System and method for beamforming using a microphone array
First Claim
1. A method for real-time design of beam sets for a microphone array from a set of pre-computed noise models, comprising using a computing device to:
- compute a set of complex-valued gains for each subband of a frequency-domain decomposition of microphone array signal inputs for each of a plurality of beam widths within a range of beam widths, said sets of complex-valued gains being computed from the pre-computed noise models in combination with known geometry and directivity of microphones comprising the microphone array;
search the sets of complex-valued gains to identify a single set of complex-valued gains for each frequency-domain subband and for each of a plurality of target focus points around the microphone array; and
wherein each said set of complex-valued gains is individually selected as the set of complex-valued gains having a lowest total noise energy relative to corresponding sets of complex-valued gains for each frequency-domain subband for each target focus point around the microphone array, and wherein each selected set of complex-valued gains is then provided as an entry in said beam set for the microphone array.
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Abstract
The ability to combine multiple audio signals captured from the microphones in a microphone array is frequently used in beamforming systems. Typically, beamforming involves processing the output audio signals of the microphone array in such a way as to make the microphone array act as a highly directional microphone. In other words, beamforming provides a “listening beam” which points to a particular sound source while often filtering out other sounds. A “generic beamformer,” as described herein automatically designs a set of beams (i.e., beamforming) that cover a desired angular space range within a prescribed search area. Beam design is a function of microphone geometry and operational characteristics, and also of noise models of the environment around the microphone array. One advantage of the generic beamformer is that it is applicable to any microphone array geometry and microphone type.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for real-time design of beam sets for a microphone array from a set of pre-computed noise models, comprising using a computing device to:
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compute a set of complex-valued gains for each subband of a frequency-domain decomposition of microphone array signal inputs for each of a plurality of beam widths within a range of beam widths, said sets of complex-valued gains being computed from the pre-computed noise models in combination with known geometry and directivity of microphones comprising the microphone array; search the sets of complex-valued gains to identify a single set of complex-valued gains for each frequency-domain subband and for each of a plurality of target focus points around the microphone array; and wherein each said set of complex-valued gains is individually selected as the set of complex-valued gains having a lowest total noise energy relative to corresponding sets of complex-valued gains for each frequency-domain subband for each target focus point around the microphone array, and wherein each selected set of complex-valued gains is then provided as an entry in said beam set for the microphone array. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for automatically designing beam sets for a sensor array, comprising:
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monitoring all sensor signal outputs of a sensor array having a plurality of sensors, each sensor having a known geometry and directivity pattern; generating at least one noise model from the sensor signal outputs; defining a set of target beam shapes as a function of a set of target beam focus points and a range of target beam widths, said target beam focus points being spatially distributed within a workspace around the sensor array; defining a set of target weight functions to provide a gain for weighting each target focus point depending upon the position of each target focus point relative to a particular target beam shape; computing a set of potential beams by computing a set of normalized weights for fitting the directivity pattern of each microphone into each target beam shape throughout the range of target beam widths across a frequency range of interest for each weighted target focus point; identifying a set of beams by computing a total noise energy for each potential beam across a frequency range of interest, and selecting each potential beam having a lowest total noise energy for each of a set of frequency bands across the frequency range of interest. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for automatically designing a set of steerable beams for processing output signals of a microphone array, said computer executable instructions comprising:
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computing sets of complex-valued gains for each of a plurality of beams through a range of beam widths for each of a plurality of target focus points around the microphone array from a set of parameters, said parameters including one or more models of noise of an environment within range of microphones in the microphone array and known geometry and directivity patterns of each microphone in the microphone array; wherein each beam is automatically selected throughout the range of beam widths using a beam width angle step size for selecting specific beam widths across the range of beam widths; computing a lowest total noise energy for each set of complex-valued gains for each target focus point for each beam width; and identifying the sets of complex-valued gains and corresponding beam width having the lowest total noise energy for each target focus point, and selecting each such set as a member of the set of steerable beams for processing the output signals of a microphone array. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification