Acoustic and Instrumentation II

It is a preferred condition for the frequency of this UC a fundamental knowledge of wave physics, as well as instrumentation and signal processing, treated in the following UCs: Physics and Acoustics and Instrumentation I.

The theoretical exposure with interaction of the students will allow to enhance the practical component in the resolution of exercises.

UC provides for a strong practical component of program development in MATLAB involving the acquisition and treatment of audio signals, as well as the use of digital audio editing tools (e.g. Audacity).

The completion of this curricular unit will allow students to:

– Assimilate the general concepts of electronics and electroacoustics applicable to the area of audiology;

– Assimilate the general concepts of building acoustics;

– Classify, distinguish and characterize the different types of transducers;

– Assimilate the basic principles of analog signal processing;

– Characterize and identify the main components of the equipment;

– Identify calibration equipment; Distinguish the different maintenance and calibration procedures of audiometric equipment and their standards;

– Describe the properties of signals in the domain of time and frequencies and explain the relationship between these descriptions;

– Know and apply the fundamentals of digital signal processing to sound analysis, including speech sounds;

1. Propagation of sound and acoustics of buildings: inverse distance square law, reflection, refraction, diffraction, reverberation and Sabine’s formula and absorption coefficients. Sound fields. Inner acoustic conditioning.  (10 Hours)

2. Transducers: overview, classification, electromechanical principles, dynamic characteristics and performances. Sound radiation: monopoles, dipoles and quadripoles; Radiation efficiency and directionality. (10 Hours)

3. Main components of the equipment used in audiology: audiometers, tympanometer, otoemissions, evoked potentials. (10 Hours)

4. Calibrations, maintenance and standards: calibration equipment, maintenance procedures and applied standards. (5 hours)

5.Signal processing with DSP software tools: introduction to software, main software functions, characterization of different sound file formats, compression vs. compression formats, signal acquisition and production, basic operations with audio files. (25 Hours)

6. Synthesis of auditory stimuli in different digital format (10 hours) 

(P.S:.: the time not considered in the planification above will be used to revisit all the contents and for evaluation purposes.)

NAO

Main bibliography:

1. ACOUSTICS FOR AUDIOLOGISTS, BY PETER HAUGHTON, PUBLISHER: ACADEMIC PRESS; 1ST EDITION (MAY 10, 2002), ISBN-10: 0123329221, ISBN-13: 978-0123329226

2. FUNDAMENTALS OF HEARING, FIFTH EDITION: AN INTRODUCTION,BY WILLIAM A. YOS,PUBLISHER: EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LIMITED; 5 EDITION (OCTOBER 2, 2006), ISBN-10: 0123704731, ISBN-13: 978-0123704733

Complementary bibliography:

1. INSTRUMENTATION: AN INTRODUCTION FOR STUDENTS IN THE SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES, BY T. NEWELL DECKER; PUBLISHER: PSYCHOLOGY PRESS; 3 EDITION (12 FEB 2004), ISBN-10: 0805846816, ISBN-13: 978-0805846812

2. HANDBOOK OF SIGNAL PROCESSING IN ACOUSTICS, VOL 1 E VOL 2, BY DAVID HAVELOCK (EDITOR), SONOKO KUWANO (EDITOR), MICHAEL VORLÄNDER (EDITOR), PUBLISHER: SPRINGER; 1 EDITION (JANUARY 22, 2009), ISBN-10: 0387776982, ISBN-13: 978-0387776989

3. ESSENTIALS OF AUDIOLOGY, BY STANLEY GELFAND (AUTHOR), PUBLISHER: THIEME NEW YORK; 3 EDITION (MARCH 19, 2009), ISBN-10: 1604060441, ISBN-13: 978-1604060447