A Novel Hardware-Efficient Nonlinear Cochlear Model based on the Ergodically Enabled Sequential Logic Biomimetic Electronic Circuit.

Abstract

In this paper, a novel electronic cochlear model is presented based on design philosophies of an ergodically enabled sequential logic (ESL) biomimetic circuit. It is shown that the presented cochlear model can reproduce key characteristics of typical nonlinear sound processing functions of mammalian cochleae: combination tone generation and pitch shift effect. A prototype of the presented cochlear model is implemented by a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and its functionality is validated through hardware experiments. It is then shown that the presented ESL cochlear model can be implemented by much fewer electronic circuit elements and much lower power consumption compared to a digital signal processor cochlear model. Finally, the significance of these results for the development of future hardware-efficient cochlear implants are discussed.