Reproduction of a higher-order circular harmonic field using a linear array of loudspeakers.

This paper presents a direct formula for reproducing a sound field consisting of higher-order circular harmonics with polar phase variation. Sound fields with phase variation can be used for synthesizing various spatial attributes, such as the perceived width or the location of a virtual sound source. To reproduce such a sound field using a linear loudspeaker array, the driving function of the array is derived in the format of an integral formula. The proposed function shows fewer reproduction errors than a conventional formula focused on magnitude variations. In addition, analysis of the sweet spot reveals that its shape can be asymmetric, depending on the order of harmonics.

Ca(V)3.1 is a tremor rhythm pacemaker in the inferior olive.

The rhythmic motor pathway activation by pacemaker neurons or circuits in the brain has been proposed as the mechanism for the timing of motor coordination, and the abnormal potentiation of this mechanism may lead to a pathological tremor. Here, we show that the potentiation of Ca(V)3.1 T-type Ca(2+) channels in the inferior olive contributes to the onset of the tremor in a pharmacological model of essential tremor. After administration of harmaline, 4- to 10-Hz synchronous neuronal activities arose from the IO and then propagated to cerebellar motor circuits in wild-type mice, but those rhythmic activities were absent in mice lacking Ca(V)3.1 gene. Intracellular recordings in brain-stem slices revealed that the Ca(V)3.1-deficient inferior olive neurons lacked the subthreshold oscillation of membrane potentials and failed to trigger 4- to 10-Hz rhythmic burst discharges in the presence of harmaline. In addition, the selective knockdown of Ca(V)3.1 gene in the inferior olive by shRNA efficiently suppressed the harmaline-induced tremor in wild-type mice. A mathematical model constructed based on data obtained from patch-clamping experiments indicated that harmaline could efficiently potentiate Ca(V)3.1 channels by changing voltage-dependent responsiveness in the hyperpolarizing direction. Thus, Ca(V)3.1 is a molecular pacemaker substrate for intrinsic neuronal oscillations of inferior olive neurons, and the potentiation of this mechanism can be considered as a pathological cause of essential tremor.

Acoustic contrast sensitivity to transfer function errors in the design of a personal audio system.

An analytic means to evaluate the error sensitivity of a personal audio system is proposed. The personal audio system, which focuses acoustic energy into a zone of interest using multiple loudspeakers, is subject to various errors when implemented. The performance of a personal audio system, defined as an energy ratio between the zone of interest and the rest, is inevitably influenced by errors. Thus the ability to predict performance change at the design stage is crucial when building a robust personal audio system. The dependence of the energy ratio change on various types of errors is formulated.

Wave field synthesis of a virtual source located in proximity to a loudspeaker array.

For the derivation of 2.5-dimensional operator in wave field synthesis, a virtual source is assumed to be positioned far from a loudspeaker array. However, such far-field approximation inevitably results in a reproduction error when the virtual source is placed adjacent to an array. In this paper, a method is proposed to generate a virtual source close to and behind a continuous line array of loudspeakers. A driving function is derived by reducing a surface integral (Rayleigh integral) to a line integral based on the near-field assumption. The solution is then combined with the far-field formula of wave field synthesis by introducing a weighting function that can adjust the near- and far-field contribution of each driving function. This enables production of a virtual source anywhere in relation to the array. Simulations show the proposed method can reduce the reproduction error to below -18 dB, regardless of the virtual source position.

An assistive device for direction estimation of a sound source.

A wearable assistive device is proposed that visually indicates the direction of a sound source for people who cannot hear but can see when a loud sound occurs. The device has been implemented in the shape of common eyeglasses, so that it does not draw attention to the wearer's hearing impairment. Acoustical information is acquired by an array of microelectromechanical-system microphones attached to the eyeglasses. The direction of a sound source is estimated in real time and indicated to the user via four light-emitting diodes designating the front, back, left, and right directions. Two methods for estimating the sound direction were compared: delay-and-sum beamformer and sound pressure level (SPL) comparison. The performance of the directional estimation was evaluated using the head-and-torso simulator. The SPL comparison method was 92% accurate versus the 84% accuracy of the delay-and-sum beamformer approach.

