Full-Digital Microphone Meta-Arrays for Consumer Electronics

Microphone arrays of various sizes and shapes are widely employed in consumer electronics devices such as smart speakers, speakerphones, smart TVs, smartphones, PCs, and headphones. Therefore, the possibility of creating arrays of arrays (i.e., meta-arrays), by easily connecting several smaller unit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on consumer electronics 2023-08, Vol.69 (3), p.640-648
Main Authors: Pinardi, D., Toscani, Andrea, Binelli, M., Saccenti, L., Farina, A., Cattani, L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3D virtual microphone system
Ambisonics
Array signal processing
Arrays
automotive audio bus (A2B)
beamforming
Communications systems
Consumer electronics
Consumer products
digital MEMS microphones
Finite impulse response filters
Mechanical systems
meta-arrays
Microelectromechanical systems
Microphone arrays
Microphones
Planar arrays
Prototypes
Smartphones
Spatial audio
Telephones
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Summary:Microphone arrays of various sizes and shapes are widely employed in consumer electronics devices such as smart speakers, speakerphones, smart TVs, smartphones, PCs, and headphones. Therefore, the possibility of creating arrays of arrays (i.e., meta-arrays), by easily connecting several smaller units, is particularly interesting: it allows for different shapes, with an increased number of microphones and improved performance, while keeping costs low. In this paper, full-digital microphone meta-arrays are presented: they are constituted by an arrangement of several triangular units, each featuring four digital Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) capsules connected in daisy-chain through the Automotive Audio Bus (A ^{\mathrm{ 2}}\text{B} ). Two prototypes have been built: a planar meta-array made of seven triangles (28 capsules) and a 3-dimensional meta-array with 14 triangles (56 capsules). Numerical simulations were carried out and compared against experimental measurements performed on the prototypes, showing an excellent matching. Finally, the 3-dimensional meta-array was compared with a spherical microphone array widely considered the state-of-the-art equipment in the last decade, demonstrating its potential in telecommunication applications.
ISSN:0098-3063
1558-4127
DOI:10.1109/TCE.2023.3267836