A microphone array with adaptive post-filtering for noise reduction in reverberant rooms

The author presents a self-adapting noise reduction system which is based on a four-microphone array combined with an adaptive postfiltering scheme. Noise reduction is achieved by utilizing the directivity gain of the array and by reducing the residual noise through postfiltering of the received microphone signals. The postfiltering scheme depends on a Wiener filter estimating the desired speech signal and is computed from short-term measurements of the autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions of the microphone signals. The noise reduction system has been tested experimentally in a typical office room. The system produces an enhanced speech signal with barely noticeable residual noise if the input SNR is greater than 0 dB. The received noise power-measured in the absence of the speech signal-can be reduced by 28 dB