mb_ftracker

  Abstract—Several algorithms have been developed for tracking formant frequency trajectories of speech signals, however most of these algorithms are either not robust in real-life noise environments or are not suitable for real-time implementation. The algorithm presented in this paper obtains formant frequency estimates voiced segments of continuous speech by using a time-varying adaptive filterbank to track individual formant frequencies. The formant tracker incorporates an adaptive voicing detector and a gender detector for formant extraction continuous speech, for both male and female speakers. The algorithm has a low signal delay and provides smooth and accurate estimates for the first four formant frequencies at moderate and high signal-to-noise ratios. Thorough testing of the algorithm has shown that it is robust over a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios for various types of background noises.