The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 18, 2008
Filed:
Aug. 30, 2002
Mark Stuart Vinton, San Francisco, CA (US);
Charles Quito Robinson, San Francisco, CA (US);
Kenneth James Gundry, San Francisco, CA (US);
Steven Joseph Venezia, Simi Valley, CA (US);
Jeffrey Charles Riedmiller, Martinez, CA (US);
Mark Stuart Vinton, San Francisco, CA (US);
Charles Quito Robinson, San Francisco, CA (US);
Kenneth James Gundry, San Francisco, CA (US);
Steven Joseph Venezia, Simi Valley, CA (US);
Jeffrey Charles Riedmiller, Martinez, CA (US);
Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, San Francisco, CA (US);
Abstract
Mechanisms are known that allow receivers to control loudness of speech in broadcast signals but these mechanisms require an estimate of speech loudness be inserted into the signal. Disclosed techniques provide improved estimates of loudness. According to one implementation, an indication of the loudness of an audio signal containing speech and other types of audio material is obtained by classifying segments of audio information as either speech or non-speech. The loudness of the speech segments is estimated and this estimate is used to derive the indication of loudness. The indication of loudness maybe used to control audio signal levels so that variations in loudness of speech between different programs is reduced. A preferred method for classifying speech segments is described.