Hyperuniform disordered parametric loudspeaker array

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hyperuniform disordered array for parametric loudspeakers, effectively suppressing grating lobes and enabling large, scalable array designs with improved directivity and minimal side lobes.

Contribution

It proposes a novel hyperuniform array configuration that reduces grating lobes and simplifies large array design compared to traditional periodic arrays.

Findings

Suppresses grating lobes in acoustic arrays

Maintains minimal radiation region near main lobe

Facilitates scalable array design without extra computation

Abstract

A steerable parametric loudspeaker array is known for its directivity and narrow beam width. However, it often suffers from the grating lobes due to periodic array distributions. Here we propose the array configuration of hyperuniform disorder, which is short-range random while correlated at large scales, as a promising alternative distribution of acoustic antennas in phased arrays. Angle-resolved measurements reveal that the proposed array suppresses grating lobes and maintains a minimal radiation region in the vicinity of the main lobe for the primary frequency waves. These distinctive emission features benefit the secondary frequency wave in canceling the grating lobes regardless of the frequencies of the primary waves. Besides that, the hyperuniform disordered array is duplicatable, which facilitates extra-large array design without any additional computational efforts.