Biomimetic sonar, outer ears versus arrays

Biomimetic sonar systems, i.e. sonar systems making use of spectral cues for the localization of one or more reflectors, depend heavily on the spatial filters of the reception subsystem. These spatial filters can be implemented in two ways, e.g., by means of an artificial pinna or by means of an array of microphones in combination with a beamforming algorithm. In this paper we compare two such systems using an information theoretic model, which allows objective evaluation of each system from an echolocation point of view.