Abstract: A method for producing 3D multi-view visual contents including capturing a visual scene from at least one first point of view for generating a first bidimensional image of the scene and a corresponding first depth map indicative of a distance of different parts of the scene from the first point of view. The method further includes capturing the visual scene from at least one second point of view for generating a second bidimensional image; processing the first bidimensional image to derive at least one predicted second bidimensional image predicting the visual scene captured from the at least one second point of view; deriving at least one predicted second depth map predictive of a distance of different parts of the scene from the at least one second point of view by processing the first depth map, the at least one predicted second bidimensional image and the second bidimensional image.

Abstract: An arrangement for secure user authentication includes a computer or telecommunication terminal with a smartcard and a device. The smartcard is adapted to securely store biometric information relating to at least one user and the device is adapted to detect biometric data of users. The smartcard and the device include a radio interface for communicating together and a module for exchanging biometric information between each other. In this way, tampering of the transferred biometric information is difficult. In order to increase the security, one or more of the following measures may be used: a secure communication channel between the device and the smartcard, a direct (preferably short range) communication channel between the device and the smartcard and encryption and decryption of biometric information transferred between the device and the smartcard.

Abstract: Service architecture for providing to a user terminal of a communications network textual information and relative speech synthesis, the user terminal being provided with a speech synthesis engine and a basic database of speech waveforms includes: a content server for downloading textual information requested by means of a browser application on the user terminal; a context manager for extracting context information from the textual information requested by the user terminal; a context selector for selecting an incremental database of speech waveforms associated with extracted context information and for downloading the incremental database into the user terminal; a database manager on the user terminal for managing the composition of an enlarged database of speech waveforms for the speech synthesis engine including the basic and the incremental databases of speech waveforms.

Abstract: An automated emotional recognition system is adapted to determine emotional states of a speaker based on the analysis of a speech signal. The emotional recognition system includes at least one server function and at least one client function in communication with the at least one server function for receiving assistance in determining the emotional states of the speaker. The at least one client function includes an emotional features calculator adapted to receive the speech signal and to extract therefrom a set of speech features indicative of the emotional state of the speaker. The emotional state recognition system further includes at least one emotional state decider adapted to determine the emotional state of the speaker exploiting the set of speech features based on a decision model. The server function includes at least a decision model trainer adapted to update the selected decision model according to the speech signal.

Abstract: A method of transmitting speech data to a remote device in a distributed speech recognition system, includes the steps of: dividing an input speech signal into frames; calculating, for each frame, a voice activity value representative of the presence of speech activity in the frame; grouping the frames into multiframes, each multiframe including a predetermined number of frames; calculating, for each multiframe, a voice activity marker representative of the number of frames in the multiframe representing speech activity; and selectively transmitting, on the basis of the voice activity marker associated with each multiframe, the multiframes to the remote device.

Abstract: A method for compressing data, the data being represented by an input vector having Q features, wherein Q is an integer higher than 1, including the steps of 1) providing a vector codebook of sub-sets of indexed Q-feature reference vectors and threshold values associated with the sub-sets for a prefixed feature; 2) identifying a sub-set of reference vectors among the sub-sets by progressively comparing the value of a feature of the input vector which corresponds to the prefixed feature, with the threshold values associated with the sub-sets; and 3) identifying the reference vector which, within the sub-set identified in step 2), provides the lowest distortion with respect to the input vector.

Abstract: A method for producing 3D multi-view visual contents including capturing a visual scene from at least one first point of view for generating a first bidimensional image of the scene and a corresponding first depth map indicative of a distance of different parts of the scene from the first point of view. The method further includes capturing the visual scene from at least one second point of view for generating a second bidimensional image; processing the first bidimensional image to derive at least one predicted second bidimensional image predicting the visual scene captured from the at least one second point of view; deriving at least one predicted second depth map predictive of a distance of different parts of the scene from the at least one second point of view by processing the first depth map, the at least one predicted second bidimensional image and the second bidimensional image.

