Completing Sets of Prototype Transfer Functions for Subspace-based Direction of Arrival Estimation of Multiple Speakers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to complete prototype transfer functions for partially calibrated microphone arrays, enabling more accurate DOA estimation of multiple speakers in noisy, reverberant environments.

Contribution

It proposes a novel procedure to complete sets of prototype transfer functions by leveraging subspace orthogonality, facilitating DOA estimation with partially calibrated arrays.

Findings

Improved DOA accuracy with completed transfer functions

Effective in noisy and reverberant environments

Applicable to both MUSIC and RTF vector matching methods

Abstract

To estimate the direction of arrival (DOA) of multiple speakers, subspace-based prototype transfer function matching methods such as multiple signal classification (MUSIC) or relative transfer function (RTF) vector matching are commonly employed. In general, these methods require calibrated microphone arrays, which are characterized by a known array geometry or a set of known prototype transfer functions for several directions. In this paper, we consider a partially calibrated microphone array, composed of a calibrated binaural hearing aid and a (non-calibrated) external microphone at an unknown location with no available set of prototype transfer functions. We propose a procedure for completing sets of prototype transfer functions by exploiting the orthogonality of subspaces, allowing to apply matching-based DOA estimation methods with partially calibrated microphone arrays. For the MUSIC and RTF vector matching methods, experimental results for two speakers in noisy and reverberant environments clearly demonstrate that for all locations of the external microphone DOAs can be estimated more accurately with completed sets of prototype transfer functions than with incomplete sets. \c{opyright}20XX IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.