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Published on: March 16, 2015
Synchrony capture filterbank: auditory-inspired signal processing for tracking individual frequency components in
Ramdas Kumaresan1, Vijay Kumar Peddinti, Peter Cariani
1Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, USA. kumar@ele.uri.edu
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|June 8, 2013
Summary
This study introduces an adaptive, synchrony capture filterbank (SCFB) for speech processing. This novel system emulates auditory nerve function for enhanced sound representation and analysis.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Signal Processing
- Acoustics
Background:
- Stimulus-locked spike timing in the auditory nerve is crucial for encoding sound periodicity, spectral information, and spatial location.
- Synchrony capture explains how dominant frequencies influence neural firing patterns, dividing the auditory nerve into characteristic frequency (CF) territories.
- Existing methods lack the adaptive capabilities to fully replicate these complex neural processes for advanced signal analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel processing scheme, the adaptive synchrony capture filterbank (SCFB), that emulates synchrony capture in the auditory nerve.
- To develop a system capable of robustly encoding speech, music, and natural sounds by leveraging neural processing principles.
- To enhance signal processing for applications requiring precise tracking of acoustic features like formants and pitch.
Main Methods:
- An adaptive, synchrony capture filterbank (SCFB) was designed, combining passive gammatone filters with adaptively tunable bandpass filter triplets.
- Voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) were employed to dynamically adjust filter center frequencies based on output envelope differences.
- The system was evaluated for its ability to emulate cochlear responses and process complex sound signals.
Main Results:
- The SCFB demonstrated cochlea-like responses, including two-tone suppression and distortion products.
- Dominant signal components effectively controlled more filter channels, ensuring robust encoding of relative sound intensities.
- VCOs accurately locked onto critical harmonics, vital for formant tracking, pitch perception, and sound separation.
Conclusions:
- The proposed adaptive synchrony capture filterbank (SCFB) effectively emulates key aspects of auditory nerve processing.
- SCFB offers a promising approach for advanced signal processing of speech, music, and natural sounds.
- The system's adaptive nature and precise harmonic locking provide significant advantages for complex auditory scene analysis.
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