Professor Francis Morgan Boland
Fellow Emeritus, Electronic & Elect. Engineering
Biography
My career as an engineer has been predominantly based within the academic sector. My teaching experience extends from electrical engineering principles to junior students and teaching advanced topics in signal processing and systems theory to senior undergraduate and postgraduate students. My research work is in the mathematics and algorithms of adaptive systems and digital signal processing for audio and acoustics. A key objective of my research is to create, for a listener, the immersive experience of spatially accurate audio cues that are stable with voluntary or random head and other movements by the user. My research group has achieved novel theoretical and experimental results that include a demonstration that for angle dependent head related impulse (HRIR) response functions, associated with binaural hearing, there exist angle independent sub-systems. We have recently reported a theoretical underpinning of this work by showing its equivalence to the approximate factorisation of sets of polynomials with sets of polynomials with random coefficients.[Details are included in our associated publications] 1 We proposed and verified that within the large data sets of angle dependent head related impulse (HRIR) response functions, associated with binaural hearing, there exist angle independent sub-systems. We have recently reported a theoretical underpinning of this work by showing its equivalence to the approximate factorisation of sets of polynomials with random coefficients and we have also shown that the method can be used to equalise headphone transfer functions. 2 We have implemented an Ambisonic soundfield using a virtual uniform circular array with a rotatable soundfield using headtracking to maintain a stable orientation. 3 We have developed algorithms for detecting and interpolating the reflections in Room Impulse Response functions and a novel method for measuring the standard acoustic decay response of a room. In recent years, the application focus of my research has been the delivery of accurate immersive audio environments over headphones. Results of this research have had a significant impact in audio for Virtual Reality (VR) environments. An outcome of the research is Thrive which is an audio signal processing algorithm and software system for VR. In 2015 the Thrive IP was licensed by Google and provided a basis for the open source environment Resonance Audio for developing rich immersive audio. My current research activities, supported by Science Foundation Ireland, includes Machine Learning for audio source localisation and calibration techniques for digital sound projectors in rooms with uncertain acoustics.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
H. O"Dwyer, and F. Boland, HRTF Clustering for Robust Training of a DNN for Sound Source Localization, Journal Audio Engineering Society, 70, (12), 2022, p1015 - 1026
Bates, Enda; Csadi, Sebastian; O'Dwyer, Hugh; Ferguson, Luke; Boland, Francis M., Recording & Composing Site-Specific Spatial Music for 360 Video, AES 146th Convention, Dublin, Ireland, March 2019, 2019
Ferguson, L. and Bates, E. and Oâ Dwyer, H. and Csadi, S. and Boland, F.M., Calibration of a digital sound projector with scene uncertainty, AES E-Library, AES 146th Convention, , Dublin, Ireland, March 2019, 2019, pp1-
Oâ Dwyer, H. and Csadi, S. and Bates, E. and Boland, F., A study in machine learning applications for sound source localisation with regards to distance, AES 146th Convention, 2019, pp1-
Gorzel, M. and Allen, A. and Kelly, I. and Kammerl, J. and Gungormusler, A. and Yeh, H. and Boland, F., Efficient encoding and decoding of binaural sound with resonance audio, AES E-Library, Conference on Immersive and Interactive Audio, 2019-March, 2019, pp1-
Csadi, Sebastian; Boland, Francis M.; Ferguson, Luke; O'Dwyer, Hugh; & Bates, Enda, Direct to Reverberant Ratio Measurements in Small and Mid-sized Rooms, AES International Conference on Immersive and Interactive Audio,, York, UK, March 2019, 2019
