EP2182739B1 - Adaptive microphone system for a hearing aid and accompanying operating method - Google Patents
Adaptive microphone system for a hearing aid and accompanying operating method Download PDFInfo
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- EP2182739B1 EP2182739B1 EP09168233A EP09168233A EP2182739B1 EP 2182739 B1 EP2182739 B1 EP 2182739B1 EP 09168233 A EP09168233 A EP 09168233A EP 09168233 A EP09168233 A EP 09168233A EP 2182739 B1 EP2182739 B1 EP 2182739B1
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- 230000003044 adaptive effect Effects 0.000 title claims description 7
- 238000011017 operating method Methods 0.000 title 1
- 230000006978 adaptation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 39
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 26
- 238000001914 filtration Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 6
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 claims description 11
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 claims description 3
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000002238 attenuated effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000003111 delayed effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000001419 dependent effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000005562 fading Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000001052 transient effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000003213 activating effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001186 cumulative effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005457 optimization Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000009467 reduction Effects 0.000 description 1
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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
- H04R25/40—Arrangements for obtaining a desired directivity characteristic
- H04R25/407—Circuits for combining signals of a plurality of transducers
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
- H04R2430/00—Signal processing covered by H04R, not provided for in its groups
- H04R2430/03—Synergistic effects of band splitting and sub-band processing
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
- H04R3/00—Circuits for transducers, loudspeakers or microphones
- H04R3/005—Circuits for transducers, loudspeakers or microphones for combining the signals of two or more microphones
Definitions
- the invention relates to a specified in claim 1 method for suppressing microphone noise and specified in claim 7 associated microphone system.
- Disturbances are defined on the one hand as signals that are incident from undesired directions, for example outside a predetermined angular range about the 0 ° direction and on the other hand as microphone noise, which is amplified when forming the directivity, especially in low-frequency areas.
- microphone noise increases when the directivity of a directional microphone is increased.
- the microphone signals of several microphones are adaptively filtered as a function of at least one parameter.
- the directivity of the directional microphone obtained in this case is adjusted by changing the at least one parameter such that the sum of noise power including microphone noise is reduced or minimal.
- the residual noise consists in half of residual ambient noise and residual microphone noise.
- the overall disturbance is minimal, but not for the subjective sound impression of a user of the acoustic system. Due to rapidly changing signal components and wide subband signals, disturbing microphone noise is noticeable to the user over and over again. Particularly non-stationary interferers, such as speech, cause a brief transition to directional operation. If the interferer is then again not active, there is a delayed fading to the omnidirectional operation, so that noise flags are audible for a short time.
- the stated object is achieved with the method for operating a microphone system of independent claim 1 and the microphone system of independent claim 7.
- the method can be carried out separately for a plurality of frequency subbands. This provides improved directivity with simultaneous noise suppression.
- the noise carpet may be determined using Wiener filters or non-linear power estimators.
- Wiener filters or non-linear power estimators An advantage of this is a simple and robust noise power determination.
- the value of the microphone noise number can be predetermined depending on the microphone, with a data sheet value of the microphone noise of the microphones and at least one distance of the microphones from one another being taken into account.
- the interference power by directivity can include amplified microphone noise and power from unwanted signal sources.
- the range of values can be chosen such that the microphone noise amplified by the directivity is masked by the stationary portion of the background noise.
- the invention also provides a microphone system having at least two omnidirectional microphones emitting microphones, the microphones being electrically interconnected to form a directivity.
- the microphone system comprises at least one filter unit with at least one adaptation parameter for adaptively filtering the at least two microphone signals to obtain the directivity and a control unit with which the at least one adaptation parameter is variable such that the sum of interference power is reduced.
- the value range of the at least one adaptation parameter is limited, wherein the control unit the limits are determined from a comparison of the noise floor of the ambient noise with a microphone noise figure.
- the at least one filter unit can have separate filters for a plurality of frequency subbands, so that the change in the at least one adaptation parameter can be carried out separately in a plurality of frequency subbands.
- the noise carpet may be detected by means of Wiener filters or non-linear power estimators in the control unit.
- the value of the microphone noise number in the control unit can be predetermined as a function of the microphone, whereby a data sheet value of the microphone noise of the microphones and at least one distance of the microphones from one another are taken into account.
- the spurious power by directivity may include amplified microphone noise and power from unwanted signal sources.
- the value range can be selected by the control unit such that the stationary portion of the background noise masks the microphone noise amplified by the directivity.
