CN117768826A

CN117768826A - Hearing aid and sound signal processing method

Info

Publication number: CN117768826A
Application number: CN202311662662.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐群峰; 李清; 王振豪; 于桂洋; 暴桂光; 贾洋洋; 樊光利; 吴国栋; 诸臣; 谢信珍
Original assignee: iFlytek Co Ltd
Current assignee: iFlytek Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-11-30
Filing date: 2023-11-30
Publication date: 2024-03-26

Abstract

The present invention provides a hearing aid and a sound signal processing method, the hearing aid comprising: at least three directional microphones; the processing unit is used for converting the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone into earphone sound signals on the left side and the right side based on the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones on the left side and the right side; the sound intensity conversion relation is determined based on a first conversion relation between a preset direction and the acquisition direction of each directional microphone and a second conversion relation between the preset direction and the left earphone and the right earphone; the left earphone is used for playing the left earphone sound signal; and the right earphone is used for playing the sound signal of the earphone on the right side. The hearing aid and the method provided by the invention enable a wearer to sense a sound field close to the real hearing feeling of the human ear through the earphone sound signals played by the earphones at the left side and the right side, meet the hearing position-distinguishing requirement of the wearer, and optimize the hearing feeling of the wearer.

Description

Hearing aid and sound signal processing method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of electric communication, in particular to a hearing aid and a sound signal processing method.

Background

A hearing aid is a device that helps a wearer to improve hearing by capturing ambient sound through an onboard microphone to compensate for the individual hearing loss of the wearer.

When the current hearing aid processes collected sound, only filtering and gain processing are performed, and the characteristics of a sound field cannot be truly restored. Due to this limitation, there is a difference between the auditory perception of the wearer when using the hearing aid and the actual auditory perception of the human ear, making it difficult for the wearer to accurately discern the source and direction of sound, affecting the wearer's experience.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a hearing aid and a sound signal processing method, which are used for solving the defects that the hearing aid in the prior art cannot restore a sound field and a wearer cannot hear and distinguish positions.

The present invention provides a hearing aid comprising:

at least three directional microphones, the collection directions of the at least three directional microphones being different;

the processing unit is used for converting the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone into earphone sound signals on the left side and the right side based on the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones on the left side and the right side; the sound intensity conversion relation is determined based on a first conversion relation between a preset direction and the acquisition direction of each directional microphone and a second conversion relation between the preset direction and the left earphone and the right earphone;

The left earphone is used for playing the left earphone sound signal;

and the right earphone is used for playing the sound signal of the earphone on the right side.

According to the invention, the processing unit is specifically configured to:

based on the sound intensity conversion relation, converting sound intensities of the directional sound signals collected by the directional microphones into target sound intensities of the directional sound signals in the left earphone and the right earphone;

adjusting the sound intensity of each directional sound signal to the target sound intensity to obtain target sound signals of the left and right earphones respectively matched with each directional sound signal;

and respectively adapting the target sound signals of the left earphone and the right earphone based on the directional sound signals, and determining the sound signals of the left earphone and the right earphone.

According to the invention there is provided a hearing aid, the processing unit further being adapted to:

determining a first conversion relation between the acquisition direction of the directional microphone and the preset direction based on the angle difference between the preset direction and the acquisition direction of each directional microphone;

and determining the sound intensity conversion relation based on the first conversion relation and a second conversion relation between the preset direction and the left and right earphones.

According to the present invention there is provided a hearing aid further comprising:

the headset structure, left side earphone with right side earphone is connected with the both ends of headset structure respectively, at least three directional microphone set up in the top of headset structure,

According to the hearing aid provided by the invention, the collecting directions of the at least three directional microphones are radially arranged outwards from the center.

According to the hearing aid provided by the invention, the preset directions comprise four directions of front, back, left and right of a wearer of the hearing aid;

alternatively, the preset directions include front, rear, left, right, top five directions of the wearer of the hearing aid.

The invention also provides a sound signal processing method, which comprises the following steps:

acquiring directional sound signals acquired by at least three directional microphones, wherein the acquisition directions of the at least three directional microphones are different;

based on the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones at the left side and the right side, converting the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone into earphone sound signals at the left side and the right side;

the sound intensity conversion relation is determined based on a first conversion relation between a preset direction and the acquisition direction of each directional microphone and a second conversion relation between the preset direction and the left and right earphones.

According to the sound signal processing method provided by the invention, the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the left and right earphones is based on, and the sound intensity conversion relation between the directional microphones is used for converting the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone into the earphone sound signals on the left and right sides, and then the sound signal processing method further comprises the following steps:

and adjusting the volume of the earphone sound signal on at least one side based on the volume adjusting operation on at least one side of the left side and the right side.

