Step-size parameter adaptation of multi-channel semi-blind ICA with piecewise linear model for barge-in-able robot audition

This paper describes a step-size parameter adaptation technique of multi-channel semi-blind independent component analysis (MCSB-ICA) for a "barge-in-able" robot audition system. By "barge-in", we mean that the user can speak simultaneously when the robot is speaking. We focused on MCSB-ICA to achieve such an audition system because it can separate a user's and a robot's speech under reverberant environments. The problem with MCSB-ICA for robot audition is the slow speed of convergence in estimating a separation filter due to its step-size parameters. Many optimization methods cannot be adopted because their computational costs are proportional to the 2nd order of the reverberation time. Our method yields adaptive step-size parameters with MCSB-ICA at low computational costs. It is based on three techniques; 1) recursive expression of the separation process, 2) a piecewise linear model of the step-size of the separation filter, and 3) adaptive step-size parameters with a sub-ICA-filter. Experimental results show that our approach attains faster convergence speed and lower computational costs than those with a fixed step-size parameter.