Wide area noise cancellation system and method
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsChristopher A. Brown, John F. Schneider
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An open air, wide area noise cancellation system and method provides improved identification and characterization of noise sources then generating noise cancelling sound waves.
Claims47
A wide area noise cancellation system for reducing the effect of noise generated by at least one noise source within a noise producing area at locations outside the noise producing area, the system comprising:
- a plurality of spaced apart microphone arrays positioned within the noise producing area, each microphone array detecting noise from at least one noise source located in the noise producing area and generating an output signal indicative of the detected noise;
- a noise signal processor configured to receive the output signals from the plurality microphone arrays, the processor processing the output signals to determine noise cancellation signals to reduce the effect of noise from the at least one noise source;
- and
- a plurality of speaker arrays located at spaced apart locations around a periphery of the noise producing area, the plurality of speaker arrays receiving the noise cancellation signals from the processor and generating inverse sound waves to reduce the effect of the noise from the at least one noise source before the noise from exits the noise producing area.
A method for reducing the effect of noise generated by at least one noise source within a noise producing area at locations outside the noise producing area, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of speaker arrays located at spaced apart locations around a periphery of the noise producing area;
- detecting noise from the at least one noise source located in the noise producing area;
- determining noise cancellation signals based on the detected noise to reduce the effect of noise from the at least one noise source;
- and
- driving the plurality of speaker arrays with the noise cancellation signals to generate inverse sound waves to reduce the effect of the noise from the at least one noise source.
A wide area noise cancellation system for reducing the effect of noise generated by a noise source, the system comprising:
- at least one speaker array, each speaker array including a plurality of directional speakers arranged to provide a plurality of sound wave coverage patterns that together provide substantially 360° coverage for sound waves produced by the speaker array;
- at least one microphone array configured to detect noise from the noise source before the noise reaches the at least one speaker array, each microphone array generating an output signal indicative of the noise detected from the noise source;
- and
- a noise signal processor configured to receive the output signals from the at least one microphone array, the processor processing the output signals to determine a location of the noise source, to determine inverse sound waves based on the output signals, and to generate noise cancellation signals to drive at least one directional speaker within the at least one speaker array so that the at least one directional speaker generates the inverse sound waves directed towards a noise source to reduce the effect of the detected noise from the noise source before the noise reaches the location of the at least one speaker array.
A method for reducing the effect of noise generated by a noise source, the method comprising:
- providing at least one speaker array, each speaker array including a plurality of directional speakers arranged to provide substantially 360° coverage for sound waves produced by the speaker array;
- detecting noise from the noise source before the noise reaches the at least one speaker array;
- determining a location of the noise source;
- generating noise cancellation signals based on the detected noise and the determined location of the noise source;
- and
- driving at least one directional speaker of the at least one speaker array with the noise cancellation signals so that the at least one directional speaker generates the inverse sound waves directed toward the noise source to reduce the effect of the detected noise from the noise source before the noise reaches the location of the at least one speaker array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.