SBIR Phase II: High Performance Directional MEMS Microphones for Communication Devices

SBIR 第二阶段：用于通信设备的高性能定向 MEMS 麦克风

• 批准号: 1026893
• 负责人: Caesar Garcia
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Silicon Audio, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2013-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1026893&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Performance; Directional

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will investigate a novel Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) microphone based on new design principles. By abandoning the design principles of traditional microphones (both MEMS and full-scale), a vastly superior acoustical design is being explored that has resulted in substantial improvements in fidelity and size reduction (15 dB signal to noise ration[SNR] improvement over existing commercial directional microphones, and roughly 100x smaller in volume). Furthermore, as demonstrated in Phase I, the microphones have an inherently directional response with the benefit of focusing on a speaker or event of interest while rejecting ambient background noise. These attributes make this innovation ideal for addressing an emerging need of high volume consumer communication device manufactures who are looking for acoustic sensing innovations with the unique combination of high performance + low manufacturing cost. The objective of this Phase II innovation is to continue prototyping efforts from Phase I to the point of pilot scale manufacture. This effort will entail finite element modeling and design optimization of the new device structure, fabrication of 2nd generation prototypes, and experimentation in collaboration with customers from several different microphone sectors including hearing aids and cellular phones. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is based on an enabling capability: the introduction of advanced audio features (e.g. directionality and high fidelity) into a suite of consumer communication devices. The primary customer focus for this innovation is high volume consumer communication device manufacturers. New applications on their horizon demand improvements in microphone component performance. There are presently several commercial suppliers of MEMS microphones. All use variations of a traditional microphone architecture which has proven incapable of addressing high SNR applications. Additional markets and applications for this innovation include acoustic instrumentation, performance audio, military and defense, intelligence gathering, speech recognition (e.g. in laptop computers), and hearing aids. Addressing hearing aid markets will have a societal impact as well, as patient satisfaction with hearing aid devices is presently very low. Innovations at the microphone and signal processing level have the potential to improve this greatly. The innovation is also expected to have other audiological applications including use in hearing health monitoring systems based on otoacoustic principles. Clinical tools and instruments based on this innovation will serve to enhance scientific and technological understanding in many fields of acoustics.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将研究一种基于新设计原理的新型微机电系统（MEMS）麦克风。 通过放弃传统麦克风（MEMS和全尺寸）的设计原则，正在探索一种非常优越的上级声学设计，该设计在保真度和尺寸减小方面取得了实质性的改进（信噪比[SNR]比现有商用定向麦克风提高了15 dB，体积小了大约100倍）。 此外，如第一阶段所示，麦克风具有固有的定向响应，其优点是聚焦于扬声器或感兴趣的事件，同时抑制环境背景噪声。 这些特性使得该创新非常适合于满足大批量消费通信设备制造商的新兴需求，这些制造商正在寻找具有高性能+低制造成本的独特组合的声学传感创新。 第二阶段创新的目标是继续从第一阶段到中试规模制造的原型设计工作。 这项工作将涉及新设备结构的有限元建模和设计优化，第二代原型的制造，以及与包括助听器和手机在内的几个不同麦克风领域的客户合作进行实验。 该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是基于一种使能能力：将先进的音频功能（例如方向性和高保真度）引入一套消费者通信设备。 这项创新的主要客户是大批量消费通信设备制造商。 新的应用领域要求提高麦克风组件的性能。 目前有几家MEMS麦克风的商业供应商。 所有这些都使用传统麦克风架构的变体，这些架构已被证明无法解决高SNR应用。 这项创新的其他市场和应用包括声学仪器、性能音频、军事和国防、情报收集、语音识别（例如笔记本电脑）和助听器。 解决助听器市场也将产生社会影响，因为患者对助听器设备的满意度目前非常低。 麦克风和信号处理层面的创新有可能大大改善这一点。 这项创新还有望在其他听力学领域得到应用，包括基于耳声原理的听力健康监测系统。 基于这一创新的临床工具和仪器将有助于提高声学许多领域的科学和技术理解。