Patent ID: 8838452

Claim:
A computer implemented method of controlling at least one processor to classify segments of a signal, said method comprising controlling the at least one processor to perform the steps of: (a) receiving a sequence of segmentation feature data, each of said feature data characterizing a frame of data along said signal; (b) in response to receipt of each of said feature data of a current segment, updating current statistical data, characterizing said current segment, with the received feature data; (c) determining a preliminary classification for said current segment from said updated statistical data before receipt of a notification of an end boundary of said current segment; (d) storing said current segment in a storage device based on the preliminary classification of the current segment; (e) receiving a notification of the end boundary of said current segment; (f) in response to receipt of said notification, comparing said updated statistical data with statistical data characterizing a preceding segment; (g) merging said current and preceding segments, or classifying said preceding signal segment based on said statistical data characterizing said preceding segment, based upon the difference between said updated statistical data and said statistical data characterizing said preceding segment; and (h) merging said updated statistical data and said statistical data characterizing said preceding segment, wherein said statistical data used for said comparing step is updated from a function of an energy value of a component frame, a bandwidth of said component frame, and a frequency centroid of said component frame, and said function is a product of said energy value with a weighted sum of said bandwidth and said frequency centroid.