Geometric microphone array calibration by multidimensional scaling

Stanley T. Birchfield

Abstract: Classical multidimensional scaling is a simple, linear technique for finding coordinates of points given their interpoint distances. In this paper we describe the algorithm and show how it can be used to solve the geometric microphone array calibration problem. The method requires no complicated hardware or calibration targets, just a tape measure (or similar measuring device). We also extend the basic algorithm to handle the case when some distances are unavailable, which makes the technique practical for microphone arrays with relatively large numbers of microphones.