ARM Based Implementation of Text-to-Speech (TTS) for Real Time Embedded System

Abstract

Since decades, real time hardware implementation of Text-To-Speech system has been drawing attention of the research community due to its various real time applications. These include reading aids for the blind, talking aid for the vocally handicapped and training aids and other commercial applications. All these applications demand the real time embedded platform to meet the real time specifications such as speed, power, space requirements etc. In this context the embedded processor ARM (Advanced RISC Machine), has been chosen as hardware platform to implement Text-To-Speech conversion. This conversion needs algorithms to perform various operations like parts of speech tagging, phrase marking, word to phoneme conversion and clustergen synthesis. These algorithms are coded and developed in C using eclipse IDE and finally implemented on commercially available ARM9 microcontroller (AT91SAM9263EJ-S). Experiments have been performed on ARM microcontroller using test cases. It has been observed that the performance of the ARM based implementation is very close to x86 implementation.