Simulation and analysis of nasalized vowels based on magnetic resonance imaging data

In this study, vocal tract area functions for one American English speaker, recorded using magnetic resonance imaging, were used to simulate and analyze the acoustics of vowel nasalization. Computer vocal tract models and susceptance plots were used to study the three most important sources of acoustic variability involved in the production of nasalized vowels: velar coupling area, asymmetry of nasal passages, and the sinus cavities. Analysis of the susceptance plots of the pharyngeal and oral cavities, -(B(p)+B(o)), and the nasal cavity, B(n), helped in understanding the movement of poles and zeros with varying coupling areas. Simulations using two nasal passages clearly showed the introduction of extra pole-zero pairs due to the asymmetry between the passages. Simulations with the inclusion of maxillary and sphenoidal sinuses showed that each sinus can potentially introduce one pole-zero pair in the spectrum. Further, the right maxillary sinus introduced a pole-zero pair at the lowest frequency. The effective frequencies of these poles and zeros due to the sinuses in the sum of the oral and nasal cavity outputs changes with a change in the configuration of the oral cavity, which may happen due to a change in the coupling area, or in the vowel being articulated.     

扬声器的特性不匹配对虚拟声像的影响

本文从理论和实验上探讨了扬声器的特性不匹配对重放虚拟声像的影响。结果表明,用两扬声器进行虚拟听觉重放时,在某些频率段和虚拟声像角度,两扬声器间很小的幅频特性差异或相频特性差异都足以对虚拟声像方向产生明显的影响。扬声器特性的差异对前方范围的声像影响较小,但对侧向范围的声像影响较大,因而两扬声器的特性不匹配也是导致虚拟听觉重放时侧向声像位置畸变的重要原因之一。而在实际应用中要特别注意两扬声器的特性匹配,或者要用信号处理的方法对两扬声器的特性进行校正。     

用信号处理技术及传播理论还原雷声频谱

以往关于雷声的研究都限于观测点雷声频域范围的探讨, 由于噪音和衰减因素的影响, 观测点的雷声频谱有很大失真. 针对在兰州地区观测的一次雷暴过程中的雷声信号, 利用数字信号处理技术,由观测点处的雷声音频信号得到频率谱,并对雷声频谱进行噪音分析; 然后结合声音在大气中传播的衰减理论, 分析了不同大气环境对声吸收的影响, 并推算出了声源附近的雷声频率谱. 关键词： 雷声频谱 信号处理 传播理论 峰值频率     

Sound diffraction by a barrier with a fan-shaped headpiece

With respect to a noise barrier, sound diffraction by a half-plane with a fan-shaped headpiece is calculated. The fan consists of a set of rigid strips of different widths, which form narrow wedge-shaped channels of different lengths. The channels are connected to each other through the inner cylindrical cavity into which the inner open ends of the channels face. The curves representing the degree of sound suppression as a function of the frequency and the angle of incidence of sound waves are calculated. These curves demonstrate the high efficiency of the proposed barrier.     

Articulatory asymmetries

Tongue contact patterns for /s/ and /l/ were investigated using dynamic palatography. Both spatial and temporal asymmetries were commonly found extending into the vocalic transitions for these consonants. Implications for the adequacy of tongue motion data taken in a single midsagittal plane are discussed, as well as for articulatory interpretation of speech signals and speaker recognition applications.     

