Amplitude normalization and its application to speech coding

A new method of processing speech signals has been introduced which is applicable to a variety of speech processing including narrowband, mediumband and wideband coding. It modifies the speech signal such that the modified signal will have more desirable characteristics as seen by the intended processing algorithm. The modification is achieved by a point-by-point division (normalization) of the signal by an amplitude function, which is obtained from lowpass filtering the magnitude of the signal. Several examples of normalized signal are presented. Applications to pitch detection and speech coding have been described. We mention several areas for future research.