Environmental noise classifier using a new set of feature parameters based on pitch range

Abstract

Automatic Noise Recognition was performed in two stages: (1) feature extraction based on the pitch range, found by analyzing the autocorrelation function and (2) classification using a classifier trained on the extracted features. Since most environmental noise types change their acoustical characteristics over time, we focused on the "pitch range" of the sounds in order to extract features. Two different classifiers, Support Vector Machines (SVM) and k-means clustering, were performed and compared using the proposed features. The SVM and k-means clustering classifiers achieve recognition rates up to 95.4% and 92.8%, respectively. Although both classifiers provided high accuracy, the SVM-based classifier outperformed the k-means clustering classifier by approximately 7.4%. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.