O'Dwyer, Hugh.,Bates, Enda and Boland, Francis M., Machine Learning for Sound Source Elevation Detection, The 4th Workshop on Intelligent Music Production (WIMP2018), September 2018, 2018, pp1-
O'Dwyer, H. and Bates, E. and Boland, F., A machine learning approach to detecting sound-source elevation in adverse environments, 144th Audio Engineering Society Convention, Milan, 23-26 May, 2018, pp9968-
Bates, E. and Oâ Dwyer, H. and Flachsbarth, K.-P. and Boland, F.M., A recording technique for 6 degrees of freedom VR, 144th Audio Engineering Society Convention , Milan, 23-26 May, 2018, pp10022-
Bednar, A., Boland, F.M., Lalor, E.C., Different spatio-temporal electroencephalography features drive the successful decoding of binaural and monaural cues for sound localization, European Journal of Neuroscience, 45, (5), 2017, p679-689
Enda Bates, Sean Dooney, Marcin Gorzel, Hugh O'Dwyer, Luke Ferguson and Francis M. Boland , Comparing Ambisonic Microphones - Part 2, AES 142nd Convention of the AES, Berlin, Germany., 20-23 May, 2017, AES, 2017
Walsh ME, Galvin R, Boland F, Williams D, Harbison JA, Murphy S, Collins DR, McCabe DJH, Crowe M, Horgan NF, Validation of two risk prediction models for recurrent falls in the first year after stroke: A prospective cohort study, Age and Ageing, 46, (4), 2017, p642-648,
O'Dwyer SM, MacHale E, Sulaiman I, Holmes M, Hughes C, D'Arcy S, Rapcan V, Taylor T, Boland F, Bosnic-Anticevich S, Reilly RB, Ryder SA, Costello RW, The effect of providing feedback on inhaler technique and adherence from an electronic audio recording device, INCA®, in a community pharmacy setting: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial., Trials, 17, (1), 2016, p226
Sulaiman I, Seheult J, MacHale E, Boland F, O'Dwyer SM, Rapcan V, D'Arcy S, Cushen B, Mokoka M, Killane I, Ryder SA, Reilly RB, Costello RW, A Method to Calculate Adherence to Inhaled Therapy That Reflects the Changes in Clinical Features of Asthma., Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 13, (1), 2016, p1894-1903.
Enda Bates, Frank Boland, Spatial Music, Virtual Reality, & 360 Media, AES Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality, Los Angeles, USA, 30/09/2016, 2016
Wang Y.-F., Kilpatrick J.I., Suzi Jarvis S.P., Frank Boland F.M., Kokaram A., Corrigan D., Double-Tip Artifact Removal from Atomic Force Microscopy Images, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 25, (6), 2016, p2774 - 2788, p2774-2788
Stefano, L.D. and Boland, F., Three-dimensional inspection of printed circuit boards using phase profilometry, 2015
Meriel Huggard, Frank Boland, Ciaran Mc Goldrick, Using Cooperative Learning to Enhance Critical Reflection, IEEE Frontiers in Education, Madrid, Spain, 22-25 October 2014 , IEEE, 2014, pp1899 - 1906
Ian J. Kelly, Francis M. Boland, Randomness and the reverberation time, RT60, of acoustic responses, IEEE International Conference ob Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP), Florence, Italy, May 2014, 2014, pp8222 - 8226
Gorzel, M. and Kearney, G. and Boland, F., Investigation of Ambisonic rendering of elevated sound sources, 2014-January, 2014
Yun-feng Wang, Jason I Kilpatrick, Suzanne P Jarvis, Frank Boland, Anil Kokaram, David Corrigan, Automated Registration of Low and High Resolution Atomic Force Microscopy Images using Scale Invariant Features, IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), Paris, France, October 2014, 2014
I. J. Kelly, F. M. Boland, Detecting Arrivals in Room Impulse Responses with Dynamic Time Warping, IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 22, (7), 2014, p1139 - 1147
O'Toole, B.C. and Gorzel, M. and Kelly, I.J. and O'Sullivan, L. and Kearney, G. and Boland, F., Virtual 5.1 surround sound localization using head-tracking devices, 2014, (CP639), 2014, pp41-46
Kelly, I.J. and Boland, F.M. and O'Toole, B. and Gorzel, M., Phase and randomness in acoustic responses, 2014, (CP639), 2014, pp47-52
