EP3567874A1 - Procédé de fonctionnement d'un appareil auditif ainsi qu'appareil auditif - Google Patents

Procédé de fonctionnement d'un appareil auditif ainsi qu'appareil auditif Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3567874A1
EP3567874A1 EP19167648.5A EP19167648A EP3567874A1 EP 3567874 A1 EP3567874 A1 EP 3567874A1 EP 19167648 A EP19167648 A EP 19167648A EP 3567874 A1 EP3567874 A1 EP 3567874A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
input signal
scheme
sound
signal
directions
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Granted
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EP19167648.5A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP3567874B1 (fr
Inventor
Sebastian BEST
Thomas Pilgrim
Christoph LÜKEN
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Sivantos Pte Ltd
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Sivantos Pte Ltd
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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
    • H04R25/35—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception using translation techniques
    • H04R25/356—Amplitude, e.g. amplitude shift or compression
    • 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
    • H04R25/50—Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics
    • H04R25/505—Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics using digital signal processing
    • 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
    • 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
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/50—Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2225/41—Detection or adaptation of hearing aid parameters or programs to listening situation, e.g. pub, forest
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2225/43—Signal processing in hearing aids to enhance the speech intelligibility
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2225/55—Communication between hearing aids and external devices via a network for data exchange

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method for operating a hearing device and a corresponding hearing aid.
  • a hearing device has a most general embodiment, a microphone, a signal processing and a handset, wherein the handset is also referred to as a speaker.
  • a hearing aid is used, for example, to supply a hearing-impaired user and to compensate for hearing loss.
  • the microphone generates an input signal from sound signals in the environment, which is fed to the signal processing.
  • the signal processing modifies the input signal and thereby generates an output signal, which is thus a modified input signal.
  • the input signal is amplified, for example, with a certain amplification factor.
  • the output signal is finally output by means of the handset, in which this converts the output signal into a sound signal.
  • the input signal and the output signal are electrical signals, which are therefore also referred to as a signal for short.
  • the sound signals of the surroundings and the sound signal output by the listener are acoustic signals.
  • a hearing aid is typically either monaural and worn on only one side of the head or binaural, and then has two separate devices carried on different sides of the head. Depending on the type, the hearing aid is worn on, in or behind the ear, or a combination thereof. Common types of hearing aids include BTE, RIC and ITE hearing aids. These differ in particular in design and wearing style.
  • a hearing aid it is possible in a hearing aid to use a so-called beamformer to realize a directional hearing, i. to prefer and amplify sound signals from a particular direction relative to other sound signals, i. emphasized.
  • a directional microphone is used, which is usually a microphone array of at least two microphones.
  • the directional microphone is housed in the hearing aid and picks up the sound signals of the environment in two different positions. Accordingly, a plurality of input signals are generated, which are then suitably combined by the signal processing to obtain directivity, i. to align the beamformer in a particular direction and then emphasize sound signals from that direction. For example, in this way a speaker in the front area of the user is reinforced in relation to the rest of the environment, which improves speech intelligibility.
  • the problem is the use of a Beamformers in environments that are more demanding than those that have only one relevant sound source.
  • such relevant sound signals may be suppressed because the beamformer is already directed to another source of sound.
  • the back area of the user is strongly suppressed relative to the front area, so that sound sources in the back area of the user can be perceived poorly or not at all.
  • the method is used to operate a hearing aid.
  • the hearing aid is worn in particular by a user.
  • the hearing aid initially generates an input signal from ambient sound signals.
  • the hearing device has at least one microphone, which receives the sound signals and converts them into the ambient signal.
  • the hearing aid has a signal processing which is designed to modify the input signal and thereby generate an output signal.
  • the hearing aid further includes a handset for outputting the output signal, i. for converting the output signal into a sound signal, which is output to the user. In particular, only one output signal is generated for each listener of the hearing aid. In a monaural hearing aid so only one output signal is generated.
  • a binaural hearing aid two output signals are generated, one for each of the sides of the user's head.
  • the input signal is modified in particular with regard to a specific hearing profile of the user.