- the invention also claims a hearing aid with a microphone system according to the invention for carrying out a method according to the invention. This offers the advantage that hearing aid users no longer perceive the resulting microphone noise perceptually.
- FIG. 1 shows a differential microphone of the first order.
- Two microphones 1, 2 receive a time-dependent sound signal s (t).
- a microphone noise signal n 1 (t) or n 2 (t) mixes with the ideal microphone signals.
- the respective sum signals are digitized with an analog-to-digital converter and thus provide the digital, noisy microphone signals x 1 (k) and x 2 (k).
- the differential microphone of the first order can also be used as in FIG. 1 represented by two FIR filter units 3, 4 with the transfer functions 1 + az -1 and -az -1 realize.
- the filter coefficients can not be chosen freely, but depend on the adaptation parameter a. This dependence, which results from conversion of the filtering from the differential microphone, ensures that the output signal after the directional microphone processing contains the signal from the 0 ° direction (useful signal direction) unchanged, independently of the choice of the parameter a. In order to optimize the adaptation parameter a, this is adapted to the respective one adapted acoustic situation.
- the value of the adaptation parameter a is supplied from an output of a control unit 6 to the filter units 3, 4.
- the power of the interference signal ST and the microphone noise MR are qualitatively plotted against the adaptation parameter a.
- a sum signal SUM from the two signals ST and MR represents the total interference power for the directional microphone.
- the adaptation of the directional microphone to a specific interference source or the optimization of the parameter a can be carried out, for example, by a gradient method comparable to the LMS method (least mean squares). But there are also other embodiments conceivable. With the gradient method, the adaptation condition is very simple. It can be determined by minimizing the average output signal power of the directional microphone. This will be like in FIG. 1 represented the output signal y (k) of the control unit 6 supplied.
- the minimization of the average output signal power is only possible because it is ensured by the special choice of the filter coefficients in dependence of the parameter a, that the useful signal from the 0 ° direction is not changed.
- the disturbance consists of two components: microphone noise and interference from signal sources that come from unwanted directions.
- An attenuation of direction-dependent signal sources can be achieved by selecting the parameter a> 0.
- a 2
- the range in the 0 ° direction is determined - in this case +/- 60 ° - in which incident signal sources are not or only slightly attenuated.
- the method achieves that the sum of the interference powers, i. of microphone noise and signal sources from undesired directions, in each frequency band is minimized.
- a disadvantage of this adaptation is that due to a finite processing time with rapidly changing interference signals, such as voice from undesired direction, the adaptation parameter a can not be readjusted so quickly to suppress unwanted microphone noise. As a result, for a short time microphone noise as so-called noise flags is disturbing audible. This is where the invention starts. At the price of a reduced directivity, the microphone noise is suppressed by limiting the range which the adaptation parameter a can assume depending on the ambient noise. This makes it possible to mask the disturbing noise flags by ambient noise.
- the limitation of the adaptation parameter a is in FIG. 2 clarified by a zul .
- FIG. 3 is according to the invention
- a stationary noise carpet NF of ambient noise in 48 signal sub-bands is plotted as a bar graph with the signal power P in dB.
- the microphone signals x 1 (k) and x 2 (k) inputs of the control unit 6 supplied.
- a theoretical value of the microphone noise MN is determined as a function of the frequency f.
- the range of the adaptation of the parameter a as a function of the frequency f is now limited so that it is no longer possible for the adaptation to select the directional microphone setting so that the resulting microphone noise is above the measured noise carpet NF, ie perceptually perceived by the user.
- the inventive step is to use the noise carpet NF for activating the directional microphone mode in each band and not the overall signal level or noise level. This ensures that short-term transient interferers do not lead to a fading into the directional microphone mode and thus to perceptible microphone noise, among other things by noise flags.
- methods which are known from the Wiener filter-based, single-channel noise reduction can be used, or non-linear power estimators, which follow increasing level values more slowly than falling ones.
- An analogue structure and an analogous method are used for directional microphones of higher orders.
- Preferred application finds the microphone system and the associated method in hearing aids.
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Abstract
Description
Die Erfindung betrifft ein im Patentanspruch 1 angegebenes Verfahren zur Unterdrückung von Mikrofonrauschen und ein im Patentanspruch 7 angegebenes zugehöriges Mikrofonsystem.The invention relates to a specified in claim 1 method for suppressing microphone noise and specified in claim 7 associated microphone system.
