Information Measures for Microphone Arrays

We propose a novel information-theoretic approach for evaluating microphone arrays that relies on the array physics and geometry rather than the underlying beamforming algorithm. The analogy between Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless communication channel and the acoustic channel of microphone arrays is exploited to define information measures of microphone arrays, which provide upper bounds of the information rate of the microphone array system.Comment: 5 pages conference-style pape

On Acoustic Modeling for Broadband Beamforming

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.Comment: 5 pages, conferenc