EP3987822A1

EP3987822A1 - Sound pickup device with improved microphone network

Info

Publication number: EP3987822A1
Application number: EP20739743.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pierre Lecomte; Rozenn Nicol; Laurent Simon; Manuel MELON; Katell PERON; Cyril Plapous; Kais HASSAN
Original assignee: Orange SA; Le Mans Universite
Current assignee: Orange SA; Le Mans Universite
Priority date: 2019-06-24
Filing date: 2020-05-20
Publication date: 2022-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 2040-05-20
Also published as: EP3987822B1; WO2020260780A1; FR3096550B1; FR3096550A1; US20220256302A1; US11895478B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a sound pickup device, comprising at least: - a plurality of microphone capsules distributed over a portion P of a sphere S, the sphere portion being circumscribed between two or three planes that are perpendicular to each other, the three planes intersecting at a point corresponding to the centre of the sphere S, and the two planes intersecting at a straight line passing through the centre of the sphere S, and the sphere portion P being such that P = n S/8, where n = 1.2, - a processing unit connected to the capsules to receive the signals picked up by the capsules, the processing unit being designed to: *matrix the signals in an ambisonic representation which retains only the ambisonic components associated with spherical harmonics which are symmetrical in relation to at least two of the aforementioned planes, and * process a matrix produced in this way in order to identify at least one sound source in a space surrounding the sphere portion and interpret a sound signal originating from said source.

Description

Title: Network sound capture device

advanced microphones

The invention relates to acoustic capture equipment intended to be integrated into a building, for domestic use (home automation context - connected home) or professional (business context).

[0002] For example, this equipment aims to capture the sounds present in a room in order to feed an ambient intelligence system composed of a set of sensors and actuators making it possible to control the parameters (for example temperature, light, or others) and the corresponding building devices (connected objects in particular such as a connected heating installation, connected lamps, etc.).

[0003] Capturing ambient sounds in this context raises several problems.

[0004] The sounds to be captured can be located anywhere in a room. It is not possible to know their position a priori and to position the sound recording equipment accordingly. It is therefore necessary to have capture equipment capable of covering the entire space homogeneously.

[0005] However, for reasons of cost and space, it is not possible to line the surfaces of the room with microphones. It is therefore also necessary to seek to minimize the total number of sensors.

[0006] The visual appearance of the part can also be a constraint parameter. The aesthetics of the room should not be degraded by a multitude of capture equipment. It is therefore necessary to favor discreet and compact capture equipment.

[0007] Acoustic capture solutions today do not meet all of these constraints. This is an issue of ambient audio intelligence.

[0008] Concerning connected objects in general typically equipped with audiovisual tracking devices (or "monitoring") embedding a camera and microphones, the number of sensors is insufficient to offer a wide acoustic capture coverage. They are limited to nearby sound sources. At least for distant sources, the signal-to-noise ratio (due to ambient noise and reverberation) is unfavorable and does not allow reliable analysis of the signals received.

[0009] Voice assistants are also known today exhibiting good voice recognition performance in order to improve the quality of interaction with the user. They are equipped with an array of microphones (often circular) in order to be able to focus the capture on the source of interest (i.e. the user) by applying an antenna processing (typically training methods). of tracks or "beamforming"). This improves the quality of the signals received, and eliminates interactions with surrounding noise and the room effect.

[0010] This type of solution is not satisfactory because it is optimized for a specific category of sources: voice signals, sources limited to a portion of the space. It is not suitable for picking up wideband signals (or outside voice bandwidth). In addition, voice assistants are generally placed at breast height (on a table, typically) and their capture is degraded by the presence of noise sources in their vicinity (television, radio, etc.) and by the furniture which obstruct the propagation of sound.

[0011] More generally, the microphone arrays which can be designed for the context of audio ambient intelligence are conventionally of the linear or spherical type. Linear geometry is not optimal because it requires a large number of sensors for efficient capture. In addition, this type of geometry (linear or spherical) requires placing the antenna in the middle of the room to take advantage of its omnidirectional coverage, which is incompatible with the constraint of discretion of the equipment. On the other hand, by placing the acoustic antenna near a wall, the geometry is suboptimal in the sense that the microphones pointed towards the wall are useless, and can even be a source of disturbance (capture of unwanted reflections by example).

