Active noise control in headsets: A new approach for broadband feedback ANC

In this paper a novel approach for broadband feedback active noise control (ANC) is presented which is based on the combination of classical non-adaptive feedback and adaptive feedback ANC techniques. The non-adaptive part is suitable to attenuate low frequency ambient noise whereas the adaptive part attenuates periodic components of the ambient noise. The proposed technique yields a higher overall noise attenuation performance compared to a purely classical non-adaptive feedback or purely adaptive feedback ANC system. In addition to that, the combination of both techniques is also beneficial for practical realizations since the adaptive feedback ANC stabilizes the overall system. With regard to low cost headset devices, the impact of practical hard ware constraints such as low-cost analog-to-digital and digital-to analog converters (ADC, DAC) is discussed. As a conclusion, a mixed analog-digital realization of the new approach is proposed.