Angular region-wise speech enhancement for hands-free speakerphone

A novel speech enhancement technique using a microphone array is implemented on a hands-free speakerphone prototype. The technique is able to emphasise sound arriving from the angular region where speakers are located (speaker region) while effectively suppressing noise located in the other angular region (noise region). Experiments were performed to examine the performance of the proposed technique; the resultant directivity had a drastic drop-off between the regions while keeping its sensitivity constant within the same region.