[0012] The invention improves the situation. A sound pickup device is proposed, comprising at least:

- a plurality of microphone capsules (for example electrostatic or piezoelectric capsules, electrets or MEMS), distributed over a portion P of sphere S circumscribed between two or three planes perpendicular to each other, the three planes intersecting each other in one point corresponding to the center of the sphere S, and the two planes intersecting in a straight line passing through the center of the sphere S, and the portion P of sphere being such that P = n S / 8, with n = 1, 2,

a processing unit connected to the capsules to receive the signals picked up by the capsules, said processing unit being arranged to:

^* matrix the signals according to an ambisonic representation in which only the ambisonic components associated with spherical harmonics symmetrical with respect to at least two of the aforementioned planes are retained, and

^* processing a matrix thus obtained to identify at least one sound source in a space surrounding the portion of the sphere, and interpret a sound signal from this source.

[0014] Thus, such a device can be inserted, for example, in an upper corner of a room or between a wall and a ceiling, discreetly. In addition, an advantage of such an embodiment is that the number of capsules to be provided can be reduced, compared to what usually requires an embodiment based on a solid sphere. In particular, the reflections from the ceiling and from the wall (s) are used here to limit the number of spherical harmonics to be taken into account and thus retain a limited number of ambisonic components. Indeed, the supposedly rigid walls induce a large number of zero components. Only harmonics respecting symmetry can be used.

In an embodiment where n = 1 and the capsules are then distributed over an eighth of a sphere, the retained ambisonic components are associated with spherical harmonics symmetrical with respect to each of the three perpendicular planes and intersecting each other at the center of the sphere S. It is thus possible to select only the harmonics having such symmetries.

[0017] In such an embodiment, the device may further comprise a fixing support suitable for fixing the device in an upper corner of a room defined by two perpendicular walls and a ceiling overhanging the walls, the walls and the ceiling coinciding with the three aforementioned perpendicular planes and acting as reflective walls of sound waves.

As will be seen below with reference to FIG. 3, these reflections make it possible to consider virtual sources, mirrors of real sources, which can help to increase the fineness of detection of a source for example. We thus have both virtual sources and virtual microphones which complete the real microphones and thus constitute a complete sphere.

With an eighth of a sphere to be considered, the ambisonic components retained are associated with spherical harmonics having a degree I and an order m (couples {l, m} of Figure 3 described below), such as:

I and m are even AND m greater than or equal to 0.

In such an embodiment, the number of ambisonic components selected is equal to (A + 1) (A + 2) / 2 where A is the integer part of half of a maximum degree L of the spherical harmonics with which are associated the ambisonic components selected.

As will be seen in the embodiments presented below, the aforementioned maximum degree L is greater than 4 and preferably greater than 6.

In the embodiment where n = 2 and therefore the capsules are distributed over a quarter of a sphere, the ambisonic components retained are associated with spherical harmonics symmetrical with respect to two perpendicular planes and intersecting each other in a straight line passing through the center of the sphere S.

[0023] In such an embodiment, the device may further comprise a fixing support suitable for fixing the device in a corner of a room defined by a wall and a ceiling, perpendicular to each other, the wall and the ceiling coinciding with said two perpendicular planes and acting as reflecting walls of sound waves.

In either of the aforementioned embodiments (n = 1 or 2), the capsules can be positioned on a Gauss-Legendre spherical mesh, and in this case, the device preferably comprises a number N of capsules given by :

N = 2n / 8 (L + 1) ² (or N = n / 4 (L + 1) ² ), where L is a maximum degree of the spherical harmonics associated with the selected ambisonic components.

