Sonar target localization based on spike coded spectrograms

Abstract

Target location is coded into the pattern of spikes that run up the auditory nerve to the bat's brain. Realistic scenes containing multiple, closely spaced, reflectors give rise to complex echo signals consisting of multiple filtered copies of the bat's own vocalisation. Some of this filtering is due to the directivity of the bat’s reception system i.e., the outer ears, and some of it is due to sound absorption and the reflection process. The analysis below concentrates on the conspicuous ridges (notches) these filter operations give rise to in the time-frequency representation of the echo as produced by the bat's inner ear. Assuming multiple threshold detecting neurons for each frequency channel it is shown how the distribution of spike times within the generated spike bursts is linked to the presence and characteristics of these notches. A neural network decoding the spike bursts in terms of target location is described.