Separation and tracking of multiple speakers in a reverberant environment using a multiple model particle filter glimpsing method

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the problem of separating and localizing multiple maneuvering speakers in a reverberant environment. Moreover, the speakers can become silent intermittently, making the problem more challenging especially when the speaker is moving while silent. A two stage method is proposed. In the first stage a multiple model particle filter (MMPF) is used to track the mixing matrices by “glimpsing” or listening in the silence gaps as the set of active speakers change with time. In the second stage, a secondary microphone array is utilized to localize and track the speakers by intersecting their directions of arrival (DOA) obtained from estimates of the tracked mixing matrices. Computer simulations using the proposed method are conducted showing improved performance when compared with an online independent component analysis (ICA)-based algorithm.