  • the hearing aid is a hearing aid for the care of a hearing-impaired user and the hearing profile deviates from the hearing profile of a normal hearing due to hearing damage.
  • the input signal is thus modified so that the hearing damage is at least partially, preferably completely compensated.
  • the input signal is amplified for this purpose.
  • a respective output signal is adapted to the hearing profile of the user on the respective ear
  • the signal processing has an automatic gain control (AGC, ie automatic gain control), which has a compressor which can be operated with a compression scheme.
  • AGC automatic gain control
  • the environment of the user is now divided into several directions, one of which by means of a direction determination unit as a relevant direction is selected.
  • the relevant direction should be emphasized in relation to other directions so that sound signals from the relevant direction are emphasized, as these sound signals from the relevant direction experience a stronger amplification relative to other sound signals.
  • the input signal is directionally modified by the compressor is operated with a compression scheme, which is adjusted depending on the relevant direction, so that sound signals from the relevant direction are highlighted against sound signals from other directions.
  • the information in which direction a relevant sound source is located is used to selectively modify the input signal and to render this sound source clearer to the user.
  • a sound source is initially not specifically selected and deliberately amplified, but a directional effect is given automatically by the fact that the compression scheme is adapted to the sound source in the relevant direction and thus just this sound source and thus the associated direction are selectively highlighted , This is preferably done equally on both sides in a binaural hearing aid.
  • the relevant direction is selected according to its relevance to the user. Relevant is a direction especially if there is a sound source of a certain type, eg a speaker, or if the sound source has a higher volume relative to other sound sources in the same direction, ie a higher level, eg a speaker in a crowd.
  • the direction determination unit is used to determine and in particular also to select the relevant direction.
  • the input signal is analyzed by the direction determination unit and determined on the basis of which direction a sound source is located, which is relevant for the user, so that this direction is then selected as the relevant direction.
  • the hearing device and especially the direction determination unit for this purpose has a classifier to assign sound sources in the environment to a specific type, so that then that direction is selected as a relevant direction in which a sound source of a certain type is located.
  • the beamformer is then activated and directed to a sound source relevant to the user, e.g. a speaker in the front of the user, i. front.
  • the beamformer is now used to achieve high speech intelligibility despite low SNR. It is essential here that the beamformer is activated only in special situations, ie as needed. In the cases in which the beamformer is activated, however, this continues to be done as described at the expense of sound signals from other directions, which are then suppressed together with the noise and possibly unintentionally.
  • AGC automatic gain control
  • an AGC generally includes a compressor which controls the gain of the input signal in response to its level, ie, the input level, and in conjunction with a particular compression scheme.
  • the compression scheme indicates which gain factor is used for the input signal at a given input level.
  • the compression scheme is parameterized by one or more compression parameters, preferably one or more knee points, one or more compression ratios for one or more particular level ranges of the input level, a turn-on time (also referred to as attack), a turn-off time (also referred to as release), or a combination thereof ,
  • a knee point indicates a transition between two level ranges with different compression ratios.
  • the compressor of the AGC is now operated direction-dependent with a suitable compression scheme, so that the sound signals are compressed differently from different directions.
  • the concept proposed here represents an alternative to a beamformer, but in principle can also be used profitably in combination with a beamformer.
  • the environment of the user is divided into several directions and the compressor is set such that sound signals from the relevant direction, ie relevant sound signals, are highlighted for the user.
  • a suitably suitable compression scheme is selected and set. In this way, initially expediently dispensed with a classic strong directivity and instead made an advantageous gradual adaptation of the modification of the input signal.
  • one of the directions is then selectively emphasized, preferably in that direction to selectively increase speech intelligibility without at the same time causing repression in the other directions.
  • a directional effect is generated such that in a certain direction by a special compression scheme a highlighting of a relevant sound source in the same direction takes place.
  • the highlighting is realized in particular by the choice of a suitable compression scheme, which is tuned to the highlighted sound source, so that other sound sources are relatively in the background, but not completely suppressed. This advantageously results in a reduced directivity compared to a beamformer and, overall, a compromise is found between the strongest possible emphasis in one direction and the least possible suppression in the other directions.