In such an embodiment, the processing unit can be configured to break down signals from the microphone capsules, on the spherical harmonics associated with the ambisonic components selected, using a matrix of the type:

b = C EYGs, where:

- b is a vector matrix containing the selected ambisonic components,

- C is a real constant (for example C = 8 in the case of an eighth of a sphere presented later),

- E is a diagonal matrix containing radial equalization filters of each capsule,

- Y is a matrix containing the spherical harmonics with which the selected ambisonic components are associated, and

- G is a diagonal matrix containing integration weights of a Gauss-Legendre mesh for each of the capsules,

s being a vector containing signals from the capsules. In such an embodiment, the processing unit can be further configured to then weight the vector b by a steering vector given in azimuth and in elevation with respect to a mark defined by the center of the sphere S and the three intersections between the three planes. For example, it is possible to provide for a sweep of this angle of the steering vector to probe the different sources of a part.

In one embodiment, the device may comprise a plurality of portions of spheres P = n S / 8, with n = 1, 2 (compact or separated, forming an installation for example with several shells of portions of a sphere), comprising each a plurality of microphone capsules, distributed over each portion P of sphere S, and the processing unit is furthermore arranged to process the signals coming from the capsules of each portion of sphere separately by matrixing, and to refine by cross-checking on the matrices thus obtained the identification of at least one sound source in a space surrounding the portions of the sphere.

[0028] Indeed, such an embodiment based on several portions of a sphere makes it possible to increase the signal-to-noise ratio by intersecting the various processed signals from the capsules of these portions of the sphere. It is then typically possible to refine a source detection, for example, or to resolve ambiguities, or to be able to take advantage of a better point of view (more exactly "listening point") on the target source.

[0029] The invention also relates to a method implemented by a processing unit of a device of the above type, in which:

- the signals picked up by the capsules are matrixed according to an ambisonic representation in which only the ambisonic components associated with spherical harmonics, symmetrical with respect to at least two of the aforementioned planes, are retained, and

^* the matrix thus obtained (typically a vector of ambisonic components for example) is processed to identify at least one sound source in a space surrounding the portion of the sphere, and to interpret a sound signal from this source. It is thus possible, for example, to focus the listening in a given direction.

Such an embodiment can be illustrated by way of example by the flowchart of FIG. 6, on which, following the obtaining of the signals from the capsules in step SO, a matrixing of these is carried out. signals to obtain the aforementioned vector b of the ambisonic components in step S1. This vector b can be weighted in step S2 by a steering vector as presented above. Optionally, it is possible to provide in step S3 a processing of signals originating from several portions of sphere P to produce the weighted vectors b (A), b (B), etc. specific to each portion A, B, etc. Such an embodiment makes it possible to refine the detection of source (s) in step S4 for a better interpretation of the sound signal SIG coming from this (or these) source (s). Thus, it is possible for example in an embodiment where the device is used as a voice assistant to distinctly recognize a COM command in step S5.

[0031] The present invention is also aimed at a computer program comprising instructions for implementing the above method when this program is executed by a processor.

[0032] This may typically be the PROC processor of a processing unit UT such as illustrated by way of example in FIG. 7 further comprising:

- an input interface IN to receive signals from the capsules,

- a MEM memory storing at least the instruction data of such a computer program within the meaning of the invention,

- the processor PROC able to cooperate with the memory MEM to read these instructions and thus execute the method illustrated by way of example in FIG. 6,

- And an output interface OUT able to deliver, for example, the interpreted COM control signal (or alternatively the sound signal from the detected source, or alternatively also processed ambisonic signals making it possible to identify a sound source generating the SIG signal).

Alternatively, the OUT output can deliver the interpretation of the sound event (s) (alarm, dog barking, person falling, etc., or any other situation characterized by the identified sounds), and any information associated with this event (temporal and / or spatial localization).

[0033] The present invention also relates to a non-transient recording medium readable by a computer on which a program is recorded for the implementation of the above method when this program is executed by a processor.

As indicated above, it can be the aforementioned MEM memory.

Brief description of the drawings

[0035] Other characteristics, details and advantages will become apparent on reading the detailed description below, and on analyzing the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1

[0036] [Fig. 1] shows embodiments of portions of a sphere.

Fig. 2

[0037] [Fig. 2] shows the directivities of spherical harmonics up to the maximum degree L = 5, the two shades of color represent the positive and negative values respectively.

Fig. 3

[0038] [Fig. 3] illustrates the principle of a source and an image microphone in the case of acoustic reflection (on a wall such as a wall, a ceiling).

