A method for locating multiple sources from a frame of a large-aperture microphone array data without tracking

In this paper we present a new method for locating multiple sound sources using only a local segment of data from a large-aperture microphone array. The result of this work may be used directly or as an open-loop input to a tracking algorithm. The proposed method employs the proven- robust steered response power using the phase transform as a functional, agglomerative clustering, and low-cost global optimization (stochastic region contraction). We test the algorithm with five simultaneous "talkers" under very difficult conditions in a real room but using electrical speakers instead of human talkers to have a controlled experiment.