Noise Suppression Using Active Noise Control and Masking

This paper attempts to make the public/workplace environment more pleasant by combining techniques of active noise control (ANC) and the limited ability of the human auditory system to register a sound in the vicinity of another sound of sufficiently higher intensity. The paper examines the limitations of ANC and masking techniques, and proposes a way to integrate these techniques. A process for the selection of a suitable masker and its subsequent integration with an ANC system will be introduced. A solution has been proposed to overcome the difficulties of achieving a reduction of the undesirable, as well as preserving/enhancing the desirable content in the audio domain. Several implementation issues will also be addressed in this paper towards lowering the annoyance level of engine noise.