基于自制超稳定F-P腔压窄632.8nm外腔半导体激光线宽的实验研究

窄线宽激光由于其具有单色性好、稳定度高、相干长度长等优点,广泛应用于光电检测领域,包括相干通信、精密测量、光学频率标准、吸收光谱计量以及光与物质相互作用研究等。目前频率稳定的氦氖激光器线宽可以达到MHz量级,分布反馈式（DFB）光纤激光器线宽可达kHz量级,DFB半导体激光器线宽可以达到MHz量级,然而光栅反馈半导体激光器可以实现百kHz量级线宽的输出。为了进一步压窄各类激光器线宽,需要通过反馈控制技术来锁定激光到某一频率参考。该研究将自行设计的超稳腔作为频率参考,实现了632.8 nm外腔半导体激光器（ECDL）线宽的有效压窄。本窄线宽激光产生系统的研制包括超稳腔设计、光路设计、ECDL频率控制以及系统集成。超稳腔采用两镜法布里-珀罗腔（F-P腔）结构,腔体是膨胀系数约为10-6 K-1的微晶玻璃,腔镜为一对反射率达99.988 5%(±0.003 5%）的平面镜和凹面镜。为进一步减小外界环境对F-P腔腔长的影响,需要对腔体进行温度控制,本系统采用四片总功率为96 W的半导体制冷片以及水冷散热设计。同时为了降低声音和空气流动对腔模频率的影响,将F-P腔置于真空度为10-5 torr的真空室中;另外为了有效隔振,腔体与真空室用硅橡胶材料隔离。该系统采用的ECDL为德国Toptica公司的DL pro系列激光器,其具有压电陶瓷（PZT）和电流调制两个频率控制端,响应带宽分别为1 kHz和100 MHz。激光器的频率控制采用了Pound-Drever-Hall （PDH）锁频技术,18 MHz的调制频率加载到激光器的电流调制端,通过对F-P腔的反射信号进行解调获得误差信号,通过两路反馈控制,实现了近1 MHz的锁定带宽。通过对系统的不断优化,最后将自由运转状态下约300 kHz的激光线宽压窄到了10 kHz量级,并且系统运行稳定,连续12小时锁定的频率漂移量约为30 MHz。该研究研制的632.8 nm窄线宽激光源不仅可以应用到吸收光谱计量领域,同时也可以在光学面型精密测量领域发挥重要作用。     

双相干态光场与原子依赖强度耦合过程的腔场谱

研究了依赖强度耦合双模J-C模型的腔场谱,给出了激发态原子与双相干态光场双光子共振相互作用过程光谱结构的数值结果.发现腔场谱呈现出复杂的多峰结构.腔场谱的频率灵敏地受两模光子数差q的调谐.     

声学共振腔式蜗舌穿孔板厚度对离心式风机噪声的影响

本文用实验方法验证了离心式风机声学共振腔蜗舌穿孔板随着厚度的增加,其频声压级下降的幅值逐渐减小,当穿孔板厚度大于２ｍｍ时,声学共振腔蜗舌不起降低噪声作用,当穿孔板厚度小于２ｍｍ时,流量系数Ｑ和压力系数Ｐ比原机无声学共振腔式蜗舌时平均下降约４．４％和３．８７％,对风机气动力性能影响不明显。     

Variability in production of the vowels /i/ and /a/

A hypothesis on the nature of articulatory targets for the vowels /i/ and /a/ is proposed, based on acoustic considerations and vowel articulations. The conjecture is that positioning of points on the tongue surface in a repetition experiment should be most accurate in the direction perpendicular to the vocal-tract midline, at the acoustically critical point of maximal constriction for each vowel. The hypothesis was tested by: examining x-ray microbeam data for three speakers, conducting a partial acoustical analysis, and performing a modeling study. Distributions were plotted of the midsagittal locations of three tongue points at the time of maximal excursion toward the vowel target for numbers of examples of the vowels, embedded in a variety of phonetic contexts. More variation was found along a direction parallel to the vocal tract midline than perpendicular to the midline, supporting the hypothesis. Statistics on formant values for one subject have been calculated, and pairwise regressions of displacement and formant data have been run. An articulatory synthesizer [Rubin et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 70, 321-328 (1981)] has been manipulated through displacements similar to the subject's articulatory variation. Although articulatory synthesis showed systematic relationships between articulatory relationships and formant frequencies, there were no significant correlations between the subject's measured articulatory displacements and his formant data. These additional results raise questions about the methodology and point to the need for additional work for an adequate test of the hypothesis.     

