Patent Application
20170142528
This application relates generally to method and apparatus for a hearing assistance system, and more particularly to method and apparatus for a binaural hearing assistance system using a monaural audio signal.
Modern wireless audio devices frequently apply a monaural signal to a single ear. For example, devices such as cell phones and cellular headsets receive monaural communications for application to a single ear. By this approach, many advantages of binaural hearing are lost. Such devices only apply sound to one ear, so hearing can be impaired by loud noises in the other ear, and hearing can be impaired by hearing limitations associated with a particular ear.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved hearing assistance system which provides the advantages of binaural hearing for listening to a monaural signal. The system should be controllable to provide better hearing, convenience, and an unobtrusive design. In certain variations, the system may also allow a user to customize his or her hearing experience by controlling the sounds received by the system.
This application addresses the foregoing need in the art and other needs not discussed herein. The various embodiments described herein relate to a wireless system for binaural hearing assistance devices.
One embodiment includes an apparatus for a user having a first ear and a second ear, including a wireless device to transmit a signal containing monaural information; a first hearing assistance device including: a first radio receiver to receive the signal; an adjustable phase shifter adapted to apply a plurality of controllable, incremental phase shifts to the monaural information on the signal; and a first speaker to produce a first audio signal for the first ear; and a second hearing assistance device including a second radio receiver and a second speaker to produce a second audio signal for the second ear, wherein the first and second audio signals are produced with adjustable relative phase based on a setting of the adjustable phase shifter. Various embodiments provide adjustable level controls and microphones in combinations of first and/or second hearing assistance devices. Some applications include communications between cellular devices, such as cellular phones and hearing aids. Various embodiments provide applications using wireless audio controllers having packetized audio. Both manual and automatic adjustments are provided. In various embodiments, different combinations of receivers and sensors, such as magnetic field sensors, are provided. In various embodiments, processing adapted to account for head-related transfer functions and for controlling the electronics using it are provided.
In one embodiment, a system is provided for a user having a first ear and a second ear, including: a device comprising a controllable phase shifter adapted to receive a monaural information signal and convert it into a first monaural signal and a second monaural signal, the first and second monaural signals having an interaural phase shift; a first hearing assistance device including: a first receiver adapted to receive the first monaural signal; and a first speaker to produce a first audio signal for the first ear; and a second hearing assistance device including: a second receiver adapted to receive the second monaural signal; and a second speaker to produce a second audio signal for the second ear. Various embodiments provide adjustable level controls and microphones in combinations of first and/or second hearing assistance devices. Some applications include communications between cellular devices, such as cellular phones and hearing aids. Various embodiments provide applications using wireless audio controllers having packetized audio. Both manual and automatic adjustments are provided. In various embodiments, different combinations of receivers and sensors, such as magnetic field sensors, are provided. In various embodiments, processing adapted to account for head-related transfer functions and for controlling the electronics using it are provided.
Methods are also provided, including for example, a method for providing sound to a first ear and a second ear of a wearer of first and second hearing assistance devices, including: receiving a monaural information signal; converting the monaural information signal into a first monaural signal and a second monaural signal, the first and second monaural signals differing in relative phase which is controllable; and providing a first sound based on the first monaural signal to the first ear of the wearer and a second sound based on the second monaural signal to the second ear of the wearer to provide binaural sound to the wearer. Different applications, including different methods for lateralizing perceived sounds and levels of perceived sounds, are provided. Different embodiments for methods of use, including sensing telephone (telecoil) modes, are provided. Different embodiments for applications employing head-related transfer functions and relaying are also provided. A variety of different interaural delays and phase changes are provided. Other embodiments not expressly mentioned in this Summary are found in the detailed description.
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.
Various embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the figures of the accompanying drawings.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the various embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. The following description and drawings provide examples for illustration, and are not intended to provide an exhaustive treatment of all possible implementations.
It should be noted that 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 present subject matter presents sound to both ears of a user wearing wireless hearing assistance devices which is derived from a single monaural signal. Among other things, it allows for better control of the received sound and obtains benefits of binaural hearing for listening to the monaural signal. In various embodiments, the sound presented to one ear is phase shifted relative to the sound presented to the other ear. In various embodiments, the phase shift arises from a constant time delay. In various embodiments, the phase shift arises from a constant phase shift at all frequencies. In various embodiments, the phase shift arises from a phase shift that is varying as a function of frequency. In various embodiments, the sound presented to one ear is set to a different level relative to the sound presented to the other ear. In various embodiments, the sound presented to one ear is controllable in relative phase and in relative level with respect to the sound presented to the other ear. Various apparatus and method set forth herein can be employed to accomplish these embodiments and their equivalents. Other variations not expressly set forth herein exist which are within the scope of the present subject matter. Thus, the examples provided herein demonstrate various aspects of the present subject matter and are not intended to be limiting or exclusive.
