Digital Processing of Speech Signals, by L. R. Rabiner and R. W.

Schafer
Victor W. Zue

Citation: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 67, 1406 (1980); doi: 10.1121/1.384160
View online: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.384160
View Table of Contents: https://asa.scitation.org/toc/jas/67/4
Published by the Acoustical Society of America

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BOOK REVIEWS
R. Bruce Lindsay
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
The opinions expressed are those of the individual reviewers and are not
necessarily endorsed by the Editorial Board of this Journal.
Digital Processingof Speech Signals
L. R. Rabiner and R. W. Schafer
Prentice-Hall,EnglewoodCliffs, NJ, 1979.
xvi + 512 pp. Price $23.95.
During the past 15 years we have witnesseda flourish of research
activitiesin the field of digital signalprocessing.Suchactivities,
broughtabout at leastin part by the increasedavailabilityof high-
speed,low-costdigitalcomputersand specialpurposehardware,have
contributed significantlyto the field in terms of theoretical as well as
algorithmicdevelopments.Sincemany of thesedevelopmentswere
actually carriedout within the context of speechprocessing,our
understanding of the fundamentalsunderlyingthe processing of
speechsignalsby digital meanshas advancedto the extent that a
textbook on the subjectis clearly waxranted. The authors of this
book havehad, betweenthem, over30 yearsof exceptionallyactive
researchexperiencein digital signalprocessing in generaland speech
processingin particular. The outcome is an extremely valuablebook
devotedto a timely subject.
The book is organizedaroundseveralbasicapproachesto digital
representationsof speechsignals,suchas the time-domainanalysis,
short-timeFourier analysis,homomorphicanalysis,and linear predic-
tion analysis. Estimation techniquesfor speechparameterssuchas
pitch and formant frequenciesas well asspecificspeechprocessing
applicationsare left asexamplesof the utility of eachrepresentation.
Thus, for example,time-domainpitch detectionalgorithmsare dis-
cussedwithin the context of the time-domainmodel of speechpro-
cessingwhile cepstralpitch detectionis discussed in the chapter
dealingwith homomorphicanalysisof speech.The authorshave
chosensuchan organizationsincethey feel that "the most funda-
mental notionswere thoserelatedto digitalspeechrepresentations
and that a soundunderstandingof suchrepresentations would allow
the reader both to understand and to advance the methods and tech-
niquesfor parameterestimationand for designing speechprocessing
systems."This reviewer,for the most part, agreeswith theirjudg-
ment. While it is true that specificparameterestimationtechniques
and speechprocessing applicationsappearto be scatteredamongthe
variouschapters,the repetition of topicsoften servesto reinforcethe
issuesrelatedto a particulartechniqueor application.
The first three chaptersof this book developthe necessary back-
groundfor digital speechprocessing.Chapter 1 is an introduction to
the notion of speechprocessing, with an overviewof the application
areasthat are directly relatedto the topicscoveredin subsequent
chapters. Chapter2 providesa brief review of the fundamentalsof
digital signalprocessing.The topics include the z-transform,the
Fourier transform,the discreteFourier transform,digital filters,
samplingtheorem,and decimationand interpolationof sampled
waveform. Thesetopicsaxecovered,in 21 pages,in a clear and con-
cisefashion,providingthe readerwith quick accessto key equations
and conceptsof digital signalprocessingthat are relevantto speech
processing.Chapter 3 dealswith digital modelsfor the speechsignal.
The chapterbeginswith a brief introduction to the mechanismof
speechproductionand the acousticpropertiesof speechsounds.
This is followedby a presentationof the acoustictheory of speech
production,resultingin a modelin whichthe speechsignalis the
output of a time-varyinglinear system excited by either random
noiseor a quasiperiodic impulsetrain. By considering wavepropaga-
1406 J. Acoust.Soc.Am. 67(4), April 1980 0001-4966/80/041406-02500.80
tion in concatenatedlossless tubesand relatingthe resultsto digital
filters, a discreterepresentationof the vocal tract transferfunction
is obtained. The resultingdigitalmodel for the speechsignalsforms
the basisfor subsequentdiscussions.
