A Comprehensive Survey of Side-Channel Sound-Sensing Methods

With the rapid developments of Internet of Thing (IoT) technologies, side-channel sound sensing has become a key research area. Unlike traditional sound-sensing methods that rely on direct acoustic signal recording, side-channel sound-sensing methods utilize various indirect emissions from electronic devices, such as mechanical vibrations, electromagnetic leakage, etc., to infer sound content, making it preferred in many application scenarios. Recently, many works related to side-channel sound sensing have been proposed and drawn much attention from not only academia but also industry. In this article, we present a comprehensive survey of various side-channel sound-sensing methods. Specifically, we first review the commonly sensed object-state characteristics in side-channel sound-sensing methods. Then, we introduce the widely exploited hardware infrastructure, and signal processing techniques, which are the basis of side-channel sound sensing. After that, we provide a categorization introduction of emerging side-channel sound-sensing methods, and review the common application scenarios. Finally, we provide a thoughtful analysis of the countermeasures, challenges, and future directions in this field. With this survey, we aim to summarize the latest research results in the field of side-channel sound sensing and provide insights and inspiration for future research works.