Understanding speech when wearing communication headsets and hearing protectors with subband processing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bernstein ER ; Brammer, A. J. ; Cherniack, Martin G. ; Peterson, D. R. ; Tufts JB ; Yu G
• Description:
  An adaptive, delayless, subband feed-forward control structure is employed to improve the speech signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the communication channel of a circumaural headset/hearing protector (HPD) from 90 Hz to 11.3 kHz, and to provide active noise control (ANC) from 50 to 800 Hz to complement the passive attenuation of the HPD. The task involves optimizing the speech SNR for each communication channel subband, subject to limiting the maximum sound level at the ear, maintaining a speech SNR preferred by users, and reducing large inter-band gain differences to improve speech quality. The performance of a proof-of-concept device has been evaluated in a pseudo-diffuse sound field when worn by human subjects under conditions of environmental noise and speech that do not pose a risk to hearing, and by simulation for other conditions. For the environmental noises employed in this study, subband speech SNR control combined with subband ANC produced greater improvement in word scores than subband ANC alone, and improved the consistency of word scores across subjects. The simulation employed a subject-specific linear model, and predicted that word scores are maintained in excess of 90% for sound levels outside the HPD of up to approximately 115 dBA. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Acoustics Communications Media Ear Environmental Exposure Hearing Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety Sense Organs

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• Keywords:
  Acoustic-signals Auditory-system Communication-systems Ear-protectors Environmental-exposure Equipment-design Headgear Hearing-protection Humans Noise-control Noise-exposure Noise-levels Noise-protection Noise-transmission Personal-protective-equipment Signal-devices Sound Sound-attenuation Speech-transmission

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• ISSN:
  0001-4966
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  136
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046874
• Citation:
  J Acoust Soc Am 2014 Aug; 136(2):671-681
• Contact Point Address:
  Anthony J. Brammer, Ergonomic Technology Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, Connecticut 06030-2017
• Email:
  brammer@uchc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Denistry, Farmington, Connecticut
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20060801
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
• End Date:
  20120731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ede9cdf74530e9e4664e122451e4e9e436ded9111efe73835ade6d4f047413bd15a2575a7d00598d8d8e203cb81ed8fc807ec74aceb2af23b3c93e8006c01a8e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202153/cdc_202153_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 911.10 KB ]