Patent ID: 7107213

Claim:
A voice pitch normalization apparatus for recognizing an incoming command voice uttered by a speaker based on sample data for a plurality of words, said voice pitch normalization apparatus comprising: a voice analyzer operable to calculate a probability indicating a degree of coincidence among a target voice signal and each of the plurality of words in the sample data; and a voice pitch normalization device operable to generate the target voice signal by changing the incoming command voice on a predetermined degree basis and operable to change the target voice signal in voice pitch until a maximum of probabilities reaches a predetermined probability or higher, wherein said voice pitch normalization device is operable to increase or decrease the target voice signal on the predetermined degree basis when the maximum of the probabilities is smaller than the predetermined probability, and said voice pitch normalization device comprises: a memory operable to temporarily store the incoming command voice; a read-out controller operable to read out a string of the incoming command voice from said memory and generate the target voice signal; and a read-out clock controller operable to generate a read-out clock signal with a timing clock determined by frequency, and output the timing clock to said memory to change, with a timing specified by the timing clock, a frequency of the target voice signal on the predetermined degree basis.