The present invention also provides a sound signal processing apparatus including:

an acquisition unit, configured to acquire directional sound signals acquired by at least three directional microphones, where the acquisition directions of the at least three directional microphones are different;

the conversion unit is used for converting the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone into earphone sound signals on the left side and the right side based on the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones on the left side and the right side;

The invention also provides an electronic device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the sound signal processing method as described above when executing the program.

The present invention also provides a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements a sound signal processing method as described in any of the above.

The invention also provides a computer program product comprising a computer program which when executed by a processor implements a sound signal processing method as described in any one of the above.

According to the hearing aid and the sound signal processing method, through the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones at the left side and the right side, the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone are converted into the earphone sound signals at the left side and the right side to be played, so that a wearer can sense a sound field close to the real hearing feeling of the human ear through the earphone sound signals played by the earphones at the left side and the right side, the hearing position recognition requirement of the wearer is met, and the hearing feeling of the wearer is optimized.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the invention or the technical solutions of the prior art, the following description will briefly explain the drawings used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the invention, and other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hearing aid according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an included angle between a preset direction and a collection direction of a directional microphone according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a preset direction provided by the present invention;

fig. 4 is a second schematic diagram of the hearing aid according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a sound signal processing method according to the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of an audio signal processing device according to the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device provided by the present invention.

Reference numerals:

11: a directional microphone; 12: a processing unit; 13: a left earphone; 14: a right earphone;

15: a head-mounted structure.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

When the current hearing aid processes collected sound, only filtering and gain processing are performed, and the characteristics of a sound field cannot be truly restored. Due to such limitations, there is a difference between the auditory perception of the wearer when using the hearing aid and the actual auditory perception of the human ear, and the wearer cannot realize hearing differentiation based on the sound emitted by the hearing aid, affecting the wearing experience.

In view of this problem, the present invention provides a hearing aid. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hearing aid according to the present invention, and as shown in fig. 1, the hearing aid includes:

at least three directional microphones 11, the collection directions of the at least three directional microphones 11 being different;

a processing unit 12, configured to convert the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone 11 into earphone sound signals on the left and right sides based on a sound intensity conversion relationship between each directional microphone 11 and the earphones on the left and right sides; the sound intensity conversion relationship is determined based on a first conversion relationship between the acquisition direction of each directional microphone 11 and a preset coordinate direction and a second conversion relationship between the preset coordinate direction and the left and right earphones;

a left earphone 13 for playing the left earphone sound signal;

A right earphone 14 for playing the earphone sound signal on the right side.

In particular, a plurality of directional microphones 11 may be provided in the hearing aid, and the collection directions of the different directional microphones 11 are different, whereby sound signal collection for different directions may be achieved. For any one directional microphone 11, the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone 11 is the sound signal in the collection direction corresponding to the directional microphone 11.

Here, in order to ensure that sound from all directions centered on the hearing aid wearer can be collected, sound collection in all directions on one plane can be achieved in view of the collection directions of the three directional microphones 11 being arranged radially outwards from the center, in which embodiment the number of directional microphones 11 provided in the hearing aid is constrained to at least three. For example, 4 directional microphones 11 may be uniformly arranged on one circumference.

The processing unit 12 may be connected to each directional microphone 11 to receive directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone 11 in a respective collection direction. And, the processing unit 12 may convert the directional sound signals of the at least three directional microphones 11 into the earphone sound signals of the left earphone 13 and the earphone sound signals of the right earphone 14 according to a predetermined sound intensity conversion relationship.

It is to be understood that the sound intensity conversion relations here include a conversion relation between the sound intensity of the directional sound signal and the sound intensity of the headphone sound signal of the left-side headphone 13, and a conversion relation between the sound intensity of the directional sound signal and the sound intensity of the headphone sound signal of the right-side headphone 14.

In consideration of the different collecting directions of the directional microphones 11, the sound intensities of the directional sound signals collected by the directional microphones 11 in the left earphone 13 and the right earphone 14 are different, and the sound intensity conversion relationship is based on the collecting directions of the directional microphones 11, so that after the directional microphones 11 are set, the sound intensity conversion relationship is fixed, and can be stored in the processing unit 12 in advance and applied to the processing of the directional sound signals collected each time.

