Multibeam microphone array and method

A system comprising:

• a plurality of microphone capsules configured to detect acoustic waves and convert the detected acoustic waves into acoustic signals;
• a signal processor configured to execute computer readable code, the computer readable code causing the signal processor to:
• generate a plurality of beams from the acoustic signals with the signal processor using a plurality of beamformers, where each beam of the plurality of beams comprises an ideal on-axis response and a unique off-axis null angle;
• process the plurality of beams to generate a plurality of first audio samples, where each first audio sample of the plurality of first audio samples comprises a portion of a beam of the plurality of beams occupying one first sampling period of a plurality of first sampling periods, and each first audio sample is associated with a corresponding energy level, and
• output an audio signal that crossfades, using a first crossfading function, between the plurality of first audio samples by selecting, for each first sampling period, a first audio sample having a lowest energy level, and
• a data connection configured to transmit the acoustic signals from the plurality of microphone capsules to the signal processor.

A non-transitory Computer Readable Medium (CRM) storing instructions for performing operations, the operations comprising:

• detecting acoustic waves with a plurality of microphone capsules;
• converting the detected acoustic waves into acoustic signals;
• transmitting the acoustic signals from the plurality of microphone capsules to a processor with a data connection;
• generating a plurality of beams from the acoustic signals with the processor using a plurality of beamformers, where each beam of the plurality of beams comprises an ideal on-axis response and a unique off-axis null angle;
• processing the plurality of beams to generate a plurality of first audio samples, where each first audio sample of the plurality of first audio samples comprises a portion of a beam of the plurality of beams occupying one first sampling period of a plurality of first sampling periods, and each first audio sample is associated with a corresponding energy level, and
• outputting an audio signal that crossfades, using a first crossfading function, between the plurality of beams by selecting, for each first sampling period, the beam corresponding to a first audio sample having a lowest energy level.