Zones of quiet in a broadband diffuse sound field

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical framework to predict zones of quiet in broadband diffuse sound fields, extending prior pure-tone results and aiding in the design of local active sound control systems.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical model for zones of quiet in broadband diffuse sound fields based on spatial-temporal correlation analysis.

Findings

Zones of quiet for broadband noise approximate those of pure tones at the center frequency.

Theoretical predictions align with simulation results for both tonal and broadband signals.

Zones of quiet are limited in size, impacting active noise control system design.

Abstract

The zones of quiet in pure-tone diffuse sound fields have been studied extensively in the past, both theoretically and experimentally, with the well known result of the 10\,dB attenuation extending to about a tenth of a wavelength. Recent results on the spatial-temporal correlation of broadband diffuse sound fields are used in this study to develop a theoretical framework for predicting the extension of the zones of quiet in broadband diffuse sound fields. This can be used to study the acoustic limitations imposed on local active sound control systems such as an active headrest when controlling broadband noise. Spatial-temporal correlation is first revised, after which derivations of the diffuse field zones of quiet in the near-field and the far-field of the secondary source are presented. The theoretical analysis is supported by simulation examples comparing the zones of quiet for diffuse fields excited by tonal and broadband signals. It is shown that as a first approximation the zone of quiet of a low-pass filtered noise is comparable to that of a pure-tone with a frequency equal to the center frequency of the broadband noise bandwidth.