Further, the sound intensity conversion relationship may be determined based on a first conversion relationship between the preset direction and the collection direction of each directional microphone 11, and a second conversion relationship between the preset direction and the left and right earphones. That is, a preset direction may be preset as an intermediate variable for switching from the collection direction of the directional microphone 11 to the left and right headphones, so as to facilitate the inferential realization of the sound intensity switching relationship. The preset directions may be four directions of front, rear, left and right with reference to the hearing aid wearer, or five directions of front, rear, left, right and top with reference to the hearing aid wearer, which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

The sound intensity of the directional sound signal collected by each directional microphone 11 may be projected onto the preset direction based on the angle difference between the collection direction and the preset direction of each directional microphone 11, so as to obtain the sound intensity in the preset direction, where the conversion relationship between the sound intensity of each directional microphone 11 and the sound intensity in the preset direction may be recorded as the first conversion relationship.

In addition, a conversion relationship between the sound intensity in the preset direction and the perceived sound intensity at the left and right ears, that is, a sound intensity conversion relationship between the preset direction and the left and right ear phones 14, which is referred to herein as a second conversion relationship, may be obtained based on an ergonomic rule.

By combining the first conversion relationship and the second conversion relationship, the sound intensity conversion relationship from the directional microphone 11 to the left and right earphones 14 can be obtained, so that the directional sound signal processing realized by subsequently applying the sound intensity conversion relationship can obtain earphone sound signals on the left and right sides for restoring the real sound field experience.

The hearing aid further comprises left and right ear pieces, i.e. a left ear piece 13 and a left ear piece 13. The left and right earphones are respectively connected with the processing unit 12, wherein the left earphone 13 can receive and play earphone sound signals of the left earphone 13 output by the processing unit 12, and the right earphone 14 can receive and play earphone sound signals of the right earphone 14 output by the processing unit 12, so that a wearer can sense a sound field close to real auditory feeling of human ears through earphone sound signals played by the left and right earphones.

According to the hearing aid provided by the embodiment of the invention, through the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones at the left side and the right side, the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone are converted into the earphone sound signals at the left side and the right side for playing, so that a wearer can sense the sound field close to the real hearing feeling of the human ear through the earphone sound signals played by the earphones at the left side and the right side, the hearing position recognition requirement of the wearer is met, and the hearing feeling of the wearer is optimized.

Based on the above embodiments, the processing unit is specifically configured to:

Specifically, the sound intensity conversion relationship may be expressed as that sound intensities of the directional sound signals are mapped to sound intensities in the left and right earphones respectively, so that the processing unit may correspond the sound intensities of the directional sound signals to the left and right earphones through the sound intensity conversion relationship after receiving the directional sound signals collected by the directional microphones, and then obtain target sound intensities of the directional sound signals in the left and right earphones.

After the target sound intensity is obtained, sound intensity adjustment can be performed on the directional sound signal, so that the sound intensity of the directional sound signal after adjustment is the target sound intensity. It will be appreciated that here the sound intensity is adjusted to the directional sound signal of the target sound intensity of the left earphone, i.e. adapted to the target sound signal of the left earphone; the sound intensity is adjusted to the directional sound signal of the target sound intensity of the right earphone, i.e. the target sound signal of the right earphone is adapted. The target sound signals are in units of directional microphones, that is, the directional sound signals collected by one directional microphone are respectively used for adapting the sound signals of the left earphone and the right earphone.

And after the target sound signals of the left and right earphones are respectively matched with the obtained directional sound signals, the sound signals can be overlapped, so that earphone sound signals of the left and right earphones are obtained. That is, each directional sound signal can be superimposed to adapt to the target sound signal of the left earphone, so as to obtain the earphone sound signal of the left earphone; the target sound signals of the right earphone can be adapted by superposing the directional sound signals, so that the earphone sound signals of the right earphone are obtained.

According to the hearing aid provided by the embodiment of the invention, through the sound intensity conversion relation, the sound intensity of each directional sound signal is adjusted to the target sound intensity matched with the earphones at the left side and the right side, so that the output earphone sound signals can be determined to restore the sound field, and the hearing feeling of a wearer is optimized.

Based on any of the above embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to:

determining a first conversion relation between the acquisition direction of each directional microphone and a preset direction based on an angle difference between the preset direction and the acquisition direction of each directional microphone;

In particular, in order to achieve a conversion from a directional sound signal to an earpiece sound signal during operation of the hearing aid, the processing unit needs to pre-calculate a sound intensity conversion relation for the sound signal conversion prior to operation of the hearing aid.

In order to calculate the sound intensity conversion relationship, the processing unit needs to determine the first conversion relationship and the second conversion relationship, respectively.

The first conversion relation is aimed at the collection direction and the preset direction of the directional microphone. Specifically, according to the angle difference between the collection direction and the preset direction, namely, the included angle between the collection direction and the preset direction, the sound intensity of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone is mapped from the collection direction to the preset direction, and the mapping relationship applied here is a first conversion relationship.

