Speaker verification method

Abstract

A speaker verification method consist of the following steps: (1) generating a code book ( 42 ) covering a number of speakers having a number of training utterances for each of the speakers; (2) receiving a number of test utterances ( 44 ) from a speaker; (3) comparing ( 46 ) each of the test utterances to each of the training utterances for the speaker to form a number of decisions, one decision for each of the number of test utterances; (4) weighting each of the decisions ( 48 ) to form a number of weighted decisions; and (5) combining ( 50 ) the plurality of weighted decision to form a verification decision ( 52 ).

1 - 21 . (canceled)  
   
   
       22 . A speaker verification method comprising: 
 comparing a test utterance corresponding to a speaker's input to a training utterance corresponding to the speaker;    comparing the test utterance to an imposter utterance; and    verifying the speaker as a true speaker in response to the test utterance being more similar to the training utterance than to the imposter utterance.    
   
   
       23 . A method as defined in  claim 22 , wherein the comparison between the test utterance and the training utterance and the comparison between the test utterance and the imposter utterance are determined using weighted Euclidean distances.  
   
   
       24 . A method as defined in  claim 22 , further comprising: 
 generating a preliminary verification decision indicative of whether the speaker is the true speaker based on whether the test utterance is more similar to the training utterance than to the imposter utterance;    weighting the preliminary verification decision based on at least one of a first probability value indicative of a probability of falsely determining that the true speaker is an imposter or a second probability value indicative of a probability of failing to detect an imposter speaker; and    verifying the speaker based on the weighted preliminary verification decision.    
   
   
       25 . A method as defined in  claim 24 , wherein the first and second probability values correspond to a first utterance different from a second utterance corresponding to third and fourth probability values different from the first and second probability values.  
   
   
       26 . A method as defined in  claim 22 , wherein verifying the speaker as the true speaker in response to the test utterance being more similar to the training utterance than to the imposter utterance is based on a historical error rate associated with an underlying phoneme of the input utterance.  
   
   
       27 . A method as defined in  claim 22 , further comprising generating the test utterance by identifying features of an input utterance from the speaker and generating a digital representation of the input utterance based on the identified features.  
   
   
       28 . A machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to: 
 compare a test utterance corresponding to a speaker's input to a training utterance corresponding to the speaker;    compare the test utterance to an imposter utterance; and    verify the speaker as a true speaker in response to the test utterance being more similar to the training utterance than to the imposter utterance.    
   
   
       29 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 28  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to perform the comparison between the test utterance and the training utterance and the comparison between the test utterance and the imposter utterance using weighted Euclidean distances.  
   
   
       30 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 28  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to: 
 generate a preliminary verification decision indicative of whether the speaker is the true speaker based on whether the test utterance is more similar to the training utterance than to the imposter utterance;    weight the preliminary verification decision based on at least one of a first probability value indicative of a probability of falsely determining that the true speaker is an imposter or a second probability value indicative of a probability of failing to detect an imposter speaker; and    verify the speaker based on the weighted preliminary verification decision.    
   
   
       31 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 30 , wherein the first and second probability values correspond to a first utterance different from a second utterance corresponding to third and fourth probability values different from the first and second probability values.  
   
   
       32 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 28  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to verify the speaker as the true speaker in response to the test utterance being more similar to the training utterance than to the imposter utterance based on a historical error rate associated with an underlying phoneme of the input utterance.  
   
   
       33 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 28  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to generate the test utterance by identifying features of the input utterance and generating a digital representation of the input utterance based on the identified features.  
   
   
       34 . A speaker verification method comprising: 
 receiving an input utterance from a speaker;    identifying voiced portions and unvoiced portions of the input utterance;    generating a test utterance based on the voiced portions but not the unvoiced portions of the input utterance; and    generating a verification decision indicative of whether the speaker is a true speaker based on the test utterance.    
   
   
       35 . A method as defined in  claim 34 , wherein the voiced portions correspond to at least vowel sounds of the input utterance.  
   
   
       36 . A method as defined in  claim 34 , further comprising generating the verification decision based on a historical error rate associated with an underlying phoneme of the input utterance.  
   
   
       37 . A method as defined in  claim 34 , further comprising generating the verification decision based on a preliminary verification decision that is weighted using at least one of a first probability value indicative of a probability of falsely determining that the true speaker is an imposter or a second probability value indicative of a probability of failing to detect an imposter speaker.  
   
   
       38 . A machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to: 
 receive an input utterance from a speaker;    identify voiced portions and unvoiced portions of the input utterance;    generate a test utterance based on the voiced portions but not the unvoiced portions of the input utterance; and    generate a verification decision indicative of whether the speaker is a true speaker based on the test utterance.    
   
   
       39 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 38 , wherein the voiced portions correspond at least to vowel sounds of the input utterance.  
   
   
       40 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 38  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to generate the verification decision based on a historical error rate associated with an underlying phoneme of the input utterance.  
   
   
       41 . A machine accessible medium as defined in  claim 38  having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to generate the verification decision based on a preliminary verification decision that is weighted using at least one of a first probability value indicative of a probability of falsely determining that the true speaker is an imposter or a second probability value indicative of a probability of failing to detect an imposter speaker.