Corrigan D., Gorzel M., Squires J., Boland F., Depth perception of audio sources in stereo 3D environments , IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging, Stereoscopic Displays and Applications, Burlingame, CA, USA , 2013, 2013
Scanlon P.,Kavanagh D., Boland F. M. , Residual Life Prediction of Rotating Machines Using Acoustic Noise Signals, Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on, 62, (1), 2013, p95-108
Kelly I.J. and Boland F.M., Exploiting randomness in acoustic impulse responses to achieve headphone compensation through deconvolution, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 133, (5), 2013, p2778 - 2787
Kearney G., Gorzel M., Boland F, On Loudspeaker Rendering of Auditory Distance in Higher Order Ambisonics, Acoustics 2012, Nantes, France, , April 2012, 2012
Kelly I.,J., Boland F.,M., On Phase and Randomness in Head Related Impulse Responses, 9th IMA International Conference on Mathematics in Signal Processing, Birmingham, UK, December 2012, IMA, 2012
Masterson, C. and Kearney, G. and Gorzel, M. and Boland, F.M., HRIR Order Reduction Using Approximate Factorization, Audio, Speech, and Language Processing, IEEE Transactions on, 20, (6), 2012, p1808 - 1817
Kearney, Gavin; Gorzel, Marcin; Rice, Henry; Boland, Frank, Distance Perception in Interactive Virtual Acoustic Environments using First and Higher Order Ambisonic Sound Fields, Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 98, (1), 2012, p61-71
Kearney, G. and Kelly, D. and Boland, F., Improved ITD estimation in reverberant environments, 2011
Kearney, Gavin; Masterson, Claire;Gorzel, Marcin; Rice, Henry; Boland, Frank, Application of HRIR Factorisation to Game Audio, Proceedings of the AES 41st International Conference: Audio for Games, 41st International Conference: Audio for Games , London, UK, February 2-4, 2011, Audio Engineering Society, 2011, ppP1-1
O'Sullivan, L. and Boland, F., Visualizing and controlling sound with graphical interfaces, 2011
M. Gorzel, G. Kearney, H. Rice, F. Boland, On the Perception of Dynamic Sound Sources in Ambisonic Binaural Renderings, 41st AES International Conference: Audio for Games , London, February 2011, AES, 2011, ppPaper No P2-1
Kelly, D. and Kokaram, A. and Boland, F., Voxel-based Viterbi Active Speaker Tracking (V-VAST) with best view selection for video lecture post-production, (5946941), 2011, pp2296-2299
Kearney, G., Gorzel, M., Boland, F., (...), Lennon, D., Rice, H, Real-time walkthrough auralisation of the acoustics of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics, 8th International Conference on Auditorium Acoustics 2011, Dublin, 20-22 May, 33, (2), 2011, pp244-258
Gorzel, M. and Kearney, G. and Boland, F. and Rice, H., Virtual acoustic recording: An interactive approach, 13th International conference on digital audio effects (DAFX), Graz, Austria, 2010
Gavin Kearney, Marcin Gorzel, Frank Boland, Henry Rice, Depth Perception in Interactive Virtual Acoustic Environments using Higher Order Ambisonic Soundfields, Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Ambisonics and Spherical Acoustics, Second International Symposium on Ambisonics and Spherical Acoustics, Paris, France, 6-7 May, 2010, edited by Markus Noisternig and Nicolas Misdariis , IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), 2010
Masterson, C. and Kearney, G. and Gorzel, M. and Rice, H. and Boland, F., Optimised virtual loudspeaker reproduction, IET Conference Publications, 2010, (566 CP), 2010, pp88-93
Adams, S. and Boland, F., On the distortion of binaural localization cues using headphones, 2010, (566 CP), 2010, pp82-87
G.J. Bennett, K. Kelly, R. Collins, F. Boland, C. McGoldrick, S. Pavia, K. O'Kelly, Implementation of Project Based Learning in a Large Engineering Programme, 3rd International Symposium for Engineering Education (ISEE2010), University College Cork, 30/06-2/07 2010, edited by E. Byrne , 2010, pp214 - 223
Claire Masterson, Gavin Kearney, Frank Boland, HRIR Factorisation: A Regularised Approach, Proceedings of the 18th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO 2010), 18th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO-2010), Aalborg, Denmark, August 23-27, 2010, 2010
