Direct-to-reverberant Energy Ratio Estimation Based on Interaural Coherence and a Joint ITD/ILD Model

This paper proposes a novel algorithm to estimate the direct-to-reverberant energy ratio (DRR) using hearing aid microphones. The algorithm is based on the interaural magnitude-squared coherence of signals and is able to take both phase and level differences of microphones signals in the binaural configuration into account. We employ a spherical head model to approximate binaural cues. The proposed algorithm uses the common assumption of an ideally diffuse reverberation sound field. We test our approach on signals based on simulated and on measured binaural room impulse responses. Results show improved performance of the proposed algorithm as compared to other coherence-based DRR estimation methods.