Silviu Ciochina - Böcker

Adaptive filters with a large number of coefficients are usually involved in both network and acoustic echo cancellation. Consequently, it is important to improve the convergence rate and tracking of the conventional algorithms used for these applications. This can be achieved by exploiting the sparseness character of the echo paths. Identification of sparse impulse responses was addressed mainly in the last decade with the development of the so-called ``proportionate''-type algorithms. The goal of this book is to present the most important sparse adaptive filters developed for echo cancellation. Besides a comprehensive review of the basic proportionate-type algorithms, we also present some of the latest developments in the field and propose some new solutions for further performance improvement, e.g., variable step-size versions and novel proportionate-type affine projection algorithms. An experimental study is also provided in order to compare many sparse adaptive filters in different echo cancellation scenarios. Table of Contents: Introduction / Sparseness Measures / Performance Measures / Wiener and Basic Adaptive Filters / Basic Proportionate-Type NLMS Adaptive Filters / The Exponentiated Gradient Algorithms / The Mu-Law PNLMS and Other PNLMS-Type Algorithms / Variable Step-Size PNLMS Algorithms / Proportionate Affine Projection Algorithms / Experimental Study

Single-channel hands-free teleconferencing systems are becoming popular. In order to enhance the communication quality of these systems, more and more stereophonic sound devices with two loudspeakers and two microphones are deployed. Because of the coupling between loudspeakers and microphones, there may be strong echoes, which make real-time communication very difficult. The best way we know to cancel these echoes is via a stereo acoustic echo canceller (SAEC), which can be modelled as a two-input/two-output system with real random variables. In this work, the authors recast this problem into a single-input/single-output system with complex random variables thanks to the widely linear model. From this new convenient formulation, they re-derive the most important aspects of a SAEC, including identification of the echo paths with adaptive filters, double-talk detection, and suppression.