O'Sullivan, L. and Boland, F., Towards a fuzzy logic approach to drum pattern humanisation, 2010
Masterson, C. and Adams, S. and Kearney, G. and Boland, F., A method for head related impulse response simplification, 2009, pp2569-2573
Claire Masterson, Gavin Kearney and Frank Boland, Acoustic Impulse Response Interpolation for Multichannel Systems using Dynamic Time Warping, Audio Engineering Society 35th Conference, London, England, February, 2009, pp1 - 10
Gavin Kearney, Claire Masterson, Stephen Adams and Frank Boland, Dynamic Time Warping for Acoustic Response Interpolation: Possibilities and Limitations, Proceedings of the 17th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO 2009), 17th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO 2009), Glasgow, Scotland, August 24-28, 2009, 2009, pp705 - 709
McCarthy, D. and Boland, F., A method for source-microphone range estimation in reverberant environments using arrays of unknown geometry, Eurasip Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, 2008, (849246), 2008
Gavin Kearney and Rozenn Dahyot and Frank Boland, Audio-Visual Processing Tools for Auditory Scene Synthesis, Convention Audio Engineering Society, Amsterdam, May 17-20, 2008, edited by Audio Engineering Society , 2008, pp10
D. McCarthy, F. Boland, A Method for Source-Microphone Range Estimation, Using Arrays of Unknown Geometry, in Reverberant Room Environments, EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing , EUSIPCO 2007, September 2007, 2008, 2008
D. Kelly, F. Pitie,A.Kokaram, F. Boland,, A Comparative Error Analysis of Audio-Visual Source Localization, International Workshop on Multi Camera and Multi-modal Sensor Fusion, ECCV 2008, Marsaille, October 2008, 2008
Kavanagh, Darren F.; Scanlon, Patricia; Boland, Frank;, Envelope analysis and data-driven approaches to acoustic feature extraction for predicting the remaining useful life of rotating machinery, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, March 31 2008-April , 2008, pp1621 - 1624
D. McCarthy and F. Boland, A Method for Source-Microphone Range Estimation in Reverberant Environments Using Arrays of Unknown Geometry, Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, 2008, 2008
O'Kelly B.C., Torrance A.A., West R.P., Burke M.J. and Boland F.M., Case study of an interdisciplinary problem-based engineering design course, Proceedings of the Sixth AECEF International Symposium on Civil Engineering Education in Changing Europe, Vilnius, Lithuania, 28-30 May 2008, 2008, pp37 - 48
Gavin Kearney, Enda Bates, Dermot Furlong and Frank Boland, A Comparative Study of the Performance of Spatialisation Techniques for a Distributed Audience in a Concert Hall Environment , Proceedings of 31st International Conference of the Audio Engineering Society, 31st International Conference of the Audio Engineering Society, June 2007, AES, 2007
Enda Bates, G. Kearney, F. Boland and D. Furlong, Monophonic source localization for a distributed audience in a small concert hall, Proceedings of 10th Int. Conference on Digital Audio Effects , '10th Int. Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx-07), Bordeaux,, 10th to 15th of Sept, 2007
Kearney, G. and Bates, E. and Boland, F. and Furlong, D., A comparative study of the performance of spatialization techniques for a distributed audience in a concert hall environment, 2007
McCarthy, D.L. and Boland, F., A method for source-microphone range estimation, using arrays of unknown geometry, in reverberant room environments, 2007, pp758-762
Gavin Kearney, Enda Bates, Dermot Furlong and Frank Boland, A Comparative Study of the Performance of Spatialisation Techniques for a Distributed Audience in a Concert Hall Environment , 31st International Conference of the Audio Engineering Society, June 2007, AES, 2007
E. Bates, G. Kearney, D. Furlong and F. Boland., Localisation Accuracy of Advanced Spatialisation Techniques in Medium-Sized Concert Halls, Proc of 153rd meeting of the Acoustical Society Of America, 153rd meeting of the Acoustical Society Of America, June 2007, 2007
