Performance Improvement of Sound Source Number Estimation in Multiple Group PSO by Bias Correction

The multiple sound source localization problem using two microphones is an underdetermined problem where the number of sound sources is unknown. A method based on multiple group PSO has been proposed to solve this problem. In this method, both the number of sound sources and multiple directions are estimated simultaneously under the unified framework of multiple group PSO. However, the estimation accuracy of the number of sound sources often degraded in wide-angle directions. In this paper, a reason why the degradation occurs is verified and a method to improve accuracy is proposed. The effectiveness of the method is shown from several experimental results in the actual room.