Contemporary electronics solutions for active noise control

Control system electronics is a key element in an active control system. Conventionally, the active noise control systems have been sophisticated and expensive laboratory units. Only few real-world applications, such as active headsets and active control units for ventilation noise attenuation have existed with their matching commercial, integrated control systems. Latest achievements in electronics, such as new, powerful signal processors, gate arrays and even programmable analog gate arrays lead to new possibilities for realization of modern control systems, suitable also for cost sensitive applications. Also the analog-to-digital interfaces have recently advanced considerably and cost per channel has dropped. Besides, advances in consumer and automotive electronics and miniaturization have brought new possibilities for developing the real-life, commercial control system for active noise attenuation. These aspects have been addressed concurrently in our review study. The latest possibilities of the control system electronics for single and multichannel control schemes in both digital and analog domain are introduced and their usability evaluated. Furthermore, the tools for designing modern electronics for active noise control systems are presented