Classifications

• • 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
• • 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
  • H04R25/55—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception using an external connection, either wireless or wired
  • H04R25/554—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception using an external connection, either wireless or wired using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
  • H04R2420/00—Details of connection covered by H04R, not provided for in its groups
  • H04R2420/07—Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for controlling a transmission system according to the preamble of claim 1, an application of the method, a transmission system, a receiving unit and a hearing aid.
• Miniaturized FM (frequency modulated) transmission systems have been used in connection with hearing aids for some time.
• the transmission system essentially consists of a transmitting part with a microphone and a receiving part which is connected to the hearing aid. It is of the utmost importance that the receiving part is realized as small as possible and with a low weight, so that the unit, consisting of the receiving part and the hearing aid, has a size that is easily portable for the user.
• Transmission channel - requires the replacement of the quartz crystal. It is therefore not possible with this system to switch quickly between different transition channels. Furthermore, that is Known system also disadvantageous for the device manufacturer, because he has to keep a large number of different quartz crystals in stock so that a transmission channel switchover can be carried out in a more or less useful period.
• the present invention is therefore based on the object of initially specifying a method which enables rapid switching from one transmission channel to another. At the same time, it should be avoided that
• Configuration parameters on the basis of which settings are made in the receiving unit, are transmitted to the receiving unit via a separate control channel, a flawless and interference-free switchover from one amplitude, frequency and / or phase-modulated signal to another can be carried out.
• the control channel Due to the low transmission rate, the control channel can be designed with low power compared to the useful channel. As a result, no special approval procedure for the control channel is required and the necessary components can be implemented extremely inexpensively.
• the use of a synthesizer in the receiving unit to generate the frequencies necessary for the demodulation of the transmitted signals enables an extremely fast and flexible adaptation to the carrier frequencies used, thus ensuring a quick switchover from one user channel to another.
• FIG. 1 shows a transmission system according to the invention, in a schematic representation, with a receiving unit according to the invention
• FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the receiving unit according to the invention according to FIGS. 1 and
• FIG. 3 shows a control unit for use in the transmission system according to FIG. 1.
• FIG. 1 shows, in a schematic representation, a transmission system according to the invention, consisting of a number of components which are to be provided depending on the application or depending on the operating modes.
• the transmission system initially includes at least one transmitter S1,..., Sn and a receiving unit 1, which are connected via a wireless connection, hereinafter referred to as user channel 120.
• the signal to be transmitted is an audio signal
• this is modulated with a carrier frequency in the transmitter S1, ..., Sn before transmission, for example using a known amplitude, Frequency and / or phase modulation method.
• the useful channel 120 is, of course, additionally dependent on the transmission power used and the carrier frequency used, for transmission over large distances or through buildings.
• Known modulation methods that can be used are described, for example, in Electronic Engineers' Handbook (Donald Christansen, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill, chapter 18).
• the n transmitters S1 to Sn indicate that different audio signals to be transmitted are modulated with different carrier frequencies, so that different audio signals can be received in a reception area if a corresponding adjustment to the respective carrier frequency is carried out in the receiving unit 1.
• the n transmitters S1,..., Sn instead of the n transmitters S1,..., Sn, only one transmitter is provided which has a plurality of, preferably n transmission channels.
• the principle according to the invention is not abandoned by this variation of the transmitter design.
• one or the other configuration should be understood when mentioning the n transmitters S1 to Sn.
• the transmission system has a control channel 110, 111, 112, 113, via the configuration parameters which the respective transmitter S1 to Correspond to Sn, are transmitted to the receiving unit 1.
• the transmitters S1 to Sn themselves or in separate components appropriate means for generating and transmitting the configuration parameters are available.
• This can optionally be a control unit 102 and / or a remote control 107.
• Control unit 102 or remote control 107 are also wireless connections, which are shown in FIG. 112 are marked. If the transmitters S1 to Sn themselves are provided with appropriate means for generating and transmitting the configuration parameters, these are transmitted to the receiving unit 1 via the control channel 113. It is pointed out that, although different control channels are conceivable according to FIG. 1 (see notes 110 to 113 in FIG. 1), in terms of transmission technology it is one and the same transmission channel, because its specifications, such as transmission rate and carrier frequency, remain , preferably unchanged for one and the same transmission system.
