<s>
A	O
microphone	B-Algorithm
array	I-Algorithm
is	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
microphones	B-Application
operating	O
in	O
tandem	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
,	O
an	O
array	O
is	O
made	O
up	O
of	O
omnidirectional	O
microphones	B-Application
,	O
directional	O
microphones	B-Application
,	O
or	O
a	O
mix	O
of	O
omnidirectional	O
and	O
directional	O
microphones	B-Application
distributed	O
about	O
the	O
perimeter	B-Application
of	O
a	O
space	O
,	O
linked	O
to	O
a	O
computer	O
that	O
records	O
and	O
interprets	O
the	O
results	O
into	O
a	O
coherent	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Arrays	O
may	O
also	O
be	O
formed	O
using	O
numbers	O
of	O
very	O
closely	O
spaced	O
microphones	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Given	O
a	O
fixed	O
physical	O
relationship	O
in	O
space	O
between	O
the	O
different	O
individual	O
microphone	B-Application
transducer	O
array	O
elements	O
,	O
simultaneous	O
DSP	O
(	O
digital	B-Architecture
signal	I-Architecture
processor	I-Architecture
)	O
processing	O
of	O
the	O
signals	O
from	O
each	O
of	O
the	O
individual	O
microphone	B-Algorithm
array	I-Algorithm
elements	O
can	O
create	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
"	O
virtual	O
"	O
microphones	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Different	O
algorithms	O
permit	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
virtual	O
microphones	B-Application
with	O
extremely	O
complex	O
virtual	O
polar	O
patterns	O
and	O
even	O
the	O
possibility	O
to	O
steer	O
the	O
individual	O
lobes	O
of	O
the	O
virtual	O
microphones	B-Application
patterns	O
so	O
as	O
to	O
home-in-on	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
reject	O
,	O
particular	O
sources	O
of	O
sound	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
of	O
these	O
algorithms	O
can	O
produce	O
varying	O
levels	O
of	O
accuracy	O
when	O
calculating	O
source	O
level	O
and	O
location	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
such	O
,	O
care	O
should	O
be	O
taken	O
when	O
deciding	O
how	O
the	O
individual	O
lobes	O
of	O
the	O
virtual	O
microphones	B-Application
are	O
derived	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
case	O
the	O
array	O
consists	O
of	O
omnidirectional	O
microphones	B-Application
they	O
accept	O
sound	O
from	O
all	O
directions	O
,	O
so	O
electrical	O
signals	O
of	O
the	O
microphones	B-Application
contain	O
the	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
sounds	O
coming	O
from	O
all	O
directions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
array	O
of	O
1020	O
microphones	B-Application
,	O
the	O
largest	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
until	O
August	O
21	O
,	O
2014	O
,	O
was	O
built	O
by	O
researchers	O
at	O
the	O
MIT	O
Computer	O
Science	O
and	O
Artificial	O
Intelligence	O
Laboratory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
the	O
largest	O
microphone	B-Algorithm
array	I-Algorithm
in	O
the	O
world	O
was	O
constructed	O
by	O
Sorama	O
,	O
a	O
Netherlands-based	O
sound	O
engineering	O
firm	O
,	O
in	O
August	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
array	O
consists	O
of	O
4096	O
microphones	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
soundfield	B-Algorithm
microphone	I-Algorithm
system	O
is	O
a	O
well-established	O
example	O
of	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
microphone	B-Algorithm
array	I-Algorithm
in	O
professional	O
sound	O
recording	O
.	O
</s>
