Method for encoding multiple microphone signals into a source-separable audio signal for network transmission and an apparatus for directed source separation

A method for network transmission of voice captured through a plurality of microphones spatially disposed in a first group and a second group, comprising:

• combining two digital audio signals into a composite source separable audio (SSA) signal, each digital audio signal of the two digital audio signals representing an independent mixture of a target source voice and an ambient noise, wherein outputs of the plurality of microphones within the first group are summed together as a first output digital audio signal of the two digital audio signals and the outputs of the plurality of microphones within the second group are summed together as a second output digital audio signal of the two digital audio signals, thereby defining a first virtual microphone and a second virtual microphone, respectively, and wherein the combining process comprises interleaving the two digital audio signals to generate the composite SSA signal;
• and
• separating the two digital audio signals within the composite SSA signal into two mono audio signals by performing a first instance of directed source separation (DSS) on the composite SSA signal, the DSS comprising:
• generating one or more control signals indicating an instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio, in the composite SSA signal, between the target source voice and the ambient noise;
• under direction of the one or more control signals, separating the target source voice of the composite SSA signal into a first mono audio signal;
• and
• under direction of the one or more control signals, separating the ambient noise of the composite SSA signal into a second mono audio signal.