In this paper, we propose an extension of the well-known FLANN filter using trigonometric expansions to include suitable cross-terms, i.e., products of input samples with different time shifts. It is shown that in some applications of nonlinear active noise control, the generalized FLANN filter can offer performance as good as that of high-order Volterra filters with a reduced complexity.

The paper introduces two improvements in the feedforward active noise control system with online secondary path modeling developed by Akhtar, Abe, and Kawamata: (1) optimal variable step-size parameters are derived for the adaptation algorithms of the secondary path modeling filter and of the control filter and (2) a self-tuning power scheduling for the auxiliary noise is introduced. The proposed power scheduling is chosen so that in every operating condition a specific ratio between the powers at the error microphone of the auxiliary noise and of the residual noise is achieved. It is shown that for the same auxiliary noise conditions the adaptation algorithms equipped with the optimal variable step-size parameters improve the convergence speed of the system and the estimation accuracy of the secondary path and of the optimal control filter. It is also shown that, compared with a fixed power auxiliary noise, the power scheduling of the auxiliary noise is capable to better meet the conflicting requirements of fast convergence speed of the secondary path modeling filter and of low residual noise in steady state conditions.

Room response equalization aims at improving the sound reproduction in rooms by applying advanced digital signal processing techniques to design an equalizer on the basis of one or more measurements of the room response. This topic has been intensively studied in the last 40 years, resulting in a number of effective techniques facing different aspects of the problem. This review paper aims at giving an overview of the existing methods following their historical evolution, and discussing pros and cons of each approach with relation to the room characteristics, as well as instrumental and perceptual measures. The review is concluded by a discussion on emerging topics and new trends.

In this paper, a bounded-input bounded-output (BIBO) stability condition for the recursive functional link artificial neural network (FLANN) filter, based on trigonometric expansions, is derived. This filter is considered as a member of the class of causal shift-invariant recursive nonlinear filters whose output depends linearly on the filter coefficients. As for all recursive filters, its stability should be granted or, at least, tested. The relevant conclusion we derive from the stability condition is that the recursive FLANN filter is not affected by instabilities whenever the recursive linear part of the filter is stable. This fact is in contrast with the case of recursive polynomial filters where, in general, specific limitations on the input range are required. The recursive FLANN filter is then studied in the framework of a feedforward scheme for nonlinear active noise control. The novelty of our study is due to the simultaneous consideration of a nonlinear secondary path and an acoustical feedback between the loudspeaker and the reference microphone. An output error nonlinearly Filtered-U normalized LMS adaptation algorithm, derived for the elements of the above-mentioned class of nonlinear filters, is then applied to the recursive FLANN filter. Computer simulations show that the recursive FLANN filter, in contrast to other filters, is able to simultaneously deal with the acoustical feedback and the nonlinearity in the secondary path.

SmartRoadSense is a crowdsensing project aimed at monitoring the conditions of the road surface. Using the sensors of a smartphone, SmartRoadSense monitors the vertical accelerations inside a vehicle traveling the road and extracts a roughness index conveying information about the road conditions. The roughness index and the smartphone GPS data are periodically sent to a central server where they are processed, associated with the specific road, and aggregated with data measured by other smartphones. This paper studies how the smartphone vertical accelerations and the roughness index are related to the vehicle speed. It is shown that the dependence can be locally approximated with a gamma (power) law. Extensive experimental results using data extracted from SmartRoadSense database confirm the gamma law relationship between the roughness index and the vehicle speed. The gamma law is then used for improving the SmartRoadSense data aggregation accounting for the effect of vehicle speed.