Patent Grant
10951998
This document relates generally to hearing assistance systems and more particularly to a hearing assistance device that includes an antenna configured for decreasing degradation in performance of wireless communication due to head loading when the hearing assistance device is worn.
Hearing assistance devices such as hearing aids are used to assist patients suffering hearing loss by transmitting amplified sounds to ear canals. The sounds may be detected from a patient's environment using the microphone in a hearing aid and/or received from a streaming device via a wireless link. Wireless communication may also be performed for programming the hearing aid and receiving information from the hearing aid. In one example, a hearing aid is worn in and/or around a patient's ear. Patients generally prefer that their hearing aids are minimally visible or invisible, do not interfere with their daily activities, and easy to maintain. The hearing aids may each include an antenna for the wireless communication. Due to the loading effect of the patient's body on the antenna, there is a need for optimizing performance of the wireless communication without increasing size and/or complexity of a hearing aid.
A hearing assistance device such as a hearing aid includes an antenna for wireless communication with another device. The antenna includes two antenna elements and a cross-feed that provides for electrical connection between the two antenna elements. The cross-feed having a flared structure configured to reduce an effect of head loading on the performance of the wireless communication by approximately minimizing capacitive coupling between the cross-feed and a wearer when the hearing assistance device is worn by the wearer.
This Summary is an overview of some of the teachings of the present application and not intended to be an exclusive or exhaustive treatment of the present subject matter. Further details about the present subject matter are found in the detailed description and appended claims. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
The following detailed description of the present subject matter refers to subject matter in the accompanying drawings which show, by way of illustration, specific aspects and embodiments in which the present subject matter may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present subject matter. References to “an”, “one”, or “various” embodiments in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references contemplate more than one embodiment. The following detailed description is demonstrative and not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present subject matter is defined by the appended claims, along with the full scope of legal equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
This document discusses a hearing assistance device, such as a hearing aid, with an antenna that is configured to reduce effects of “head loading” on performance of wireless communication. An antenna when placed next to the head of the wearer of the hearing assistance device (or any other dielectric object) will experience a shift in impedance. If this shift in impedance is too large for the antenna matching network of the hearing assistance device to account for at a certain frequency, the wireless communication at that frequency will either operate with degraded performance or become inoperable. Examples of solutions to this problem include adding more capacitor banks to make the matching network tunable and increasing spacing between the antenna and the wearer. However, such solutions increase the complexity, power consumption, size, and/or visibility of the hearing assistance device, none of which is desirable, especially when the hearing assistance device is a hearing aid.
The present subject matter provides an antenna configured for use in a hearing assistance device such as a hearing aid with reduced head loading, i.e., reduced shift in impedance when the hearing aid is placed on the wearer's head (e.g., in and/or around an ear). In various embodiments, the present subject matter can be implemented with limited modification of existing antenna configurations and limited or no modification of other parts of the hearing assistance device. While a loop antenna, particularly a “butterfly antenna” configuration for used in a behind-the-ear (BTE) type hearing aid is discussed as a specific example with reference to
Antenna 110 includes two antenna elements 112 and a cross-feed 114 that electrically connects antenna elements 112. In the illustrated embodiment, antenna elements 112 include two approximately symmetric antenna loops positioned in parallel on opposite sides of hearing aid 100. The two antenna loops comprise two small (relative to a wavelength of the operating frequency of the wireless communication) inductive loop antennas connected in parallel. This antenna inductance is then brought to parallel resonance by adding a resonating capacitor near the feed-point (where the two antenna loops are connected with the cross-feed). Cross-feed 114 includes two cross-feed lines each connected between the two antenna loops. In various embodiments, cross-feed 114 is configured to reduce or approximately minimize its capacitive coupling to the wearer, particularly the wearer's head and/or ear, when hearing aid 100 is being worn by the wearer.
