A two-stage approach to 2D DOA estimation for a compact circular microphone array

Abstract

Microphone arrays and, specifically, circular arrays have been used for sound source localization and multimedia applications for more than a decade. In recent years the development of compact arrays for implementation in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) has risen in popularity. This paper considers a 2D Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation method for a compact circular array, equipped with additional vertically placed microphones. The proposed method is aimed at reducing the computational cost of DOA estimation for implementation on embedded hardware of WSN smart sensors. The method is compared with a well known localization algorithm of SRP-PHAT and is proven to provide adequate DOA estimates, while being more computationally effective.