Study of MVDR Beamformer for a single Acoustic Vector Sensor

Acoustic Vector Sensors (AVS) are being used for various applications due to their unique ability to capture rich acoustic data in vector form, providing valuable insights into the sound intensity including direction of propagation, particle velocity and frequency characteristics of the sound waves. We extend the study of minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) of AVS in presence of single interference to the case of two-directional interferences with more detailed analysis. The MVDR beamformer for single AVS case in presence of two directional interferences and different noises characteristics is studied. The effectiveness of the AVS’s interference reduction is analyzed. A Three-dimensional representation of the output signal-to-noise ratio ($\mathrm{SNR}_{\text{out}}$) is presented for different source-interference angular separations. Theoretical bounds of $\mathrm{SNR}_{\text{out}}$ are presented for the two-interference scenario along with simulation studies to support the analysis. Performance analysis of the MVDR beamformer of AVS is also presented by varying the relative intensity and direction of the source and interferences. The study presents detailed inferences that provides insights into the performance of MVDR beamformer for practical scenarios. Multiple source detection capability of a single AVS is presented.