Quiet zone tuning in a non-ideal sound field

Most active noise control (ANC) systems are designed and analyzed in ideal sound fields, where ANC performances are predictable with acceptable accuracies. In many ANC applications sound fields are non-ideal with significant differences between real ANC performances and theoretical predictions. If one uses an ideal model to optimize locations of actuators or error sensors for an ANC system in a non-ideal sound field, the actual quiet zone is inevitably different from its theoretical prediction. It is desired that users of ANC systems can tune quiet zones by adjusting ANC configurations, such as locations of secondary sources or error sensors. Model-independent ANC (MIANC) systems are preferred for this purpose. In this study, a model-independent ANC system is improved, implemented and applied to create a quiet zone in a non-ideal sound field. Users of the system can adjust locations of actuators or error sensors to tradeoff between sizes of quiet zones and levels of noise attenuations. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate observations and effects of quiet zone tuning using the improved ANC system.