Assuming that the preset directions are four directions of the front, rear, left and right of the wearer, 4 directional microphones are provided in the hearing aid, and one directional microphone exists in each quadrant in a coordinate system divided based on the preset directions. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an included angle between a preset direction and a collection direction of a directional microphone, as shown in fig. 2, the preset direction and the collection direction of the directional microphone may be divided into four quadrants, namely quadrants I, II, iii and iv identified in fig. 2, through four directions of front, back, left and right. In fig. 2, 4 directional microphones are uniformly arranged on one circumference, and the directional microphones are indicated by solid circles in fig. 2. Taking the directional microphone in the quadrant I as an example, the position of the directional microphone is denoted as n1, and the angle difference between the collection direction of the directional microphone and the preset right direction, that is, the included angle between the collection direction and the preset right direction is denoted as theta _n1 The conversion relation of the sound intensity of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone from the collection direction to the adjacent right direction and upper direction can be calculated, specifically, according to the geometric principle, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone projected to the right direction in the quadrant I can be expressed as follows:

E _r1 ＝∑(E _n1 *cosθ _n1 ),0≤θ _n1 <90°

wherein E is _r1 To collect the sound intensity E of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone at n1 _n1 Mapping to the right direction. The accumulation symbol Σ here indicates that the accumulation processing can be performed when there are a plurality of directional microphones at n 1.

Similarly, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant I projected to the front direction can be expressed as:

E _f1 ＝∑(E _n1 *sinθ _n1 ),0≤θ _n1 <90°

wherein E is _f1 To pick up the directional microphone at n1Sound intensity E of directional sound signal of (2) _n1 Mapping to the sound intensity obtained in the forward direction.

Further, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant I projected to the left and rear directions may be expressed as 0.

Based on the same principle as the directional microphone in the quadrant I, the position of the directional microphone in the quadrant II can be denoted as n2, and the angle difference between the collecting direction and the preset right direction of the directional microphone, that is, the included angle between the collecting direction and the preset right direction is denoted as θ _n2 The first conversion relation of the directional microphone projection in quadrant II to the front direction can be expressed as:

E _f2 ＝∑(E _n2 *sinθ _n2 ),90°≤θ _n2 <180°

wherein E is _f2 To collect the sound intensity E of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone at n2 _n2 Mapping to the sound intensity obtained in the forward direction.

Similarly, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant II projected to the left direction can be expressed as:

E _l2 ＝-∑(E _n2 *cosθ _n2 ),90°≤θ _n2 <180°

Wherein E is _l2 To collect the sound intensity E of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone at n2 _n2 Mapping to the left direction.

Furthermore, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant II projected to the right and rear directions may be represented as 0.

The position of the directional microphone in quadrant III can be recorded as n3, and the angle difference between the collection direction of the directional microphone and the preset right direction, namely the angle between the collection direction and the preset right direction is recorded as theta _n3 The first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant iii projected to the left direction can be expressed as:

E _l3 ＝-∑(E _n3 *cosθ _n3 ),180°≤θ _n3 <270°

wherein E is _l3 To pick up the directional microphone at n3Sound intensity E of collected directional sound signals _n3 Mapping to the left direction.

Similarly, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant III projected to the rear direction can be expressed as:

E _b3 ＝-∑(E _n3 *sinθ _n3 ),180°≤θ _n3 <270°

wherein E is _b3 To collect the sound intensity E of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone at n3 _n3 Mapping to the sound intensity obtained in the rear direction.

Furthermore, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant iii projected to the right and front directions may be represented as 0.

The position of the directional microphone in quadrant IV can be recorded as n4, and the angle difference between the collection direction of the directional microphone and the preset right direction, namely the angle between the collection direction and the preset right direction is recorded as theta _n4 The first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant iv projected to the rear direction can be expressed as:

E _b4 ＝-∑(E _n4 *sinθ _n4 ),270°≤θ _n4 <360°

wherein E is _b4 To collect the sound intensity E of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone at n4 _n4 Mapping to the sound intensity obtained in the rear direction.

Similarly, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant iv projected to the right direction can be expressed as:

E _r4 ＝∑(E _n4 *cosθ _n4 ),270°≤θ _n4 <360°

wherein E is _r4 To collect the sound intensity E of the directional sound signal collected by the directional microphone at n4 _n4 Mapping to the right direction.

Furthermore, the first conversion relation of the directional microphone in quadrant iv projected to the front direction and the left direction may be expressed as 0.