When hearing aid 100 is worn by the wearer, and antenna 110 is positioned on the wearer's head/ear in a way similar to antenna 210 placed on head 201/ear 202 as illustrated in
The present subject matter reduces the amount of shift in the tuning of the antenna's resonant frequency by decreasing coupling of the loop antennas cross-feed/feed-point area to the wearer's head/ear.
In some examples, portions of antenna 310 including cross-feed 314 and structures near cross-feed 314 that are normal to the wearer's head when the hearing aid is worn are limited to reduce the amount of shift in the tuning of the antenna's resonant frequency. That portion of the antenna is believed to be attributed to higher ear-to-ear communication performance due to the excitation of the mode across the head that is most easily excited through normal current distribution to the conductive surface of the wearer's head and skin. In various embodiments, the present subject matter flares the cross-feed before the feed point (where the two conductor trace are at closest distance from each other as illustrated) so that there is less coupling between cross-feed lines and less area for capacitive loading from the head and specifically the top of the ear of the wearer. In various embodiments, this requires small modifications to hearing aid antennas currently distributed in devices in the field, such as those similar to antenna 310. Such a small modification can significantly improve the performance of the wireless communication when head loading is a concern.
The approximately 90-degree bends and 45-degree bends are illustrated as specific examples rather than limitations of the present subject matter. In various embodiments, cross-feed 514 has a flared structure configured to approximately minimize capacitive coupling between cross-feed 514 and the wearer (primarily the head and/or the ear of the wearer). The flared structure includes cross-feed lines each having one or more bends. In various embodiments, the flared structure may include cross-feed 514 and portions of antenna loops 512. In the illustrated embodiment, the flared structure includes two lines (the two cross-feed lines and portions of the two antenna loops) each having two approximately 45-degree bends. In various embodiments, the flared structure includes two lines each include a plurality of bends with angles having a sum of approximately 90 degrees.
For hearing aids using antenna 314 or an antenna similar to antenna 314, switching to antenna 514 has little or no impact on the mechanical foot print of the antenna. This represents an improvement that increases the antenna efficiency while decreasing the amount of capacitive loading seen by the antenna from the wearer's body when the hearing assistance device such as the hearing aid is worn.
While illustrated in
Hearing assistance devices typically include at least one enclosure or housing, a microphone, hearing assistance device electronics including processing electronics, and a speaker or “receiver.” Hearing assistance devices may include a power source, such as a battery. In various embodiments, the battery may be rechargeable. In various embodiments multiple energy sources may be employed. It is understood that in various embodiments the microphone is optional. It is understood that in various embodiments the receiver is optional. It is understood that variations in communications protocols, antenna configurations, and combinations of components may be employed without departing from the scope of the present subject matter. Antenna configurations may vary and may be included within an enclosure for the electronics or be external to an enclosure for the electronics. Thus, the examples set forth herein are intended to be demonstrative and not a limiting or exhaustive depiction of variations.
It is understood that digital hearing aids include a processor. In digital hearing aids with a processor, programmable gains may be employed to adjust the hearing aid output to a wearer's particular hearing impairment. The processor may be a digital signal processor (DSP), microprocessor, microcontroller, other digital logic, or combinations thereof. The processing may be done by a single processor, or may be distributed over different devices. The processing of signals referenced in this application can be performed using the processor or over different devices. Processing may be done in the digital domain, the analog domain, or combinations thereof. Processing may be done using subband processing techniques. Processing may be done using frequency domain or time domain approaches. Some processing may involve both frequency and time domain aspects. For brevity, in some examples drawings may omit certain blocks that perform frequency synthesis, frequency analysis, analog-to-digital conversion, digital-to-analog conversion, amplification, buffering, and certain types of filtering and processing. In various embodiments the processor is adapted to perform instructions stored in one or more memories, which may or may not be explicitly shown. Various types of memory may be used, including volatile and nonvolatile forms of memory. In various embodiments, the processor or other processing devices execute instructions to perform a number of signal processing tasks. Such embodiments may include analog components in communication with the processor to perform signal processing tasks, such as sound reception by a microphone, or playing of sound using a receiver (i.e., in applications where such transducers are used). In various embodiments, different realizations of the block diagrams, circuits, and processes set forth herein can be created by one of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present subject matter.
