Miniaturization of electronics for a biomimetic acoustic direction finding system for use on multiple platforms

Allyn Hubbard; Howard I. Cohen; Socrates Deligeorges; David Freedman; Tyler Gore; Christian Karl; Sarah Kelsall; Marianne Nourzad; Yirong Pu; Shuwan Xue

doi:10.1117/12.784276

16 April 2008 Miniaturization of electronics for a biomimetic acoustic direction finding system for use on multiple platforms

Allyn Hubbard, Howard I. Cohen, Socrates Deligeorges, David Freedman, Tyler Gore, Christian Karl, Sarah Kelsall, Marianne Nourzad, Yirong Pu, Shuwan Xue

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6963, Unattended Ground, Sea, and Air Sensor Technologies and Applications X; 696311 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.784276
Event: SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, 2008, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Biomimetic signal processing that is functionally similar to that performed by the mammalian peripheral auditory system consists of several stages. The concatenated stages of the system each favor differing types of hardware implementations. Ideally, the front-end would be an implementation of the mammalian cochlea, which is a tapered nonlinear, traveling-wave amplifier. It is not a good candidate for standard digital implementations. The AM demodulator can be implemented using digital or analog designs. The Automatic Gain Control (AGC) stage is highly unusual. It requires filtering and multiplication in a closed-loop configuration, with bias added at each of two concatenated stages. Its implementation is problematic in DSP, FPGA, full custom digital VLSI, and analog VLSI. The one-bit A/D (also called the "spiking neuron"), while simple at face value, involves a complicated triggering mechanism, which is amenable to DSP, FPGA, and custom digital but computationally intense, and is suited to an analog VLSI implementation. Currently, we have several hardware embodiments of the biomimetic system. The RedOwl application occupies about 160 cubic inches in volume at the present time. A DSP approach can compute 15 channels for two ears for three A/D categories using Analog Devices Tiger SHARC-201 DSP chips within a system size estimated to be on the order of 30 cubic inches. BioMimetic Systems, Inc., a Boston University startup company is developing an FPGA solution. Within the university, we are also pursuing both a custom digital ASIC route and a current-mode analog ASIC.

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Allyn Hubbard, Howard I. Cohen, Socrates Deligeorges, David Freedman, Tyler Gore, Christian Karl, Sarah Kelsall, Marianne Nourzad, Yirong Pu, and Shuwan Xue "Miniaturization of electronics for a biomimetic acoustic direction finding system for use on multiple platforms", Proc. SPIE 6963, Unattended Ground, Sea, and Air Sensor Technologies and Applications X, 696311 (16 April 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.784276

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