D. Kavanagh and F. Boland, A non-linear operator based method for harmonic feature extraction from speech signals, Proceedings on IEEE International Conference on Signal Processing and Communications, IEEE International Conference on Signal Processing and Communications, November 2007, 2007
G. Kearney, D. Kelly, E. Bates, F. Boland and D. Furlong, Source Localisation Mapping using Weighted Interaural Cross-Correlation, Irish Signals and Systems Conference, September, 2007
A. Quinlan, F. Boland, J. Barbo , P. Larzabal, Determination of the Number of Wideband Acoustical Sources in a Reverberant Environment, 14th EUSIPCO, September 2006, 2006
D. L McCarthy and F. Boland, A multichannel speech dereverberation technique based upon the Wiener filter, Proceedings of AES, AES 120th Convention, Paris, May 20-23, AES, 2006
Angela Quinlan, Frank Boland, Jean-Pierre Barbot, Pascal Larzabal, Determination of the Number of Wideband Acoustical Sources in a Reverberant Environment, EUSIPCO '06, 2006
Mickael Lallart, Frank Boland, Onset Detection for Direction Estimation using Ultrasonic Transducers, EUSIPCO'06, 2006
D. McCarthy, F. Boland, A method for source-microphone range estimation in reverberant environments, using an array of microphones of unknown relative position, Proceedings of ISSC 2006, ISSC 2006, Dublin, 28-30 June 2006, IEEE, 2006, pp495 - 499
D. Kelly, F. Boland., Motion Model Selection in Tracking Humans, Proceedings of IET Irish Signals and Systems Conference (ISSC 2006), ISSC, Dublin, 28-30 June 2006, IET, 2006, pp363-368
McCarthy, D.L. and Boland, F., The effect of near-field sources on the Griffiths-Jim generalised sidelobe canceller, (CP 511), 2005, pp29-34
Deepti Singh, Frank Boland, Time Delay Estimation Using Difference Functions, Proc IEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference 2005, IEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference 2005, Trinity College Dublin, 1-2 Sept. , 2005, pp174-179
D. Singh, F. Boland, Time Delay Estimation Using Difference Functions, Proceedings of Irish Signals and Systems Conference , IEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference 2005, Dublin, IEEE, 2005, pp174-179
D. L. McCarthy, F. Boland, The Effect of Near - Field Sources on the Griffiths-Jim Generalised Sidelobe Canceller', Proceedings of the IEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference, IEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference, Dublin, 1-2 Sept. 2005 , 2005, pp29 -34
Denis L. McCarthy, Frank Boland, The Effect of Near - Field Sources on the Griffiths-Jim Generalised Sidelobe Canceller, Proc IEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference 2005, IEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference 2005, Trinity College Dublin, IET, 2005, pp29-34
A Quinlan and F. Boland,, Using the "Singer's Formant" to Reduce Inaccuracies in the Location of a Singer on Stage', Proceedings of Irish Signals and Systems Conference, Irish Signals and Systems Conference, Belfast, June 30th-July 2nd, 2004, pp485 - 489
A. Quinlan and F. Boland, The Effect of Vibrato on Singer Localisation, Proc GSPx , Global Signal Processing Conference, Santa Clara, California, September 27-30,, 2004
O'Ruanaidh, J.J.K. Dowling, W.J. Boland, F.M. , Watermarking digital images for copyright protection, IEE PROCEEDINGS-Vision, Image and Signal Processing, 143, (4), 1996, p250 - 256
Boland, F.M.; O'Ruanaidh, J.J.K.; Dautzenberg, C, Watermarking digital images for copyright protection, Proc on Fifth International Conference on Image Processing and its Applications, Fifth International Conference on Image Processing and its Applications, Edinburgh, 4-6 Jul 1995, 1995, pp326 - 330
Signal and Image Processing in, editor(s)John T.L.Thong , Electron Beam Testing Technology, New York and London, Plenum Press, 1993, pp315 - 358, [F.M.Boland, R. Lynch]
Melgara, Marcello, Battu, Mario, Garino, Pierangelo, Boland, Frank, , Automatic location of IC design errors using an electron beam system, CSELT Technical Reports, 17, (1), 1989, p73-81