In summary, 8 sets of data representing the first transformation relationship can be obtained, respectively E _r1 、E _f1 、E _f2 、E _l2 、E _l3 、E _b3 、E _b4 And E is _r4 。

The processing unit may further obtain a conversion relationship between the sound intensity in the preset direction and the perceived sound intensity at the left and right ears, that is, a second conversion relationship, based on an ergonomic rule. Taking the four preset directions of front, back, left and right as an example, the second conversion relationship may be represented by 8 coefficients, wherein for the left earphone there are 4 coefficients, i.e., K _l-f 、K _l-l 、K _l-b 、K _l-r Coefficients indicating the transition from the front direction f, the left direction l, the rear direction b, and the right direction r to the left earphone, respectively; for the right-side ear, there are 4 coefficients, i.e., K _r-f 、K _r-l 、K _r-b 、K _r-r The coefficients of the front direction f, the left direction l, the rear direction b, and the right direction r, respectively, for switching to the right earphone are shown.

On this basis, the second conversion relation may be further expressed in the form of the following table, taking into account that there may be sound signals from the directional microphones of the two quadrants in each preset direction:

	forward direction	Left direction	In the rear direction	Right direction
					E _L	K _l-f (E _f1 +E _f2 )	K _l-l (E _l2 +E _l3 )	K _l-b (E _b3 +E _b4 )	K _l-r (E _r1 +E _r4 )
E _R	K _r-f (E _f1 +E _f2 )	K _r-l (E _l2 + _E l ₃ )	K _r-b (E _b3 +E _b4 )	K _r-r (E _r1 +E _r4 )

In Table E _L Representing sound intensity at left-hand ear phone, E _R Representing the sound intensity at the right-hand ear phone.

It can be understood that after the first conversion relationship and the second conversion relationship are obtained, the sound intensity conversion relationship from the directional sound signal to the earphone sound signal can be obtained by substituting the first conversion relationship into the second conversion relationship.

Further, the range of values and the recommended values of the coefficients related to the second conversion relationship may be referred to in the following table, and it may be understood that the recommended values herein may be adjusted according to actual measurement conditions, and the values may be different for different individuals:

coefficients of	Value range	Suggested value
			K _l-f	(50％，100％)	80％
K _r-f	(50％，100％)	80％
			K _l-l	100％	100％
K _r-l	(0,20％)	10％
			K _l-b	(0,50％)	20％
K _r-b	(0,50％)	20％
			K _l-r	(0,20％)	10％
K _r-r	100％	100％

And, the relation of some parameters can be expressed as the following formula:

K _l-f ＝K _r-f

K _l-l ＝K _r-r

K _r-l ＝K _l-r

K _l-b ＝K _r-b

at this time, the sound field formed by the sound played by the left earphone and the right earphone accords with the hearing perception of a normal person.

In addition, the embodiment of the invention also provides an reasoning example of the sound intensity conversion relation in the front, back, left, right and top five directions:

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a preset direction provided in the present invention, and as shown in fig. 3, the x-axis is identified as a right direction, the y-axis is identified as a front direction, and the z-axis is identified as an upper direction. Compared with the scheme of positioning the acquisition direction of the directional microphone in four directions in the above embodiment, in the embodiment of the present invention, not only the included angle θ between the acquisition direction of the directional microphone and the preset right direction, that is, the x-axis, but also the included angle δ between the acquisition direction of the directional microphone and the preset upper direction, that is, the z-axis need to be recorded.

As with the four-direction approach, the quadrants may be partitioned based on the front, rear, left, and right directions, and the directional microphones may be classified by the quadrants I, II, iii, and iv obtained by the partitioning.

On the basis, aiming at the directional microphone in the quadrant I, the included angle between the acquisition direction and the preset right direction (x-axis) is recorded as theta _n1 The included angle between the acquisition direction and the preset upper direction (z-axis) is recorded as delta _n1 . For the directional microphone in quadrant II, the included angle between the acquisition direction and the preset right direction (x-axis) is recorded as theta _n2 The included angle between the acquisition direction and the preset upper direction (z-axis) is recorded as delta _n2 . For the directional microphone in quadrant III, the included angle between the acquisition direction and the preset right direction (x-axis) is recorded as theta _n3 The included angle between the acquisition direction and the preset upper direction (z-axis) is recorded as delta _n3 . For the directional microphone in quadrant IV, the included angle between the acquisition direction and the preset right direction (x-axis) is recorded as theta _n4 Collecting direction and presettingThe angle between the upward (z-axis) direction of (a) is denoted as delta _n4 。

According to the geometric principle, a first transformation relationship can be obtained as shown in the following table:

wherein E is _t1 、E _t2 、E _t3 、E _t4 Respectively represent the sound intensity E of the directional sound signals collected by the directional microphones at n1, n2, n3 and n4 _n1 、E _n2 、E _n3 、E _n4 Mapping to the sound intensity obtained in the upward direction.

