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Chandler House Information

AUDL GS08 & AUDL GAV1   Autumn 2013

Acoustics, signals & systems for audiology

UCL Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences
Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, UCL
Chandler House
2 Wakefield Street
London WC1N 1PF

The aim of this module is to give the students a basic understanding of acoustics, the physical principles of operation of the auditory system, the science behind the measurement of hearing function, and the technical aspects of auditory prostheses (including cochlear implants) and audiometric instrumentation. A dual approach is taken, sometimes stressing the biophysical principles, and sometimes taking a more abstract approach in how to characterise the signals and systems so prevalent in hearing science. Also integrated into the course is basic information about psychoacoustics in normal and impaired hearing.
Course Structure: The course is run in the first term only, on Monday afternoons, starting on 30 September 2013. The course content this year is identical for AUDL GS08 (for MSc AS)and AUDL GAV1 (for MSc AVM). No reading week is observed so the class meets as normal on 4 November. Each three-hour session will start with a lecture, and will comprise a varying mix of lecture, demonstrations, lab sessions and tutorials.

Venue and scheduling: The lecture starts at 14:00 in Room G10 on the ground floor of Chandler House. Some of the teaching will also take place on other floors of the same building.

Timetable

UCL Week

Date
Monday

Lecture topic

Laboratory/other

CW (for following week)

6

 

30 Sept

Waveforms, signals,  sinusoids, frequency, logarithms, dB, digital signals

Pure tone audiometry & decibels

Set I

7

 

7 Oct

More about waves and dB; Properties of LTI systems (i/o functions, linearity, time-invariance); The BIG idea

Frequency response of an acoustic resonator: two different sizes

Set II

8

14 Oct

Frequency responses & Spectra

Harmonic synthesis (Esynth)

Set III

9

21 Oct

Signals through systems; Filter banks

Signals through systems: analogue & digital (Esystem)

Set IV

10

28 Oct

Impulse responses; The ear as a signal processor                  

Cochlear simulation

 

11

4 Nov

Introduction to psychoacoustics

Notched-noise masking

 

12

11 Nov

Mass-spring system, harmonic motion, mechanical impedance   

 

Mass-spring system

Set V

13

 

18 Nov

Electrical impedance

16-17:00 Psychoacoustics

 

14

25 Nov

Resonance (with application to the middle ear); Wave propagation, acoustic impedance, impedance mismatch, reflection/absorption (incl. role of the middle ear)

Set VI

15

2 Dec

Standing waves (with application to the ear canal); Basic room acoustics

 

16

9 Dec

Cochlear travelling wave

16-17:00 Psychoacoustics

 





































Staff
Stuart Rosen 020 7679 4077 stuart@phon.ucl.ac.uk course organiser & lecturer
Brad Backus b.backus@ucl.ac.uk course lecturer (after reading week)
Steve Nevard 020 7679 4014 s.nevard@ucl.ac.uk experimental officer
Dave Cushing 020 7679 4016 d.cushing@ucl.ac.uk laboratory technician
Tim Schoof t.schoof@ucl.ac.uk teaching assistant

Required text: Rosen, S., and Howell, P. (2010). Signals and Systems for Speech and Hearing, 2nd edition: Emerald Press, London. Chapters 11-14 in this new edition are significantly different from the earlier one. The syllabus for first half of this unit is based on this book, with exercises and assigned reading for you to complete in it. It is more or less essential for you to own your own copy, and will also prove useful in other parts of your training.

Supplementary Reading
Speaks, C. E. (1999). Introduction to Sound. 3rd edition. Chapman and Hall. ISBN: 1565939794.
This book is very readable and is aimed at students with little background knowledge of mathematics and physics. Each concept is introduced in non-mathematical terms before the corresponding mathematics is introduced. The explanations of exponents, logarithms and decibels are particularly good but more advanced topics are covered very sketchily with, at least in the 2nd edition, some serious misconceptions. See here for a review.

Mullin,W.J et al. (2003). Fundamentals of sound with applications to speech and hearing. Pearson Education, Inc., ISBN 0205-03707-X. A good introduction for students with little math and physics background. It introduces the topic with many examples and wordy explanations. It does, however, not cover impedance in sufficient detail for audiologists. It is a text book designed for a course in communication studies with focus on speech.

Gelfand, A.G. Hearing: an introduction to psychological and physiological acoustics. 3rd ed. Marcel Dekker. New York, 1998. There are sections closely related to the content and at a level taught in this course, especially chapters 1 and 3.

Katz, J. (ed.) Handbook of Clinical Audiology. 6th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009. The audiologist's bible. The chapter 8 about acoustic immitance and transfer is relevant here.

Pickles, J. O. : An introduction to the physiology of hearing. 3rd ed. Emerald, 2008. ISBN 978-0-12-088521-3. The old edition will do. Generally a good book. The chapters 1 (physics of sound) and 2 (outer middle ear) is relevant here.

Yost, W. A. (2006) Fundamentals of Hearing: An Introduction, 5th ed. (Emerald). A more elementary exposition than the other books. Particularly good on the anatomy & physiology.

Haughton, P.M. (2002). Acoustics For Audiologists. Academic Press. ISBN: 0123329221.
A book more grounded in physics, which could also be of help in aspects of Auditory Biophysics. Can be quite tough going, though.

Requisite background
We assume that you are already familiar with basic mathematical concepts like exponents, logarithms and the use of graphs. The booklet An Introduction to Acoustics with answers may also prove useful. You could also try the exercises in this Diagnostic Worksheet for indicators about what concepts you need to revise.

Some of the links below are to PDF files which can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have the Acrobat Reader got www.adobe.com and follow the links to download the free software.

Course work


Due 8 October 2013

Due 15 October 2013

Week by Week

The reading and exercises assigned here are not to be handed in, but it is essential that you at least do the assigned reading. Unless otherwise stated, all are to be found in Signals & Systems for Speech & Hearing. Aim to complete the assigned work by the week following the date the material is covered in lecture.

Week 1: Signals

Teaching Material: Exercises: Read Chapters 1-3 and Chaper 14, pp. 308-323. If you have time, do the following exercises:
  • Chapter 1: exercise 3
  • Chapter 2: exercises 2, 3 & 5.
  • Chapter 3: exercises 1, 3, 4, 10, 11.
  • In the booklet An Introduction to Acoustics, ensure you are familiar with the material covered in pp. 1-19.
Other useful resources:

Week 2: Introduction to LTI systems

Teaching Material: Exercises:
  • Read Chapters 4 & 5, and do the following exercises if you have time:
  • Ch 4, p 62: ex 2, 4-6 (no formula needed for ex 6) 
  • Ch 5, p 69-70: ex 4, 5
Answers to Exercises:

Other links to material concerning relevant topics

(will open in a new browser window)


Previous examinations from a different signals & systems course

Note that there may be questions in these examples that relate to material you will not be responsible for, but most of the questions are relevant.




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