Ultrasonic Noise Cancellation Emitter for Precise Phase Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional noise cancelation technologies are ineffective in eliminating background noises in listening environments, particularly when the noise is time-varying or has multiple sources, due to latency and directional limitations in delivering inverse noise signals.
Innovation Solution
An ultrasonic emitter system that includes a noise detection module, a noise cancelation module, and an audio processing system, which detects noise, inverts it, and modulates it onto an ultrasonic carrier to demodulate and cancel noise in real-time, using multiple emitters and microphones to ensure phase alignment with the actual noise, even in dynamic environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If noise signals are inverted and modulated onto ultrasonic carriers to cancel noise, then noise cancelation effectiveness is improved, but signal phase alignment and timing precision become more difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a feedback mechanism where the inverted noise signal is modulated onto an ultrasonic carrier, transmitted through the air medium, and the resulting sound wave feeds back to interact with the original noise. This closed-loop approach allows the system to continuously adjust and optimize the phase and timing of the cancelation signal, improving noise cancelation effectiveness while maintaining precise phase alignment through iterative refinement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the frequency parameter by modulating the inverted noise signal onto an ultrasonic carrier wave. This parameter transformation allows the cancelation signal to be transmitted efficiently through the air medium while maintaining the ability to precisely control phase and timing relationships. The ultrasonic carrier acts as a vehicle that preserves the phase information of the inverted noise signal while enabling reliable transmission and interaction with the original noise.
2Adaptability or versatility
If ultrasonic signals are used to carry inverted noise for cancelation, then the system can target specific listening zones, but the complexity of signal modulation and demodulation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ultrasonic carrier wave serves as an intermediary that facilitates the transmission of the inverted noise signal to specific listening zones. By modulating the cancelation signal onto this intermediary carrier, the system achieves spatial targeting capability without directly manipulating the noise signal itself. The carrier acts as a vehicle that carries the cancelation information to the desired location, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining adaptability to different listening zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the audio signal processing into distinct functional components: noise detection, signal inversion, ultrasonic modulation, transmission, and demodulation. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, reducing the perceived complexity of the overall system. The modulation and demodulation processes are handled as separate, well-defined stages rather than a monolithic complex operation.
3Reliability
If the inverted noise signal is transmitted through air as ultrasonic waves, then noise cancelation can occur in the listening environment, but energy loss and signal attenuation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the potential harm of ultrasonic attenuation into a benefit by using the ultrasonic carrier's high frequency to achieve precise spatial targeting. The attenuation that would normally be considered a disadvantage is offset by the ability to concentrate the cancelation energy in specific listening zones, creating a more efficient localized noise cancelation system. The ultrasonic carrier delivers the inverted noise signal with sufficient intensity to the target zone despite atmospheric attenuation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively reduces or eliminates noise in listening environments by ensuring the inverted noise signal reaches the listener in sync with the actual noise, improving noise cancelation efficiency and adaptability to various noise sources and environments.
Implementation Method 1
when two sound waves with different frequencies are radiated simultaneously in the same medium, a modulated waveform including the sum and difference of the two frequencies is produced by the non-linear (parametric) interaction of the two sound waves
Implementation Method 2
Self-demodulation, or down-conversion, occurs along the air column resulting in the production of an audible acoustic signal
Data Source
AI summary
An ultrasonic noise cancelation system can include a communication module configured to receive a noise signal detected by a noise detection module, the noise signal representing a noise sound in a listener environment; a noise cancelation module configured to invert the received noise signal thereby creating an inverse noise signal representing an inverse of the noise sound; and a modulator configured to modulate the inverse noise signal onto an ultrasonic carrier to generate an ultrasonic signal.