ABSTRACT
The author presents a nonlinear active cochlear model based on a novel cochlear amplifier mechanism, active bidirectional coupling (ABC). ABC offers a plausible way in which outer hair cells (OHC) electromotile forces are transmitted to the basilar membrane (BM) through the unique microanatomy and the architecture formed by several types of cells within the organ of Corti. Since the discovery of the electromotility of OHCs in the mammalian cochlea, cochlear modeling, as a powerful supplementary tool for physiological studies, has been focusing on exploring the detailed manner in which OHCs' motile forces enhance the BM vibration. Silicon cochleae emulate cochlear processing of sound stimuli in very-large-scale-integrated (VLSI) circuits, attempting to match the biological cochlea's sound sensitivity, frequency selectivity, and dynamic range. Based on the mathematical ABC cochlear model, the chapter presents a two-dimensional (2D) nonlinear active cochlear circuit in analog VLSI, taking advantage of the 2D nature of silicon chips.
