A simplified method for online acoustic feedback path modeling in multichannel active noise control systems

Abstract

This paper investigates the issue of acoustic feedback in multichannel active noise control (ANC) systems. The presence of acoustic feedback degrades the performance of the ANC systems, and in the worst case the ANC system may become unstable. Here we propose a simplified solution for acoustic feedback modeling and neutralization during the online operation of multichannel ANC systems. The computational complexity of the proposed method is lower than the existing method. Computer simulations are carried out for a 1 times 2 times 2 system comprising one reference microphone, two secondary loudspeakers and two error microphones. It is demonstrated that the proposed method achieves better performance than the existing method, and at somewhat lower computational complexity.