Such wireless devices 102 include, but are not limited to, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, personal computers, streaming audio devices, wide area network devices, local area network devices, personal area network devices, and remote microphones. In various embodiments, the wireless device 102 includes one or more of the interface embodiments demonstrated in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/687,707, filed Jun. 5, 2005, entitled: COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS AUDIO DEVICES, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/447,617, filed Jun. 5, 2006, entitled: COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS AUDIO DEVICES which claims the benefit of the provisional application, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This is also applicable to wireless devices 202, 302, and 402 as described herein.
In the embodiment demonstrated by
In the system of
In embodiments using BLUETOOTH as the communication protocol, it is noted that BLUETOOTH is normally directed for point-to-point communications using PIN's (personal identification numbers), such that the wireless device 102 is typically paired with only one other device, such as primary device R1. Thus, to allow the wireless device 102 to also communicate with secondary device R2, a second pairing must be done, whether by standard or nonstandard means.
The monaural signal 105 is received by receiver 122 which demodulates the signal and provides the audio signal 128 to signal processor 124. Signal processor 124 processes the signal to provide signal 130, which is then sent to speaker 126 to play the processed signal 130 to one ear of a wearer of R1. Various inputs from a user or from other external programming means may be employed to provide control to the signal processing performed by signal processor 124. These inputs can be accomplished with a variety of switches, and or programming ports, as needed to provide signal processing selections and/or parameters for the system.
In one embodiment, signal processor 124 is a digital signal processor. In one embodiment, signal processor 124 comprises hardware and software to accomplish the signal processing task. In one embodiment, signal processor 124 employs dedicated hardware in combination with other computational or digital signal processing hardware to perform the signal processing task. It is understood that a separate amplifier may be used for amplifying the signal 130 before sending it to speaker 126 as is known in the art. Thus,
For example, signal 125 could be generated as a result of a telephone device in proximity to the hearing assistance device to lateralize received sounds to the ear proximal the telephone. As another example, signal 125 can be generated to discontinue phase adjustment when the user receives a wireless signal indicating a ringing telephone. As another example, signal 125 can be generated to discontinue phase adjustment when detecting an emergency vehicle or other siren in proximity. Many other applications and operations of the system are possible without departing from the scope of the present subject matter. Those provided herein are intended to be demonstrative and not exhaustive or limiting of the present subject matter.
In applications where both R1 and R2 include the system of
Other signaling and communications modes may be accomplished without departing from the scope of the present subject matter. For example,
New virtual communication modes are also possible. When used in conjunction with telecommunications equipment, the system could provide a virtual handheld phone function without the user ever picking up the phone. For example, with this system, the user may answer his/her telephone (signaled from a ringing telephone), engage in a wireless session with his/her phone (e.g., Bluetooth communications with a cellular phone), and the system will programmably and automatically lateralize sound to a desired ear for binaural reception of the caller. All these activities can be performed without ever having to pick the phone up or place it near the ear. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate a number of other applications within the scope of the present subject matter.
In some embodiments, it is possible to also insert special audio information for playing to one or more ears based on events. For example, given the previous example of virtual phone, a voice could play when caller identification identifies the caller to let the wearer know who the caller is and to decide whether to answer his/her phone.
Other applications too numerous to mention herein are possible without departing from the scope of the present subject matter.
This additional relaying option demonstrates the flexibility of the system. Other relaying modes are possible without departing from the scope of the present subject matter.
In the various relaying modes provided herein, relaying may be performed in a variety of different embodiments. In one embodiment, the relaying is unidirectional. In one embodiment the relaying is bidirectional. In one embodiment, relaying of audio information is unidirectional and control information is bidirectional. Other embodiments of programmable relaying are possible involving combinations of unidirectional and bidirectional relaying. Thus, the system is highly programmable to adapt to a number of communication requirements and applications.
The phase adjusted signal may also be further processed using processor 434. The resulting signal is sent to radio transmitter 440 to provide S1 and S2 with the desired interaural phase/time delay and interaural level adjustments. Thus, the phase shifter circuitry is located at the wireless device 402 in this embodiment. In various embodiments, the wireless device 402 includes one or more of the interface embodiments demonstrated in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/687,707, filed Jun. 5, 2005, entitled: COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS AUDIO DEVICES, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/447,617, filed Jun. 5, 2006, entitled: COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR WIRELESS AUDIO DEVICES which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/687,707, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The functionalities of the wireless audio controller can be combined with the phase/time delay and level adjusting features described herein. Various different inputs may be used in combination to perform phase/time delay adjustment control and interaural level adjustment control.
The system of
The following discussion applies to all of the embodiments set forth herein. For audio applications including speech, a number of modes exist for binaural presentation of speech to the primary device and secondary device. Binaural speech information can greatly enhance intelligibility of speech. This is especially so when speech has been distorted through a vocoder and when the wearer is attempting to listen in a noisy environment. The following modes also provide other advantages to speech information, such as loudness summation and a release of masking making the speech more understandable in a noisy environment.
