Modelling speech production using Yee´s finite difference method

This paper describes a model of speech production based on solving for acoustic wave propagation in the vocal tract using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. This FDTD technique was first developed by Yee (1966) and utilizes a discretization scheme in which pressure and velocity components are interleaved in both space and time. The specific implementation of this model of speech production, including discretization of the coupled acoustic wave equations, boundary conditions, stability criteria, values of model constants, and method of excitation, are presented. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparing the FDTD results to the theoretically expected results for a well-known acoustics problem. The FDTD model of speech production has been used in a variety of experiments, and several results, including those that compare the use of several common glottal models as excitation, are presented