A circuit model of hair-cell transduction for temporal processing and auditory feature extraction

We present a novel low-power circuit for level crossing interval measurements on continuous-time auditory signals, as obtained from the outputs of an analog cochlear filter bank. The circuit achieves immediate response for a given signal in the audio frequency range. Experimental results from a fabricated array of 9 level crossing transducers demonstrate frequency-to-voltage conversion over a range covering the audio band, with less than 120 /spl mu/W of power dissipated per cell from a 5 V supply.