  • An essential concept in this case is the direction-dependent compression for highlighting sound sources from a certain direction.
  • a direction-dependent parameterization of the compressor is performed.
  • a gradual directivity is advantageously achieved by means of the compressor and generally by means of the AGC.
  • the AGC By means of the AGC one or more sound sources are thus highlighted in a certain direction.
  • the direction determination unit comprises a beamformer, which is used to determine the relevant direction.
  • a beamformer is specially designed to generate directional signals and thus is particularly suitable to subdivide the environment in several directions.
  • the beamformer is supplied with the input signal and then processed for each of the directions in such a way that for each of the directions a directed input signal is generated, which only or at least predominantly consists of sound signals resulting from a single direction.
  • Each directional input signal is thus assigned to one of the directions.
  • the directional input signals are then respectively examined for the presence of a source of sound relevant to the user, eg by means of an additional classifier or simply by means of a signal property of the directional input signal, eg its level or its SNR.
  • the direction of the directed input signal containing a relevant sound source is then selected as the relevant direction.
  • the compression scheme is then adjusted to emphasize that same sound source so that, as a result, the relevant direction is also emphasized.
  • the beamformer initially advantageously serves to subdivide the environment in different directions and to determine the relevant direction. In contrast, however, the beamformer does not serve to generate an output signal which would also be directed by a combination of the directional input signals. This function results rather from the special control of the compressor.
  • the beamformer generates the directional input signals in particular from a plurality of input signals, which are respectively generated by a plurality of microphones, which respectively convert the sound signals of the environment into a respective input signal.
  • the microphones are arranged at different positions of the hearing aid and form in this way a microphone array.
  • the various input signals can also be considered in summary as a single input signal, which is generated by the microphone array.
  • the input signals of the various microphones are suitably combined with one another by the beamformer.
  • the microphone array has two microphones and the beamformer generates four directional input signals for the four directions front, back, left and right. Other embodiments are conceivable and also suitable.
  • the directional input signals which are generated by the beamformer basically do not have to be used further for generating the output signal.
  • the directional input signals are used Rather, only to determine the relevant direction and the AGC and especially the compressor act on the total input signal.
  • the directional input signals are supplied to the AGC, in particular instead of the input signal per se, and separately processed by means of the AGC in order to realize a direction-dependent compression.
  • the AGC and especially the compressor act on individual parts of the input signal, namely the directional input signals, which in fact represent the input signal divided by directions, separately and independently of one another.
  • the separately processed directional input signals are then finally mixed together to form an output signal.
  • Preferred embodiments of both concepts are shown in more detail below.
  • the various embodiments or parts thereof can in principle also be combined with each other. The comments on a specific embodiment apply mutatis mutandis to the other embodiments.
  • the compression scheme is defined by at least one compression parameter, in particular as described above, and the compression scheme is adjusted depending on the relevant direction by changing the compression parameter depending on the relevant direction.
  • the compression parameter is continuously changed, i. set continuously.
  • a respectively suitable parameterization for the compressor is selected as direction-dependent and set and controlled according to the compression of the input signal.
  • the compressor has multiple instances, which are operated with different instance schemes. These instance schemes are in themselves compression schemes as described above. A respective instance scheme is now designed to emphasize a particular type of sound signal, eg for highlighting speech or sound, eg music.
  • the instances are referred to as compression instances.
  • the input signal will each be the more Instances supplied, which then generate a corresponding number of modified input signals, which are then combined together to form the output signal.
  • the same input signal is used for all instances, so that the compressor acts on the entire input signal as a whole. It is essential that a proportion of the modified input signals to each other in the output signal is adjusted depending on the relevant direction, so that the compression scheme is set as a mixture of the instance schemes.
  • a particular advantage of this embodiment is that the individual instances can each be operated with a fixed instance scheme and preferably also be operated and yet there is an overall variable compression scheme.
