Constant Directivity Beamforming
Beamforming, or spatial filtering, is one of the simplest methods for discriminating between different signals based on the physical location of the sources. Because speech is a very wideband signal, covering some four octaves, traditional narrowband beamforming techniques are inappropriate for hands-free speech acquisition. One class of broadband beamformers, called constant directivity beam-formers, aim to produce a constant spatial response over a broad frequency range. In this chapter we review such beamformers, and discuss implementation issues related to their use in microphone arrays.