Acoustic Processing Device Sound Source Position Estimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing acoustic processing systems face challenges in accurately estimating sound source positions due to noise and environmental sounds interfering with microphone arrays, leading to inaccurate integration of sound source directions.
Innovation Solution
An acoustic processing device and method that utilize multiple sound pickup units to determine localized sound source directions, calculate intersections, classify these into clusters, and update estimated sound source positions based on probabilities following von-Mises and Gaussian distributions to enhance accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple microphone arrays are used to improve sound source localization accuracy, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the sound environment into multiple clusters, each representing a distinct sound source. By segmenting the acoustic space and processing each cluster separately, the system achieves accurate sound source localization without requiring complex multi-array configurations, thus resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an acoustic camera as an intermediary device that visualizes sound source positions. This intermediary representation simplifies the integration of direction information from multiple microphone arrays, enabling accurate sound source position estimation while avoiding the complexity of direct multi-array integration
2Measurement precision
If direction information from multiple microphone arrays is integrated to improve sound source positioning, then measurement precision improves, but calculation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary clustering of direction information from multiple microphone arrays before final integration. By pre-organizing the direction data into clusters representing distinct sound sources, the calculation process is simplified and made more accurate, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and calculation complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the problem from integrating directions in physical space to clustering in acoustic space. By changing the dimension of processing from spatial integration to acoustic field clustering, the system achieves accurate sound source positioning while reducing calculation complexity
3Measurement precision
If all sound sources including noises are detected to improve comprehensive sound environment understanding, then measurement precision improves, but reliability of target sound source identification deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts target sound sources from the complete set of detected sound sources by identifying clusters with specific characteristics. By separating target sounds from noises and environmental sounds through cluster analysis, the system maintains comprehensive detection while improving target identification reliability, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A sound source localization unit determines a localized sound source direction that is a direction to a sound source on the basis of acoustic signals of a plurality of channels acquired from M (M is an integer equal to or greater than 3) sound pickup units being at different positions, and a sound source position estimation unit determines an intersection of straight lines to an estimated sound source direction, which is a direction from the sound pickup unit to an estimated sound source position of the sound source for each set of the two sound pickup units, classifies a distribution of intersections into a plurality of clusters, and updates the estimated sound source positions so that an estimation probability that is a probability of the estimated sound source positions being classified into clusters corresponding to the sound sources becomes high.