Efficient estimation of decay parameters in acoustically coupled-spaces using slice sampling.

Room-acoustic energy decay analysis of acoustically coupled-spaces within the Bayesian framework has proven valuable for architectural acoustics applications. This paper describes an efficient algorithm termed slice sampling Monte Carlo (SSMC) for room-acoustic decay parameter estimation within the Bayesian framework. This work combines the SSMC algorithm and a fast search algorithm in order to efficiently determine decay parameters, their uncertainties, and inter-relationships with a minimum amount of required user tuning and interaction. The large variations in the posterior probability density functions over multidimensional parameter spaces imply that an adaptive exploration algorithm such as SSMC can have advantages over the exiting importance sampling Monte Carlo and Metropolis-Hastings Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms. This paper discusses implementation of the SSMC algorithm, its initialization, and convergence using experimental data measured from acoustically coupled-spaces.