Towards a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the operation of real-time fundamental frequency extractors

Reliable measurement of speech fundamental frequency is an essential element in many aspects of research. There are many methods available for such measurement, but there is no rigorous technique which allows a quantitative evaluation of these methods. This paper discusses work being carried out at UCL to investigate the possibility of providing a viable methodology for device assessment. Three acoustically based devices are used alongside a standard (the laryngograph) to illustrate progress to date.