Boeing Tackles Noise Pollution with PXI Express and Microphone Arrays

Eliminating noise pollution is becoming a major concern in many fields, including aircraft design. Boeing is tackling this with extensive sounds studies, all performed with increasingly large arrays of microphones. At NIWeek 07, Jim Underbrink, a Boeing technical fellow, notes that more channels lets engineers pinpoint noise sources more precisely since their microphone arrays can gather data from more data points.

PXI Express is a big factor for increasing the number of microphones, making it possible to link more than 400 microphones laid out on a grid over a 300 x 300-ft flyover area where landing noise is studied.