Binaurally coordinated compression system
AssigneeStarkey Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsJing Xia, Olaf Strelcyk, John Andrew Dundas, Sridhar Kalluri
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hearing assistance system includes a pair of hearing aids performing dynamic range compression while preserving spatial cue to provide a hearing aid wearer with satisfactory listening experience in complex listening environments. In various embodiments, the dynamic range compression is binaurally coordinated based on number and distribution of sound source(s). In various embodiments, in addition to preserving spatial cue, the dynamic range compression is controlled to optimize audibility and comfortable loudness of target signals.
Claims21
1-20. (canceled)
A hearing assistance system for use by a listener, comprising:
- a first microphone configured to produce a first signal;
- a first receiver configured to transmit a first sound to the listener;
- a second microphone configured to produce a second signal;
- a second receiver configured to transmit a second sound to the listener;
- control circuitry configured to produce the first sound and the second sound by processing the first signal using a first gain and processing the second signal using a second gain, the processing circuit configured to:
- measure a first signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first signal and a second SNR of the second signal;
- determine a first gain value for the first gain and a second gain value for the second gain independently when a minimum of the first SNR and the second SNR exceeds a threshold SNR;
- and
- determine a common gain value for the first gain and the second gain when the minimum of the first SNR and the second SNR does not exceed the threshold SNR.
A hearing assistance system for use by a listener, comprising:
- first and second hearing aids configured to wirelessly communicate with each other, the first and second hearing aids each including:
- a microphone configured to produce a signal;
- a receiver configured to transmit an output sound to the listener;
- and
- a processing circuit configured to produce the output sound by processing the signal using a gain, the processing circuit configured to:
- measure a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the signal;
- receive an SNR of another signal being the signal produced by the microphone of the other hearing aid;
- determine the gain independently from the other hearing aid when a minimum of the SNRs exceeds a threshold SNR;
- and
- determine the gain by coordinating with the other hearing aid when the minimum of SNRs does not exceed the threshold SNR.
A method for operating a hearing aid set including a first hearing aid and a second hearing aid, the method comprising:
- receiving a first signal using the first hearing aid;
- receiving a second signal using the second hearing aid;
- and
- determining a first gain for applying to the first signal and a second gain for applying to the second signal, including:
- measuring a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each of the first signal and the second signal;
- determining a first gain value for the first gain and a second gain value for the second gain independently when a minimum of the measured SNRs exceeds a threshold SNR;
- and
- determining a common gain value for the first gain and the second gain when the minimum of the measured SNRs does not exceed the threshold SNR.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.