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Non-Uniform Microphone Arrays for Robust Speech Source Localization for Smartphone-Assisted Hearing Aid Devices

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Abstract

Robust speech source localization (SSL) is an important component of the speech processing pipeline for hearing aid devices (HADs). SSL via time direction of arrival (TDOA) estimation has been known to improve performance of HADs in noisy environments, thereby providing better listening experience for hearing aid users. Smartphones now possess the capability to connect to the HADs through wired or wireless channel. In this paper, we present our findings about the non-uniform non-linear microphone array (NUNLA) geometry for improving SSL for HADs using an L-shaped three-element microphone array available on modern smartphones. The proposed method is implemented on a frame-based TDOA estimation algorithm using a modified Dictionary-based singular value decomposition method (SVD) method for localizing single speech sources under very low signal to noise ratios (SNR). Unlike most methods developed for uniform microphone arrays, the proposed method has low spatial aliasing as well as low spatial ambiguity while providing a robust low-error with 360° DOA scanning capability. We present the comparison among different types of microphone arrays, as well as compare their performance using the proposed method.

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  • 02 December 2017

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Acknowledgements

Research supported by NIDCD of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number 1R01DC015430-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA

    Anshuman Ganguly & Issa Panahi

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  1. Anshuman Ganguly
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  2. Issa Panahi
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Correspondence to Anshuman Ganguly.

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Ganguly, A., Panahi, I. Non-Uniform Microphone Arrays for Robust Speech Source Localization for Smartphone-Assisted Hearing Aid Devices. J Sign Process Syst 90, 1415–1435 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11265-017-1297-8

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