiving a speaker&#39;s voice signals. For example, an index document may include “Ann, 9:00-9:10, D:\\Voice Signal.” 
     If there is no match, the registration module  350  is configured to generate a speaker voice model according to the extracted features, associate input personal information with the generated voice model, and store the generated voice model and the associated personal information to the storage unit. The document generating module  340  then generates an index document as described above. In the embodiment, the method used to generate the voice model is Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a voice recording method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment is shown. 
     In step S 201 , the voice recording module  310  records the voice signals received by the voice receiving unit  10 , and stores the recorded voice signals to the storage unit  20 . 
     In step S 202 , the extracting module  320  extracts speaker&#39;s voice features from the voice signals. 
     In step S 203 , the identifying module  330  compares the extracted features with the voice models to find a match. If no, the procedure goes to S 204 . Otherwise, the procedure goes to S 205 . 
     In step S 204 , the registration module  350  generates a speaker voice model according to the extracted features, associates the generated voice model with input personal information, and stores the generated voice model and the associated personal information in the storage unit  20 . 
     In step S 205 , the document generating module  340  obtains the personal information from the storage unit  20  associated with the determined voice model, obtains the storage path of the voice signals, generates an index document according to the obtained personal information and the obtained storage path of the voice signals, and store the index document to the storage unit  20 . The document generating module  340  further records the time of receiving a speaker&#39;s voice signals, and generates an index document to store to the storage unit  20  according to the obtained personal information, the obtained storage path of the voice signals, and the recorded duration. 
     In that way, when searching for specific speaker&#39;s recorded voice in recording of many speakers, one only need to look at the index document without and cue playback accordingly rather than play and fast forward through a recording, which saves time. 
     Although the present disclosure has been specifically described on the basis of the exemplary embodiment thereof, the disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the embodiment without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure.