Minimum Variance Distortionless Response—Hanbury Brown and Twiss Sound Source Localization

Abstract

Sound source target localization is an extremely useful technique that is currently utilized in many fields. The Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) interference target localization method based on sound fields is not accurate enough for localization at low signal-to-noise ratios (below 0 dB). To address this problem, this paper introduces Minimum Variance Distortionless Response (MVDR) beamforming and proposes a new MVDR-HBT algorithm. Specifically, for narrowband signals, the inverse of the correlation matrix of the sound signal is calculated, and a guiding vector is constructed to compute the MVDR direction weights. These direction weights are then used to weight the correlation function of the HBT algorithm. Subsequently, the MVDR-HBT algorithm is extended from narrowband signals to broadband signals. As a result, the directivity of the HBT algorithm is optimized for wide- and narrowband signals, resulting in improved localization accuracy. Finally, the target localization accuracy of the MVDR-HBT algorithm is analyzed through simulation and localization experiments. The results show that the MVDR-HBT algorithm can accurately determine the direction of a sound source, with localization errors at different positions that are smaller than those produced by HBT. The localization performance of MVDR-HBT is considerably better than that of HBT, further verifying the simulation results. This study provides a new idea for target localization within an acoustic propagation medium (air).