Acoustic modeling of American English /r/

Recent advances in physiological data collection methods have made it possible to test the accuracy of predictions against speaker-specific vocal tracts and acoustic patterns. Vocal tract dimensions for /r/ derived via magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) for two speakers of American English [Alwan, Narayanan, and Haker, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101, 1078-1089 (1997)] were used to construct models of the acoustics of /r/. Because previous models have not sufficiently accounted for the very low F3 characteristic of /r/, the aim was to match formant frequencies predicted by the models to the full range of formant frequency values produced by the speakers in recordings of real words containing /r/. In one set of experiments, area functions derived from MRI data were used to argue that the Perturbation Theory of tube acoustics cannot adequately account for /r/, primarily because predicted locations did not match speakers' actual constriction locations. Different models of the acoustics of /r/ were tested using the Maeda computer simulation program [Maeda, Speech Commun. 1, 199-299 (1982)]; the supralingual vocal-tract dimensions reported in Alwan et al. were found to be adequate at predicting only the highest of attested F3 values. By using (1) a recently developed adaptation of the Maeda model that incorporates the sublingual space as a side branch from the front cavity, and by including (2) the sublingual space as an increment to the dimensions of the front cavity, the mid-to-low values of the speakers' F3 range were matched. Finally, a simple tube model with dimensions derived from MRI data was developed to account for cavity affiliations. This confirmed F3 as a front cavity resonance, and variations in F1, F2, and F4 as arising from mid- and back-cavity geometries. Possible trading relations for F3 lowering based on different acoustic mechanisms for extending the front cavity are also proposed.     

A three-dimensional model of tongue movement based on ultrasound and x-ray microbeam data

Point-tracking techniques provide timing information about structural movements of the tongue. Imaging techniques provide information about cross-sectional and pharyngeal tongue shape and movement. This study joined these techniques in a single subject. Five pellets on the tongue surface were tracked using x-ray microbeam, and the midsagittal and coronal planes of the tongue were imaged using real-time ultrasound. The speech materials were the consonants [s] and [l] and the vowels [i], [a], and [o] combined in VCVCe utterances. Analyses concentrated on the difference in tongue movements related to the two consonants. A model of tongue movement was developed, in which critical features of consonant shape and position dominated the tongue opening movement. In this model, the tongue is divided into subdivisions termed "functional segments" in both the sagittal and coronal planes. Movements of the functional segments created observable opening movement patterns.     

环绕声重放中通路信号相关性与听觉空间印象

通过心理声学实验研究了5.1通路环绕声重放中前方左、右,以及左环绕、右环绕四个扬声器通路信号相关性与听觉空间印象之间的关系。结果表明,对前方左、右扬声器重放或左环绕、右环绕扬声器重放,都可以通过控制通路信号的相关系数在一定程度上改变前方或后方声像的宽度。对不同频率范围的信号,声像宽度与通路信号的相关系数之间的定量关系有所不同。但对一对侧向扬声器重放,基本上不能通过控制通路信号相关系数来改变声像的宽度,并且声像宽度很窄。对于前方和环绕两对扬声器同时重放,对粉红噪声和中心频率不大于1 kHz的倍频程信号,适当控制各扬声器对通路信号的相关系数可以获得较强的包围感;但是对中心频率为2 kHz和4 kHz的倍频程信号则无法获得包围感。进一步的理论计算和实验测量结果表明,重放声像宽度和双耳听觉互相关系数(IACC)并没有唯一对应的关系,这可能和IACC的计算方法有关。对于IACC的计算方法和适用性还需要进一步的实验验证。本文的结果将有助于实际的环绕声节目制作和评价。      

Acoustic characteristics analysis of slender cavity system with arbitrary impedance end conditions

