iPhonMatchNet: Zero-Shot User-Defined Keyword Spotting Using Implicit Acoustic Echo Cancellation

In response to the increasing interest in human--machine communication across various domains, this paper introduces a novel approach called iPhonMatchNet, which addresses the challenge of barge-in scenarios, wherein user speech overlaps with device playback audio, thereby creating a self-referencing problem. The proposed model leverages implicit acoustic echo cancellation (iAEC) techniques to increase the efficiency of user-defined keyword spotting models, achieving a remarkable 95% reduction in mean absolute error with a minimal increase in model size (0.13%) compared to the baseline model, PhonMatchNet. We also present an efficient model structure and demonstrate its capability to learn iAEC functionality without requiring a clean signal. The findings of our study indicate that the proposed model achieves competitive performance in real-world deployment conditions of smart devices.