The next five chaptersof the book are devotedto specificmeth-
odsfor speechprocessing.Chapter4 dealswith time-domainmeth-
odsin which the processing involvesthe direct utilization of the
speechwaveform. The chapterbeginsby presentinga generalnotion
of "short-time" processing.This is followed by a discussionof the
definition and propertiesof severalshort-timemeasurements,suchas
the short-timeenergy,short-timeaveragezero-crossing rate, and
short-time autocorrelation, that are commonly used for time-domain
speechprocessing.Also includedin this chapteris a discussion
on the
median smoothingtechnique, which hasbeen demonstratedto be
particularlyeffectivefor time-domainspeechmeasurements.Time-
domainpitch detectorsand algorithmsfor voiced/unvoiced
classifica-
tion arealsodescribed
asexamplesof time-domainspeechprocessing
systems.Chapter5 dealswith the direct digital representationof the
speechwaveform. The chapterbeginswith a brief descriptionof the
statisticalpropertiesof the speechwaveform, followed by a discuss-
ion of a variety of digital representationsthat includeinstantaneous
quantization,adaptivequantization, and predictivequantization.
Variouswaveformcodersrangingfrom simplepulsecodemodulation
(PCM) to adaptivedifferential coding(ADPCM) are alsodiscussed in
this chapter.
In contrastto the previoustwo chapters,Chapters6-8 deal with
frequency-domainspeechprocessing methodsin that they are based
on a spectralrepresentationof the speechsignal. Chapter6 is de-
voted to the notion of short-time Fourier analysisand synthesisof
speech.It is shownthat the time-dependentFourier representation
of a signalcan be interpretedin the context of linear filtering where-
by the signalsis passedthrougha bank of filters with the appropriate
characteristics.This leadsto a discussion of the designtechniques
for digital filter banks, as well asa discussionon the theoretical and
implementationalissuesregardingthe f'fiterbank summationmethod
for speechanalysisand synthesis.From this generalperspective,
severalspeechprocessing systems,includingthe spectrographic dis-
play, the channelvocoder,and the phasevocoder,are then dis-
cussed.
Chapter7 concerns
the techniqueof hornorphicspeechproces-
sing. From the generalnotion of the homomorphicsystemfor con-
volution, it is shownthat the complex cepstmm,defined asthe in-
versetransformof the complex logarithm of the Fourier transform,
of a convolvedsignalis the sumof the individualcomplexcepstra.
For the speechsignal,the homomorphictechniquethusenablesthe
separation of the excitationfunctionandthe transferfunctionpara-
metersin the cepstraldomainby simplelinearfilteringtechniques.
Thischapterpresents
an excellentsummaryof the importantprop-
ertiesof this analysistechnique. Also includedis a discussionon the
computationalissues.The homomorphicanalysistechniquehasbeen
appliedto speechanalysis/synthesis, pitch detection,and formant
estimation. Chapter7 endswith a discussion of the basicideasbe-
hind thesespeechprocessing systems.
Chapter8 dealswith the topic of linearprediction. From the
digitalmodeldevelopedin Chapter3, it is shownthat a speechsam-
ple canbe represented
asa linearcombinationof the pastsamples
andthat by imposingpropererrorcriteria,the parameters of the
speechmodelcanbe estimatedfrom the speechsignal.The authors
¸ 1980 Acoustical
Societyof America 1406
firstpresentthe generalframeworkof linearpredictionanalysis.
This is followed by a comparisonof the differencesamongthree
different formulations, namely the autocorrelation,the covariance,
and the lattice formulations. These formulations are discussed both
in termsof their theoreticalimplicationsand computationalcom-
plexities.Theparameters derivedfrom linearpredictionanalysisare
then relatedto other speechparametersthat havebeenpresentedin
earlierchapters. The chapterendswith a discussion of the applica-
tion of linearpredictionto pitch detection,formant extraction,and
speechanalysis/synthesis.