A modeling method for the dynamic characteristics analysis of a slender acoustical cavity with impedance end conditions is established. In order to satisfy the continuity requirement at impedance ends for the first order differential of sound pressure, field function is constructed as the standard Fourier series supplemented by boundary smoothed auxiliary polynomials. System characteristic equation is derived by solving the governing differential equation and impedance acoustic boundary of slender acoustical cavity system simultaneously,relevant acoustical modal information is obtained via the state space solution procedure. In numerical simulation, various acoustic variables, such as acoustical modal frequency, sound pressure modal shape, sound pressure response and the particle velocity, are presented for the slender acoustical cavity system with different boundary conditions and compared with those results in the existing literature. The correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method are then fully validated.     

管束穿孔板的管腔耦合共振吸声机理研究

为了揭示管束穿孔板共振吸声结构的吸声机理,利用热黏性条件下基于有限元算法的管束穿孔板仿真模型,研究了平面声波正入射条件下,管束穿孔板内部声场分布特征,并利用阻抗管对吸声系数的理论仿真结果进行了试验验证.结果表明,管束穿孔板在低频主要靠腔体共振吸声,在高频主要靠管共振吸声,管束穿孔板整体呈现出较为明显的管腔耦合共振吸声特征。管束穿孔板共振时管中声强和质点法向振速较大,高频次吸声峰频点处管中和腔中均有驻波形成,频率越高驻波数量越多.管束穿孔板的耦合共振受到管长、腔深、穿孔率和管内径等参数变化的影响,管长对高频耦合共振的影响最大,管长增大使高频主吸声峰频点移向低频,并使相邻主吸声峰之间的间距减小.      

An empirical model for the equivalent translational compliance of steel studs

The effect of the resilience of the steel studs on the sound insulation of steel stud cavity walls can be modeled as an equivalent translational compliance in simple models for predicting the sound insulation of walls. Recent numerical calculations have shown that this equivalent translational compliance varies with frequency. This paper determines the values of the equivalent translational compliance of steel studs which make a simple sound insulation theory agree best with experimental sound insulation data for 126 steel stud cavity walls with gypsum plaster board on each side of the steel studs and sound absorbing material in the wall cavity. These values are approximately constant as a function of frequency up to 400 Hz. Above 400 Hz they decrease approximately as a non-integer power of the frequency. The equivalent translational compliance also depends on the mass per unit surface area of the cladding on each side of the steel studs and on the width of the steel studs. Above 400 Hz, this compliance also depends on the stud spacing. The best fit approximation is used with a simple sound insulation prediction model to predict the sound insulation of steel stud cavity walls whose sound insulation has been determined experimentally.     

不同波长的激光器通过法布里-珀罗腔相对于铯原子谱线的锁定

采用共焦法布里珀罗腔(CFP)作为桥梁,可以实现不在原子、分子跃迁线附近的单频激光器相对于原子、分子跃迁线的锁定,从而可以有效地抑制激光频率的漂移。在实验中通过射频频率调制光谱技术结合饱和吸收光谱(SAS)将自制852nm光栅外腔反馈半导体激光器锁定到铯6S1/2Fg=4-6P3/2Fe=4、5交叉线上,通过Pound-Drever-Hall(PDH)射频边带技术将作为桥梁的共焦法布里珀罗腔锁定在852nm激光频率上。再通过PDH方法将830nm和908nm两台远离铯原子D2线的外腔半导体激光器同时锁定在作为桥梁的共焦法布里珀罗腔上,实现了830nm和908nm两台激光器相对于铯原子跃迁线的锁定。由锁定后的误差信号估算,20s内852nm激光器相对于铯原子Fg=4-Fe=4、5交叉线的频率起伏小于±540kHz,830nm、908nm激光器相对于共焦法布里珀罗腔的频率起伏分别小于±340kHz和±60kHz,共焦法布里珀罗腔相对于852nm激光的频率起伏小于±550kHz。     

