Calibration errors of uniform linear sensor arrays for DOA estimation: an analysis with SRP-PHAT

This article presents an analysis of the sensitivity of geometrical sensor errors in acoustic source localization using the well-established SRP-PHAT method. The array in this analysis is a uniform linear array and the intended source is human speech in the far field. Two major results are presented: inner-sensor geometrical errors in the linear array produce smaller localization errors than corresponding geometrical errors do in the two end-point sensors, and the localization error rises sharply for a total geometrical error exceeding the equivalence of the acoustic propagation distance of 2/3 of the sample time instance (approximately 3 cm at 8 kHz). The article also provides a mathematical and graphical explanation of the results.