Patent Application
20080049945
The hearing aid 10 further comprises a receiver/transmitter unit 20 and an inductive antenna 22 for establishing a wireless inductive link for bidirectional communication with the other one of the hearing aids 10 in order to realize a binaural system. The hearing aids 10A. 10B may exchange audio signals captured by the microphone 12 of the other one of the hearing aids 10A, 10B. Alternatively or in addition, the hearing aids 10A, 10B may exchange control data generated by the audio signal processing unit 14 according to the audio signals from the microphone 12 or control data received by the central audio signal processing 14 from a control panel 24 provided at the hearing aid or from a remote control of the hearing aid.
The audio signal processing unit 14 usually will be able to perform auditory scene analysis in order to adapt the audio signal processing to the presently detected auditory scene, for example, in order to adjust the amplification and/or the degree of acoustic beam forming to the auditory scene (usually the microphone 12 will be a microphone arrangement consisting of at least two microphones which are spaced apart for acoustic beam forming). To this end, the audio signal processing unit 14 usually will select one audio program from a plurality of different audio programs depending on the presently captured audio signals.
In order to determine the present auditory scene, audio signal processing unit 14 in addition to the audio signals from the microphone 12 also may take into account audio signals received by the receiver/transmitter unit 20 from the other one of the hearing aids 10A, 10B, i.e. audio signals captured by the microphone 12 of the other one of the hearing aids 10A, 10B, in order to render the result of the auditory scene analysis more reliable. Moreover, information regarding the presently selected audio program may be exchanged between the bearing aids 10A, 10B, and such information regarding the presently selected audio program of the other one of the hearing aids 10A, 10B may be taken into account when selecting the audio program.
It is to be understood that the hearing aid 10 will include elements in addition to that shown in
An example of a binaural hearing system is found in EP 1 651 005 A2.
The antenna 22 preferably is a coil which may comprise an elongated core such as a ferrite core or which may a simple air coil. The antenna 22 of at least one of the hearing aids 10A, 10B, in addition to establishing a bidirectional inductive link to the other one of the hearing aids 10A, 10B, also serves to establish an inductive link to a remote device 26 which is to be worn at the user's body.
In the embodiment of
The communication between the hearing aid 10 and the remote device 26 via the inductive link may be unidirectional from the remote device 26 to the hearing aid 10, or it may be bidirectional if necessary. The remote device 26 may be a remote control for the hearing aid 10 in order to transmit manual control commands to the audio signal processing unit 14, and/or it may serve as an audio signal source for supplying audio signals to be reproduced by the loudspeaker 18 to the hearing aid 10. In the latter case, the remote device 26 may be a music player, such as an MP3 player, and/or a radio broadcast receiver. Alternatively, the remote device 26 may comprise a microphone for capturing audio signals from ambient sound and/or it may be electrically connected to an audio signal source to be worn at the user's body, such as a radio frequency (RF) receiver unit or a mobile phone.
As a first example, a remote device 26A is shown which is to be worn around the user's neck in such a manner that due to the action of gravity the antenna 28 of the device 26A is oriented essentially vertical.
A device 26B has a pen-shaped housing which is to be worn in, for example, a shirt pocket, with the antenna 28 extending along the longitudinal axis of the housing.
A device 26C is to be fixed at the user's upper arm by a band 40 extending around the user's upper arm, with the antenna 28 extending perpendicular to the band 40.
A device 26D is designed to be worn at a belt 42 worn by the user, with the antenna 28 extending in the direction perpendicular to the belt 42.
The above-described devices 26A to 26D have an antenna 28 which may be designed as a coil comprising an elongated core such as a ferrite core. However, in some cases the antenna 28 may be designed as air coil. For example, an inductive antenna may be integrated within the band 40 in such a manner that an air coil is wound around the user's upper arm when the band 40 is worn by the user. This embodiment is shown in dashed lines in
According to
The system also may comprise a handheld device 26J comprising a printed circuit board 50 into which a first inductive antenna 28 is embedded which is formed by conductor turns within the plane of the printed circuit board 50 and a second inductive antenna 128, preferably comprising a coil having an elongated core, having an axial symmetry axis which is oriented along or parallel to a longitudinal axis of the handheld device 26J. Preferably, the axial symmetry of the second antenna 128 is oriented in or parallel to the plane of the printed circuit board 50.
In
In the case of
While various embodiments in accordance with the present invention have been shown and described, it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto, and is susceptible to numerous changes and modifications as known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is not limited to the details shown and described herein, and includes all such changes and modifications as encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.