A selective array activation method for the generation of a focused source considering listening position.

A focused source can provide an auditory illusion of a virtual source placed between the loudspeaker array and the listener. When a focused source is generated by time-reversed acoustic focusing solution, its use as a virtual source is limited due to artifacts caused by convergent waves traveling towards the focusing point. This paper proposes an array activation method to reduce the artifacts for a selected listening point inside an array of arbitrary shape. Results show that energy of convergent waves can be reduced up to 60 dB for a large region including the selected listening point.

A plane wave generation method by wave number domain point focusing.

A method for generation of a wave-field that is a plane wave is described. This method uses an array of loudspeakers phased so that the field in the wave-number domain is nearly concentrated at a point, this point being at the wave-number vector of the desired plane wave. The method described here for such a wave-number concentration makes use of an expansion in spherical harmonics, and requires a relatively small number of measurement points for a good approximate achievement of a plane wave. The measurement points are on a spherical surface surrounding the array of loudspeakers. The input signals for the individual loudspeakers can be derived without a matrix inversion or without explicit assumptions about the loudspeakers. The mathematical development involves spherical harmonics and three-dimensional Fourier transforms. Some numerical examples are given, with various assumptions concerning the nature of the loudspeakers, that support the premise that the method described in the present paper may be useful in applications.

Space domain complex envelopes: definition and a spatial modulation method.

When one visualizes a sound field as a means of treating noise sources, a detailed variation of the sound field is not required. It is sufficient to see source locations and overall variation of the field. A complex envelope in space can provide adequate information that one wishes to get because an envelope shows a gross change in signal. In other words, to interpret overall variation of sound fields in terms of a complex envelope is attempted. To achieve this objective, spatial complex envelopes have been defined firstly, and then a spatial modulation method to obtain the envelope has been theoretically developed and verified.

Time domain visualization using acoustic holography implemented by temporal and spatial complex envelope.

Spatial envelope was proposed to show the location of acoustic sources and overall radiation pattern by the authors [C.-S. Park and Y.-H. Kim, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125, 206-211 (2009)]. The envelope can provide sufficient information on where the sources are and how the energy propagates into space. This concept is certainly useful for time domain acoustic holography since one can utilize not only spatial envelope to envisage what one needs to know but also temporal envelope to reduce the number of data. A holographic process to obtain spatial envelope is therefore introduced and verified, and how much one can reduce the processing time by implementing envelopes is compared with the conventional holography.

Scattering effect on the sound focused personal audio system.

Recently, a personal audio system has been studied that uses an array of loudspeakers to localize sound to only the area around a user. To realize this system, beamforming or acoustic contrast control has been applied on the assumption that sources radiate sound in a free-field. This means that not only reflection by walls, but also the scattering effect by the user's head is neglected. Reflection by walls is negligible because personal devices are usually used in a short distance so that direct sound is dominant over reverberant sound. However, the scattering effect by the user's head has a considerable effect on the focused sound field. For example, the region where sound energy is not focused becomes louder when a user is actually in the focused region due to the scattered sound by the user's head in the focused region. In this paper, the scattering effect is shown computationally on the simple assumption that the user's head is a rigid sphere. Then, an improving control method, which overcomes this effect, is proposed. The method is shown to outperform the previous method in terms of lowering the sound level in the side regions when a user is in the bright zone.

A realization of sound focused personal audio system using acoustic contrast control.

