Patent ID: 8184827

Claim:
A sound source localization device which detects, from a mixed sound including a noise, a source direction or a source location of an extraction sound to be extracted from the mixed sound, said sound source localization device comprising: an analysis unit structurally arranged to (i) analyze frequencies of the mixed sound including the noise, the mixed sound being received by each of a plurality of microphones which are arranged apart from each other and (ii) generate frequency signals corresponding to the plurality of microphones; and an extraction unit structurally arranged to: (i) for each of a plurality of candidates for the source direction or the source location of the extraction sound, (a) adjust time axes of the frequency signals corresponding to the plurality of microphones so that there is no time difference between when the mixed sound reaches one of the plurality of microphones from the candidate for the source direction or the source location and when the mixed sound reaches another one of the plurality of microphones from the candidate for the source direction or the source location, and (b) determine frequency signals between the plurality of microphones having a difference distance equal to or smaller than a threshold value, from among the frequency signals corresponding to the plurality of microphones with the time axis having been adjusted, the difference distance representing a degree of a difference in the frequency signals between the plurality of microphones; and (ii) extract the source direction or the source location of the extraction sound from among the plurality of candidates for the source direction or the source location, in accordance with a degree of matching of the determined frequency signals between the plurality of microphones, wherein the threshold value is set so that (i) a difference distance regarding frequency signals generated by analyzing a frequency of the extraction sound is equal to or smaller than the threshold value and (ii) a difference distance regarding frequency signals generated by analyzing a frequency of a predetermined noise, which is included in the noise and is to be removed, is greater than threshold value.