Bei Akustiksystemen und insbesondere bei Hörgeräten ist es vorteilhaft, mehrere Mikrofonsignale zu kombinieren und räumlich und spektral so zu filtern, dass das Ausgangssignal möglichst geringe Störanteile enthält. Störungen werden dabei einerseits als Signale definiert, die aus unerwünschten Richtungen, beispielsweise außerhalb eines vorgegebenen Winkelbereichs um die 0°-Richtung einfallen und andererseits als Mikrofonrauschen, das beim Ausbilden der Richtwirkung vor allem in tieffrequenten Bereichen verstärkt wird. Insbesondere besteht das Problem, dass das Mikrofonrauschen steigt, wenn die Richtwirkung eines Richtmikrofons erhöht wird.In acoustic systems and in particular in hearing aids, it is advantageous to combine several microphone signals and to spatially and spectrally filter them so that the output signal contains the lowest possible interference components. Disturbances are defined on the one hand as signals that are incident from undesired directions, for example outside a predetermined angular range about the 0 ° direction and on the other hand as microphone noise, which is amplified when forming the directivity, especially in low-frequency areas. In particular, there is the problem that the microphone noise increases when the directivity of a directional microphone is increased.
In der
Das in der
Es ist Aufgabe der Erfindung diese Nachteile zu überwinden und eine Vorrichtung und ein dazugehöriges Verfahren anzugeben, welche wahrnehmbares Mikrofonrauschen verhindern.It is an object of the invention to overcome these disadvantages and to provide a device and an associated method which prevent perceptible microphone noise.
Gemäß der Erfindung wird die gestellte Aufgabe mit dem Verfahren zum Betrieb eines Mikrofonsystems des unabhängigen Patentanspruchs 1 und dem Mikrofonsystem des unabhängigen Patentanspruchs 7 gelöst.According to the invention, the stated object is achieved with the method for operating a microphone system of independent claim 1 and the microphone system of independent claim 7.
Die Erfindung gibt ein Verfahren zum Betrieb eines Mikrofonsystems mit mindestens zwei omnidirektionalen, Mikrofonsignale abgebenden Mikrofonen an, wobei die Mikrofone zur Bildung einer Richtwirkung elektrisch miteinander verschaltet sind. Das Verfahren umfasst folgende Schritte:
- adaptives Filtern der mindestens zwei Mikrofonsignale mit mindestens einem Adaptionsparameter,
- Einstellen der Richtwirkung durch Verändern des mindestens einen Adaptionsparameters derart, dass die Summe von Störleistungen minimiert wird, und
- Begrenzen des Wertebereichs des mindestens einen Adaptionsparameters, wobei die Grenzen aus einem Vergleich des Rauschteppichs des Umgebungsrauschens mit einer Mikrofonrauschzahl ermittelt werden.
- adaptively filtering the at least two microphone signals with at least one adaptation parameter,
- Setting the directivity by changing the at least one adaptation parameter such that the sum of noise power is minimized, and
- Limiting the range of values of the at least one adaptation parameter, the limits being determined from a comparison of the noise floor of the ambient noise with a microphone noise figure.
Dies bietet den Vorteil, dass der Adaptionsbereich eines adaptiven differentiellen Richtmikrofons abhängig vom stationären Anteil des Hintergrundrauschens ist, wodurch die Richtwirkung immer so gewählt wird, dass das durch die Richtwirkung entstehende, instationäre Mikrofonrauschen fast immer durch den stationären Anteil des Hintergrundrauschens maskiert wird. Damit wird situationsangepasst ein ruhiger Klangeindruck ohne Rauschartefakte bei gleichzeitig maximal möglicher Richtwirkung erzielt.This offers the advantage that the adaptation range of an adaptive differential directional microphone is dependent on the stationary portion of the background noise, whereby the directivity is always chosen so that the transient microphone noise resulting from the directivity is almost always masked by the stationary portion of the background noise. This situation adapted to a quiet sound impression achieved without noise artifacts with maximum possible directivity.
In einer Weiterbildung kann das Verfahren für mehrere Frequenzteilbänder getrennt ausgeführt werden. Dies bietet eine verbesserte Richtwirkung bei gleichzeitiger Rauschfahnenunterdrückung.In a further development, the method can be carried out separately for a plurality of frequency subbands. This provides improved directivity with simultaneous noise suppression.