Advice Project: Final Balance and Future Perspectives in, editor(s)Commission of the European Communities Directorate-General Telecommunications Information Industries and Innovation , Esprit '89 , Netherlands, Springer, 1989, pp89 - 99, [M. Melgara, I. Whyte, Y.J. Vernay, F.Boland, B.Courtois]
Melgara, M., Battu, M., Garino, P., Dowe, J., Vernay, Y.J., Marzouki, M., Boland, F. , Automatic location of IC design errors using an e-beam system, Digest of Papers - International Test Conference , International Test Conference , Washington, DC, USA, 09/12/1988 - 09/14/1, IEEE, 1988, pp898-907
J . B. Foley and F. M. Boland, A Note on the Convergence Analysis of LMS Adaptive Filters with Gaussian Data, 1988, - 1809-1810
E R Lynch and F M Boland, Waveform parametrisation in stroboscopic scanning electron microscopy, JOURNAL OF PHYSICS E-SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, 21, 1988, p197 - 203
F. M. Boland and J. B. Foley, Stochastic convergence of the LMS algorithm in adaptive systems , SIGNAL PROCESSING, 13, (4), 1987, p339 - 352
Foley, JB and Boland, F, COMPARISON BETWEEN STEEPEST DESCENT AND LMS ALGORITHMS IN ADAPTIVE FILTERS, IEE PROCEEDINGS-F RADAR AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, 134, 1987, p283 - 289
F M Boland and E R Lynch, Analysis of the stroboscopic waveform mode in scanning electron microscopy, JOURNAL OF PHYSICS E-SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, 20, 1987, p1011 - 1015
Lynch, E.R., Boland, F.M., WAVEFORM PARAMETER EXTRACTION IN E-BEAM TESTING., Microelectronic Engineering, 7, (2-4), 1987, p195-199
Normile, JO and Boland F, Adaptive Filtering with Finite Wordlength constraints, IEE PROCEEDINGS-E COMPUTERS AND DIGITAL TECHNIQUES, 130, (2), 1983, p42 - 48
BOLAND, FM, GIBLIN, J, NON-LINEAR CONTROL OF NON-MINIMUM-PHASE SYSTEMS, IEE PROCEEDINGS-D CONTROL THEORY AND APPLICATIONS, 129, 1982, p118 - 122
Boland, F.M., Normile, J.O. , ADAPTIVE FILTERS DESIGN AND STABILITY CONSIDERATIONS., Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 3, IEEE, New York, NY, USA, 1982, pp1248-1249
Boland, F.; Doyle, T., Deconvolution in real time of noisy signals, Proceedings of IEE Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, IEEE International Conference on ICASSP '82., 7, IEEE, 1982, pp1853- 1857
BOLAND FM, DOYLE T , PRACTICAL PROBLEMS IN THE USE OF CORRELATION-ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY NON-LINEAR SYSTEMS, 1982, -
BOLAND, FM, ON THE STABILITY OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL DISCRETE-SYSTEMS - COMMENT, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, 26, 1981, 799 - 800
Boland, F.M., Mousavi, S.A. , SYSTEMS ENGINEERING IN LAND TRANSPORT - A COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT APPROACH TO THE OPTIMISATION OF TRACTION DRIVE CONTROL., Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Conference Publications , 1980, p25-28
Boland, F.M., Owens, D.H., On quantization and other bounded nonlinearities. in first-order discrete multivariable control., IEE Proceedings D: Control Theory and Applications, 127, (2), 1980, p38-44
Boland, F.M., Owens, D.H., LINEAR MULTIPASS PROCESSES: A TWO-DIMENSIONAL INTERPRETATION., IEE Proceedings D: Control Theory and Applications, 127, (5), IEEE, 1980, pp189-193
Boland, F.M., Owens, D.H., BOUNDS FOR THE ZEROS OF PARTIALLY SYMMETRIC MULTIVARIABLE SYSTEMS., Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, 126, (8), IEEE, 1979, pp789-790
Billings, S.A., Boland, F.M., Nicholson, H., Electric arc furnace modelling and control, Automatica, 15, (2), 1979, p137-148
Boland, F.M., OPTIMAL CONTROL OF THE ARGON-OXYGEN DECARBURISING STEELMAKING PROCESS, 126, (2), 1979, p198-202
Billings, S.A., Boland, F.M., Nicholson, H., CONTROL OF STEELMAKING IN THE ELECTRIC ARC FURNACE., 1977, p189-196
Boland, F.M., Nicholson, H., ESTIMATION OF THE STATES DURING REFINING IN ELECTRIC-ARC-FURNACE STEELMAKING., Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, 124, (2), 1977, p161-166.
