TY - GEN
T1 - The self-tuned regenerative electromechanical parametric amplifier
T2 - 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems: Nano-Bio Circuit Fabrics and Systems, ISCAS 2010
AU - Tapson, Jonathan
AU - Hamilton, Tara
AU - Van Schaik, André
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - We describe an electromechanical acoustic sensor which we have constructed and tested as a conceptual model for the active process in the mammalian cochlea. The sensor is based on a mechanical resonator - a stretched latex band - which is tonically (tensionally) modulated by an electromechanical actuator. A feedback circuit senses the motion of the resonator, and modulates its tension at twice the frequency of its motion. An amplifier is thereby formed, which is self-tuned to the circuit's resonance, and which produces gain by regeneration and degenerate parametric pumping. We show that this system is surprisingly simple in structure; is physiologically plausible as a model for the basilar membrane and associated structures; and that it reproduces several wellknown features of the cochlear amplifier, such as the variation in center frequency and bandwidth with gain, and a cubic transfer characteristic in open loop.
AB - We describe an electromechanical acoustic sensor which we have constructed and tested as a conceptual model for the active process in the mammalian cochlea. The sensor is based on a mechanical resonator - a stretched latex band - which is tonically (tensionally) modulated by an electromechanical actuator. A feedback circuit senses the motion of the resonator, and modulates its tension at twice the frequency of its motion. An amplifier is thereby formed, which is self-tuned to the circuit's resonance, and which produces gain by regeneration and degenerate parametric pumping. We show that this system is surprisingly simple in structure; is physiologically plausible as a model for the basilar membrane and associated structures; and that it reproduces several wellknown features of the cochlear amplifier, such as the variation in center frequency and bandwidth with gain, and a cubic transfer characteristic in open loop.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955988905&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ISCAS.2010.5537307
DO - 10.1109/ISCAS.2010.5537307
M3 - Conference Paper
AN - SCOPUS:77955988905
SN - 9781424453085
T3 - ISCAS 2010 - 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems: Nano-Bio Circuit Fabrics and Systems
SP - 1424
EP - 1427
BT - ISCAS 2010 - 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems
Y2 - 30 May 2010 through 2 June 2010
ER -