In einer weiteren Ausführungsform kann der Rauschteppich mit Hilfe von Wiener-Filtern oder nicht linearen Leistungsschätzern ermittelt werden. Vorteilhaft daran ist eine einfache und robuste Rauschleistungsbestimmung.In another embodiment, the noise carpet may be determined using Wiener filters or non-linear power estimators. An advantage of this is a simple and robust noise power determination.
Des Weiteren kann der Wert der Mikrofonrauschzahl mikrofonabhängig vorgegeben werden, wobei ein Datenblattwert des Mikrofonrauschens der Mikrofone und mindestens ein Abstand der Mikrofone zueinander berücksichtigt werden. Vorteilhaft daran ist die Verwendung von mikrofonspezifischen Parametern.Furthermore, the value of the microphone noise number can be predetermined depending on the microphone, with a data sheet value of the microphone noise of the microphones and at least one distance of the microphones from one another being taken into account. An advantage of this is the use of microphone-specific parameters.
In einer Weiterbildung können die Störleistungen durch Richtwirkung verstärktes Mikrofonrauschen und Leistungen von unerwünschten Signalquellen umfassen.In a further development, the interference power by directivity can include amplified microphone noise and power from unwanted signal sources.
In vorteilhafter Weise kann der Wertebereich so gewählt werden, dass das durch die Richtwirkung verstärkte Mikrofonrauschen durch den stationären Anteil des Hintergrundrauschens maskiert wird.Advantageously, the range of values can be chosen such that the microphone noise amplified by the directivity is masked by the stationary portion of the background noise.
Die Erfindung gibt auch ein Mikrofonsystem mit mindestens zwei omnidirektionalen, Mikrofonsignale abgebenden Mikrofonen an, wobei die Mikrofone zur Bildung einer Richtwirkung elektrisch miteinander verschaltet sind. Das Mikrofonsystem umfasst mindestens eine Filtereinheit mit mindestens einem Adaptionsparameter zum adaptiven Filtern der mindestens zwei Mikrofonsignale zur Erzielung der Richtwirkung und eine Steuereinheit, mit der der mindestens eine Adaptionsparameter derart veränderbar ist, dass die Summe von Störleistungen reduziert wird. Der Wertebereich des mindestens einen Adaptionsparameters wird begrenzt, wobei durch die Steuereinheit die Grenzen aus einem Vergleich des Rauschteppichs des Umgebungsrauschens mit einer Mikrofonrauschzahl ermittelt werden.The invention also provides a microphone system having at least two omnidirectional microphones emitting microphones, the microphones being electrically interconnected to form a directivity. The microphone system comprises at least one filter unit with at least one adaptation parameter for adaptively filtering the at least two microphone signals to obtain the directivity and a control unit with which the at least one adaptation parameter is variable such that the sum of interference power is reduced. The value range of the at least one adaptation parameter is limited, wherein the control unit the limits are determined from a comparison of the noise floor of the ambient noise with a microphone noise figure.
In einer Weiterbildung kann die mindestens eine Filtereinheit für mehrere Frequenzteilbänder getrennte Filter aufweisen, so dass die Veränderung des mindestens einen Adaptionsparameters in mehreren Frequenzteilbändern getrennt ausführbar ist.In a refinement, the at least one filter unit can have separate filters for a plurality of frequency subbands, so that the change in the at least one adaptation parameter can be carried out separately in a plurality of frequency subbands.
In einer weiteren Ausführungsform kann der Rauschteppich mit Hilfe von Wiener-Filtern oder nicht linearen Leistungsschätzern in der Steuereinheit ermittelt werden.In a further embodiment, the noise carpet may be detected by means of Wiener filters or non-linear power estimators in the control unit.
Vorteilhaft kann der Wert der Mikrofonrauschzahl in der Steuereinheit mikrofonabhängig vorgegeben werden, wobei ein Datenblattwert des Mikrofonrauschens der Mikrofone und mindestens ein Abstand der Mikrofone zueinander berücksichtigt werden.Advantageously, the value of the microphone noise number in the control unit can be predetermined as a function of the microphone, whereby a data sheet value of the microphone noise of the microphones and at least one distance of the microphones from one another are taken into account.
Des Weiteren können die Störleistungen durch Richtwirkung verstärktes Mikrofonrauschen und Leistungen von unerwünschten Signalquellen umfassen.Furthermore, the spurious power by directivity may include amplified microphone noise and power from unwanted signal sources.
