Sound Localization for Ad-Hoc Microphone Arrays

Muhammad Usman Liaquat,Amna Rahman,Abbas Z Kouzani,Zakria Qadir,M A Parvez Mahmud,Hafiz Suliman Munawar

doi:10.3390/en14123446

Abstract

Sound localization is a field of signal processing that deals with identifying the origin of a detected sound signal. This involves determining the direction and distance of the source of the sound. Some useful applications of this phenomenon exists in speech enhancement, communication, radars and in the medical field as well. The experimental arrangement requires the use of microphone arrays which record the sound signal. Some methods involve using ad-hoc arrays of microphones because of their demonstrated advantages over other arrays. In this research project, the existing sound localization methods have been explored to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each method. A novel sound localization routine has been formulated which uses both the direction of arrival (DOA) of the sound signal along with the location estimation in three-dimensional space to precisely locate a sound source. The experimental arrangement consists of four microphones and a single sound source. Previously, sound source has been localized using six or more microphones. The precision of sound localization has been demonstrated to increase with the use of more microphones. In this research, however, we minimized the use of microphones to reduce the complexity of the algorithm and the computation time as well. The method results in novelty in the field of sound source localization by using less resources and providing results that are at par with the more complex methods requiring more microphones and additional tools to locate the sound source. The average accuracy of the system is found to be 96.77% with an error factor of 3.8%.

Highlights

Sound source localization deals with determination of the location from where a sound signal is originated with respect to an array of microphones [1]
A fixed 3D coordinate system was established in the laboratory to carefully measure the locations of microphones in 3D space so that they can be provided as input to the program
In order to test the source localization function, a geometrical arrangement of microphones was set up where each of the microphones was placed at the corners of a tetrahedral and a source could be located at any place in the 3D space

Summary

Introduction

Sound source localization deals with determination of the location from where a sound signal is originated with respect to an array of microphones [1]. Sound localization is an important and useful research field which has been used in many different applications in the past decades [2]. This method has been measured by using time difference of arrival since the World War 1 [3]. The basic idea of sound localization works in a simple method of receiving the sound from the source and extracting the useful information which assists in the detection of the target. These features differ depending on the model, which is used in particular applications.

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Conclusion