EP1501333A2 - Prothèse auditive électronique alimentée par batterie et procédé d'utilisation d'une telle prothèse auditive - Google Patents

Prothèse auditive électronique alimentée par batterie et procédé d'utilisation d'une telle prothèse auditive Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1501333A2
EP1501333A2 EP04405616A EP04405616A EP1501333A2 EP 1501333 A2 EP1501333 A2 EP 1501333A2 EP 04405616 A EP04405616 A EP 04405616A EP 04405616 A EP04405616 A EP 04405616A EP 1501333 A2 EP1501333 A2 EP 1501333A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
power supply
supply terminal
valve means
electrical valve
hearing instrument
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP04405616A
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1501333A3 (fr
Inventor
Martin Fluit
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Sonova Holding AG
Original Assignee
Phonak AG
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Phonak AG filed Critical Phonak AG
Priority to EP04405616A priority Critical patent/EP1501333A3/fr
Publication of EP1501333A2 publication Critical patent/EP1501333A2/fr
Publication of EP1501333A3 publication Critical patent/EP1501333A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2460/00—Details of hearing devices, i.e. of ear- or headphones covered by H04R1/10 or H04R5/033 but not provided for in any of their subgroups, or of hearing aids covered by H04R25/00 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2460/03—Aspects of the reduction of energy consumption in hearing devices