Chapter9, the final chapter,discusses severalspeechprocessing
systemsin the area of man/machinecommunicationby voice. The
chapterprovidessomeconcreteexamplesof specificspeechproces-
singsystemssuchasvoiceresponse, speakerrecognition,and speech
recognitionsystems,and demonstrates how the ideasdiscussed in
earlierchaptersare appliedto real world problems.
In general,this reviewerfindsthe organizationof the materialto
be very cohesiveand effective. Each chapter of the book openswith
an introductionthat motivatesthe topicsand endswith a summary
of the key ideasthat havebeendiscussed.Extensivereferencesas
well as a set of homework problemsare alsoincludedat the end of
mostchapters.This reviewerfindsthe referencematerialto be com-
pleteand the homeworkproblemsappropriate.Occasionally,the
problemsbecomesomewhatlengthyin their mathematicalderiva-
tion, but suchexerciseis often rewardedwith addedinsights.
The coverageof individualtopicsis accomplishedwith varying
degreesof success.This reviewerfindsthe materialin Chapters2,
6, 7, and 8 to be exceptionally well presentedin that the central
issuesare discussedsuccinctlywithout unwieldy detail while enough
referencesare providedsuchthat studentswho are interestedin the
topic canlook up additionalmaterialwith little trouble. The review
of digitalsignalprocessingfundamentalsin Chapter2 is extensiveand
to the point. The treatmentof short-timeFourieranalysisin Chap-
ter 6 providesa strongtheoreticalframeworkfrom which valuable
insightscan be obtained on someof the more familiar speechpro-
cessingsystemssuchasthe spectrographic displayand the channel
vocoder. On the negativeside,this reviewerfinds parts of Chapters
3 and 5 to be too lengthy. The developmentof the acoustictheory
of speechproduction,takinginto accountlossesin the vocaltract,
seemsto be anunnecessarydiversionfrom the goal of developingthe
digitalmodelfor the speechsignal. Most of the material coveredin
Chapter5 dealswith the codingof waveformsin generaland thus,in
the opinionof this reviewer,shouldnot be treatedwith suchpromin-
enceand length. In contrast,the coverageof speechprocessingsys-
temsfor man/machinecommunicationby voicein Chapter 9 is
somewhatsketchy. It is felt that someprinciplesof speechproces-
sing,suchasthe clusteringtechniquefor pattern recognitionand the
dynamicprogrammingtechniquefor time normalization,perhaps
shouldbe coveredwith greaterdetail.
This book was usedasthe principal textbook in a one-semester
graduatecoursein digital speechprocessingoffered in 1979 at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The coursewas organizedin-
to three hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory/demonstration
per week. At the end of the term, eachstudent completed a term
project that is either a literature survey,a hardwaredesign,or a com-
puterproject.Theresponse
of th• students
to thetextbookhasbeen
overwhelminglyfavorable,and severalof the 30-odd studentsactual-
ly adoptedresearchtopicsin speechprocessingasa direct conse-
quenceof their exposureto the materialscoveredin the book.
In summary,the bookDigitalProcessing of SpeechSignalsby
L. R. Rabiner and R. W. Schafer is a very well written book. It f'ffis
the gapbetweenbooksthat are more devotedto signalprocessing
and those that are more related to speechsciencein general. It is a
book well suited to be a textbook for a courseon the subject, and it
is indispensableto researchersand seriousstudentsof speechpro-
cessing.-
VICTOR W. ZUE
ResearchLaboratory of Electronics
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Cambridge,Massachusetts 02139
1407 J. Acoust.Soc.67(4), April 1980; 0001-4966/80/041407-02500.80;
The Evaluation and Calibration of Ultrasonic
Transducers
[Conferenceorganizedby: Materials and Testing
Groupof the Instituteof Physics(London)]
IPC Scienceand TechnologyPressLimited, Guildford,
Surrey, England, 19 78.
viii + ! 40 pp: Price œ!6. 00.