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
O'Dwyer, Hugh, Bates, Enda and Boland, Francis M, A Machine Learning Approach to Detecting Sound-Source Elevation in Adverse Environments, Audio Engineering Society Convention 144, Milan, Italy, May 2018, (9968), 2018
Research Expertise
Description
Research interests in digital signal processing and technology for audio, acoustics. Systems theory for modelling and design in complex and adaptive systems.Projects
- Title
- Mathematical Modelling of Solar Heating Systems
- Funding Agency
- EU ESA-088
- Date From
- 1980
- Date To
- 1981
- Title
- Project 271 ADVICE
- Summary
- The ADVICE project aimed to develop a methodology and an environment for automatic design error diagnosis using an electron beam
- Funding Agency
- European Commission
- Date From
- December 1984
- Date To
- November 1989
- Title
- Contract No.P4:058 Adaptive Noise Cancelation
- Funding Agency
- National Enterprise Agency
- Date From
- 1 Jan1983
- Title
- Vector quantization of colour imagery
- Summary
- Comparison of alternative formulations of the vector quantization paradigm for application to colour imagery.
- Funding Agency
- APPLE Computers (US) & EOLAS HEIC
- Date From
- 1 Jan 1989
- Date To
- 31 Aug 1990
- Title
- Image analysis of colour and texture for the food industry
- Summary
- Meat quality assessment using machine vision
- Funding Agency
- EOLAS
- Date From
- Oct 1991
- Date To
- Sept 1993
- Title
- Institute for Advanced Microelectronics
- Summary
- UCC (NMRC), Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast combined their expertise in the Institute for Advanced Microelectronics, IAM, established with IFI help. The achievements of the Institute - technical and non-technical - are impressive. Collaboration and exchange between the three parties is now commonplace; the institute has played an active role in attracting major new industrial concerns to both parts of Ireland. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Institute was in becoming self-supporting. The original work has moved from academic research to industrial exploitation.
- Funding Agency
- International Fund for Ireland
- Date From
- 1992
- Date To
- 1996
- Title
- Machine Vision Centre
- Funding Agency
- Dept. of Industry
- Date From
- 1992
- Date To
- 1998
- Title
- Project R2008 EUROBRIDGE
- Summary
- To accelerate the development of multimedia and multipoint applications by providing application developers with a Service Platform enabling their applications to run on a variety of broadband networks. The main objective of the project is to accelerate the formation of a consensus in the European communications industry on the process of developing multimedia services and applications which operate on heterogeneous broadband networks, through its prototyping and demonstration activities. The project involves studies on a wide range of topics, such as user requirements, concept development, architecture and design with prototyping and public demonstrations which illustrate the usefulness of the project results to industry. A key concept is the development of a uniform service application interface on broadband networks based on different technologies
- Funding Agency
- European Commission
- Date From
- 1 Jan 1992
- Date To
- 31 Dec 1995
- Title
- Project 6534 3D-FASHION
- Summary
- The objective of the 3D-FASHION project was to develop a common database through which clothing designers and engineers can cooperate in designing garments in 3D and in preparing patterns for cutting.
- Funding Agency
- European Commission
- Date From
- 1 Sept 1992
- Date To
- 31 Aug 1995
- Title
- Project BE - 5535-92 DUALETO
- Summary
- Dual-energy computed tomography for the examination of fibre reinforced composites
- Funding Agency
- European Commission
- Date From
- 1 Mar 1993
- Date To
- 31 July 1997
- Title
- B1011 ARTLINE
- Summary
- This is a TEN-IBC (Trans European Networks - Integrated Broadband Communications) project. The broad aim of Artline is to specify the provision of an international online visual arts information service to a wide cross section of the community. The project is to assess the ideal end user and system requirements and produce a system specification in terms of the terminal hardware and software as well as scenarios for the use of Broadband bearer networks and services which will be possible to implement in the European context.
