# On Acoustic Modeling for Broadband Beamforming

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a framework using FEM to evaluate broadband beamformers on rigid surfaces, addressing limitations of free-field models by considering realistic acoustic wave propagation.

## Contribution

It presents a novel FEM-based approach for accurately modeling acoustic wave interactions with microphone arrays on rigid surfaces for broadband beamforming.

## Key findings

- FEM-based model improves accuracy over free-field assumptions
- Framework effectively evaluates beamformer performance in realistic conditions
- Designs demonstrate enhanced robustness in practical acoustic environments

## Abstract

In this work, we describe limitations of the free-field propagation model for designing broadband beamformers for microphone arrays on a rigid surface. Towards this goal, we describe a general framework for quantifying the microphone array performance in a general wave-field by directly solving the acoustic wave equation. The model utilizes Finite-Element-Method (FEM) for evaluating the response of the microphone array surface to background 3D planar and spherical waves. The effectiveness of the framework is established by designing and evaluating a representative broadband beamformer under realistic acoustic conditions.