1) Coherent Signals: When signals are coherent, the signals provided to a wearer of, for example, a hearing aid receiving signals via the DAI interfaces are identical, producing a perception of centered sound to the user. Such speech would be diotic.
2) Incoherent Signals: A phase shift is applied across the spectrum of the signal either in the primary or the secondary device. For example, the speech signal in the secondary device could be inverted, equivalent to providing a 180 degree phase shift at all frequencies. The binaural speech will be perceived as diffuse and may be preferred by the wearer over the centered, diotic speech associated with coherent signals (above). The speech in the case of incoherent signals is dichotic. Those of skill in the art will know that many phase adjustments can be made to achieve a diffuse perception, including a constant change across frequency of a phase value other than 180 degrees, and a frequency-varying phase change. Time-domain filters, such as all-pass filters, can also be used to adjust the phase of the signal without the use of time-to-frequency conversion. One approach to providing such a phase shift includes conversion of the time domain signals processed by the system into frequency domain signals and then application of a predetermined phase to create the 180 degree shift for all frequencies of interest.
3) Lateralized Signals: A delay and/or attenuation is applied to the speech in either the primary or secondary device in order for the speech to be perceived as coming from the side that did not receive the delay and/or attenuation. Typical numbers include, but are not limited to, a one millisecond delay and a one decibel attenuation. Typical ranges of delay include, but are not limited to, 0.3 milliseconds to 10 milliseconds. One such other range includes 0.2 milliseconds to 5 milliseconds. Typical attenuation ranges include, but are not limited to, 1 decibel and 6 decibels. One such other range includes 1 decibel to 10 decibels. Other delays and attenuations may be used without departing from the scope of the present subject matter. A listener may prefer, for example, a one millisecond delay and a one decibel attenuation, since speech from, for example, a cell phone, is normally heard in one ear and since the perceived sound will be in one ear, yet retain the benefits of having a binaural signal to the listener. In various embodiments, the attenuations and delays are programmed by the dispensing professional using hearing aid fitting software. So, different patients could have different parameters set according to their preference. Some patients may prefer diffuse sound, some may prefer sound to their left, some may prefer sound to their right, etc.
The wearer's voice in various embodiments can be transmitted back to the wireless device. For example, in cases where the wireless device is a cell phone and the primary and secondary wireless hearing assistance devices are hearing aids, it is understood that the communications back to the cell phone by the aids include:
1) In one embodiment, the primary device (e.g., hearing aid) paired with the wireless device (e.g., cell phone) transmits the wearer's voice back to the wireless device (cell phone) and does not transmit this to the secondary device (e.g., other hearing aid). Thus, no voice pickup is used by the secondary device and no transmission of the wearer's voice is made from secondary device to primary device.
2) In one embodiment, the secondary device (e.g., other hearing aid) does transmit audio to the primary device (e,g., hearing aid paired with the cell phone).
In varying embodiments, the signals picked up from the primary device and secondary device can be processed in a variety of ways. One such way is to create a beamformed signal that improves overall signal-to-noise ratio that is transmitted back to the wireless device (e.g., cell phone). A delay would be added to the primary voice-pickup signal before effective combination with the secondary voice signal. Such a system can steer the beam to a location orthogonal to the axis formed by a line connecting primary and secondary, i.e., the direction of maximum sensitivity of the beamformed signal can be set at the location of the wearer's mouth. In addition to beam forming, noise cancellation of uncorrelated noise sources can be accomplished. In one application, such cancellation can take place by the primary device prior to transmission to the wireless device. These techniques improve the signal-to-noise ratio and quality of the signal received by a person listening to the signals from the wireless device (e.g., a person at the other end of the communication, for example, at another telephone).
It is understood that the present phase shifter could be replaced with a processor offering a head-related transfer function (HRTF) which performs phase and level changes as a function of frequency that are specific to the acoustic transfer function from a free field source to the ear of the listener. Such processing could be accomplished using a digital signal processor or other dedicated processor.
It is understood that the examples set forth herein can be applied to a variety of wireless devices and primary and secondary device combinations. Thus, the examples set forth herein are not limited to telephone applications. It is further understood that the wireless devices set forth herein can be applied to right and left hearing applications as desired by the user and is not limited to any one direction of operation.
This description has set forth numerous characteristics and advantages of various embodiments and details of structure and function of various embodiments, but is intended to be illustrative and not intended in an exclusive or exhaustive sense. Changes in detail, material and management of parts, order of process and design may occur without departing from the scope of the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/714,792, filed May 18, 2015, which is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/464,419, filed on May 4, 2012; which application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/456,538, filed on Jul. 10, 2006, which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14714792 | May 2015 | US |
| Child | 15362447 | US | |
| Parent | 13464419 | May 2012 | US |
| Child | 14714792 | US | |
| Parent | 11456538 | Jul 2006 | US |
| Child | 13464419 | US |
