Low-Cost Active Noise Control for Business-Class Seats in Aircraft Cabins

In commercial airliners, cabin noise remains a significant source of passenger discomfort, particularly during long-haul flights. In-cabin noise can expose passengers and aircraft crew to high levels of sound pressure, depending on the aircraft type and flight maneuvers taken. Active noise control offers a promising solution for mitigating the noise annoyance felt by passengers during flights through the simple idea of superposition for noise cancellation. In the present study, a series of numerical studies is conducted to guide an experimental low-cost and low-power feedback active noise control (ANC) system based on high-performance microcontrollers implemented for an aircraft cabin demonstrator’s business-class seat. The demonstrator cabin is constructed to closely mimic the environmental conditions experienced by passengers in an aircraft during nominal flight. The simulations evaluate the achievable zone of quiet (ZoQ) produced by various ANC configurations, with results exhibiting effective cancellations of up to 6 dB below 315 Hz. Although, at some discrete frequencies, the effect of reflections and eigenmodes of the interior cabin may render ZoQ unattainable. Based on the simulations, an experimental ANC system is applied in a cabin demonstrator. The findings highlight the importance of testing ANC systems in realistic acoustic conditions of aircraft cabins that can be readily deployed.