Abstract: An automated emotional recognition system is adapted to determine emotional states of a speaker based on the analysis of a speech signal. The emotional recognition system includes at least one server function and at least one client function in communication with the at least one server function for receiving assistance in determining the emotional states of the speaker. The at least one client function includes an emotional features calculator adapted to receive the speech signal and to extract therefrom a set of speech features indicative of the emotional state of the speaker. The emotional state recognition system further includes at least one emotional state decider adapted to determine the emotional state of the speaker exploiting the set of speech features based on a decision model. The server function includes at least a decision model trainer adapted to update the selected decision model according to the speech signal.

Abstract: An arrangement for secure user authentication includes a computer or telecommunication terminal with a smartcard and a device. The smartcard is adapted to securely store biometric information relating to at least one user and the device is adapted to detect biometric data of users. The smartcard and the device include a radio interface for communicating together and a module for exchanging biometric information between each other. In this way, tampering of the transferred biometric information is difficult. In order to increase the security, one or more of the following measures may be used: a secure communication channel between the device and the smartcard, a direct (preferably short range) communication channel between the device and the smartcard and encryption and decryption of biometric information transferred between the device and the smartcard.

Abstract: An automated emotional recognition system includes an emotional state classifier adapted to receive, during an operative phase, an input information stream with embedded information related to emotional states of a person, and to generate a succession of emotional state indications derived from the input information stream. The emotional recognition system further includes a post-processing function, configured to receive at least two emotional state indications of the succession and, for each of said at least two emotional state indications, determine a corresponding emotional state representation in an emotional state representation system. The post-processing function is further configured to combine the emotional state representations of the at least two emotional state indications to obtain an output emotional state indication.

Abstract: Service architecture for providing to a user terminal of a communications network textual information and relative speech synthesis, the user terminal being provided with a speech synthesis engine and a basic database of speech waveforms includes: a content server for downloading textual information requested by means of a browser application on the user terminal; a context manager for extracting context information from the textual information requested by the user terminal; a context selector for selecting an incremental database of speech waveforms associated with extracted context information and for downloading the incremental database into the user terminal; a database manager on the user terminal for managing the composition of an enlarged database of speech waveforms for the speech synthesis engine including the basic and the incremental databases of speech waveforms.

Abstract: A filter such as a Wiener filter for noise reduction in a signal, such as a speech signal, affected by background noise includes a circuit for determining values of an update function relating new value of estimated noise power to a previous value of estimated noise power, the update function being a function of said previous estimated noise power and a mean input power spectral density. The circuit includes a look-up table having values for the update function stored therein with the previous value of estimated noise power and the mean input power spectral density as a first and a second search entry, respectively. These search entries are entered via an input module and exploited by search circuitry associated with the look-up table for selectively searching values for the update function in the look-up table. The search is preferably carried out on the basis of an index computed starting from said first and second search entries.

Abstract: A method of transmitting speech data to a remote device in a distributed speech recognition system, includes the steps of: dividing an input speech signal into frames; calculating, for each frame, a voice activity value representative of the presence of speech activity in the frame; grouping the frames into multiframes, each multiframe including a predetermined number of frames; calculating, for each multiframe, a voice activity marker representative of the number of frames in the multiframe representing speech activity; and selectively transmitting, on the basis of the voice activity marker associated with each multiframe, the multiframes to the remote device.

Abstract: A spread spectrum digital communication receiver, of the type comprising an input memory buffer (16) for storing samples of an input signal (y(k)) and a code generator circuit (30) for generating a re-generated user code, incorporates a device (24) for the estimation of a channel delay profile comprises: a basic correlator (32) having a first input (41) for sequentially reading from a memory location of the input memory buffer (16) a plurality of samples of the input signal (y(k)), a second input (43) for receiving from the code generator circuit (30) a re-generated user code, and an output terminal for generating, by means of a correlation operation between the plurality of samples of the input signal and the regenerated user code, a first value of the channel delay profile energy (DP(1)); and a memory controller circuit (36) for addressing said the memory buffer (16) so that the first input (41) of the basic correlator (32) is successively fed with the content of several memory locations of the memory buffe