Fig. 4

[0039] [Fig. 4] illustrates an array of real microphones on a fraction of 1/8 sphere and image microphones (grayed out) generated by reflections on rigid walls.

Fig. 5

[0040] [Fig. 5] shows an example of channel formation using spherical harmonics.

Fig. 6 [0041] [Fig. 6] shows an example of a flowchart defining a succession of steps of a method according to one embodiment.

Fig. 7

[0042] [Fig. 7] shows an example of the structure of a processing unit UT of a device according to one embodiment.

Description of embodiments

Reference is now made to Figure 1 in which a device within the meaning of the invention DIS is in the form of a quarter sphere (upper part of Figure 1) or in the form of an eighth sphere (lower part of figure 1). The surface of these portions of sphere is meshed (in a chosen way which can correspond to the Gauss-Legendre spherical mesh as described later) and microphone capsules MIC are arranged on this mesh in a number which can also be determined by the aforementioned Gauss-Legendre mesh. These MIC capsules are connected to a processing unit UT (visible in the upper part of FIG. 1) to receive the picked up sound signals and process them by matrixing in ambisonic representation as described in detail below.

Furthermore, as also visible in Figure 1, the DIS device may further include a SUP fixing support to be fixed for example:

- in an upper corner of a room (between two perpendicular walls and a ceiling) for an eighth of a sphere as illustrated at the bottom of Figure 1, or again

- on an edge between a wall and the ceiling for a quarter-sphere as shown at the top of Figure 1.

The invention thus proposes a capture device consisting of one or more elementary networks of PCM capsules which can be distributed for example in a building room. The geometry of an elementary lattice is a fraction of a sphere (1/8 or 1/4) which naturally fits into the upper corners of a room so as to match its architecture, or even on an edge of a room. '' intersection between a ceiling and a wall, in order to take advantage of reflections on such walls. The set of capture systems obtained is thus very discreet, considerably reduces the number of microphones while maintaining high directivity, and offers wide coverage of ambient sounds in the room. Indeed, the microphones being located in height, they benefit from a privileged point of capture on the whole of the room without being obstructed by the furniture or the users nearby.

[0046] Even if the height positioning improves the coverage of the room, it is necessary to provide that a single network cannot cover the entire room. Particularly if the latter has a complex geometry (presence of recesses, acoustic shadow zones without a direct wave), it is preferable to have several networks. An embodiment then relates to a processing jointly exploiting the information coming from the various networks of sensors to acquire a reliable and complete representation of the sound scene picked up. Obtaining several results of the presence of possible sound source (s) makes it possible to cross-check this information and thus ultimately improve a signal-to-noise ratio of the detection of the source (s).

[0047] In addition, the choice of a spherical geometry is advantageous in the sense that it makes it possible to obtain (by associating the microphones with an appropriate processing of antenna signals) a high directivity with a low number of sensors. In fact, in the case of a spherical geometry, the processing of the antenna signals uses spherical harmonic functions in a so-called "ambisonic" context. In the case where we are limited to a fraction of a sphere, the conventional harmonic functions cannot be applied directly and they should be adapted to the geometry chosen for the array of microphones, according to one embodiment.

In addition, the choice of the positions of the microphones on the fraction of a sphere is to be optimized. The optimal mesh must satisfy the best compromise between the number of sensors (to be minimized) and the quality of the information captured (which requires a minimum number of sensors). This is a problem of spatial sampling to adapt to a fraction of a sphere.

The family of spherical harmonics forms a basis. Each spherical harmonic is described by its degree I and its order m. At degree I, there is (2I +1) spherical harmonics. Up to the maximum degree L, there are (L + 1) ² harmonics. In an ambisonic context, a spherical array of microphones is usually used to decompose a sound pressure field on the basis of the spherical harmonics, a representation of which is then illustrated in figure 2. Each line of figure 2 relates to a degree I and the representation up to degree L which includes all components up to that degree. Thus, for degree l = 0 we have only one component. For degree 1 = 1, we have 1 (first line) + 3 (second line) = 4 ambisonic components. For degree l = 2, we have 9 components, etc.

