A plenacoustic approach to acoustic signal extraction

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of separation of acoustic sources from convolutive mixtures captured by a microphone array. The problem is approached through Plane Wave Decomposition (PWD) of the sound field measured at multiple points along the extension of the array. The directional components of the sound field are analyzed by means of the plenacoustic framework to accurately estimate the direction of arrival of the desired and undesired sources at every point at which the PWD is measured. Multiple spatial filters are designed, one for each PWD measurement point, to leave undistorted the desired source and attenuate the interferer. A successive stage of delay and sum of the outputs of the individual spatial filters enables the reconstruction of the desired source. The use of the plenacoustic framework allows us to gather intuitive and immediate interpretation of the acoustic scene. We prove the effectiveness of the proposed solution through simulations on speech data.