QCM based sensor for detecting volumetric properties of liquids

We introduce a microacoustic sensor, which combines the quartz crystal microbalance, a liquid-filled cavity and an intermediate artificial layer with effective acoustic properties. Each of the three components fulfils a specific task. The quartz vibrates in its thickness shear mode and acts as source and detector of shear waves, which penetrate the intermediate artificial layer and excite a resonance in the liquid-filled cavity. Both the piezoelectric transducer and the liquid-filled cavity are high-Q resonators with well-adjusted resonance frequencies very close to each other. The intermediate artificial layer couples the two resonators in a distinct manner via control of the propagation of acoustic waves between the quartz crystal and the liquid-filled cavity layer. The origin of the sensor signal is a change of the resonance frequency of the liquid-filled cavity caused by variations of acoustic properties of the liquid analyte inside the cavity, first of all speed of sound. This resonance appears as second resonance peak in the admittance spectrum of the quartz crystal.     

Fano interference and transparency in a waveguide-nanocavity hybrid system with an auxiliary cavity

We investigate theoretically single photon transport in one-dimensional waveguide coupled to a pair of cavities, which are denoted by the first cavity and the auxiliary cavity. Two cases with no atom and one atom embedded in the first cavity are discussed. The Fano dips in the transmission spectrum and locations of transparency window are calculated. When no atom is embedded in the first cavity, there exists a transparency window under the condition that the first cavity and the auxiliary cavity are not resonant. The locations of the transparency window and Fano line type depend strongly on the eigen frequency of the auxiliary cavity and the coupling strength between the auxiliary cavity and the waveguide. When one atom is embedded in the first cavity, we show that the transparency window exists even though the first cavity, the atom and the auxiliary cavity are resonant. The Fano line type is strongly dependent on the eigen frequency of the auxiliary cavity and the coupling strength. Our results have potential applications in design of quantum devices at the level of single photon,such as single photon switch and single photon routers.     

用于互组跃迁谱测量的窄线宽激光系统

采用Pound-Drerer-Hall稳频技术将689 nm激光锁定在高精细度超稳极低膨胀系数材料腔上,实现用于探测锶原子互组跃迁谱的窄线宽激光.利用光腔衰荡光谱技术,测量了不同阶次多横模情况下腔的精细度,并在理论上分析了平凹型Fabry-Perot腔的损耗与多横模阶次的关系.考虑了光开关延时及探测器响应时间在测量中的影响,对腔衰荡时间的实验测量值进行了修正.利用光纤飞秒光频梳测量了激光器的频率漂移,测出窄线宽激光频率稳定度的秒稳优于2.8×10-13.利用窄线宽激光在锶原子束上观测到具有高信噪比的窄线宽原子跃迁谱线,实验测得谱线的线宽为55 kHz,该窄线宽原子谱线可应用于锶原子二级冷却激光绝对频率的精确测量及锶原子互组跃迁谱的四种同位素位移测量.     

Acoustic topological adiabatic passage via a level crossing

Stimulated adiabatic passage has been extensively studied to achieve robust and selective population transfer in quantum systems. Recently, the quantum-classic analogy has been rapidly developing and can be considered responsible for the implementation of the adiabatic transfer of sound energy in cavity chain systems. In this article, we investigate the adiabatic transfer of sound energy between two topological end states in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger(SSH) cavity chain, which can be considered to be the acoustic analog of the quantum chirped-pulse excitation. The topological adiabatic passage in SSH cavity chain has two categories. When the single-cavity resonance frequencies on the sublattices A and B in the SSH cavity chain do not switch their spectrum positions, the topologically protected adiabatic evolution results in the returning passage of the sound excited in one end cavity. When a level crossing with single-cavity resonance frequencies on the sublattices A and B exhibits switch in the frequency spectrum, acoustic energy is observed to be topologically pumped between the two end cavities of the SSH chain.