As a general rule, if the network is designed to perform a decomposition up to the maximum degree L of the ambisonic components), it must be able to estimate Q = (L + 1) ² components. For an accurate decomposition, the number of microphones, N, must be greater than or equal to the number Q of components to be estimated.

FIG. 2 presents the directivities of spherical harmonics up to the maximum degree L = 5. They are arranged in a pyramid in increasing order of degree I and of order m: {I; m}.

For the implementation of the embodiment described here, only the components of the harmonics having symmetry with respect to a plane of reflection of the sound wave (a wall or the ceiling) are retained. We note these different planes Oxy (the ceiling), Oxz (a wall) and Oyz (another wall in the case where 1 / 8th of a sphere is used, rather than a quarter of a sphere).

The reason for this selection of components is explained as follows, with reference to Figure 3. The situation to the left of Figure 3 where a source (for example a loudspeaker) and a sensor (a microphone MIC ) are placed near an acoustically rigid wall (referenced MUR in Figure 3). The sound pressure at the sensor is the sum of:

- the pressure radiated by the source without the wall, and

- the pressure resulting from the reflection on the rigid wall.

It is also possible to mathematically solve the equations linked to this configuration by removing the wall and adding a source and a image microphone, symmetrical with respect to the wall, as shown on the right side of FIG. 3. These are then “acoustic images”, the wall acting as a “mirror” of the sound wave.

The pressure received by the image sensor is assumed to be the same as that received by the real sensor without the wall.

Symmetry with respect to the Oyz plane (typically a wall) requires that the spherical harmonics of degree I and of order m such as:

m greater than or equal to 0 AND m is even, OR

m <0 AND m is odd

(and therefore presenting symmetry with respect to the Oyz plane) are already a first selection of the harmonics whose components are retained.

In addition, the symmetry with respect to the Oxy plane (the ceiling typically) requires that the spherical harmonics of degree I and of order m such as:

the sum I + m is even

(and therefore having a symmetry with respect to the Oxy plane) are then a second selection of the harmonics whose components are to be retained.

Thus, for a quarter of a sphere (fitting into an intersection between two planes), the conditions can be:

m greater than or equal to 0 AND m is even OR m <0 AND m is odd

AND (I + m) is even.

Of course, this is an example of an embodiment where the device is fixed between a wall and the ceiling, for example the Oxy and Oyz plans. It can also be fixed between two walls Oyz and Oxz and it is advisable to add the condition of symmetry m greater than or equal to 0, which is specific to Oxz, to the previous condition relating to Oyz (m greater than or equal to 0 AND m is even, OR m <0 AND m is odd),

which ultimately amounts to m greater than or equal to 0 AND m is even.

In any event, we find the same number of spherical harmonics to be retained, whatever the two planes of symmetry chosen. For an eighth of a sphere, it is also possible to take into account the symmetry with respect to the Oxz plane (another wall typically), which requires that the spherical harmonics of degree I and of order m such as:

m greater than or equal to 0

(and therefore presenting a symmetry with respect to the Oxz plane) are, with the above conditions, the harmonics whose components are retained.

These conditions for an eighth of a sphere can be summed up, in fine, as follows:

I is even AND m greater than or equal to 0 AND m is even.

For a fixed maximum degree denoted L, the total number of harmonics respecting the symmetries with respect to the Oxy, Oxz, Oyz planes jointly is given by: [Math. 1]

[0064]

[0065] [L / 2] designating the integer part of L / 2.

Thus, by following a reasoning of acoustic images (as seen previously with reference to FIG. 3), it is possible to use a fraction of a sphere 1/8 or 1/4 (or even possibly 1/2 but of no real interest for an application in a building as presented above), and to place acoustically rigid walls in the appropriate planes to generate image microphones. The resulting spherical array of microphones can then be used to decompose on the basis of the spherical harmonics still represented in this configuration, that is to say those complying with the conditions stated previously on I and m. Furthermore, the image microphones receive the same pressure as the corresponding real microphones. Consequently, during the projection, the components on the spherical harmonics which do not respect the above symmetries (conditions on I and m) are considered to be zero. For example, in figure 2, up to the maximum degree L = 5, there are only six spherical harmonics which meet these conditions and which are symmetrical with respect to the planes Oxy, Oxz, Oyz jointly and it would then suffice for the minimum of N = 6 microphones on 1/8 of a sphere (in baffle) to be able to estimate the components of the acoustic field on these harmonics.