In summary, 12 sets of data representing the first transformation relationship, E respectively, can be obtained _r1 、E _f1 、E _t1 、E _f2 、E _l2 、E _t2 、E _l3 、E _b3 、E _t3 、E _b4 、E _r4 And E is _t4 。

On the basis, the second conversion relation for 5 preset directions can be calculated as shown in the following table:

	forward direction	Left direction	In the rear direction	Right direction	Upward direction
						E _L	K _l-f (E _f1 +E _f2 )	K _l-l (E _l2 +E _l3 )	K _l-b (E _b3 +E _b4 )	K _l-r (E _r1 +E _r4 )	K _l-t (E _t2 +E _t3 )
E _R	K _r-f (E _f1 +E _f2 )	K _r-l (E _l2 +E _l3 )	K _r-b (E _b3 +E _b4 )	K _r-r (E _r1 +E _r4 )	K _r-t (E _t1 +E _t4 )

In the table, kl _-t Representing the coefficients of the earphone from the upward direction t to the left, K _r-t Representing the coefficients of the transition from the up direction t to the right earphone.

coefficients of	Value range	Suggested value
			K _l-f	(50％，100％)	80％
K _r-f	(50％，100％)	80％
			K _l-l	100％	100％
K _r-l	(0,20％)	10％
			K _l＝b	(0,50％)	20％
K _r＝b	(0,50％)	20％
			K _l-r	(0,20％)	10％
K _r-r	100％	100％
			K _l-t	(0，100％)	80％
K _r-t	(0，100％)	80％

And, the relation of some parameters can be expressed as the following formula:

K _l-f ＝k _r-f

K _l-l ＝K _r-r

K _r-l ＝K _l-r

K _l-b ＝K _r-b

K _l-t ＝K _r-t

At present, most hearing aids on the market are fixed by auricles, the hearing aids are easy to drop in the wearing process, and because microphones are integrated in the hearing aids, if the hearing aids containing the microphones are integrally worn on ears, the wearing burden of the auricles can be increased, and the wearing fatigue and even damage of the ears are easily caused.

In view of this problem, the present invention provides an improved structure for a hearing aid. Fig. 4 is a second schematic diagram of the hearing aid according to the present invention, and as shown in fig. 4, the hearing aid further comprises

The headset 15, the left earphone 13 and the right earphone 14 are respectively connected with two ends of the headset 15, and the at least three directional microphones 11 are disposed on the top of the headset 15.

According to the hearing aid provided by the embodiment of the invention, the left earphone and the right earphone are connected through the head-wearing structure, so that when a user wears the hearing aid, the wearing burden of auricles can be reduced, and the loss risk of the hearing aid due to the fact that the hearing aid is too small is reduced.

In addition, since the directional microphone is provided on the top of the head-mounted structure, the weight of the directional microphone is not increased to the left and right earphone, so that the wearing load of the auricle can be further reduced. And, set up directional microphone at the top of wear-type structure for directional microphone can be in the collection of the sound signal of top of the head of the person of wearing upward, therefore under the condition that the direction is including the top in the default, the sound signal loss of conversion top is littleer, compare in the people ear and listen to sound in the side-to-side orientation, the decay when the sound signal of top gets into people ear can effectively be avoided, thereby make the pickup effect can be superior to people ear effect.

Based on any of the above embodiments, the collection directions of the at least three directional microphones are arranged radially outward with the center.

Specifically, at least three directional microphones in the hearing aid can be arranged on one circumference, and the collection directions of the directional microphones are radially arranged outwards at the center of the circumference, so that sound collection in all directions on one plane can be realized, sound from all directions can be collected through the at least three directional microphones, and the fact that a real sound field can be reconstructed through earphone sound signals obtained through conversion is guaranteed.

In addition, in the embodiment of the invention, at least three directional microphones can be uniformly distributed or unevenly distributed.

In addition, because the sound intensity conversion relation used for converting the sound signals of the left and right earphones is mapped from each directional microphone to the left and right earphones in the embodiment of the invention, even if part of the directional microphones of the hearing aid cannot work, the directional sound signals collected by the rest of the directional microphones can still be converted into the sound signals of the earphones at the left and right sides through the sound intensity conversion relation, so that the hearing aid can still be in a good working state, and a wearer can still distinguish the direction and the intensity of a sound source based on the sound signals played by the earphones at the two sides.