In einer Weiterbildung kann durch die Steuereinheit der Wertebereich so gewählt werden, dass der stationäre Anteil des Hintergrundrauschens das durch die Richtwirkung verstärkte Mikrofonrauschen maskiert.In a development, the value range can be selected by the control unit such that the stationary portion of the background noise masks the microphone noise amplified by the directivity.
Die Erfindung beansprucht auch ein Hörgerät mit einem erfindungsgemäßen Mikrofonsystem zum Ausführen eines erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens. Dies bietet den Vorteil, dass Hörgerätenutzer das resultierende Mikrofonrauschen perzeptiv nicht mehr wahrnehmen.The invention also claims a hearing aid with a microphone system according to the invention for carrying out a method according to the invention. This offers the advantage that hearing aid users no longer perceive the resulting microphone noise perceptually.
Weitere Besonderheiten und Vorteile der Erfindung werden aus den nachfolgenden Erläuterungen eines Ausführungsbeispiels anhand von schematischen Zeichnungen ersichtlich.Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following explanations of an embodiment with reference to schematic drawings.
Es zeigen:
- Figur 1:
- ein Prinzipschaltbild eines Mikrofonsystems erster Ordnung,
- Figur 2:
- ein Diagramm zur Optimierung des Adaptionsparame- ters,
- Figur 3:
- einen Verlauf des Rauschteppichs und des Mikrofon- rauschens in Abhängigkeit der Frequenz und
- Figur 4:
- einen Verlauf des Grenzwerts des Adaptionsparame- ters in Abhängigkeit der Frequenz.
- FIG. 1:
- a schematic diagram of a microphone system first order,
- FIG. 2:
- a diagram for optimizing the adaptation parameter,
- FIG. 3:
- a course of the noise carpet and the microphone noise as a function of the frequency and
- FIG. 4:
- a profile of the limit value of the adaptation parameter as a function of the frequency.
Bekannt zur Erzielung einer Richtwirkung, aber in
Das Differentialmikrofon erster Ordnung lässt sich aber auch wie in
Mit größerer Richtwirkung, das heißt mit zunehmendem a, steigt aber auch das Mikrofonrauschen an. Wünschenswert ist es aber, dass die gesamte Störleistung eines Richtmikrofons so gering wie möglich ist. Deshalb ist einerseits die Richtwirkung des Richtmikrofons so einzustellen, dass der Schall einer Störquelle so gut wie möglich unterdrückt wird und andererseits das Mikrofonrauschen möglichst gering zu halten. In
Die Adaption des Richtmikrofons an eine konkrete Störquelle bzw. die Optimierung des Parameters a kann beispielsweise durch eine Gradientenmethode vergleichbar dem LMS-Verfahren (least mean squares) erfolgen. Es sind aber auch andere Ausführungsvarianten denkbar. Bei der Gradientenmethode ist die Adaptionsbedingung sehr einfach. Sie kann durch Minimierung der mittleren Ausgangssignalleistung des Richtmikrofons ermittelt werden. Dazu wird wie in
Zur Adaption des Richtmikrofons ist die Minimierung der mittleren Ausgangssignalleistung nur deshalb möglich, weil durch die spezielle Wahl der Filterkoeffizienten in Abhängigkeit des Parameters a sichergestellt ist, dass das Nutzsignal aus der 0°-Richtung nicht verändert wird. Die Minimierung der Gesamtleistung (= Nutzsignal + Störung) ist somit äquivalent zur Minimierung der Leistung der Störung. Die Störung setzt sich dabei aus zwei Komponenten zusammen: Mikrofonrauschen und Störungen von Signalquellen, die aus unerwünschten Richtungen einfallen. Eine Dämpfung von richtungsabhängigen Signalquellen kann durch die Wahl des Parameters a>0 erreicht werden. Durch die Begrenzung auf einen Maximalwert, zum Beispiel a=2, legt man den Bereich in der 0°-Richtung fest - in diesem Fall +/- 60° -, in dem einfallende Signalquellen nicht oder nur gering gedämpft werden. Erlaubt man dem adaptiven Verfahren zusätzlich, den Parameter a auch kleiner als 0 zu wählen, wird zwar die Richtwirkung verringert, aber damit auch die Leistung des Mikrofonrauschens abgesenkt. Bei a=-1 tritt keine Richtwirkung mehr auf und das Mikrofonsystem der Mikrofone 1, 2 wirkt ausschließlich omnidirektional.For the adaptation of the directional microphone, the minimization of the average output signal power is only possible because it is ensured by the special choice of the filter coefficients in dependence of the parameter a, that the useful signal from the 0 ° direction is not changed. The minimization of the total power (= useful signal + interference) is therefore equivalent to minimizing the power of the disturbance. The disturbance consists of two components: microphone noise and interference from signal sources that come from unwanted directions. An attenuation of direction-dependent signal sources can be achieved by selecting the parameter a> 0. By limiting to a maximum value, for example a = 2, the range in the 0 ° direction is determined - in this case +/- 60 ° - in which incident signal sources are not or only slightly attenuated. If the adaptive method is also allowed to select the parameter a smaller than 0, the directivity is reduced, but the microphone noise is also reduced. At a = -1 no directivity occurs and the microphone system of the
Durch die Adaption des Parameters a in einzelnen Frequenzbändern erreicht das Verfahren, dass die Summe der Störleistungen, d.h. von Mikrofonrauschen und von Signalquellen aus unerwünschten Richtungen, in jedem Frequenzband minimiert wird.By adapting the parameter a in individual frequency bands, the method achieves that the sum of the interference powers, i. of microphone noise and signal sources from undesired directions, in each frequency band is minimized.