In the context of portions of a sphere with reflections, it is chosen in particular to carry out a mesh as illustrated in FIG. 4, called "Gauss-Legendre spherical mesh", which gives the number and the position of the microphones on a sphere to estimate the decomposition up to a selected maximum degree L. By choosing L odd, the resulting mesh respects the symmetries with respect to the planes Oxy, Oxz, Oyz jointly. For example, figure 4 shows a mesh with N = 72 microphones, capable of making a precise decomposition up to the maximum degree L = 5 (with N = 2 (L + 1) ² to respect the aforementioned Gauss-Legendre mesh which imposes double the number of capsules, minimum, required (L + 1) ² ).

Here, using only the nine microphones (nine points illustrated by a different shade in FIG. 4) and using the walls in gray in the figure, it is possible to generate sixty-three image microphones. Because of the symmetries, only six components are here non-zero.

As illustrated in Figure 5, the signals of the microphones S1, S2, ..., SN, are broken down (for example in the frequency domain) on the spherical harmonics, using an equation of the type :

b = 8 EYGs, where:

- b is a vector containing the ambisonic components associated with the spherical harmonics respecting the aforementioned symmetries,

- E is a diagonal (square) matrix containing radial equalization filters of each microphone,

- Y is a matrix (not square because processing more signals from the capsules than ambisonic components at the output) containing the spherical harmonics respecting the aforementioned symmetries evaluated at the different directions of the microphones, and

- G is a diagonal (square) matrix containing integration weights of the Gauss-Legendre quadrature for each of the microphones of the eighth of a sphere,

s being a vector containing the signals coming from the microphones. Such an embodiment amounts to applying a spherical Fourier transform (referenced SFT in FIG. 5).

For channel formation (or "beamforming") in the field of spherical harmonics in order to identify one or more sound sources in a space surrounding the portion of the sphere, and thus interpret a sound signal from this source, the Spherical harmonic components are first estimated using the matrix equation above. The vector obtained b is then weighted by a steering vector (or “steering vector”) which makes it possible to describe the listening in a steering direction. Finally, the weighted components are summed to obtain the output signal.

Weightings wi _m can be provided for a regular directivity function given by the following equation:

[Math. 2]

[0073] wim = Y im (tetaO, phiO)

[0074] An example of a steering angle can be such that tetaO and phiO are 45 and 135 ° respectively (pointing in this example towards the interior of the room). These respective azimuth and elevation coordinates are given relative to the base formed by the intersections of the three planes Oxy, Oxz, Oyz.

For the example of the eighth of a sphere, the directivity function obtained is the superposition of eight directivity functions of a complete sphere pointing in symmetrical directions with respect to the Oxy, Oxz, Oyz planes together. This superposition can however appear as a disadvantage for weak degrees L (L <6) and L = 7 can appear as a good compromise between number of capsules on the one hand and quality of the decomposition on spherical harmonics.

In this case, a minimum of N = (L + 1) ² capsules is usually provided for a correct capture quality, ie N = 64. However, on only one eighth of a sphere, this number should be divided by 8, i.e. the useful number N = 8.

However, to comply with the aforementioned Gauss-Legendre spherical mesh, this number N should be multiplied by 2, so that in the example of the aforementioned embodiment at L = 7, provision may preferably be made for N = 16 or more capsules.

In this case, as indicated above, the number of ambisonic components retained is Q = (3 + 1) (3 + 2) / 2 = 10.

[0079] Thus the invention combines the following advantages:

- homogeneous sound recording over the entire room,

- the ability to extract a sound source in a given direction thanks to the processing of antenna signals (denoising and dereverberation to improve the signal-to-useful-to-noise ratio),

- a device resulting from this design which is compact and discreet, integrated and adapted to the configuration of a classic room.

