Sound processing device, sound processing method, and program

1. A sound processing device comprising:

a nonlinear processing unit that outputs a plurality of sound signals including sound sources existing in predetermined areas by performing a nonlinear process for a plurality of observed signals that are generated by a plurality of sound sources and are observed by a plurality of sensors;

a signal selecting unit that selects a sound signal including a specific sound source having high independency from among the plurality of sound signals output by the nonlinear processing unit and the observed signal including the plurality of sound sources, wherein the specific sound source having high independency has a statistically higher independency than other sound sources of the plurality of sound sources; and

a sound separating unit that separates a sound signal including the specific sound source having high independency that is selected by the signal selecting unit from the observed signal selected by the signal selecting unit, wherein the sound separating unit performs a sound source separating process by using an Independent Component Analysis.

2. The sound processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a frequency domain converting unit that converts the plurality of observed signals generated from the plurality of sound sources and observed by the plurality of sensors into signal values of a frequency domain,

wherein the nonlinear processing unit outputs a plurality of sound signals including a sound source existing in a specific area by performing a nonlinear process for the observed signal values converted by the frequency domain converting unit.

3. The sound processing device according to claim 1 ,

wherein a specific sound source having high independency is included in the plurality of sound sources that are observed by the plurality of sensors,

wherein the nonlinear processing unit outputs a sound signal representing a sound component of the specific sound source having high independency,

wherein the signal selecting unit selects an observed signal including the specific sound source and the sound sources other than the specific sound source from among a sound signal representing the sound component of the specific sound source output by the nonlinear processing unit and the plurality of observed signals, and

wherein the sound separating unit eliminates the sound component of the specific sound source from the observed signal selected by the signal selecting unit.

4. The sound processing device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the nonlinear processing unit outputs a sound signal representing a sound component that exists in an area in which a first sound source is generated,

wherein the signal selecting unit selects an observed signal including a second sound source that is observed by a sensor located in an area in which the first sound source and a sound source other than the first sound source are generated, from among the sound signal representing the sound component, which is output by the nonlinear processing unit and exists in the area in which the first sound source is generated, and the plurality of observed signals, and

wherein the sound separating unit eliminates the sound component of the first sound source from the observed signal, which includes the second sound source, selected by the signal selecting unit.

5. The sound processing device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the nonlinear processing unit includes:

phase calculating means that calculates a phase difference between the plurality of sensors for each time-frequency component;

determination means that determines an area from which each time-frequency component originates based on the phase difference between the plurality of sensors that is calculated by the phase calculating means; and

calculation means that performs predetermined weighting for each time-frequency component observed by the sensor based on a determination result of the determination means.

6. The sound processing device according to claim 5 , wherein the phase calculating means calculates the phase difference between the sensors by using a delay between the sensors.

7. The sound processing device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the plurality of observed signals corresponding to the number of the plurality of sensors are observed, and

wherein the signal selecting unit selects the sound signals corresponding to a number that becomes the number of the plurality of sensors together with one observed signal, from among the plurality of sound signals output by the nonlinear processing unit.

8. The sound processing device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the nonlinear processing unit outputs a first sound signal representing the sound component of the specific sound source having high independency and a second sound signal that does not include all the sound components of three sound sources by performing a nonlinear process for three observed signals generated from the three sound sources including the specific sound source having high independency and observed by three sensors,

wherein the signal selecting unit selects the first sound signal and the second sound signal that are output by the non-linear processing unit and the observed signal that includes the specific sound source and a sound source other than the specific sound source, and

wherein the sound separating unit eliminates the sound component of the specific sound source from the observed signal selected by the signal selecting unit.

9. The sound processing device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the nonlinear processing unit outputs a sound signal representing the sound component of the specific sound source having high independency by performing a nonlinear process for two observed signals generated from three sound sources including the specific sound source having high independency and observed by two sensors,

wherein the signal selecting unit selects the sound signal output by the nonlinear processing unit and the observed signal that includes the specific sound source and a sound source other than the specific sound source, and

wherein the sound separating unit eliminates the sound component of the specific sound source from the observed signal selected by the signal selecting unit.

10. A sound processing method comprising the steps of:

outputting a plurality of sound signals including sound sources existing in predetermined areas by performing a nonlinear process for a plurality of observed signals that are generated by a plurality of sound sources and are observed by a plurality of sensors;

selecting a sound signal including a specific sound source having high independency from among the plurality of sound signals output by the nonlinear process and the observed signal including the plurality of sound sources, wherein the specific sound source having high independency has a statistically higher independency than other sound sources of the plurality of sound sources; and

separating a sound signal including the specific sound source having high independency that is selected in the selecting of a sound signal and the observed signal from the selected observed signal, wherein separating the sound signal includes performing a sound source separating process by using an Independent Component Analysis.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium executed by a computer to serve as a sound processing device comprising:

a nonlinear processing unit that outputs a plurality of sound signals including sound sources existing in predetermined areas by performing a nonlinear process for a plurality of observed signals that are generated by a plurality of sound sources and are observed by a plurality of sensors;

a signal selecting unit that selects a sound signal including a specific sound source having high independency from among the plurality of sound signals output by the nonlinear processing unit and the observed signal including the plurality of sound sources, wherein the specific sound source having high independency has a statistically higher independency than other sound sources of the plurality of sound sources; and

a sound separating unit that separates a sound signal including the specific sound source having high independency that is selected by the signal selecting unit from the observed signal selected by the signal selecting unit, wherein the sound separating unit performs a sound source separating process by using an Independent Component Analysis.