Developing Better Communications Systems with

Noise Reduction and Echo Cancellation

Introduction

It is estimated that over a third of the world’s

population spend time talking on mobile phones. The quality of that communication
experience very much depends on the clarity of the voice that is heard at each end of
the conversation. In an increasingly noisy world, it is easy to see that noise reduction
and echo cancellation play a major role in helping mobile phone developers meet the
expectations of this massive and demanding customer base.

Even away from this huge consumer driven

market, people such as the emergency services and Formula 1 drivers depend on
communication systems that can delivery clear voice communication even in the most
extreme environments. This article discusses some of the issues faced by
communication equipment developers and a few of the solutions that are applied to
help them deliver a noise and echo free world.

The Challenge

Noise and echo can have a big influence over the

performance of communication systems. For a voice activated telematics system, a
recognition accuracy degraded to 90% by automotive noise will render it useless to
dial a 10 digit phone number. In a fire engine, poor communication with the control
room due to the screaming of the siren can result in a slower or confused response,
potentially resulting tragedy. For a Formula 1 driver and the pit crew, engine noise
could easily wipe out their chance of a podium finish, if there was a misunderstanding
regarding strategy. Although it is taken for granted by most of us, technology for
handling noise and echo is essential for many of today’s communication systems.
Good System Design – An Important Start

Audio engineers know that many of the problems that

can cause noise and echo could be minimized at the initial design stage. A good
example that illustrates some of these design considerations is a hand free
communication system in a car.

Simply using a uni-directional microphone pointing

towards the diver, rather than an omni-directional microphone, can eliminated a great
deal of road noise, sound from the music system and passenger noise.

The location of the microphone relative to the

loudspeaker can also have a considerable impact on the performance of the hand-free
communication system, as the microphone will pick up the sound from the
loudspeaker to a greater or lesser extent depending on its position and orientation
relative to the loudspeaker.

Developing a good analog filter for the signal input

from the microphone and choosing a higher sampling rate for its conversion to the
digital domain are important first steps in the electronic design. The good analog filter
can reduce electrical interference and microphone buffeting, for example, while the
higher sampling rate will offer a broader bandwidth, capturing more of the voice
signal frequencies and therefore a better quality of voice for the system to handle.
 A further consideration will be the amplification and
management of the signal strength; too big and the signal will experience distortion
through clipping, too small and it will be embedded in the noise of the system and
will be difficult to extract.

A strong, clear, undistorted, voice signal is an essential

starting point for the achievement of good voice quality. Once this is in place, the
processes of noise reduction and echo cancellation can be applied for further
enhancement.

The Drive Thru – A Simple System

The communication system at your local drive through

restaurant is a great example of a voice system that could employ noise reduction
software. When you speak into the ‘microphone post’ to place your order, the system
ideally removes background traffic noise, and even the noise from your own car
making order errors less likely and order taking faster.

You will see from the diagram above, that the system
contains a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). This processor provides the platform for
the running of the speech enhancement algorithms. Most often this will be a Texas
Instruments’ or an Analog Devices’ device but as we move forward, it is equally
likely to be a Bluetooth device or some new form of WiFi processor. In some
instances, these complex and highly refined voice algorithms are integrated into
dedicated silicon and sold to developers as a discreet component performing all of the
functions illustrated in the diagram and more. Alternatively, in more complex
systems, these algorithms may be run as a task on operating systems such as OSE,
Linux, Windows or QNX.
The Referenced Noise Filter

The Referenced Noise Filter is an example of a noise

reduction technique that can target a specific type of problem where the noise-
producing source is man-made and accessible. If we use the example of the fire
engine in the introduction, the problem faced here is the constant background sound
of the fire engine’s siren. When the engine driver talks into his microphone, it will be
picking up his voice as well as the sound of the siren.

The referenced noise filter takes a signal (direct tap)

from the source of the noise (the siren) and use this as a reference to enable the filter
to target the noise that need to be removed. Using this complex software algorithm on
the DSP in the system, the results can be quite profound, resulting in the region of a
90% reduction in the unwanted sound.

Voice Recognition Enhancer

Voice recognition is still very much an emerging

technology. One of its key applications will be for the control of in-car telematic
systems. Using your voice, you’ll be able to instruct your navigation system, dial up
your favourite restaurant to book a table, maybe even open the sunroof and select
‘Katrina and the Waves’.
 One of the biggest challenges for these systems has
been the over-coming of noise. As discussed, a 90% voice recognition accuracy is
close to useless (one digit in a 10 digit phone number will always be wrong). The
challenge is that as the car accelerates, wind and road noise starts to degrade the
performance of the system.

The x-axis on the graph shows that as the car

accelerates from 0mph to greater than 70mph, the ‘Speech to Noise Ratio’ declines. In
turn, the Hit Rate (voice recognition accuracy) also declines. Using a voice
recognition enhancer software algorithm on the DSP can provide valuable
improvements in the hit rate at the higher speeds. It is easy to see that a 10%
improvement can be the difference between a successful voice instruction and a failed
one. A VRE basically works by analyzing the sampled input data and making
decisions on that. It decides what is speech and leaves that alone (crucial for
successful speech recognition), and what is noise and then reduces that in amplitude.

It can differentiate successfully between speech and

noise because; speech varies rapidly in amplitude and pitch, whereas noise varies
much more slowly (to the point of being what noise audio engineers term
‘stationary’).

Hands-Free Systems – a new set of issues

For in-vehicle communication systems, hands-free

systems are essential for safety and in order to comply with driving legislation.
However, a hands-free system can be complex to design effectively. As with the voice
recognition system, there is concern about road, wind and engine noise but in addition
to this, a hands-free system will generate echo for the caller.

The problem is that the callers voice will be emitted by

the loudspeaker and will travel around the vehicle before being picked up by the
microphone. The caller will hear an echo of their voice and this will constantly
interfere with the overall communication.

Indeed this problem can exist even when using a mobile

handset or a Bluetooth headset – there will be acoustic echo generated by direct
coupling between the loudspeaker and the microphone to a greater or lesser degree.
To make hands-free systems viable, developers use a combination of a noise
reduction algorithm along with an echo cancellation algorithm running on the DSP
device. Often, this is also bundled with some speech enhancing software that provides
the services of some acoustic filters and gain control to boost the clarity of the voice.

How Can You Benefit from this Technology?

The technology described is readily available as off-the-

shelf software components. It is developed by expert audio and software engineers
and proven in millions of devices. Developers choose to buy in these algorithms in
order to ensure that they have the very best voice quality for their products. Many of
these algorithms are optimized for small footprint devices and can also be tailored for
specific applications e.g. bluetooth headsets, 3G mobile phones, Tetra radios, Formula
1 racing, etc.

A range of evaluation hardware is readily available,

enabling engineers to assess the impact this technology would have on their next
design and to enable them to become familiar with the issues surrounding this type of
software component.

Conclusion

When you receive the next call on your mobile phone,

just listen to how clearly you can hear your caller. NCT alone has invested over 70
man-year’s of mathematical, acoustic and software programming expertise to deliver
the software that provides this level of clear speech. Noise reduction and echo
cancellation has been a big subject for the communications sector over the last 10
years. It is expected that as voice recognition and Bluetooth systems roll out, the next
10 years will be equally as busy for voice enhancement software companies such as
ourselves.