A Statistical Analysis of On-Off Patterns in Sixteen Conversations

A statistical analysis of the on-off speech patterns of 16 recorded conversations has been obtained by a computer program written by Mrs. N. W. Shrimpton in 1963, and recently modified by the author. The data can serve the following purposes. (i) They can illustrate the effect of variation of threshold setting on the resulting speech data. This problem has been plaguing virtually all researchers who have attempted to arrive at the "basic" talkspurtpause patterns, that is, patterns which represent the subjective on-off behavior, either as intended by the speaker or as perceived by the listener. (There is, of course, no certainty t h a t such on-off classification actually occurs during normal talking and listening.) (it) They can guide the design of voice operated devices, such as conventional echo suppressors 1 or an adaptive transversal filter echo canceller, 2 both of which have critical timing problems in the intervals surrounding interruptions. 73 74 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, JANUARY lf)G8