Based on any of the above embodiments, the preset directions include four directions of front, rear, left, right of the wearer of the hearing aid;

It will be appreciated that in case the preset directions include the front, rear, left, right directions of the wearer of the hearing aid, the wearer is able to feel the sound field of the surrounding environment; further, the sound signal conversion based on the sound intensity conversion relation relates to a second conversion relation based on the ergonomic setting, and can conform to ergonomic characteristics. That is, when sound signals of front, rear, left and right are transmitted to the left ear and the right ear, respectively, there is a difference in sound field intensity heard by the left ear and the right ear. The left ear hears louder front and left sounds and louder right and rear sounds; the right ear sounds louder in the front and right and louder in the left and right.

And in case the preset direction comprises five directions of front, rear, left, right, up of the wearer of the hearing aid, the up direction is increased compared to the case of four directions, whereby a stereo mode is achieved. Further, the sound signal conversion based on the sound intensity conversion relation relates to a second conversion relation based on the ergonomic setting, and can conform to ergonomic characteristics. And, because the directional microphone position is located directly over the top of the head, the sound loss above is small, and the stereo effect is objectively and greatly enhanced. The sound signals at the front, back, left and right upper parts are respectively transmitted to the left ear and the right ear, the sound field intensity heard by the left ear and the right ear can be different, and when the head of a person slightly shakes or tilts, the direction and the sound texture of the sound can be obviously perceived, and the interaction between the person and external sound is optimized.

Based on any of the above embodiments, the present invention provides a sound signal processing method, which may be applied to a processing unit built in a hearing aid, or may be applied to a processing unit built in an earphone having a transmission mode, which is not particularly limited in the embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a sound signal processing method provided by the present invention, as shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

Step 510, obtaining directional sound signals collected by at least three directional microphones, wherein the collection directions of the at least three directional microphones are different.

In particular, the directional microphone herein may be provided on a hearing aid or on an earpiece with a transmission mode. In order to ensure that sound from all directions centered on the wearer can be collected, sound collection in all directions on one plane can be achieved in view of the collection directions of the three directional microphones being radially arranged outwards from the center, in which embodiment the number of directional microphones is constrained to at least three. For example, 4 directional microphones may be uniformly arranged on one circumference.

In the embodiment of the invention, the directional sound signals acquired by each directional microphone in the respective acquisition directions can be acquired.

Step 520, converting the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone into earphone sound signals on the left and right sides based on the sound intensity conversion relationship between each directional microphone and the earphones on the left and right sides;

Specifically, after the directional sound signals acquired by the directional microphones in the respective acquisition directions are acquired, the directional sound signals of at least three directional microphones may be converted into an earphone sound signal of the left earphone and an earphone sound signal of the right earphone according to a predetermined sound intensity conversion relationship.

It is understood that the sound intensity conversion relation here includes a conversion relation between the sound intensity of the directional sound signal and the sound intensity of the headphone sound signal of the left headphone and a conversion relation between the sound intensity of the directional sound signal and the sound intensity of the headphone sound signal of the right headphone.

The sound intensity of the directional sound signals acquired by the different directional microphones in the left earphone and the right earphone is different in consideration of different acquisition directions of the different directional microphones, and the sound intensity conversion relationship is based on the acquisition directions of the directional microphones, so that the sound intensity conversion relationship is fixed after the setting of the directional microphones is completed, and the method can be applied to the processing of the directional sound signals acquired each time.

Further, the sound intensity conversion relationship may be determined based on a first conversion relationship between the preset direction and the collection direction of each directional microphone, and a second conversion relationship between the preset direction and the left and right earphones. That is, a preset direction may be preset as an intermediate variable for switching from the collection direction of the directional microphone to the headphones on the left and right sides, so as to facilitate the reasoning implementation of the sound intensity switching relationship. The preset directions may be four directions of front, rear, left and right with reference to the wearer, or five directions of front, rear, left, right and upper with reference to the wearer, which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

The sound intensity of the directional sound signals collected by the directional microphones can be projected to the preset direction based on the angle difference between the collection direction and the preset direction of the directional microphones to obtain the sound intensity in the preset direction, and the conversion relationship between the sound intensity of the directional microphones and the sound intensity in the preset direction can be recorded as a first conversion relationship.

In addition, a conversion relationship between the sound intensity in the preset direction and the perceived sound intensity at the left and right ears, that is, a sound intensity conversion relationship between the preset direction and the left and right ear phones, which is referred to herein as a second conversion relationship, may be obtained based on an ergonomic rule.

The sound intensity conversion relation from the directional microphone to the left and right earphone can be obtained by combining the first conversion relation and the second conversion relation, so that the sound signals of the earphone on the left and right sides of the real sound field experience can be obtained by the directional sound signal processing realized by the subsequent application of the sound intensity conversion relation.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the invention, through the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones at the left side and the right side, the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone are converted into the earphone sound signals at the left side and the right side, so that a wearer can sense the sound field close to the real hearing feeling of the human ear through the earphone sound signals played by the earphones at the left side and the right side, the hearing position recognition requirement of the wearer is met, and the hearing feeling of the wearer is optimized.

