Method and system for speech reconstruction from speech recognition features, pitch and voicing with resampled basis functions providing reconstruction of the spectral envelope

Abstract

A speech reconstruction method and system for converting a series of binned spectra or functions thereof such as the Mel Frequency Cepstra Coefficients (MFCC), of an original digitized speech signal, into a reconstructed speech signal, where each binned spectrum has a respective pitch value and voicing decision. The binned spectra are derived from the original digitized speech signal at successive instances by multiplying each estimate of the spectral envelope by a predetermined set of frequency domain window functions and computing the integrals thereof. At each respective time instance, harmonic frequencies and weights are generated according to the respective pitch value and voicing decision. Basis functions having bounded supports on the frequency axis are each sampled at all said harmonic frequencies, which are within its support and multiplied by respective harmonic weights. The sampled basis functions are combined with respective phases, generated according to the pitch value, voicing decision and possibly the binned spectrum, resulting in a complex line spectrum corresponding to each basis function. Coefficients are generated of the basis functions, and each of the points of the respective complex line spectra is multiplied by the respective basis function coefficient. The complex line spectra are summed up to generate for each time instance a single complex line spectrum with values for all harmonic frequencies. A time signal is generated from complex line spectra computed at successive instances of time.