Feasibility Assessment of a Transient Sound Sensor Based on the Silicon Retina Architecture
Abstract
In the Background section of the proposal I described the basic conceptual elements which underlie the Silicon Retina (SR) and those which underlie passive mammalian hearing. My original intention was to utilize the frequency discrimination capability manifested in mammalian hearing as the mechanism on which to base an acoustic analogue to the SR concept. Specifically, mammals have sophisticated frequency dependent sensors which transmit responses to discrete and well-resolved frequencies upward to higher processing levels. Each intermediate processor transmits the precise frequency information upstream. Thus one may think of acoustic frequencies as being analogous to visual positional information, since in the ray limit of optics there is a one to one correspondence between the relative locations of external objects and the retinal sensors which are stimulated at any given time. The SR mechanism was to be implemented by comparing individual frequencies with running averages over groups of nearby frequencies, eliciting a response when the intensities of these differed by a prescribed amount. The next step in the program was to remain open-minded regarding the implementation of directional acoustic arrays, with the idea pf steering an array making use of the 'alert' response created by the introduction of a non-background signal. In this way it was envisioned that the 'cocktail party effect' would be achieved.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 23, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA252288
Entities
People
- Jorge F. Willemsen
Organizations
- Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science