Patent Document ID: 7505898
Application ID: 11456806

Base Claim:
1. A method of masking a speech stream, comprising the steps of: obtaining a speech signal representing said speech stream; modifying said speech signal to create an obfuscated speech signal, wherein said obfuscated speech signal is speech-like; and combining said speech signal and said obfuscated speech signal to produce a combined speech signal, wherein said combined speech signal is realized electronically; and wherein said combined speech signal represents a combined speech stream that is speech-like yet substantially unintelligible; said modifying step further comprising the steps of: temporally partitioning said speech signal into a plurality of variable length segments, each of said segments having a length determined by features of said speech signal, said segments occurring in an initial order within said speech signal; selecting a plurality of selected segments from among said segments; and assembling said selected segments, in an order different than said initial order, to produce said obfuscated speech signal.

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Claim 2:
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said selected segments comprise each segment within said speech stream.