Diffusion-Based Sound Source Localization Using Networks of Planar Microphone Arrays

In this work, we propose a novel approach for distributed 3D sound source localization and tracking based on networks of planar microphone arrays, each of which estimates a 2D Direction Of Arrival (DOA). The proposed method is computationally distributed and eliminates the need for a specialized node to collect and process all information. Sound source localization is achieved by considering the task as a distributed optimization problem approached using the Adapt Then Combine (ATC) diffusion technique. This approach also allows the development of cooperation strategies between sensor nodes (i.e., microphone arrays). We propose the use of a cooperation strategy that improves the localization accuracy by exploiting the estimated error statistics of each sensor node and penalizing the noisy arrays. We then evaluate the proposed approach in terms of localization accuracy and robustness to noisy sensor measurements.