An Improved Variable Structure Adaptive Filter Design and Analysis for Acoustic Echo Cancellation

In this research an advance variable structure adaptive Multiple Sub-Filters (MSF) based algorithm for single channel Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) is proposed and analyzed. This work suggests a new and improved direction to find the optimum tap-length of adaptive filter employed for AEC. The structure adaptation, supported by a tap-length based weight update approach helps the designed echo canceller to maintain a trade-off between the Mean Square Error (MSE) and time taken to attain the steady state MSE. The work done in this paper focuses on replacing the fixed length sub-filters in existing MSF based AEC algorithms which brings refinements in terms of convergence, steady state error and tracking over the single long filter, different error and common error algorithms. A dynamic structure selective coefficient update approach to reduce the structural and computational cost of adaptive design is discussed in context with the proposed algorithm. Simulated results reveal a comparative performance analysis over proposed variable structure multiple sub-filters designs and existing fixed tap-length sub-filters based acoustic echo cancellers

Stereophonic acoustic echo cancellation employing selective-tap adaptive algorithms

Published versio

Echo Cancellation - A Likelihood Ratio Test for Double-talk Versus Channel Change

Echo cancellers are in wide use in both electrical (four wire to two wire mismatch) and acoustic (speaker-microphone coupling) applications. One of the main design problems is the control logic for adaptation. Basically, the algorithm weights should be frozen in the presence of double-talk and adapt quickly in the absence of double-talk. The control logic can be quite complicated since it is often not easy to discriminate between the echo signal and the near-end speaker. This paper derives a log likelihood ratio test (LRT) for deciding between double-talk (freeze weights) and a channel change (adapt quickly) using a stationary Gaussian stochastic input signal model. The probability density function of a sufficient statistic under each hypothesis is obtained and the performance of the test is evaluated as a function of the system parameters. The receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) indicate that it is difficult to correctly decide between double-talk and a channel change based upon a single look. However, post-detection integration of approximately one hundred sufficient statistic samples yields a detection probability close to unity (0.99) with a small false alarm probability (0.01)

Infinite non-causality in active cancellation of random noise

Active cancellation of broadband random noise requires the detection of the incoming noise with some time advance. In an duct for example this advance must be larger than the delays in the secondary path from the control source to the error sensor. In this paper it is shown that, in some cases, the advance required for perfect noise cancellation is theoretically infinite because the inverse of the secondary path, which is required for control, can include an infinite non-causal response. This is shown to be the result of two mechanisms: in the single-channel case (one control source and one error sensor), this can arise because of strong echoes in the control path. In the multi-channel case this can arise even in free field simply because of an unfortunate placing of sensors and actuators. In the present paper optimal feedforward control is derived through analytical and numerical computations, in the time and frequency domains. It is shown that, in practice, the advance required for significant noise attenuation can be much larger than the secondary path delays. Practical rules are also suggested in order to prevent infinite non-causality from appearing

On the optimality of subband adaptive filters

In this paper, we derive a polyphase analysis to determine the optimum filters in a subband adaptive filter (SAF) system. The structure of this optimum solution deviates from the standard SAF approach and presents its best possible solution only as an approximation. Besides this new insight into SAF error sources, the discussed analysis allows to calculate the optimum subband responses and the standard SAF approximation. Examples demonstrating the validity of our analysis and its use for determining SAF errors are presented