Patent ID: 8139787

Claim:
A binaural speech enhancement system for processing first and second sets of input signals to provide a first and second output signal with enhanced speech, the first and second sets of input signals being spatially distinct from one another and each having at least one input signal with speech and noise components, wherein the binaural speech enhancement system comprises: a binaural spatial noise reduction unit for receiving and processing the first and second sets of input signals to provide first and second noise-reduced signals, the binaural spatial noise reduction unit being configured to generate one or more binaural cues based on at least the noise component of the first and second sets of input signals and perform noise reduction while attempting to preserve the binaural cues for the speech and noise components between the first and second sets of input signals and the first and second noise-reduced signals; and a perceptual binaural speech enhancement unit coupled to the binaural spatial noise reduction unit, the perceptual binaural speech enhancement unit being configured to receive and process the first and second noise-reduced signals by generating and applying weights to time-frequency elements of the first and second noise-reduced signals, the weights being based on estimated cues generated from the at least one of the first and second noise-reduced signals.