Nachteilig an dieser Adaption ist, dass infolge einer endlichen Verarbeitungszeit bei sich rasch verändernden Störsignalen, beispielsweise Sprache aus unerwünschter Richtung, der Adaptionsparameter a nicht so rasch nachgeregelt werden kann, um unerwünschtes Mikrofonrauschen zu unterdrücken. Dadurch wird für einen Nutzer kurzzeitig Mikrofonrauschen als sogenannte Rauschfahnen störend hörbar. Hier setzt die Erfindung an. Um den Preis einer verminderten Richtwirkung wird das Mikrofonrauschen unterdrückt, indem der Bereich, den der Adaptionsparameter a einnehmen kann, abhängig vom Umgebungsrauschen begrenzt wird. Dadurch gelingt es, die störenden Rauschfahnen durch Umgebungsrauschen zu maskieren. Die Begrenzung des Adaptionsparameters a ist in
Mit Hilfe der Darstellungen der
In einem weiteren Schritt wird nun der Bereich der Adaption des Parameters a in Abhängigkeit der Frequenz f nach oben so beschränkt, dass es für die Adaption nicht mehr möglich ist, die Richtmikrofoneinstellung so zu wählen, dass das resultierende Mikrofonrauschen über dem gemessenen Rauschteppich NF liegt, d.h. perzeptiv vom Nutzer wahrgenommen werden kann. In
Der erfinderische Schritt liegt darin, den Rauschteppich NF für die Aktivierung des Richtmikrofonmodus in den einzelnen Bändern zu nutzen und nicht den Gesamtsignalpegel oder den Störsignalpegel. Damit ist sichergestellt, dass kurzzeitige instationäre Störer nicht zu einem Umblenden in den Richtmikrofonmodus und damit zu wahrnehmbarem Mikrofonrauschen, u.a. durch Rauschfahnen, führen. Zur Berechnung des Rauschteppichs NF in den einzelnen Bändern können Verfahren genutzt werden, die aus der Wiener-Filter basierten, einkanaligen Geräuschreduktion bekannt sind, oder nicht lineare Leistungsschätzer, die ansteigenden Pegelwerten langsamer folgen als abfallenden.The inventive step is to use the noise carpet NF for activating the directional microphone mode in each band and not the overall signal level or noise level. This ensures that short-term transient interferers do not lead to a fading into the directional microphone mode and thus to perceptible microphone noise, among other things by noise flags. For the calculation of the noise floor NF in the individual bands, methods which are known from the Wiener filter-based, single-channel noise reduction can be used, or non-linear power estimators, which follow increasing level values more slowly than falling ones.
Ein analoger Aufbau und ein analoges Verfahren werden für Richtmikrofone höherer Ordnungen angewandt. Bevorzugte Anwendung findet das Mikrofonsystem und das zugehörige Verfahren bei Hörgeräten.An analogue structure and an analogous method are used for directional microphones of higher orders. Preferred application finds the microphone system and the associated method in hearing aids.
