Analog-digital circuits for sound localization based on the biological auditory system

In this study, we propose an analog-digital circuit for sound localization based on the biological auditory system. The proposed circuit is constructed with a delay line and a comparator. The delay line was constructed with the simple analog circuits of the current mode. The NOR circuit was used as the comparator. The current mode delay line was evaluated by a simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE). The test circuit was fabricated by discrete metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors on the breadboard. The result with SPICE and the measured results of the test circuit showed that the time for transmitting a signal on the current mode delay line becomes shorter when the sound of the target is greater. When the sound of the target was small, the time taken to transmit the signal became longer. The proposed circuit for sound localization was evaluated by SPICE. The result with SPICE showed that the circuit can generate a signal to detect the position of the sound of the target. We can realize a new target-tracking system by applying this novel circuit based on the biological auditory system to a previously proposed tracking system based on the biological vision system.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tsuyama National College of Technology, 624-1 Numa, Tsuyama, Okayama, 708-8509, Japan

   Kimihiro Nishio & Takanori Tomibe

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kimihiro Nishio.

This work was presented in part at the 15th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, February 4–6, 2010