title: Design framework for spherical microphone and loudspeaker arrays in a multiple-input multiple-output system.
abstract: Spherical microphone arrays (SMAs) and spherical loudspeaker arrays (SLAs) facilitate the study of room acoustics due to the three-dimensional analysis they provide. More recently, systems that combine both arrays, referred to as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, have been proposed due to the added spatial diversity they facilitate. The literature provides frameworks for designing SMAs and SLAs separately, including error analysis from which the operating frequency range (OFR) of an array is defined. However, such a framework does not exist for the joint design of a SMA and a SLA that comprise a MIMO system. This paper develops a design framework for MIMO systems based on a model that addresses errors and highlights the importance of a matched design. Expanding on a free-field assumption, errors are incorporated separately for each array and error bounds are defined, facilitating error analysis for the system. The dependency of the error bounds on the SLA and SMA parameters is studied and it is recommended that parameters should be chosen to assure matched OFRs of the arrays in MIMO system design. A design example is provided, demonstrating the superiority of a matched system over an unmatched system in the synthesis of directional room impulse responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer- Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morgenstern
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer- Sheva, 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Boaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rafaely
authors.affiliation: Acoustic and Cognitive Spaces Group, IRCAM, CNRS, Sorbonne University, UPMC Paris 6, UMR 9912, STMS, Paris, 75004, France.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noisternig