Performance analysis of an adaptive feedback active noise control based earmuffs system

•A linear predictor model based approximate method to analyze performance of feedback ANC earmuffs.•Derived ANC earmuffs’ performance in terms of secondary path delay and noise bandwidth.•The physical parameters based closed-form equation offers a practical design guide.•Its usefulness is also verified through simulations and experimental tests for recorded airplane and house heater noises.

This paper analyzes the performance of the adaptive feedback active noise control (FBANC) based earmuffs system. The system’s noise reduction performance is obtained in a closed-form equation with respect to two top-level design constraining parameters, i.e., secondary path delay and noise bandwidth. To derive the equation, we utilize a simplified and equivalent linear prediction ANC model and parameterize noise bandwidth using an autoregressive model. The derived equation is validated by simulations and experimental tests performed for the ANC earmuff system. The high degrees of noise reduction, which are 14.9 dB for the airplane noise and 20.4 dB for the house heater noise, obtained from the experimental tests confirm the feasibility of the ANC earmuffs application.