SBIR Phase I: Cloud-based Acoustic Simulation Service

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在开发使用云计算的新方法来精确模拟建筑物中的声学。可靠地模拟声波的行为是一个难题。研究人员最近开发了一种称为自适应矩形分解（ARD）的算法，可以准确地模拟声学。但考虑到目前台式机和笔记本电脑的内存和处理能力，ARD只能在小型建筑或低频下工作。使ARD在复杂的现实环境中工作的唯一方法是将其移动到云端，同时在多台计算机上运行。ARD基于数学技术，这使得它很难在云中扩展。这是因为各个计算机（或计算节点）必须不断地相互发送数据，从而减慢了整个模拟的速度。在这个项目中，该公司将开发新的算法来仔细管理这种数据交换，并在多个计算节点上均匀分布模拟工作。这将允许更快的声学模拟。这也将使对大空间内所有可听声音频率的声学进行可靠的建模变得可行。该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力涉及建筑设计的许多方面。基于云的声学模拟服务（CBASS）是针对建筑师和声学顾问的。美国有超过105,000名建筑师，17,500家建筑公司和2,000名声学顾问。声学模拟是一个价值23亿美元的市场。CBASS将用于在建筑物建成之前了解其声学特性，从而减少在解决声学问题上花费的时间和金钱。通过在云中运行，CBASS还将减少建筑师和声学顾问购买昂贵电脑的需求，并将让他们使用笔记本电脑、平板电脑或智能手机运行和监控模拟。它还将加快建筑设计过程。我们将为学生提供免费订阅；这将有助于培养下一代建筑师在设计阶段的早期考虑声学问题。更普遍地说，声学模拟的使用增加将为每个人带来更好的发声空间：更有利于学习的教室，更有利于治疗的医院，更令人愉快的剧院和更安静的家庭。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop new ways of using cloud computing to accurately model acoustics in buildings. Reliably modeling the behavior of sound waves is a difficult problem. Researchers have recently developed an algorithm called Adaptive Rectangular Decomposition (ARD), which can accurately model acoustics. But given the amount of memory and processing power found in desktop and laptop computers today, ARD can only work on small buildings or for low frequencies. The only way to make ARD work in complex, real-world situations is to run it on multiple computers at the same time, by moving it to the cloud. ARD is based on mathematical techniques that make it difficult to scale in the cloud. This is because individual computers (or compute nodes) must keep sending data to each other, slowing down the overall simulation. In this project, the company will develop new algorithms to carefully manage this data exchange and evenly distribute the simulation work across multiple compute nodes. This will allow much faster acoustic simulation. It will also make it practical to reliably model the acoustics of large spaces for all audible sound frequencies.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project touches many aspects of architectural design. The cloud-based acoustic simulation service (CBASS) is aimed at architects and acoustical consultants. There are more than 105,000 architects, 17,500 architecture firms, and 2,000 acoustical consultants in the US. Acoustic simulation is a $2.3 billion market. CBASS will be used to understand the acoustics of a building before it is built, reducing the time and money spent on fixing acoustic issues. By running in the cloud, CBASS will also reduce the need for architects and acoustical consultants to buy costly computers, and will let them run and monitor simulations using laptops, tablets, or smartphones. It will also speed up the architectural design process. We will offer free subscriptions to CBASS to students; this will help train the next generation of architects to think about acoustics at an earlier point in the design phase. More generally, increased use of acoustic simulation will lead to better sounding spaces for everyone: classrooms that are more conducive to learning, hospitals that more conducive to healing, more enjoyable theaters, and quieter homes.