Various embodiments of the present subject matter support wireless communications with a hearing assistance device. In various embodiments the wireless communications can include standard or nonstandard communications. Some examples of standard wireless communications include, but not limited to, Bluetooth™, low energy Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11 (wireless LANs), 802.15 (WPANs), and 802.16 (WiMAX). Cellular communications may include, but not limited to, CDMA, GSM, ZigBee, and ultra-wideband (UWB) technologies. In various embodiments, the communications are radio frequency communications. In various embodiments the communications are optical communications, such as infrared communications. In various embodiments, the communications are inductive communications. In various embodiments, the communications are ultrasound communications. Although embodiments of the present system may be demonstrated as radio communication systems, it is possible that other forms of wireless communications can be used. It is understood that past and present standards can be used. It is also contemplated that future versions of these standards and new future standards may be employed without departing from the scope of the present subject matter.
The wireless communications support a connection from other devices. Such connections include, but are not limited to, one or more mono or stereo connections or digital connections having link protocols including, but not limited to 802.3 (Ethernet), 802.4, 802.5, USB, ATM, Fibre-channel, Firewire or 1394, InfiniBand, or a native streaming interface. In various embodiments, such connections include all past and present link protocols. It is also contemplated that future versions of these protocols and new protocols may be employed without departing from the scope of the present subject matter.
In various embodiments, the present subject matter is used in hearing assistance devices that are configured to communicate with mobile phones. In such embodiments, the hearing assistance device may be operable to perform one or more of the following: answer incoming calls, hang up on calls, and/or provide two way telephone communications. In various embodiments, the present subject matter is used in hearing assistance devices configured to communicate with packet-based devices. In various embodiments, the present subject matter includes hearing assistance devices configured to communicate with streaming audio devices. In various embodiments, the present subject matter includes hearing assistance devices configured to communicate with Wi-Fi devices. In various embodiments, the present subject matter includes hearing assistance devices capable of being controlled by remote control devices.
It is further understood that different hearing assistance devices may embody the present subject matter without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The devices depicted in the figures are intended to demonstrate the subject matter, but not necessarily in a limited, exhaustive, or exclusive sense. It is also understood that the present subject matter can be used with a device designed for use in the right ear or the left ear or both ears of the wearer.
The present subject matter may be employed in hearing assistance devices, such as headsets, headphones, and similar hearing devices.
The present subject matter is demonstrated for hearing assistance devices, including hearing aids, including but not limited to, behind-the-ear (BTE), in-the-ear (ITE), in-the-canal (ITC), receiver-in-canal (RIC), or completely-in-the-canal (CIC) type hearing aids. It is understood that behind-the-ear type hearing aids may include devices that reside substantially behind the ear or over the ear. Such devices may include hearing aids with receivers associated with the electronics portion of the behind-the-ear device, or hearing aids of the type having receivers in the ear canal of the user, including but not limited to receiver-in-canal (RIC) or receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) designs. The present subject matter can also be used in hearing assistance devices generally, such as cochlear implant type hearing devices and such as deep insertion devices having a transducer, such as a receiver or microphone, whether custom fitted, standard fitted, open fitted and/or occlusive fitted. It is understood that other hearing assistance devices not expressly stated herein may be used in conjunction with the present subject matter.
This application is intended to cover adaptations or variations of the present subject matter. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. The scope of the present subject matter should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of legal equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/246,357, filed Aug. 24, 2016, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,349,192, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/211,249, filed Aug. 28, 2015, entitled “ANTENNA WITH FLARED CROSS-FEED IN A HEARING ASSISTANCE DEVICE”, each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190327568 A1 | Oct 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62211249 | Aug 2015 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15246357 | Aug 2016 | US |
| Child | 16503231 | US |
