Biologically inspired circuitry that mimics mammalian hearing

Allyn Hubbard; Howard Cohen; Christian Karl; David Freedman; David Mountain; Leah Ziph-Schatzberg; Marianne Nourzad Karl; Sarah Kelsall; Tyler Gore; Yirong Pu; Zibing Yang; Xinyu Xing; Socrates Deligeorges

doi:10.1117/12.821282

4 May 2009 Biologically inspired circuitry that mimics mammalian hearing

Allyn Hubbard, Howard Cohen, Christian Karl, David Freedman, David Mountain, Leah Ziph-Schatzberg, Marianne Nourzad Karl, Sarah Kelsall, Tyler Gore, Yirong Pu, Zibing Yang, Xinyu Xing, Socrates Deligeorges

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7321, Bio-Inspired/Biomimetic Sensor Technologies and Applications; 732109 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.821282
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2009, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

We are developing low-power microcircuitry that implements classification and direction finding systems of very small size and small acoustic aperture. Our approach was inspired by the fact that small mammals are able to localize sounds despite their ears may be separated by as little as a centimeter. Gerbils, in particular are good low-frequency localizers, which is a particularly difficult task, since a wavelength at 500 Hz is on the order of two feet. Given such signals, crosscorrelation- based methods to determine direction fail badly in the presence of a small amount of noise, e.g. wind noise and noise clutter common to almost any realistic environment. Circuits are being developed using both analog and digital techniques, each of which process signals in fundamentally the same way the peripheral auditory system of mammals processes sound. A filter bank represents filtering done by the cochlea. The auditory nerve is implemented using a combination of an envelope detector, an automatic gain stage, and a unique one-bit A/D, which creates what amounts to a neural impulse. These impulses are used to extract pitch characteristics, which we use to classify sounds such as vehicles, small and large weaponry from AK-47s to 155mm cannon, including mortar launches and impacts. In addition to the pitchograms, we also use neural nets for classification.

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Allyn Hubbard, Howard Cohen, Christian Karl, David Freedman, David Mountain, Leah Ziph-Schatzberg, Marianne Nourzad Karl, Sarah Kelsall, Tyler Gore, Yirong Pu, Zibing Yang, Xinyu Xing, and Socrates Deligeorges "Biologically inspired circuitry that mimics mammalian hearing", Proc. SPIE 7321, Bio-Inspired/Biomimetic Sensor Technologies and Applications, 732109 (4 May 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.821282

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