APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISCRIMINATING AND SUPPRESSING NOISE WITHIN AN INCOMING SIGNAL

An apparatus and method for discriminating and suppressing noise within an incoming signal including a first signal processor to generate a first signal representing the incoming signal; a second signal processor to generate a second signal representing the first signal; a prediction device which generates a prediction for the second signal; a logic device which determines the difference between the second signal and the prediction and generates a logic output having a first value when the difference exceeds a threshold and a second value when the difference does not exceed the threshold; and a muting device to mute the incoming signal when the logic output has one value and not mute the incoming signal when the logic output has the other value. The method includes the steps of (1) generating a first signal representing the average signal energy of the incoming signal; (2) generating a second signal representing the first signal normalized with respect to a maximum signal energy expected; (3) generating a prediction for the second signal; (4) determining a difference between the second signal and the prediction; (5) generating a control signal having a first value when the difference exceeds a threshold and a second value when the difference does not exceed the threshold; and (6) providing a muting device which responds to the control signal to mute the incoming signal when the control signal has one value and not mute the incoming signal when the control signal has the other value.