Angular control of the sound radiation can be achieved by using a compact array of independently programmable loudspeakers operating at the same frequency range. The drivers are usually distributed over a sphere-like frame according to a Platonic solid geometry to obtain a highly symmetrical configuration. Prototypes of compact spherical loudspeaker arrays have been recently developed and applied in room acoustics measurements, electroacoustic music performance and synthesis of directivity patterns of acoustical sources such as musical instruments. However, many aspects concerning their control, design, electromechanical behavior and ability to provide a more realistic sound experience than conventional audio systems remain unclear. This work concerns the analysis and synthesis of sound fields by a compact spherical loudspeaker array and aims to contribute to clarifying some aspects mentioned above. A control strategy based on the acoustic radiation modes of the spherical array is proposed, which presents several advantages over the usual strategy based on the spherical harmonics. A theoretical and experimental analysis of the electromechanical behavior of compact loudspeaker arrays is also presented, in which the acoustic coupling between drivers inside the array frame is taken into account. In addition, optimum driver signals corresponding to a given target directivity pattern are derived using two different cost functions, indicating that the realism of the synthesized pattern may be significantly increased by neglecting the phase of the target directivity pattern. Finally, the proposed theoretical models are validated through measurements of electrical impedance, loudspeaker diaphragm velocity and directivity patterns.

L'objectif de ce travail de thèse est la conception d'un système de haut-parleurs transportable, capable de générer un champ sonore prédéfini et focalisé avec un contraste spatial élevé. Ce système doit permettre à terme d'effectuer différents types d'études, par exemple des essais de transparence acoustique ou encore des essais vibratoires en conditions non-anéchoïques. La minimisation du nombre de canaux à piloter ainsi que du nombre des transducteurs est l'un des enjeux principaux du travail. Le choix du nombre de sources et la sélection de leurs positions optimales afin de générer un champ acoustique cible n'a pas de solution triviale. Pour répondre à cette question, la méthode proposée se base sur la décomposition du rayonnement d’une source en série de fonctions orthogonales indépendantes (les"modes de rayonnement"), construits numériquement via une décomposition en valeurs singulières de la matrice d'impédance. En filtrant les termes évanescents, le champ lointain peut être reconstruit à l'aide d'un faible nombre de termes. De plus, la méthode permet d'estimer une distribution de débit efficace pour générer le champ cible. La méthode proposée étant relativement peu étudiée dans la littérature, la première partie de la thèse a été consacrée au problème de la validation expérimentale de la méthode directe et à l'étude des principaux paramètres en influençant le résultat. La problématique du positionnement des sources permettant de synthétiser un champ sonore prédéfini et focalisé est abordée dans la deuxième partie du travail. / The goal of this thesis is the design of a transportable speaker system, able to generate a predefined and focused sound field with a high spatial contrast. This system has eventually to allow carrying out different types of studies, for example acoustic transmission loss tests or vibration tests in non-anechoic conditions. The minimization of the number of driven channels and the number of transducers is one of the main goals of the work. The choice of the number of sources and the selection of their optimal positions in order to generate a target acoustic field has no trivial solution. To answer this question, the proposed method is based on the decomposition of the source radiation into a series of independent orthogonal functions (the "radiation modes"), constructed numerically via a singular value decomposition of the impedance matrix. By filtering the evanescent terms, the far field can be reconstructed using a small number of terms. In addition, the method allows the estimation of an efficient flow distribution to generate the target field. With the proposed method having been scarcely studied in the literature, the first part of the thesis is devoted to the problem of the experimental validation of the direct method and the study of the main parameters that are influencing the result. The problem of sources positioning in order to synthesize a predefined and focused sound field is discussed in the second part of the thesis.