An algorithm for the sound projection using multiple sources is presented. The source strength vector is obtained by using a fast estimation approach instead of the conventional eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) method. The computation load is therefore greatly reduced, which makes the algorithm more efficient in practical applications.

Two methods for hotspot generation using multiple sources, known as time-delay (TD) method and maximum-control-gain (MCG) method are investigated in the two typical acoustical fields, namely, the free field and a rectangular room. Based on the theoretical analysis and simulations, strategies are developed according to the sound field where the target region is defined. In the free field, the MCG method can be used if the performance in terms of control gain is the priority for an optimal control, whereas the TD method is more preferable if the simplicity of implementation is the first consideration. In a room environment, if a target region is defined in the near field where the direct sound dominates, the TD method is still effective. However, in the far field where the reverberant sound prevails, only the MCG method is applicable. The near field/far field can be roughly separated according to the critical distance from the sources in the room.

A multiple-source system for rendering the sound pressure distribution in a target region can be modeled as a multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) system with the inputs being the source strengths and the outputs being the pressures on multiple measuring points/sensors. In this paper, we propose a target-oriented acoustic radiation generation technique (TARGET) for sound field control. For the MIMO system of a given geometry, a series of basic radiation modes, namely, target-oriented radiation modes (TORMs) can be derived using eigenvector analysis. Different TORMs have different contributions to the system control gain, which is defined as the ratio of the acoustic energy generated in the target zone to the transmitter output power. The TARGET can be effectively applied to the sound reproduction and suppression, which correspond the generations of bright and dark zone respectively. In acoustically bright zone generation and sound beamforming, the highest-gain TORM can be employed to determine the optimal source strengths. In active noise control, the strengths of the secondary sources can be derived using low-gain TORMs. Simulation results show that the proposed method has better or comparable performance than the traditional techniques.