Abstract: A system and method to identify a sound source among a group of sound sources. The invention matches the acoustic input to a number of signal models, one per source class, and produces a goodness-of-match number for each signal model. The sound source is declared to be of the same class as that of the signal model with the best goodness-of-match if that score is sufficiently high. The data are recorded with a microphone, digitized and transformed into the frequency domain. A signal detector is applied to the transient. A harmonic detection method can be used to determine if the sound source has harmonic characteristics. If at least some part of a transient contains signal of interest, the spectrum of the signal after resealing is compared to a set of signal models, and the input signal's parameters are fitted to the data. The average distortion is calculated to compare patterns with those of sources that used in training the signal models.

Abstract: System and method for automatically measuring and monitoring the quality of acoustic data is disclosed. The system also provides suggestions for corrective actions to the system or user. The method monitors the quality of data and provides feedback to the system or user for corrective actions. The quality of data includes a combination of either a signal clipping detector, a microphone ON/OFF detector, an air puff detector, and a low signal-to-noise ratio detector.

Abstract: A microphone shield system is disclosed. The microphone shield system includes an impervious elastic membrane stretched over and covering a microphone on substantially all sides. The impervious elastic membrane is adapted to pass a selected acoustical frequency range. The selected acoustical frequency range excludes a frequency range of noise from environmental effects, such as wind and rain.