Exposure to high noise levels entails more than €40 billion per year in the EU health system. In this context, D-Noise brings to the market a novel distributed network for multi-user active noise equalization. This network leverages the cooperation among multiple cheap user-specific active noise equalizers to outperform the existing non-cooperative technologies when creating quiet bubbles where the auditory comfort of multiple users in a room, such as an airplane, is simultaneously ensured without the use of headsets.

About the Innovator

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D-Noise team

STADIUS is an internationally recognized research division of KU Leuven that performs fundamental and applied research in the field of distributed digital signal processing for digital communications and audio. In the context of audio signal processing, the main focus of STADIUS is based on the design and implementation of distributed speech enhancement and ANE (Active Noise Equalization) algorithms with applications in hands-free telephony, hearing aids, cochlear implants, audio surveillance and automatic speech recognition over wireless acoustic sensor networks.

What is the innovation

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D-Noise prototype of distributed multi-user ANE

Building on novel device-specific cooperation rules among multiple heterogeneous devices interested in different but coupled ANE problems, a prototype of a distributed network for multi-user ANE was developed. This system is formed by multiple active noise equalizers that cooperate to simultaneously ensure the auditory comfort of multiple users without using headsets and achieving superior performance as compared to the existing single-user and non-cooperative ANE technologies.

Out of the lab – Into the Market

D-Noise project, funded by the EU FET Innovation Launchpad programme, will bring the network prototype for cooperative multi-user ANE to the market. The further exploitation is based on an analysis that has evidenced numerous market opportunities and partnerships with companies in automotive/aeronautic industry that provide service in scenarios where a high density of users/passengers simultaneously demand auditory comfort. Furthermore, the creation of a spin-off company, the engagement of stakeholder and the protection of the foreground knowledge through patents are planned.

Benefits of participation in the Framework Programme

The EU FET HANDiCAMS project promoted the identification, derivation and implementation of the cooperation rules used by devices of a network that simultaneously solves multiple user-specific signal processing problems. Overcoming the limitations of the existing technologies for ANE, these cooperation rules were essential to let cheaper active noise equalizers outperform the existing non-cooperative technologies for ANE and to eliminate any performance degradation caused by the interaction/coupling between active noise equalizers of different users, previously avoided only through the use of expensive headsets.