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an electronic battery-powered hearing instrument, and to a method for operating such a hearing instrument, as described in the preamble of the corresponding independent claims.
  • hearing instrument or “hearing device”, as understood here, denotes on the one hand hearing aid devices that are therapeutic devices improving the hearing ability of individuals, primarily according to diagnostic results. Such hearing aid devices may be Outside-The-Ear hearing aid devices or In-The-Ear hearing aid devices. On the other hand, the term stands for devices which may improve the hearing of individuals with normal hearing e.g. in specific acoustical situations such as in a very noisy environment or in concert halls, or which may even be used in context with remote communication or with audio listening for instance as provided by headphones.
  • the hearing devices as addressed by the present invention are so-called active hearing devices which comprise at the input side at least one acoustical to electrical converter, such as a microphone, at the output side at least one electrical to mechanical or electroacoustic converter, such as a loudspeaker, and which further comprise a signal processing unit for processing signals according to the output signals of the acoustical to electrical converter and for generating output signals to the electrical input of the electrical to mechanical output converter.
  • the signal processing circuit may be an analog, digital or hybrid analog-digital circuit, and may be implemented with discrete electronic components, integrated circuits, or a combination of both.
  • US 5,661,420 proposes a rectifier circuit that accepts, at a pair of input terminals, a power supply whose polarity may be oriented either way, and provides, at a pair of output terminals, a voltage with a predefined polarity.
  • the rectifier circuit comprises two transistor bridge circuits, with e.g. MOSFET transistors. The transistor switches are opened or closed in order to connect the input and output terminals according to the polarity at the input terminals.
  • Figure 1 shows this circuit as used in a hearing instrument according to this prior art.
  • a battery 3 powers the rectifier circuit 6 which in turn powers an amplifier 8 with proper polarity, regardless of the orientation of the battery 3.
  • the amplifier 8 accepts input signals from a microphone 9 and drives a speaker 13.
  • the electronic battery-powered hearing instrument according to the invention comprises
  • the current path from the battery to the electroacoustic conversion means and back again preferably comprises at most two electrical valve means. This in turn reduces a voltage drop over the valve means and corresponding power losses. Furthermore, the low impedance of the connection from the supply to the power amplifier output reduces the signal to noise ratio and distortion of the amplified signal.
  • the polarity independent valve means preferably comprise transistors, for example, bipolar transistors or unipolar transistors such as field effect transistors, in particular MOS transistors.
  • the valve means are configured and operated as switches. That is, each valve is either in an "on” or conducting state, or in an “off” or nonconducting state, and a transition time between these two states is negligible with respect to the overall operation of the switch and the electroacoustic conversion means.
  • the drive circuit in this case preferably is a class D amplifier, that is, an amplifier in which either a positive or a negative supply voltage or a zero voltage is supplied to the terminals of the electroacoustic conversion means, and in which an analog acoustical output signal is generated by pulse modulation of the voltage at said terminals.
  • a polarity independent valve or switch comprises two parallel transistors of complementary type.
  • the two transistors are controlled by drive signals that are inverted with respect to each other.
  • the two transistors are implemented as a complementary MOS circuit.
  • Control signals for the individual transistors may be adapted by inverting one of them within the valve or switch means itself.
  • a drive circuit may provide inverted and non-inverted drive signals and provide both to the valve or switch.
  • a "make before break” functionality is implemented by the control of the different switches: That is, a switch is configured to break (open) a first set of contacts before engaging (closing) some other new contacts. This prevents the momentary connection of the old and new signal paths.
  • one of the two transistors alternates between a partly conducting and a non-conducting state, and the other one synchronously alternates between a conducting and a non-conducting state, according to the drive signal.
  • a first rectifier circuit is configured to power an analog section of the primary function means
  • a second rectifier circuit is configured to power a digital section of the primary function means.
  • the method for operating an electronic battery-powered hearing instrument comprises the steps of
  • FIG. 2 schematically shows a block diagram of a hearing aid 10 according to the invention.
  • the hearing instrument 10 comprises a first power supply terminal 1 and a second power supply terminal 2 arranged to contact a battery 3 which may be inserted either way around.
  • the first power supply terminal 1 and second power supply terminal 2 are electrically connected to power a rectifier circuit 6 which, regardless of the polarity of the battery 3, produces a negative supply voltage U n at a negative supply line 11 and a positive supply voltage U p at a positive supply line 12.
  • the negative supply line 11 and positive supply line 12 power a primary function means 7 which comprises e.g. analog and/or digital signal processing means according to the functions of the hearing instrument 10.
  • the signal processing means take as an input an audio signal from an input device - not shown in the figures - such as a microphone, telephone coil, radio frequency (RF) receiver etc.
  • the signal processing means generate an output signal represented by one or more drive voltages U d1, U d2, U d3, U d4 driving an output amplifier or drive circuit 20.
  • the drive circuit 20 is connected to an electroacoustic conversion means 13 such as a loudspeaker.
  • the circuit shown is also referred to as an H-bridge.
  • the speaker preferably is an electrodynamic speaker, but may also be based on other principles.
  • the drive circuit 20 is electrically connected to the first power supply terminal 1 and to the second power supply terminal 2, with minimal resistance and without any further circuit elements of significant impedance, in particular without further electronic switching means located in the connections between the drive circuit 20 and the first power supply terminal 1 and the second power supply terminal 2, respectively.
  • the drive voltages U d1, U d2, U d3, U d4 are arranged to control polarity-independent electric valves 14, 15, 16, 17 of the drive circuit 20.
  • the electrical valve means 14, 15, 16, 17 are polarity-independent, that is, they are able to operate regardless of the polarity of the voltage applied to their power terminals, i.e. the terminals carrying the current that is controlled.
  • the drive voltages U d1, U d2, U d3, U d4 may be identical or may be inverted for some of the valve means 14, 15, 16, 17 by one or more corresponding inverters inside the primary function means 7. There may be more than one drive signal per switch or valve. There may also be differences, e.g. small shifts of edges, in the timing of the otherwise identical control signals, in order to improve the signal quality of the output signals driving the speaker 13.
  • the electrical valve means 14, 15, 16, 17 are polarity-independent switches, in particular transmission gates, labelled TG-P and TG-N.
  • the drive circuit 20 forms a class D amplifier.
  • the transmission gates 14, 15, 16, 17 are arranged to be switched such that they form a series configuration with the speaker 13.
  • the drive circuit 20 is configured to establish, in accordance with the drive signal U d,
  • the drive circuit 20 may also be configured to establish a short circuit current path for shorting the speaker 13 via the power supply terminals 1 or 2. This can be done for instance by connecting the first power supply terminal 1 via the switch 14, the speaker 13 and the switch 16 back to the first power supply terminal 1, or by connecting the second power supply terminal 2 via the switch 15, the speaker 13 and the switch 17 back to the second power supply terminal 2. In such a configuration, energy stored in the coil of the speaker 13 is dissipated.
  • the drive circuit 20 is configured to establish, during operation, a series circuit leading from the first power supply terminal 1 to the second power supply terminal 2.
  • Said series circuit comprises the speaker 13 and no more than two electrical valve means 14, 15, 16, 17, that is, no further valve means or transistors or switching elements.
  • the drive circuit 20 and the primary function means 7 are arranged on an electronic circuit assembly 4 comprising
  • FIG. 3 schematically shows an internal structure of the transmission gates.
  • Each of the transmission gates 14, 15, 16, 17 comprises a pair of complementary MOS transistors 31, 32.
  • the transmission gates are labeled as TG-N or TG-P, respectively.
  • the transistors forming a pair are driven by gate signals inverted with respect to each other by means of an inverter 18.
  • the well or substrate connections of the transistors are made to the rectified supply voltages, i.e. to the positive supply voltage Up (for PMOS transistors) and the negative supply voltage U n (for NMOS transistors).
  • the signal processing in the primary function means 7 can work as before, without having to be aware of the polarity of the inserted battery, and the polarity of the speaker signal is inverted. This corresponds to a 180° phase shift and is not perceptible to the user. However, in another embodiment, this is compensated by detecting the polarity and adapting the drive signals accordingly.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Neurosurgery (AREA)
  • Otolaryngology (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Amplifiers (AREA)
EP04405616A 2004-10-01 2004-10-01 Prothèse auditive électronique alimentée par batterie et procédé d'utilisation d'une telle prothèse auditive Withdrawn EP1501333A3 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP04405616A EP1501333A3 (fr) 2004-10-01 2004-10-01 Prothèse auditive électronique alimentée par batterie et procédé d'utilisation d'une telle prothèse auditive

