Patent ID: 7046812

Claim:
A method for processing audio signals generated by an array of two or more microphones, comprising the steps of: (a) filtering by delaying and scaling the audio signal from at least one microphone to generate a processed audio signal for each microphone; and (b) combining the processed audio signals for the two or more microphones in a nonlinear manner that suppresses effects of high values to form an acoustic beam that focuses the array on one or more desired regions in space by performing nonlinear signal estimation processing on the processed audio signals from the microphones to generate an output signal for the array, wherein: the nonlinear signal estimation processing discriminates against noise originating at an unknown location outside of the one or more desired regions; and the nonlinear signal estimation processing picks a representative, central value from the processed audio signals for the two or more microphones, by altering at least one extreme value from at least one of the processed audio signals for the two or more microphones.