- 1, 21, 2
- Mikrofonmicrophone
- 3, 43, 4
- Filtereinheitfilter unit
- 55
- Equalizerequalizer
- 66
- Steuereinheitcontrol unit
- aa
- Adaptionsparameteradaptation parameter
- amin a min
- minimaler Adaptionsparameter aminimal adaptation parameter a
- azul a perm
- zulässiger Adaptionsparameter apermissible adaptation parameter a
- AA
- Grenzwert des Adaptionsparameters aLimit value of the adaptation parameter a
- ff
- Frequenzfrequency
- MRMR
- Mikrofonrauschenmicrophone noise
- MNMN
- MikrofonrauschzahlMicrophone noise figure
- n1(t),n 1 (t),
- n2(t) Mikrofonrauschsignaln 2 (t) microphone noise signal
- NFNF
- Geräuschteppichnoise floor
- PP
- Störleistunginterference power
- SUMSUM
- SummengeräuschCumulative noise
- STST
- Störgeräuschinterference
- x1(k), x2(k)x 1 (k), x 2 (k)
- Mikrofonsignalmicrophone signal
- y(k)y (k)
- Ausgangssignaloutput
Claims (13)
- Method for operating a microphone system with at least two omnidirectional, microphone signal-emitting microphones (1, 2), the microphones being connected electrically to one another to establish directivity, by:- adaptive filtering of the at least two microphone signals with at least one adaptation parameter (a), and- adjusting the directivity by changing the at least one adaptation parameter (a) so that the sum (SUM) of interference power (ST, MR) is minimised,
characterised by- limiting the value range of the at least one adaptation parameter (a), with the limits (A) being determined from a comparison of the noise floor (NF) of ambient noise with a microphone noise figure (MN). - Method according to claim 1,
characterised in that
it is executed separately for a number of partial frequency bands. - Method according to claim 1 or 2,
characterised in that
the noise floor (NF) is determined with the aid of Wiener filters or non-linear power estimators. - Method according to one of claims 1 to 3,
characterised in that
the value of the microphone noise number (MN) is predetermined as a function of the microphone, with a data sheet value of the microphone noise of the microphones (1, 2) and at least one distance between the microphones (1, 2) being taken into account. - Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
the interference power (SUM) comprises microphone noise (MR) amplified by directivity and power from unwanted signal sources (ST). - Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that
the value range (A) is selected such that the microphone noise (MR) amplified by directivity is masked by the stationary component of the background noise (NF). - Microphone system comprising- at least two omnidirectional, microphone signal-emitting directional microphones (1, 2), the microphones (1, 2) being connected electrically to one another to establish directivity,- at least one filter unit (3, 4) with at least one adaptation parameter (a) for the adaptive filtering of the at least two microphone signals to achieve directivity and- a control unit (6), which can be used to change the at least one adaptation parameter (a) such that the sum (SUM) of interference power is reduced, characterised in that- the value range of the at least one adaptation parameter (a) can be limited, with the control unit (6) being able to determine the limits (A) from a comparison of the noise floor (NF) of the ambient noise with a microphone noise number (MN).
- Microphone system according to claim 7,
characterised in that
the at least one filter unit (3, 4) has separate filters for a number of partial frequency bands, so that the change to the at least one adaptation parameter (a) can be executed separately in a number of partial frequency bands. - Microphone system according to claim 7 or 8,
characterised in that
the noise floor (NF) can be determined in the control unit with the aid of Wiener filters or non-linear power estimators. - Microphone system according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterised in that
the value of the microphone noise number (MN) can be predetermined as a function of the microphone, with a data sheet value of the microphone noise of the microphones (1, 2) and at least one distance between the microphones (1, 2) being taken into account. - Microphone system according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterised in that
the interference power (SUM) comprises microphone noise (MR) amplified by directivity and power from unwanted signal sources (ST). - Microphone system according to one of claims 7 to 11, characterised in that
the control unit (6) can select the value range (A) such that the stationary component of the background noise (NF) masks the microphone noise (MR) amplified by directivity. - Hearing device with a microphone system according to one of claims 7 to 12 for executing the method according to one of claims 1 to 6.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
DE102008055760A DE102008055760A1 (en) | 2008-11-04 | 2008-11-04 | Adaptive microphone system for a hearing aid and associated method of operation |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP2182739A1 EP2182739A1 (en) | 2010-05-05 |