  • the input signal is processed differently in parallel by means of the individual instances, so that the compression scheme of the compressor is adjusted as a whole by appropriately selecting and setting the proportion of the modified input signal.
  • the proportion is continuously changed.
  • the proportion ratio e.g. the level of the input signal before the respective instance changed accordingly or alternatively or additionally, the level of the respective modified input signal according to the respective instance.
  • An advantage of the aforementioned embodiment is, in particular, that the instances can be operated with a predefined, ie a fixed, instance schema, and preferably also be operated, so that the respective instance schema per se is not changed in operation.
  • the instances are thus dedicated instances for different types of sound signals.
  • the individual instances are adjustable, ie have a variable parameterization, which is then changed in operation, so that the instances are not static as described above, but dynamic.
  • the input signal has a plurality of directional, i. direction-dependent input signals, which are each assigned to one of the several directions.
  • the compressor now has an instance for each of the directed input signals, which is operated with a respective instance scheme.
  • the instances are also referred to as direction instances, and the instance schemas as direction patterns.
  • the instance schemes are in themselves compression schemes as described above. A given instance is supplied with one of the directional input signals, so that the compression scheme is set as a mixture of the instance schemes.
  • a particular advantage of the aforementioned embodiment with multiple instances, especially directional instances, is that in each direction it is possible to react separately to the situation that is present there, and preferably also to react.
  • a respective instance scheme for the respective directed input signal is set as a function of a type of a sound signal in the associated direction, ie the associated direction.
  • a sound source which emits sound signals of a certain type, eg voice or music.
  • the type determined for example by means of a classifier.
  • a corresponding instance scheme is then set for the instance.
  • the directions are advantageous also independently processed and are conveniently modified as needed.
  • the generation of the directional input signals preferably takes place by means of a beamformer.
  • a beamformer is characterized by the fact that it emphasizes sound signals from a certain direction, so that a beamformer is suitable for generating directional input signals.
  • the beamformer is applied in particular to each of the multiple directions to then generate an associated directional input signal for each of these directions.
  • only a directional input signal would be used and output as an output after modification.
  • the multiple directional input signals of the different directions are respectively modified by means of the AGC, so that as a result direction-dependent compressed input signals are generated. These are then combined into an output signal and finally output.
  • the embodiments with a plurality of directional instances and the embodiment with a plurality of compression instances are combined with one another in an advantageous embodiment.
  • a respective directional instance is composed of multiple compression instances, such that a single directional input signal is then modified, for example, with different fixed instance schemes, and then the different modified directional input signals are mixed together to form the output signal.
  • the compression scheme in particular the instance scheme which is set, is selected from a set of compression schemes, comprising: a speech scheme for highlighting speech constituents, a sound scheme for adapting only to a hearing profile of a user of the hearing aid.
  • a speech scheme which is designed for the best possible speech intelligibility out
  • a sound scheme which is designed to reproduce as possible the natural sound of the sound from the environment.
  • the ability to select the language scheme accommodates the particularly important case of having speech in the environment.
  • a compression scheme is set which improves speech intelligibility.
  • the realistic reproduction of other sound signals or noises is of secondary importance, but language is primarily made visible to the user.
  • Under the best possible sound quality is understood in particular that a hearing damage of the user is optimally balanced, so a maximum hearing loss compensation is carried out. This is especially important in music, which may be heavily distorted by a compression scheme for improved speech intelligibility.
  • the same applies to other sound signals in the environment which are sometimes so strongly distorted that they are no longer recognizable to the user and can not be assigned.
  • Particularly advantageous in the direction-dependent compression is, in particular, the avoidance of the problem that a single compression scheme, which for a particular situation, e.g. Speech or sound is not optimal in an environment in which both speech and other sound signals, especially music, are present.
  • the environment is subdivided into several directions and the sound signals of a respective direction are respectively associated with an optimal, i. modified to the respective sound signals tuned compression scheme.
  • the input signal is expediently modified in a direction-dependent manner only if a directional sound signal is detected in the surroundings, and otherwise the input signal is modified independently of the direction, ie all directions are modified in the same way.
