Voice activity detector and validator for noisy environments

摘要

A communication unit (100) includes an audio processing unit (109) having a voice activity detection mechanism (130, 135). The voice activity detection mechanism (130, 135) measures an energy acceleration of a signal input to the communication unit (100) and determines whether said input signal is speech or noise, based on said measurement. A method of detecting voice and a method of deciding whether an input signal is voice or noise are also described. Using an energy acceleration based voice activity detector and validator, particularly for noisy environments, provides the advantages of noise robustness, fast response and independence of the level of input speech.