Microphone Arrays for Immersive Voice Communications

身临其境的语音通信以较低的*成本高效地促进了小组协作和电话会议。它正在成为现代通信网络不可或缺的一部分。沉浸式语音通信系统的关键技术挑战*是在保持信号源的空间信息完整的同时获取高保真声音、音频和*语音信号的能力，以便远程收听者*能够感知声学环境，跟随一组说话者，并通过收听信号的*再现来区分他们。为了获得高保真的语音并保持声音的真实感，有必要*使用麦克风阵列。虽然麦克风阵列处理已经研究了几十年，但现有的技术会产生与频率相关的响应，这可能会对感兴趣的信号造成很大的失真、噪声、干扰和声音真实感；因此，它们不足以用于*沉浸式通信系统。因此，本提案旨在解决*麦克风阵列设计和波束形成的技术问题，并开发能够*采集、处理和再现用于沉浸式语音通信系统的*高保真空间声音的理论、方法和技术。该方案包含以下关键技术创新和优点。*1)频率不变麦克风阵列设计和频率范围为60~20 kHz信号的波束形成的基本公式和信号处理理论。*2)新一代线性麦克风阵列设计和频率不变和*稳健波束形成技术。*3)新一代圆形和球形麦克风阵列设计和频率不变和*稳健波束形成算法。*4)麦克风阵列几何形状优化的信号处理理论。性能*标准。*5)分布式麦克风阵列*处理的信号处理理论和新一代技术。*6)将无处不在的声音信号作为输入并产生具有信源真实性和可识别信源身份的高保真输出*信号的实用系统。*很明显，拟议的研究是沉浸式语音通信的核心。由此产生的*技术除了身临其境的语音通信外，还可以有*广泛的应用，包括*远程协作、人机界面、声学监控、安防、智能手机、智能家居*系统、平板电脑、助听器等。随着对麦克风阵列的需求不断增加，本项目的研究*成果无疑将对社会产生深远的影响，它将真正不可或缺。

Immersive voice communication facilitates group collaborations and teleconferencing efficiently at low***costs. It is becoming an integral part of modern communication networks. A key technical challenge***for an immersive voice communication system is the ability to acquire high-fidelity acoustic, audio, and***speech signals while keeping spatial information of the sources intact so that it is possible for the remote listener***to sense the acoustic environment, follow a panel of talkers, and distinguish them by listening to the***reproduction of the signals. To acquire high-fidelity speech and preserve the sound realism, it is necessary***to use microphone arrays. Although microphone array processing has been studied for a few decades,***existing techniques produce frequency-dependent responses, which may cause much distortion to the signal***of interest, noise, interferences, and sound realism; as a result, they are not sufficient for***immersive communication systems. This proposal is therefore organized to address the technical issues of***microphone array design and beamforming and develop theory, methods, and technologies that can allow***acquisition, processing, and reproduction of high-fidelity spatial sound for immersive voice communication***systems. This proposal contains the following key technical innovations and merits.***1) A fundamental formulation of and a signal processing theory for frequency-invariant microphone***array design and beamforming for signals with frequency range from 60 Hz to 20 kHz.***2) A new generation of technologies for linear microphone array design and frequency-invariant and***robust beamforming.***3) A new generation of circular and spherical microphone array design and frequency-invariant and***robust beamforming algorithms.***4) A signal processing theory for optimization of microphone array geometry with some given performance***criteria.***5) A signal processing theory and a new generation of technologies for distributed microphone array***processing.***6) A practical system that takes ubiquitous acoustic signals as input and produces high-fidelity output***signals with source realism and identifiable source identities.******It is clear that the proposed research is in the heart of immersive voice communication. The resulting***technologies can have a broad range of applications besides immersive voice communication including***telecollaboration, human-machine interfaces, acoustic surveillance, security, smartphones, smart home***systems, tablet PCs, hearing aids, etc. As the demand of microphone arrays is increasing, the research***result of this project will have undoubtedly a profound impact on the society and it will be truly indispensable.