  • the hearing aid has a basic operation in which none of the directions is specifically emphasized by adjustment of the compressor. In principle, there is also the possibility that none of the directions is a relevant direction and accordingly no relevant direction can be selected, the determination therefore fails.
  • a basic scheme is preferably used for this direction as a compression scheme. In basic operation, the basic scheme is then used for each direction.
  • the basic scheme is advantageously the sound scheme described above, which ensures a particularly lifelike reproduction of all sound signals in the environment as a whole. If no special sound signal is present in one direction, the type of sound signal is in particular the type "background".
  • several directions are each selected as a relevant direction. This is made possible in particular by the special direction-dependent compression. In contrast, typically only a single direction can be emphasized with a beamformer alone. In the present case, however, several directions can be selected simultaneously as relevant directions. In this way, e.g. Advantageously, several speakers in the environment highlighted for the user. Alternatively or additionally, suddenly occurring warning or alarm signals are highlighted without suppressing other relevant sound signals.
  • the different directions are preferably regions which result from a subdivision of the environment into sectors starting from the user.
  • the user of the hearing aid forms a center in the environment, from which the environment is subdivided into several sectors, ie angle sections. Each region thus corresponds to one sector and the sectors are lined up around the user.
  • the environment is divided into exactly four directions, namely front, back, left and right. These directions relate to the viewing direction of the user, so that "front” features a front area, "back” a back area and "left” and “right” a left or right side area.
  • Each of the four directions in particular comprises an angle section of 90 °.
  • the environment is thus divided into four quadrants.
  • a subdivision into only two regions is also suitable, eg front and rear, ie a front region and a back region.
  • a subdivision into regions does not take place only in one plane but in space.
  • an additional region is formed upwards. Accordingly, an additional region downwards is advantageous.
  • a hearing aid according to the invention is designed to carry out the method described above.
  • the hearing device has a signal processing, which is designed to carry out the method.
  • the hearing aid is either monaural or binaural, has as one or two separate devices, which are each supported in or on the ear.
  • the hearing aid is used in particular to supply a hearing-impaired user.
  • the hearing device has at least one microphone and at least one handset, more specifically, each individual device of the hearing device has at least one, preferably a plurality of microphones and a handset.
  • Each individual device has its own housing, in which the associated microphones are housed.
  • the handset is housed in the housing or at least connected via a supply line to the housing.
  • Each individual device also has an ear piece which can be used in particular in the ear of the user to output there the sound signals which the listener generates from the output signal to the user.
  • the hearing aid has a battery for power supply, wherein advantageously each individual device has its own battery, which is accommodated in particular in the housing.
  • Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a hearing aid 2.
  • the hearing aid 2 has a signal processing 4.
  • the hearing device 2 is formed either monaural or binaural, so has one or two individual devices, which are each supported in or on the ear. In Fig. 1 only one single device is shown. In the present case, the hearing aid 2 serves to supply a hearing-impaired user N.
  • the hearing aid 2 has at least one microphone 7 and at least one earpiece 6.
  • This in Fig. 1 Single device shown by way of example has two microphones 7 and a receiver 6, which is arranged externally with respect to a housing 8, so that the hearing aid 2 shown is a so-called RIC device.
  • the signal processing 4 is designed for direction-dependent compression. Two embodiments are in the Fig. 2 and 3 shown. These each show a block diagram of a hearing device 2.
  • the signal processing 4 generally has an automatic gain control 10, AGC briefly, which in turn has a compressor 12.
  • the signal processing 4 also has a direction determination unit 14, by means of which the compressor 12 is controlled. For this purpose, the direction determination unit 14 determines a relevant direction R, from which the compressor 12 is controlled depending.
  • the signal processing 4 is generally supplied with an input signal E, which is generated by a microphone 7.
  • the input signal E is then supplied to the AGC 10, which modifies the input signal E and forwards it to the handset 6 as an output signal A for output.
  • the input signal E is also used for determining the relevant direction R, ie for direction determination, and for this purpose supplied to the direction determination unit 14.