- Funding Agency
- European Commission
- Date From
- Nov 1994
- Date To
- May 1996
- Title
- Project AC242 OCTALIS
- Summary
- The objectives of this project are: - Specify and build up a prototype of an advanced information technology infrastructure that will support Quick and Accurate Response in consumable goods manufacturing industries; - Develop an Accurate Response (AR) manufacturing model; - Promote the benefits of adopting AR solutions among industry; - Devise ways of using information and communication technologies to improve manufacturing business performance by providing an enhanced and proactive respon
- Funding Agency
- European Commission
- Date From
- 15 Aug 1996
- Date To
- 14 Nov 1998
- Title
- Project 22038 AITEAR
- Summary
- The objectives of this project are: - Specify and build up a prototype of an advanced information technology infrastructure that will support Quick and Accurate Response in consumable goods manufacturing industries; - Develop an Accurate Response (AR) manufacturing model; - Promote the benefits of adopting AR solutions among industry; - Devise ways of using information and communication technologies to improve manufacturing business performance by providing an enhanced and proactive respon
- Funding Agency
- European Commisssion
- Date From
- 15 Aug 1996
- Date To
- 14 Nov 1998
- Title
- Project BIS - 4067 IMAGEIN
- Funding Agency
- European Commission
- Date From
- 1997
- Date To
- 1998
- Title
- Audio Signal Processing for Enhanced ELearning, ASPEEL
- Summary
- This project investigated advanced sound enhancement with DSP solutions for: (a) The use of microphone arrays for the acoustic scene analysis required to localize the active participant. (b) The synthesis of a soundfield that provides accurate spatial clues at the listeners' end. These tasks also considered the operation of active acoustic echo cancellation.
- Funding Agency
- Enterprise Ireland
- Date From
- 1 Oct 2003
- Date To
- 27 June 2006
- Title
- THRIVE - Tracking Headphones Realise Immersive Virtual Environments
- Summary
- The development of a set of technical subsystems for building an immersive audio/video environment, for use with headphones, in which the apparent sound source is localized within the user's video display. Assessment of such technical subsystems for interactive audio-visual presentations, in particular PC-based e-Learning and gaming systems.
- Funding Agency
- Enterprise Ireland
- Date From
- Feb 2011
- Date To
- Jan 2012
- Title
- THRIVE
- Summary
- THRIVE addresses the following challenges: 1. 5.1/7.1 audio are not designed for games as they favour frontal directions. The resultant sound scene is not uniform in terms of 'sharpness' of sounds. 2. Binaural sound is either unavailable or severely simplified or requires external (hardware) solutions 3. Lack of head-tracking in headphone listening produces physically wrong output and deteriorates the experience (lack of realism). 4. Headphones distort localization cues (very important for 'with-height' audio) 5. Only around 30% of available (known) cues are utilized to create a sensation of sound source depth (distance) which results in purely localized or 'in-head' sound.
- Funding Agency
- Enterprise Ireland
- Date From
- 1 Oct 2013
- Date To
- 30 Sept 2014
- Title
- Spatial audio over virtual and irregular arrays
- Summary
- In applications where audio is by headphone presentations, the result is a disjointed audio-visual presentation, since all audio appears 'in-head' and is not localised at the desired place. Furthermore, the movement of the soundfield with head motion prevents accurate and stable presentations of audio sources in the external domain. When loudspeaker configurations are used there are major geometric and spatial constraints on the location of the loudspeakers. That is, even the use of 5.1 spatial audio often requires the location of speakers at positions that are not compatible with domestic accommodation. Our research has been successful in creating head tracking based solutions to spatial auralisation on the horizontal plane. The novel approximation methods, this research has introduced, have firm theoretical foundations which will form the foundation for the proposed research. This research will investigate the challenges presented in processing audio to deliver accurate distance and elevation cues to headphone listeners and individual spatial audio cues via loudspeakers to multiple listeners. In particular, we wish to explore the presentation of spatial audio localisation cues in a dynamic environment.
- Funding Agency
- Science Foundation Ireland
- Date From
- 1 Sept 2014
- Date To
- 31 Aug 2018
Recognition
Representations
Visiting Academic Researcher, HM Health & Safety
Member NBST Telecommunications Research Committee
Member Forfas, Foresight Committee on IT
Member of the Electrical Division Board of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland
Member of Executive Committee of the Dublin Zoo
External Examiner for undergraduate courses at the University of Ulster and Dublin City University.
External Examiner for PhD and MSc degrees at UK and Irish universities.
Awards and Honours
Kelvin Premium, Institution of Electrical Engineers
Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, FTCD
Memberships
Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, FIEI, Chartered Engineer, C.Eng.