Signal processing and machine learning research for advanced acoustic systems is giving birth to emerging technologies and services with a great exploitation potential. Current application domains such as smart cities and buildings or ambient assisted living have already demonstrated the interest for acoustic-based solutions, which usually rely on a set of wireless microphone nodes that are spatially distributed over the environment. A network of such acoustic sensing devices is referred to as a wireless acoustic sensor network (WASN) or an ad hoc microphone array. The advances brought by Internet of Things (IoT) platforms and single-board computers have substantially increased the capabilities of these sensor networks, which are usually equipped with powerful processors that open new possibilities for the design of signal processing algorithms and communication schemes. Moreover, mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops incorporate microphones and loudspeakers that can be used to form an ad hoc audio network or process the acoustic signals arriving from a set of distributed audio devices. However, important challenges also arise in such a context, mostly related to power consumption, node synchronization and localization, signal routing, or intelligent data analysis.

We invite authors to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will illustrate and stimulate the continuing effort for developing acoustic-oriented applications in wireless sensor networks.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Design and implementation of wireless acoustic sensor networks
• Signal processing and enhancement with distributed microphones
• Detection of acoustic events with distributed microphones
• Acoustic signal classification
• Machine learning for acoustic data analysis and parameter prediction
• Acoustic-based ambient assisted living applications
• Acoustic data processing for the Internet of Things and emerging applications
• Environmental monitoring with distributed microphone arrays
• Node synchronization and correction of sampling rate mismatch
• Sound source localization and tracking
• Sensor node localization and array calibration
• Acoustic body sensor networks
• Distributed networks for hands-free communication
• Security and privacy issues in acoustic sensor networks