Sound Source Localization via Acoustic Wave Decomposition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic devices face challenges in accurately isolating desired speech from undesired speech and noise sources, such as ambient noise, due to limitations in sound source localization techniques.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves decomposing the observed sound field into directional components using a combination of timing and energy information, estimating time-delay and energy-based likelihood values, and selecting a dominant directional component to distinguish direct paths from acoustic reflections, employing a multi-stage solver to reduce processing complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional sound source localization techniques are used, then the system can identify sound sources, but it cannot accurately isolate desired speech from undesired speech and noise sources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the sound field into multiple directional components by decomposing the acoustic signal into plane waves arriving from different directions. This allows the system to separate desired speech from undesired noise sources by processing each directional component independently and selecting the dominant speech component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation by using complex amplitude data and likelihood values to characterize each directional component. By estimating time-delay and energy-based likelihood values, the system transforms the sound field representation to enable more accurate discrimination between desired and undesired sources.
2Measurement precision
If acoustic wave decomposition is performed to improve localization accuracy, then direction of arrival can be determined with high accuracy, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the complex acoustic signal into multiple plane wave components, each representing a specific direction of arrival. This segmentation allows the system to process and analyze each component separately, improving direction estimation accuracy while managing computational complexity through structured decomposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by estimating likelihood values (time-delay and energy-based) specifically for each directional component rather than processing the entire sound field uniformly. This localized processing approach improves accuracy for direction determination while reducing overall computational burden by focusing resources on critical parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are techniques for an improved method for performing sound source localization (SSL) to determine a direction of arrival of an audible sound using a combination of timing information and amplitude information. For example, a device may decompose an observed sound field into directional components, then estimate a time-delay likelihood value and an energy-based likelihood value for each of the directional components. Using a combination of these likelihood values, the device can determine the direction of arrival corresponding to a maximum likelihood value. In some examples, the device may perform Acoustic Wave Decomposition processing to determine the directional components. In order to reduce a processing consumption associated with performing AWD processing, the device splits this process into two phases: a search phase that selects a subset of a device dictionary to reduce a complexity, and a decomposition phase that solves an optimization problem using the subset of the device dictionary.