The effect of severe amplitude limitation on certain types of random signal: a clue to the intelligibility of “Infinitely” clipped speech

Abstract

The paper is concerned with the effect of “infinite” peak clipping^1–3 on certain types of signal definable in statistical terms. The analysis is further extended to include subsequent differentiation of the clipped waveform with respect to time.It is shown that with certain signals of common occurrence there is a marked similarity in spectral content before and after clipping. Furthermore, the phase relationships present a high degree of coherence.Speech waveforms have certain attributes in common with these idealized signals, and it is therefore concluded that the high intelligibility of “infinitely” clipped speech is a phenomenon to be expected.