Abstract: A device for maintaining fine alignment between an incoming spread spectrum signal and a locally generated code in a digital communication receiver comprises: a delay line for storing a plurality of consecutive samples (E-1, E, M, L, L+1) of the incoming spread spectrum signal; three digitally controlled interpolators for determining by interpolation between consecutive samples an interpolated early sample, an interpolated middle sample, and an interpolated late sample; two correlators for calculating an error signal as the difference between the energy of the symbols computed from the interpolated early and late samples; a circuit for generating a control signal for controlling the interpolation phase of the digitally controlled interpolator for the early sample, and a digital non-linear filter, for smoothing the control signal of the interpolator for the early sample, enabling the update operation of the control signal only when the absolute value of the error signal at a time instant n is smaller than the

Abstract: A method for compressing data, the data being represented by an input vector having Q features, wherein Q is an integer higher than 1, including the steps of 1) providing a vector codebook of sub-sets of indexed Q-feature reference vectors and threshold values associated with the sub-sets for a prefixed feature; 2) identifying a sub-set of reference vectors among the sub-sets by progressively comparing the value of a feature of the input vector which corresponds to the prefixed feature, with the threshold values associated with the sub-sets; and 3) identifying the reference vector which, within the sub-set identified in step 2), provides the lowest distortion with respect to the input vector.

Abstract: A method for the synchronization of a digital telecommunication receiver comprises the steps of:—storing a plurality of consecutive samples E?1, E, M, L, L+1 of an incoming spread spectrum signal in a delay line 56;—determining by interpolation between consecutive samples of the incoming spread spectrum signal, by means of a first digitally controlled interpolator 26, an interpolated early sample (e) anticipating an optimal sampling time instant;—determining by interpolation between consecutive samples of the incoming spread spectrum signal, by means of a second digitally controlled interpolator 24, an interpolated middle sample (m) corresponding to the optimal sampling time instant;—determining by interpolation between consecutive samples of the incoming spread spectrum signal, by means of a third digitally controlled interpolator 28, an interpolated late sample (l) delayed with respect to the optimal sampling time instant;—calculating an error signal ? as the difference between the energy of the symbols com

Abstract: A method for the estimation of the transfer function of a transmission channel in a receiving system of UMTS type envisages the computation of a plurality of channel coefficients, included among known channel coefficients corresponding to pilot symbols, through the reiteration of an interpolation algorithm, capable of calculating an intermediate point (Z, f(Z)) between a first extreme and a second extreme of a determined interval, the first extreme being formed by at least two known points and the second extreme being formed by at least one known point, the intermediate point to be calculated having as abscissa (Z) the abscissa value of the mean point between the points defining the interval rounded off to the integer closest to the first extreme, and having as ordinate (F(Z)) the arithmetic average between the ordinate of the known point of the second extreme and the ordinate of a point, chosen between the two known points of the first extreme, having a distance from the intermediate point equal to the dista

Abstract: The present invention relates to a module 50 for generating integrated decoding circuits for use, in particular, in turbo devices, to the method for defining the characteristics of and generating convolutional decoding circuits, and to the circuit that can be obtained with said module 50. The module 50 is parametric and, thanks to this feature, makes it possible to generate decoding circuits having different performance characteristics which are such that they can be used in turbo devices employing different decoding modes and different architectures. In addition, the module 50 makes it possible to generate decoding circuits whose distinguishing feature is that they can manage a plurality of generator polynomials selectively and can thus also be used in asymmetrical turbo devices.

Abstract: A filter such as a Wiener filter for noise reduction in a signal, such as a speech signal, affected by background noise includes a circuit for determining values of an update function relating new value of estimated noise power to a previous value of estimated noise power, the update function being a function of said previous estimated noise power and a mean input power spectral density. The circuit includes a look-up table having values for the update function stored therein with the previous value of estimated noise power and the mean input power spectral density as a first and a second search entry, respectively. These search entries are entered via an input module and exploited by search circuitry associated with the look-up table for selectively searching values for the update function in the look-up table. The search is preferably carried out on the basis of an index computed starting from said first and second search entries.