A method and apparatus are disclosed for enhancing, within a
signal bandwidth, a corrupted audio-frequency
signal. The
signal which is to be enhanced is analyzed into plural sub-band signals, each occupying a frequency sub-band smaller than the signal bandwidth. A respective
signal gain function is applied to each sub-band signal, and the respective sub-band signals are then synthesized into an enhanced signal of the signal bandwidth. The
signal gain function is derived, in part, by measuring speech energy and
noise energy, and from these determining a relative amount of speech energy, within the corresponding sub-band. In certain embodiments of the invention, the
signal gain function is also derived, in part, by determining a relative amount of speech energy within a frequency range greater than, but centered on, the corresponding sub-band. In other embodiments of the invention, the sub-band
noise energy is determined from a
noise estimate that is updated at periodic intervals, but is not updated if the newest sample of the signal to be enhanced exceeds the
current noise estimate by a multiplicative threshold (i.e., a threshold expressible in decibels). In still other embodiments of the invention, the value of the noise estimate is limited by an upper bound that is matched to the
dynamic range of the signal to be enhanced.