Design of a Loudspeaker Array for Personal Audio in a Car Cabin

Liao X, Cheer J, Elliott SJ, Zheng S. Design of a Loudspeaker Array for Personal Audio in a Car Cabin. J Audio Eng Soc. 2017;65(3):226-238. doi:10.17743/jaes.2016.0065

@article{Liao2017_18557,
  author = {Liao, Xiangning and Cheer, Jordan and Elliott, Stephen J. and Zheng, Sifa},
  title = {{Design of a Loudspeaker Array for Personal Audio in a Car Cabin}},
  journal = {Journal of the Audio Engineering Society},
  volume = {65},
  number = {3},
  pages = {226--238},
  year = {2017},
  month = mar,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  doi = {10.17743/jaes.2016.0065},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2016.0065}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Design of a Loudspeaker Array for Personal Audio in a Car Cabin
AU  - Liao, Xiangning
AU  - Cheer, Jordan
AU  - Elliott, Stephen J.
AU  - Zheng, Sifa
T2  - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
J2  - J. Audio Eng. Soc.
VL  - 65
IS  - 3
SP  - 226
EP  - 238
PY  - 2017
DA  - 2017/03/06
DO  - 10.17743/jaes.2016.0065
UR  - https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2016.0065
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - The automobile cabin is an appropriate listening environment for a sound delivery system that allows multiple individuals to each hear a different sound program without using headphones. While an array of four standard loudspeakers can create acceptable contrast between front and rear zones, this configuration is limited to relatively low frequencies. But by mounting a loudspeaker array on the ceiling of the car cabin, a larger bandwidth for control is created. Two algorithms, acoustic contrast control and the least squares method, are considered for producing two independent listening zones: one zone for the front passengers and the other for the rear passengers. Free-field simulations were used to calculate the response of the source array and to investigate the performance of the two control algorithms. Since the performance of the least squares method is dependent on the chosen target sound pressures, a method for selecting the target sound pressures is also proposed. Finally, the proposed loudspeaker array is implemented in a real car and the measured results are found to be similar to those predicted from the simulations.
ER  -