Mechanical signal producer based on micromechanical oscillators

Details Mechanical signal producer based on micromechanical oscillators Mechanical signal producer based on micromechanical oscillators

1998-03-10

2000-07-25

Moller, Richard A.

Measuring and testing

Vibration

Sensing apparatus

310331, 181 5, G01D 2100

Patent

active

060924225

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to mechanical signal processors, and in particular acoustic detectors, comprising micromachined sensor arrays for the detection, recognition and analysis of mechanical signals like sound, noise, vowels, speech, voices and so forth, or electrical signals of similar kind.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a demand for detectors and microphones which translate any kind of acoustic signal, e.g. sound, noise, vowels, speech, voices, into electrical signals.
Examples for acoustic detector systems are hearing aids which receive and amplify acoustic signals and generate an amplified acoustic signal which can be fed into the outer ear, or special hearing aids which apply electric signals to the inner part of the ear by means of electrodes such that certain segments of the ear are stimulated. The stimulation of the ear by means of electrodes, implanted into the ear, is often used if a person is deaf or partially deaf. Nowadays, in certain cases electrodes are even implanted into the inner ear directly contacting the nerves of the ear. Current hearing aids rely on a conventional microphone the output signal of which is amplified and fed via a speaker into the outer ear. In case of electrodes being implanted into the ear or even in proximity of the hearing nerves a processor is employed to process the electrical signal output by a microphone in order to generate electrical pulses which can be fed to the electrodes. The processing is very complex and such hearing aids which are designed for implantation into the human ear are currently expensive and not very powerful. Usually, only twelve electrodes are employed to stimulate the nerves in the inner ear. It is obvious that such a system stimulating the ear only with a small number of electrodes never will reach the capabilities of a healthy, fully functional human ear. Accordingly, there is a demand for a detector or microphone that really simulates the function of the human basilar membrane and inner ear and thus may serve as a replacement for a destroyed or defective organ of hearing.
Speech detection and recognition systems are another field where acoustic detectors (microphones) can be used. Speech recognition system are currently used to simplify input of commands or text into a computer, for example. Also handicapped persons rely more and more on technical and electrical apparatus which can be operated by giving acoustic commands. Furthermore, pilots, car-drivers, technicians, and surgeons will use such speech recognition systems as they become more powerful and reliable.
Todays speech recognition systems rely on conventional microphones which are used for transformation of acoustic signals into electric signals which are then processed and analyzed in the frequency domain. These electric signals are then fed to a processor which tries to recognize letters, syllables, words and whole sentences. These systems require lots of computing power because complex analysis are carried out and a comparison with a speech data base (knowledge base) is required. An enormous amount of incoming data is to be processed within a short period of time to ensure an acceptable response time and reliable recognition.
There is also a great demand for acoustic detectors which are designed to detect a particular noise or sound. Such a detector could for example be used to indicate whether an engine is about to get destroyed, or to detect acoustic signals which can otherwise not be detected by the human ear. In noisy environment, e.g. in a cockpit, it would be useful to reduce or eliminate the noise so as to ensure that voice and other signals can be better understood. Such detectors which are sensitive to a particular noise are usually realized by means of a conventional microphone, or a microphone which is sensitive in the particular range of frequencies, followed by an electronic circuitry or computer for analysis of the electric signals output by the microphone. Currently, there is a trend towards cars having an active microphone/lou

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patent: 4612471 (1986-09-01), Nakamura et al.
patent: 4856350 (1989-08-01), Hanson
patent: 4970903 (1990-11-01), Hanson
patent: 5095763 (1992-03-01), Delattore
patent: 5367217 (1994-11-01), Norling

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