A personal audio system that does not use earphone or any wire would have great interest and potential impact on the audio industries. In this study, a line array speaker system is used to localize sound in the listening zone. The contrast control [Choi, J.-W. and Kim, Y.-H. (2002). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 111, 1695-1700] is applied, which is a method to make acoustically bright zone around the user and acoustically dark zone in other regions by maximizing the ratio of acoustic potential energy density between the bright and the dark zone. This ratio is regarded as acoustic contrast, analogous with what is used for optical devices. For the evaluation of the performance of acoustic contrast control, experiments are performed and the results are compared with those of uncontrolled case and time reversal array.

A theoretical model to predict the low-frequency sound absorption of a helmholtz resonator array.

A theoretical method based on mutual radiation impedance is proposed to compute the sound absorption performance of a Helmholtz resonator array in the low-frequency range. Any configuration of resonator arrangement can be allowed in the method, while all the resonators may or may not be identical. Comparisons of the theoretical predictions with those done by the past studies or experiments show that the present method can accurately predict the absorption performance in more general cases.

Directional radiation pattern in structural-acoustic coupled system.

In this paper we demonstrate the possibility of designing a radiator using structural-acoustic interaction by predicting the pressure distribution and radiation pattern of a structural-acoustic coupling system that is composed by a wall and two spaces. If a wall separates spaces, then the wall's role in transporting the acoustic characteristics of the spaces is important. The spaces can be categorized as bounded finite space and unbounded infinite space. The wall considered in this study composes two plates and an opening, and the wall separates one space that is highly reverberant and the other that is unbounded without any reflection. This rather hypothetical circumstance is selected to study the general coupling problem between the finite and infinite acoustic domains. We developed an equation that predicts the energy distribution and energy flow in the two spaces separated by a wall, and its computational examples are presented. Three typical radiation patterns that include steered, focused, and omnidirected are presented. A designed radiation pattern is also presented by using the optimal design algorithm.

The effect of a periodic absorptive strip arrangement on an interior sound field in a room.

In this paper we study the effect of periodically arranged sound absorptive strips on the mean acoustic potential energy density distribution of a room. The strips are assumed to be attached on the room's surface of interest. In order to determine their effect, the mean acoustic potential energy density variation is evaluated as the function of a ratio of the strip's arrangement period to wavelength. The evaluation demonstrates that the mean acoustic potential energy density tends to converge. In addition, a comparison with a case in which absorptive materials completely cover the selected absorptive plane shows that a periodic arrangement that uses only half of the absorptive material can be more efficient than a total covering, unless the frequency of interest does not coincide with the room's resonant frequencies. Consequently, the results prove that the ratio of the arrangement period to the wavelength plays an important role in the effectiveness of a periodic absorptive strip arrangement to minimize a room's mean acoustic potential energy density.

Generation of an acoustically bright zone with an illuminated region using multiple sources.

This article addresses the way in which we can generate an "acoustically bright zone" in a space. The bright zone is defined as the volume where we can have higher acoustic energy than in other space. A method is proposed to generate the bright zone by controlling multiple monopole sources. Two kinds of cost functions involved with acoustic brightness are defined. One is the ratio of the brightness of a zone to the input power, and the other expresses the "contrast" between the bright zone and the other space. Through eigenvalue analysis, the optimal volume velocity distribution of the monopoles has been obtained.

A measurement method of the flow rate in a pipe using a microphone array.

A method of measuring the flow rate in a pipe is proposed. The method utilizes one-dimensional acoustic pressure signals that are generated by a loud speaker. A microphone array mounted flush with the inner pipe wall is used to measure the signals. A formula for the flow rate, which is a function of the change of wave number, is derived from a simple mathematical model of sound field in the pipe conveying a viscous fluid. The change of the wave number, which is one of the results caused by flow, is estimated from the recursive relation among the measured microphone array signals. Since measurement errors, due to extraneous measurement noise and mismatch of response characteristics between microphones, exist in the estimated flow rate, a method of compensating the errors is proposed. By using this measurement method, the flow rate can be obtained more accurately than that of our previous method. To verify applicability of the measurement method, numerical simulation and experiments are performed. The estimated flow rates are within 5% error bound.