An integrated audio and active noise control headset

This paper presents an integrated approach in designing a noise reduction headset for audio and communication applications. Conventional passive headsets give good attenuation of ambient noise in the upper frequency range, while most of these devices fail below 500 Hz. Unlike the feedforward method, the adaptive feedback active noise control technique provides more accurate noise cancellation since the microphone is placed inside the ear-cup of the headset. Furthermore, the system uses a single microphone per ear cup, thus producing a more compact, lower power consumption, cheaper solution and ease of integration with existing audio and communication devices to form an integrated feedback active noise control headset. Simulation results have been conducted to show that the integrated approach can remove the disturbing noise and, at the same time, allow the desired speech or audio signal to pass through without cancellation.