The invention finds many applications, in particular in:

- home automation using connected objects, in particular for an audio ambient intelligence system allowing from the analysis and recognition of ambient sounds to infer actions and to offer services to the inhabitants of a house or to people of a business (potentially applicable to any place of life);

- voice assistants with an ambient sound capture device possibly used to capture the voices of users and thus supply a voice assistant;

- audio surveillance systems for the detection of intrusions (broken glass), alarms, noise from falling people, or others.

Claims

[Claim 1] Sound recording device, comprising at least:

- a plurality of microphone capsules, distributed over a portion P of sphere S circumscribed between two or three planes perpendicular to each other, the three planes intersecting each other at a point corresponding to the center of the sphere S, and the two planes intersecting in a line passing through the center of the sphere S, and the portion P of sphere being such that P = n S / 8, with n = 1, 2,

[Claim 2] Device according to claim 1, in which, for n = 1, the capsules being distributed over an eighth of a sphere, the retained ambisonic components are associated with spherical harmonics which are symmetrical with respect to each of the three planes perpendicular and intersecting between them in the center of the sphere S.

[Claim 3] A device according to claim 2, further comprising a fixing bracket adapted for fixing the device in an upper corner of a room defined by two perpendicular walls and a ceiling overhanging the walls, the walls and the ceiling coinciding with said three. perpendicular planes and acting as reflecting walls of sound waves.

[Claim 4] Device according to one of claims 2 and 3, in which the retained ambisonic components are associated with spherical harmonics having a degree I and an order m such that: I and m are even AND m greater than or equal to 0.

[Claim 5] Device according to claim 4, wherein the number of retained ambisonic components is greater than or equal to (A + 1) (A + 2) / 2 where A is the integer part of half of a maximum degree L spherical harmonics with which the selected ambisonic components are associated.

[Claim 6] A method according to claim 5, wherein the maximum degree L is greater than 4, and preferably greater than 6.

[Claim 7] Device according to claim 1, in which, for n = 2, the capsules being distributed over a quarter sphere, the retained ambisonic components are associated with spherical harmonics which are symmetrical with respect to two perpendicular planes and intersect with each other. in a straight line passing through the center of the sphere S.

[Claim 8] Device according to claim 7, further comprising a fixing support adapted for fixing the device in a room corner defined by a wall and a ceiling, perpendicular to each other, the wall and the ceiling coinciding with said two planes. perpendicular and acting as reflective walls of sound waves.

[Claim 9] Device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the capsules are positioned on a Gauss-Legendre spherical mesh, and the device comprises a number N of capsules given by

N = 2n / 8 (L + 1) ² , where L is a maximum degree of the spherical harmonics associated with the ambisonic components selected.

[Claim 10] Device according to claim 9, in which the processing unit is configured to decompose signals from the capsules. microphone, on the spherical harmonics associated with the selected ambisonic components, using a matrix of the type:

b = C EYGs, where:

- b is a vector matrix containing the selected ambisonic components,

- C is a real constant,

s being a vector containing signals from the capsules.

[Claim 11] An apparatus according to claim 10, taken in combination with claim 6, wherein the processing unit is further configured to then weight the vector b by a steering vector given in azimuth and elevation with respect to a. coordinate system defined by the center of the sphere S and the three intersections between the three planes.

[Claim 12] Device according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of portions of spheres P = n S / 8, with n = 1, 2, each comprising a plurality of microphone capsules, distributed over each portion P of sphere S, and in which the processing unit is furthermore arranged to process the signals coming from the capsules of each portion of sphere separately by matrixing, and to refine by cross-checking on the matrices thus obtained the identification of at least one sound source in a space surrounding the portions of the sphere.

[Claim 13] A method implemented by a processing unit of a device according to one of the preceding claims, in which:

- the signals picked up by the capsules are matrixed according to a representation ambisonics in which only the ambisonic components associated with spherical harmonics symmetrical with respect to at least two of the aforementioned planes are retained, and

^* the matrix thus obtained is processed to identify at least one sound source in a space surrounding the portion of the sphere, and to interpret a sound signal originating from this source.

[Claim 14] A computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to claim 13 when this program is executed by a processor.

[Claim 15] A non-transient, computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a program for implementing the method according to claim 13 when this program is executed by a processor.