Patent ID: 8185382

Claim:
A computer implemented method for separating sound signals generated from physical sound source devices comprising the steps of: receiving, by a computer, an input signal representing sounds from a plurality of the physical sound source devices; band-pass filtering, by a computer, said input signal into a first plurality of frequency bands using a first band-pass filter bank; separating the frequency bands, by a computer, into one of two categories, wherein the frequency bands of a first category contain resolved harmonics and the frequency bands of a second category contain unresolved harmonics; applying a first evidence value calculation procedure, by a computer, to frequencies from said first category of frequency; selecting, by a computer, a frequency bands from said second category of frequency bands; demodulating, by a computer, each of said selected frequency bands from the second category of frequency bands to obtain a modulation envelope of each of said selected frequency bands from the second category of frequency bands; applying, by a computer, a second band-pass filter bank to said modulation envelope to obtain a second plurality of frequency bands, wherein said second band-pass filter bank is identical to said first band-pass filter bank; applying, by a computer, a second evidence value calculation procedure to each of the second plurality of frequency bands, wherein the first and the second evidence value calculation procedures are identical; and grouping bands, by a computer, based on the calculated evidence values, with common fundamental frequencies, wherein in each group the harmonics emanate from one fundamental frequency belonging to one sound source.