EP2182739B1 true EP2182739B1 (en) | 2011-02-23 |
Family
ID=41668303
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP09168233A Active EP2182739B1 (en) | 2008-11-04 | 2009-08-20 | Adaptive microphone system for a hearing aid and accompanying operating method |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US8358789B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP2182739B1 (en) |
AT (1) | ATE499805T1 (en) |
DE (2) | DE102008055760A1 (en) |
DK (1) | DK2182739T3 (en) |
Families Citing this family (12)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102008049086B4 (en) * | 2008-09-26 | 2011-12-15 | Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd. | Hearing aid with a directional microphone system and method for operating such a hearing aid |
DE102009051200B4 (en) * | 2009-10-29 | 2014-06-18 | Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd. | Hearing aid and method for feedback suppression with a directional microphone |
DE102010011730A1 (en) | 2010-03-17 | 2011-11-17 | Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd. | Hearing apparatus and method for generating an omnidirectional directional characteristic |
US8620650B2 (en) | 2011-04-01 | 2013-12-31 | Bose Corporation | Rejecting noise with paired microphones |
US8488829B2 (en) * | 2011-04-01 | 2013-07-16 | Bose Corporartion | Paired gradient and pressure microphones for rejecting wind and ambient noise |
DE102011086728B4 (en) | 2011-11-21 | 2014-06-05 | Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd. | Hearing apparatus with a device for reducing a microphone noise and method for reducing a microphone noise |
JP2016515342A (en) * | 2013-03-12 | 2016-05-26 | ヒア アイピー ピーティーワイ リミテッド | Noise reduction method and system |
EP2819429B1 (en) * | 2013-06-28 | 2016-06-22 | GN Netcom A/S | A headset having a microphone |
US9763016B2 (en) * | 2014-07-31 | 2017-09-12 | Starkey Laboratories, Inc. | Automatic directional switching algorithm for hearing aids |
DE102015204253B4 (en) * | 2015-03-10 | 2016-11-10 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. | Method for frequency-dependent noise suppression of an input signal and hearing aid |
US9930447B1 (en) * | 2016-11-09 | 2018-03-27 | Bose Corporation | Dual-use bilateral microphone array |
DE102017206788B3 (en) * | 2017-04-21 | 2018-08-02 | Sivantos Pte. Ltd. | Method for operating a hearing aid |
Family Cites Families (11)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US5473701A (en) * | 1993-11-05 | 1995-12-05 | At&T Corp. | Adaptive microphone array |
DE19524847C1 (en) * | 1995-07-07 | 1997-02-13 | Siemens Ag | Device for improving disturbed speech signals |
US5796819A (en) * | 1996-07-24 | 1998-08-18 | Ericsson Inc. | Echo canceller for non-linear circuits |
US7561700B1 (en) * | 2000-05-11 | 2009-07-14 | Plantronics, Inc. | Auto-adjust noise canceling microphone with position sensor |
US7804973B2 (en) * | 2002-04-25 | 2010-09-28 | Gn Resound A/S | Fitting methodology and hearing prosthesis based on signal-to-noise ratio loss data |
EP1465159B1 (en) * | 2003-03-31 | 2006-03-22 | Alcatel | Virtual microphone array |
DE10327889B3 (en) * | 2003-06-20 | 2004-09-16 | Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh | Adjusting hearing aid with microphone system with variable directional characteristic involves adjusting directional characteristic depending on acoustic input signal frequency and hearing threshold |
DE102004052912A1 (en) * | 2004-11-02 | 2006-05-11 | Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh | Method for reducing interference power in a directional microphone and corresponding acoustic system |
DE102004062912A1 (en) | 2004-12-22 | 2006-08-17 | C. & E. Fein Gmbh | Drilling tool and drill |
EP1773100A1 (en) * | 2005-10-04 | 2007-04-11 | Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH | Adaptation of a directional microphone to long lasting effects |
DE102007001642A1 (en) * | 2007-01-11 | 2008-07-24 | Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh | Method for reducing interference power and corresponding acoustic system |
-
2008
- 2008-11-04 DE DE102008055760A patent/DE102008055760A1/en not_active Withdrawn
-
2009
- 2009-08-20 DE DE502009000397T patent/DE502009000397D1/en active Active
- 2009-08-20 EP EP09168233A patent/EP2182739B1/en active Active
- 2009-08-20 AT AT09168233T patent/ATE499805T1/en active
- 2009-08-20 DK DK09168233.6T patent/DK2182739T3/en active
- 2009-11-04 US US12/611,972 patent/US8358789B2/en active Active
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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DK2182739T3 (en) | 2011-06-14 |
US8358789B2 (en) | 2013-01-22 |
DE502009000397D1 (en) | 2011-04-07 |
ATE499805T1 (en) | 2011-03-15 |
DE102008055760A1 (en) | 2010-05-20 |
US20100046776A1 (en) | 2010-02-25 |
EP2182739A1 (en) | 2010-05-05 |
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