Based on any of the above embodiments, step 520 includes:

Based on any of the above embodiments, step 520 further comprises:

In particular, it is considered that in practical applications, especially in hearing aids, the wearer may put different demands on the sound volume of the left and right ear phones. In the embodiment of the invention, the volume adjustment can be performed on at least one side, namely, the volume adjustment keys can be respectively arranged on the left earphone and the right earphone, so that the volume adjustment operation triggered by controlling the volume adjustment key on at least one side can be received, and the volume adjustment can be performed on the sound signal of the earphone on the side based on the volume adjustment operation.

For example, for a hearing impaired patient, the earphone sound signals on the left side and the right side can be uniformly adjusted; for another example, for a patient with normal left ear, weak right ear or hearing loss, the volume of the sound signal of the left earphone can be adjusted to 0, and the volume of the sound signal of the right earphone can be adjusted to a proper size, specifically, the volume can be 0-100%; for the patient with weak hearing or hearing loss of the left ear and normal right ear, the volume of the sound signal of the left side earphone can be adjusted to a proper size, specifically, the volume of the sound signal of the right side earphone can be adjusted to 0-100%.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the independent volume adjustment is realized by decoupling the sound signals of the earphones at the two sides, so that the flexibility of using the earphone or the hearing aid is improved.

Based on any of the above embodiments, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an audio signal processing apparatus according to the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, the apparatus includes:

an acquisition unit 610, configured to acquire directional sound signals acquired by at least three directional microphones, where the acquisition directions of the at least three directional microphones are different;

a conversion unit 620, configured to convert the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone into earphone sound signals on the left and right sides based on a sound intensity conversion relationship between each directional microphone and the earphones on the left and right sides;

According to the device provided by the embodiment of the invention, through the sound intensity conversion relation between each directional microphone and the earphones at the left side and the right side, the directional sound signals collected by each directional microphone are converted into the earphone sound signals at the left side and the right side, so that a wearer can sense the sound field close to the real hearing feeling of the human ear through the earphone sound signals played by the earphones at the left side and the right side, the hearing position recognition requirement of the wearer is met, and the hearing feeling of the wearer is optimized.

Based on any of the above embodiments, the apparatus further comprises an adjusting unit for:

Fig. 7 illustrates a physical schematic diagram of an electronic device, as shown in fig. 7, which may include: processor 710, communication interface (Communications Interface) 720, memory 730, and communication bus 740, wherein processor 710, communication interface 720, memory 730 communicate with each other via communication bus 740. Processor 710 may invoke logic instructions in memory 730 to perform a sound signal processing method comprising:

Further, the logic instructions in the memory 730 described above may be implemented in the form of software functional units and may be stored in a computer readable storage medium when sold or used as a stand alone product. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (RAM, random Access Memory), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

In another aspect, the present invention also provides a computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program being storable on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer program, when executed by a processor, being capable of performing the sound signal processing method provided by the above methods, the method comprising:

In yet another aspect, the present invention also provides a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, is implemented to perform the sound signal processing method provided by the above methods, the method comprising:

The apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, wherein the elements illustrated as separate elements may or may not be physically separate, and the elements shown as elements may or may not be physical elements, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of network elements. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand and implement the present invention without undue burden.

From the above description of the embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be implemented by means of software plus necessary general hardware platforms, or of course may be implemented by means of hardware. Based on this understanding, the foregoing technical solution may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art in the form of a software product, which may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as ROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc., including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the method described in the respective embodiments or some parts of the embodiments.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present invention, and are not limiting; although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A hearing aid, comprising:

the left earphone is used for playing the left earphone sound signal;

2. Hearing aid according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing unit is specifically adapted to:

3. Hearing aid according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing unit is further adapted for:

4. A hearing aid according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

The headset comprises a headset structure, wherein the left earphone and the right earphone are respectively connected with two ends of the headset structure, and at least three directional microphones are arranged on the top of the headset structure.

5. A hearing aid according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the collecting directions of the at least three directional microphones are arranged radially outwards in the centre.

6. A hearing aid according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the preset directions comprise four directions of front, rear, left, right of the wearer of the hearing aid;

7. A sound signal processing method, comprising:

8. The sound signal processing method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the converting the directional sound signals collected by the respective directional microphones into the left and right earphone sound signals based on the sound intensity conversion relationship between the respective directional microphones and the left and right earphones, further comprises:

9. An acoustic signal processing apparatus, comprising:

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, characterized in that the computer program, when being executed by a processor, implements the sound signal processing method according to claim 7 or 8.