Ear-worn electronic device incorporating microphone fault reduction system and method

An ear-worn electronic device configured to be worn by a wearer, comprising:

• a housing configured to be supported by, at, in or on an ear of the wearer;
• electronic circuitry disposed in the housing and comprising a processor, a radio frequency transceiver, a power source, and a receiver or a speaker;
• an antenna disposed in, on, or extending from the housing and operably coupled to the transceiver;
• and
• a first microphone and a second microphone respectively disposed in or on the housing and operatively coupled to the electronic circuitry;
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• operate the first and second microphones in a directional mode;
• detect degradation in performance of the first and second microphones;
• and
• switch from the directional mode to an omnidirectional mode using the non-degraded first or second microphone and discontinue use of the degraded first or second microphone.

A method implemented by an ear-worn electronic device worn by a wearer, comprising:

• operating a set of two or more microphones of the ear-worn electronic device in a directional mode;
• detecting degradation in performance of any microphone of the microphone set;
• and
• switching microphone operation from the directional mode to a safe mode using at least one non-degraded microphone of the microphone set in response to detecting the microphone performance degradation, wherein use of a degraded microphone or microphones is discontinued when operating in the safe mode.

An ear-worn electronic device configured to be worn by a wearer, comprising:

• a housing configured to be supported in, on or about an ear of the wearer;
• electronic circuitry disposed in the housing and comprising a processor;
• a power source and a receiver or a speaker respectively disposed in or on the housing;
• and
• a microphone array disposed in or on the housing and operatively coupled to the electronic circuitry, the microphone array comprises a plurality of microphones;
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• operate a set of two or more of the microphones in a directional mode;
• detect degradation in performance of any microphone of the microphone set;
• switch microphone operation from the directional mode to a safe mode using at least one non-degraded microphone of the microphone set in response to detecting the microphone performance degradation;
• and
• generate an alert signal in response to detecting degradation in performance of any microphone of the microphone set, and communicate the alert signal to an external electronic device configured to communicatively couple to the ear-worn electronic device.

An ear-worn electronic device configured to be worn by a wearer, comprising:

• a housing configured to be supported by, at, in or on an ear of the wearer;
• electronic circuitry disposed in the housing and comprising a processor, a radio frequency transceiver, a power source, and a receiver or a speaker;
• an antenna disposed in, on, or extending from the housing and operably coupled to the transceiver;
• and
• a first microphone and a second microphone respectively disposed in or on the housing and operatively coupled to the electronic circuitry;
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• operate the first and second microphones in a directional mode;
• detect degradation in performance of the first and second microphones;
• switch from the directional mode to an omnidirectional mode using the non- degraded first or second microphone;
• generate an alert signal in response to detecting degradation in performance of the first microphone or the second microphone;
• and
• communicate the alert signal to an external electronic device configured to communicatively couple to the ear-worn electronic device.