  • the compressor 12 is then adjusted.
  • the behavior of the compressor 12 is defined by a compression scheme K, which is then changed depending on the relevant direction R, in order to achieve a highlight of a relevant sound source.
  • a compression scheme K is exemplary in FIG Fig. 4 shown here as a gain G as a function of an input level EP, ie a level of the input signal E.
  • the compression scheme K shown has a knee point 16, which defines two level ranges with different compression ratio. At a lower level range, a constant gain is performed, at an upper level range, the gain is reduced as the input level increases.
  • the compression scheme is now changed depending on the relevant direction R, for example by the knee point 16 is moved to cause a changed behavior of the compressor 12.
  • the environment of the user N is divided into several directions, for example as in Fig. 5 shown in four directions “front” V, “rear” H, “left” L and “right” S. Of these directions, one is selected by the direction determining unit 14 as a relevant direction R and then should be emphasized over the other directions.
  • the input signal E is directionally modified by the compressor 12 is operated with a compression scheme K, which is set depending on the relevant direction R. It is therefore the information in which direction a relevant sound source is used to selectively modify the input signal E and reproduce this sound source for the user N more clearly.
  • the relevant direction R is selected according to its relevance for the user N. Relevant is a direction especially if there is a sound source of a certain type, eg a speaker, or if the sound source has a higher volume relative to other sound sources in the same direction, ie a higher level, eg a speaker in a crowd.
  • the input signal E is analyzed by the direction determination unit 14 and determined by which direction a sound source lies which is relevant for the user N, so that this direction is then selected as the relevant direction R.
  • the hearing device 2 has a classifier, not shown, in order to assign sound sources in the environment to a specific type, so that then that direction is selected as a relevant direction R in which a sound source of a certain type lies.
  • an input signal E is generated by a single microphone 7 and the compressor 12 and the direction determination unit 14 is supplied.
  • the direction determination unit 14 determines a relevant direction R on the basis of the input signal E and thus controls the compressor 12 by changing the compression scheme K as a function of the relevant direction R.
  • a modified input signal Emod is generated depending on the direction, which is then output as output signal A via the handset 6.
  • the direction determination unit 14 has a beamformer which generates a plurality of directional input signals Eger from an input signal E of a plurality of microphones 7, ie the input signal E decays into a plurality of directional input signals Eger.
  • each of the directed input signals Eger is assigned to one of the directions and is therefore generated only or at least predominantly from sound signals from this one direction.
  • the directional input signals are then supplied to the compressor 12 where they are modified separately so that a plurality of modified input signals Emod are generated, which are then combined to form the output signal A.
  • FIG. 6 A possible embodiment of a suitable compressor 12 is in Fig. 6 shown.
  • the compressor 12 shown there has a plurality of instances 18, which in each case one of the directed input signals Eger is supplied. These instances 18 are therefore also referred to as direction instances.
  • each instance 18 is operated with its own instance schema, which is set depending on the relevant direction R.
  • each directional input signal Eger is modified separately and accordingly a separate compression scheme, namely the respective instance scheme, is used for each direction so that the sound signals of each individual direction are optimally compressed independently of the sound signals of the other directions.
  • the modified input signals Emod are then mixed together in a mixer 20.
  • a proportion of the modified input signals Emod adjusted so suitably on the output signal A that overall results in an optimal compression scheme K.
  • a compressor 12 which has a plurality of instances 18 to which the complete input signal E is supplied in each case.
  • each instance 18 is supplied with a different signal, namely a respective directed input signal Eger
  • each of the instances 18 in FIG Fig. 7 the same signal, in this case the input signal E supplied.
  • the individual instances 18 are operated with different instance schemes, so that the input signal E in each instance 18 is modified differently and different modified input signals Emod result, which are then combined in a mixer 20 to the output signal.
  • the individual instances 18 are referred to in this case as compression instances.
  • several or all instances 18 in Fig. 6 if necessary, also operated with the same instance scheme.
