Spherical Array Acoustic Impulse Response Simulation

• Published in: Theory and Applications of Spherical Microphone Array Processing Vol. 9; pp. 39 - 64
• Main Authors: Jarrett, Daniel P, Habets, Emanuël A. P, Naylor, Patrick A
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 01.01.2017; Springer; Springer International Publishing
• Series: Springer Topics in Signal Processing
• Subjects: Acoustic & sound engineering; Imaging systems & technology; Interaural Time Difference; Reverberation Time; Rigid Sphere; Sound Source; Sound, vibration & waves (acoustics); Spherical Harmonic Expansion
• ISBN: 9783319422091; 331942209X
• ISSN: 1866-2609; 1866-2617
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-42211-4_4

In order to evaluate spherical array processing algorithms comprehensively under many different acoustic conditions, it is indispensable to use simulated acoustic impulse responses (AIRs) to characterize the source–microphone acoustic channel, most typically in a room or other enclosed acoustic environment. The image method proposed by Allen and Berkley is a well-established way of doing this for point-to-point AIRs with sensors in free space. However, it does not account for the acoustic scattering introduced by a rigid sphere. In this chapter, we present a method for simulating the AIRs between a sound source and microphones positioned on a rigid spherical array. In addition, three examples are presented based on this method: an analysis of a diffuse reverberant sound field, a study of binaural cues in the presence of reverberation, and an illustration of the algorithm’s use as a mouth simulator.