Comparison of convergence characteristics of adaptive IIR and FIR filters for active noise control in a duct

There are perceived drawbacks to using adaptive IIR filters, as opposed to adaptive FIR filters, for active noise control (ANC). These include stability issues, the possible convergence of estimated parameters to biased and/or local minimum solutions and relatively slow rate of convergence. Stability issues can generally be resolved easily using well-established methods. In this Technical Note convergence rates are compared with particular reference to the active control of noise in a duct, for which the dynamics of the cancellation path are important. The characteristics of this application of ANC set it apart from usual signal processing applications of adaptive IIR filters and this has implications for the convergence properties. Various control approaches are considered: IIR least mean squares (IIR-LMS), IIR recursive least squares (IIR-RLS) with FASPIS (Fast Algorithm Secondary Path Integration Scheme) and FIR-LMS. Numerical examples are presented. It is seen that the cancellation path dynamics generally have the effect of changing the performance surface of the estimated IIR filter from bimodal to unimodal, which has consequences for improving the convergence rate of adaptive IIR filters. It is also seen that IIR-RLS has a comparable rate of convergence to FIR-LMS, with the steady-state performance being as good or better.