  • the different instance schemes in Fig. 7 are designed here for different sound sources and generally different situations, so one of the instance schemes a language scheme, highlighting language, and the other instance scheme a sound scheme, which realizes as realistic as possible and the hearing loss of the user N playback of sound signals of the environment.
  • Fig. 6 and 7 are combined in a variant not shown such that instead of each of the individual instances 18 in Fig. 6 a respective directed input signal Eger to a plurality of entities 18 as in FIG Fig. 7 is supplied, for example, to realize a mixture of different instance schemes for a single direction.
  • the compressor 12 would then have eight instances, namely one instance with speech scheme and one with sound scheme for each direction.

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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)
  • Circuit For Audible Band Transducer (AREA)
  • Tone Control, Compression And Expansion, Limiting Amplitude (AREA)
EP19167648.5A 2018-05-11 2019-04-05 Procédé de fonctionnement d'un appareil auditif ainsi qu'appareil auditif Active EP3567874B1 (fr)

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JP (1) JP6870025B2 (fr)
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EP4040806A3 (fr) * 2021-01-18 2022-12-21 Oticon A/s Dispositif auditif comprenant un système de réduction du bruit
CN113660593A (zh) * 2021-08-21 2021-11-16 武汉左点科技有限公司 一种消除头影效应的助听方法及装置

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WO2000019770A1 (fr) * 1998-09-29 2000-04-06 Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh Prothese auditive et procede de traitement de signaux de microphone dans une prothese auditive
US20050175204A1 (en) * 2004-02-10 2005-08-11 Friedrich Bock Real-ear zoom hearing device
EP2544463A1 (fr) * 2011-07-04 2013-01-09 GN ReSound A/S Compresseur binaural préservant les repères directionnels
EP2544462A1 (fr) * 2011-07-04 2013-01-09 GN ReSound A/S Compresseur binaural sans fil

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US4712866A (en) 1986-07-24 1987-12-15 Andrew Corporation Indium-clad fiber-optic polarizer
US20030007657A1 (en) * 2001-07-09 2003-01-09 Topholm & Westermann Aps Hearing aid with sudden sound alert
CA2354858A1 (fr) * 2001-08-08 2003-02-08 Dspfactory Ltd. Traitement directionnel de signaux audio en sous-bande faisant appel a un banc de filtres surechantillonne
US7630507B2 (en) * 2002-01-28 2009-12-08 Gn Resound A/S Binaural compression system
EP1448022A1 (fr) * 2003-02-14 2004-08-18 GN ReSound A/S Compression dynamique dans une prothèse auditive
DE10327889B3 (de) * 2003-06-20 2004-09-16 Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh Verfahren zum Betrieb eines Hörhilfegerätes sowie Hörhilfegerät mit einem Mikrofonsystem, bei dem unterschiedliche Richtcharakteristiken einstellbar sind und Programmiergerät dafür
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CN106851512B (zh) * 2010-10-14 2020-11-10 索诺瓦公司 调整听力设备的方法及根据所述方法可操作的听力设备
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WO2000019770A1 (fr) * 1998-09-29 2000-04-06 Siemens Audiologische Technik Gmbh Prothese auditive et procede de traitement de signaux de microphone dans une prothese auditive
US20050175204A1 (en) * 2004-02-10 2005-08-11 Friedrich Bock Real-ear zoom hearing device
EP2544463A1 (fr) * 2011-07-04 2013-01-09 GN ReSound A/S Compresseur binaural préservant les repères directionnels
EP2544462A1 (fr) * 2011-07-04 2013-01-09 GN ReSound A/S Compresseur binaural sans fil

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JP2019198073A (ja) 2019-11-14
US10856089B2 (en) 2020-12-01
DE102018207346B4 (de) 2019-11-21
DE102018207346A1 (de) 2019-11-14
EP3567874B1 (fr) 2022-06-01
CN110475194A (zh) 2019-11-19
CN110475194B (zh) 2021-05-18
US20190349692A1 (en) 2019-11-14
DK3567874T3 (da) 2022-08-29
JP6870025B2 (ja) 2021-05-12

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