APPLICATION OF ACTIVE CONTROL TO NOISE-REDUCTION BY ADAPTIVE SIGNAL-PROCESSING

This paper describes the application of adaptive filter and wave equalization technology to acoustics, and to noise reduction of a machine using acoustic field control. Firstly, some problems inherent in applying active noise control (ANC) technology to noise reduction in consumer products are pointed out. In particular, the behavior of Error-Adaptive Control, as named by the authors, is analyzed precisely. Secondly, the relationship between coherence and the performance of active control is investigated. The fact that coherence is large or small is more effective for ANC when adaptive control is used rather than fixed-coefficient filter control. The effects of sound spatial coherence on adaptive ANC are studied precisely. The study looks into the relationship between minimum mean square error and input signal variance, or coherence, which has been measured previously. In three-dimensional spatial control, several microphones and speakers are needed for ANC, and several acoustic paths are present. ANC performance in three-dimensional space was evaluated by multiple coherence, which shows the degree of multiple spatial correlation. Thirdly, the paper describes the application of ANC technology to compressor noise in a refrigerator, a mass product. The problem was solved by treating the machine chamber as a one-dimensional duct, preventing howl, and using Error-Adaptive control. The second application is to fan noise in a small device. The authors discovered that the spatial coherence of the sound is low in the vicinity of the fan. This causes ANC to operate at a low level.