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP04405616A EP1501333A3 (fr) 2004-10-01 2004-10-01 Prothèse auditive électronique alimentée par batterie et procédé d'utilisation d'une telle prothèse auditive

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1501333A2 true EP1501333A2 (fr) 2005-01-26
EP1501333A3 EP1501333A3 (fr) 2005-04-06

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EP04405616A Withdrawn EP1501333A3 (fr) 2004-10-01 2004-10-01 Prothèse auditive électronique alimentée par batterie et procédé d'utilisation d'une telle prothèse auditive

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008083165A2 (fr) * 2006-12-28 2008-07-10 Draeger Medical Systems, Inc. Système d'identification de dispositif électronique
WO2013011434A2 (fr) * 2011-07-18 2013-01-24 Cochlear Limited Systèmes, procédés et articles fabriqués pour caractériser une interaction de canal de prothèse auditive

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5661420A (en) * 1995-03-08 1997-08-26 Etymotic Research, Inc. Mounting configuration for monolithic integrated circuit
US20010002100A1 (en) * 1998-09-09 2001-05-31 Compton James Barclay Battery polarity insensitive integrated circuit amplifier

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5661420A (en) * 1995-03-08 1997-08-26 Etymotic Research, Inc. Mounting configuration for monolithic integrated circuit
US20010002100A1 (en) * 1998-09-09 2001-05-31 Compton James Barclay Battery polarity insensitive integrated circuit amplifier

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008083165A2 (fr) * 2006-12-28 2008-07-10 Draeger Medical Systems, Inc. Système d'identification de dispositif électronique
WO2008083165A3 (fr) * 2006-12-28 2008-11-20 Draeger Medical Systems Inc Système d'identification de dispositif électronique
US7759908B2 (en) 2006-12-28 2010-07-20 Draeger Medical Systems, Inc. Electronic device identification system
WO2013011434A2 (fr) * 2011-07-18 2013-01-24 Cochlear Limited Systèmes, procédés et articles fabriqués pour caractériser une interaction de canal de prothèse auditive
WO2013011434A3 (fr) * 2011-07-18 2013-04-11 Cochlear Limited Systèmes, procédés et articles fabriqués pour caractériser une interaction de canal de prothèse auditive
US8521296B2 (en) 2011-07-18 2013-08-27 Cochlear Limited Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for characterizing hearing prosthesis channel interaction

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1501333A3 (fr) 2005-04-06

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