IMPULSE NOISE DETECTOR AND NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM

An impulse noise detector detects impulse noise in an audio signal by filtering out the audio components of the signal, then comparing an envelope of a filtered signal with a threshold obtained as a moving average of the envelope. Short-duration impulse noise is thereby detected without detecting tone bursts and other fast-rising signals of longer duration. The envelope may be taken directly from the filtered signal, or from a difference signal obtained from a preliminary envelope of the filtered signal, to emphasize impulse noise when distorted audio components leak into the filtered signal.