Recent years have seenmany developmentsin the application of
ultrasonicmeasurementsto nondestructivetestingand biomedical
applications.The key element for quantitative measurementsin every
applicationis the transducerby which the ultrasonicwavesare gen-
erated and/or receivedin the material under test. Unfortunately, in
practice,this element is leastunderstood.The literature is replete
with transducer"horror stories"in which presumablyidentical trans-
ducerspossesswidely differing transruction and field characteristics.
The Materials and Testing Group of the Institute of Physics
(London) organizeda two-day conferencein May 1977 to addressvar-
ious aspectsof the evaluation,calibration, and standardizationof ul-
trasonictransducers,and this book contains 17 of the 18 paperspre-
sentedat this conference.A detailed report of this conferencehas
beenpublished
• in whicheachof the paperspresented
hasbeenade-
quately summarized;therefore, there is no need to repeat the report
in its entirety here.
The book is divided into four sections,entitled (1) "Theoretical
Considerations,"(2) "Practical Evaluation," (3) "Development and
Design Features," and (4) "Absolute Calibration."
Despiteits title, the principalthemesof the five paperscomprising
the first sectionare the approachesfor finding-experimentally and
analytically-the ultrasonic fields (transient or steady state) of various
contactand angle-beamtransducers.The paperby Wickhamand Cof-
fey summarizesa ray analysisof a thickness-modevibrating piezoelec-
tric transducerattachedto a steelspecimenvia a wedgeto generate
shearwavesby mode conversionin the steel specimen.Also in this
first sectionis a paper by Weight and Hayman, who report on their
measurementsand analysesof transducer sound fields in a fluid re-
sultingfrom singlecycle pulseexcitations.The transduceris modeled
as a piston radiator and the measurementsare made either with a
miniature probe transduceror a stroboscopicschlierenvisualization
technique.
The secondsectionof the book consistsof three papers.Two of
these,authoredby Wiistenberg
and Schulzandby Whittinghamand
Farmery, give practical proceduresfor determining someof the pa-
rameterswhich can be usedto describethe performanceof a piezo-
electric transducer.
Among the five paperswhich comprisethe "Development and
DesignFeatures" section,two are particularly noteworthy. The paper
by Whittle and Smallmangivesa descriptionof the proceduresthey
haveproposedas a standardfor assessing the performanceof piezo-
electrictransducers.The paper of Jehensonand Bredaelgivesan out-
line of the measurementsthey considerimportant for evaluating
piezoelectrictransducersusedin medicalapplications.
The last section of the book, entitled "Absolute Calibration" con-
sistsof three papers.Speakein his paper showsthe utility of a laser
interferometer to make absolutedisplacementmeasurementsof a
specimento which a transduceris attached.Such a noncontactmea-
suringsystemhasthe potential for allowingan absolutecalibrationof
a piezoelectrictransducerto be achieved.Also in this sectionis a
paperby Perdrix, Baboux, and Lakestani,who demonstratea novel
procedurefor determiningthe impulseresponseof varioustrans-
ducersin a liquid. They step-excitea thick piezoelectrictransduceras
a known source,and with a reciprocity condition they can alsofind
the transmitting sensitivity of the transducer.
This book providesan indicatorof the Europeanactivity on the
ultrasonictransducercalibration problem, and for that purpose,the
book may be worth its purchaseprice. The book appearsto be un-
editedandthereare severalmislabeled
figures(in the paperby Weight
and Hayman). Also, pages73 and 108 were missingin the copy pro-
videdfor review.Most of the papersappearto be reportsof work in
¸ 1980 Acoust.Soc.Am.; Book Reviews 1407