• the FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) modulation is used for the control channel, a transmission rate of 1280 bit / s and a channel center frequency of 40.960 kHz being provided.
• the switchover or tuning to a specific carrier frequency - and thus to a specific audio signal - is not triggered according to the invention in the receiving unit 1 itself, but preferably via one of the control channels 110, 112, 113.
• the useful channel 120 provided for the audio signal becomes in the preferred embodiment of the transmission system according to the invention in no way for the transmission of other information used. On the one hand, this makes it possible to switch from one audio signal to another without having to make any manual settings in the receiving unit 1. On the other hand, this enables remote control of the receiving unit 1, which leads to a broad application of the transmission system according to the invention, as will be shown below.
• a configuration unit 105 is provided, with the aid of which - again via a wireless connection 111 (control channel) - the receiving unit 1 and any further components connected to it can be configured or programmed. Since the receiving unit 1 can be positioned in the vicinity of the configuration unit 105 in the configuration phase, the demands on the connection 111 are correspondingly low, i.e. Flawless data transmission can take place with low transmission power. This is particularly important because - as can be seen from FIG. 1 - the connection 111 is a bidirectional connection and because, in particular when the receiving unit 1 is implemented in miniature form, the transmitting and receiving unit 1 is only very limited Energy is available.
• a computing unit 106 which can be a commercially available PC, is also provided as an input and processing aid.
• the entire transmission system can thus be managed, in particular new program drivers being loaded onto the receiving unit 1.
• version information from the receiving unit 1 transmitted to the computing unit 106 via the configuration unit 105 and further evaluated there.
• the receiving unit 1 is detachably coupled to a hearing device 100. All functions relating to wireless signal transmission are implemented in the receiving unit 1. Due to the different requirements for the signal transmission speed and the transmission distance when transmitting
• Audio signals and for the transmission of control signals two antenna systems are provided in the receiving unit 1: an antenna A is provided for the audio signals and a reception coil, which has a much smaller dimensions, is provided for the control signals.
• control unit 102 is connected on the one hand to a loop antenna 101 and on the other hand to an input / computing unit 103.
• the latter in turn is used for easy entry of
• Data and preferably consists of a commercially available PC (personal computer), in which case communication between control unit 102 and input / computing unit 103 takes place, for example, via a standardized USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface.
• PC personal computer
• USB Universal Serial Bus
• control unit 102 connected to the loop antenna 101 is used for the transmission of control signals to the receiving unit 1 with low transmission power
• the remote control 107 is used for the transmission of control signals over short distances, also with low transmission power.
• the main application of the present invention relates to a transmission system in which the receiving unit 1 is coupled to a hearing device 100, whereby the potential user is not restricted to hearing impaired people, but also includes people who have normal hearing.
• the user of the hearing device 100 coupled to the receiving unit 1 according to the invention does not have to worry about which channel, i.e. sometimes to which carrier frequency, he has to tune his device or which signal processing is necessary so that he can receive and hear the desired audio signal, because this is done by the receiving unit 1, which is configured on the basis of configuration parameters received via the receiving coil 15.
• the required configuration parameters are sent from the control unit 102, from the remote control 107 or from one of the transmitters S1 to Sn directly to the receiving unit 1 via a universal communication channel, i.e. Control channel 110 resp. 112 resp. 113, transmitted without a possibly transmitted
• Audio signal is disturbed.
• This control channel 110 which can only be used over short distances. 112 resp. 113 has its own modulation method, which has a carrier frequency which is in accordance with international standards. For applications in Europe, the EN standard is used
• the following parameters are via the control channel 110 respectively. 112 resp. 113 transferred:
• the reception unit 1 is configured accordingly on the basis of all or individual configuration parameters which are transmitted exclusively via the control channel 110 to 113.
• control channel 110 to 113 is used in the following situations:
• control unit 102 which is connected to the loop antenna 101, which makes it possible is to supply each user or his / her receiving unit 1 with respective configuration parameters if he is within or. located in the reception area of the loop antenna 101. It is intended to assign one or more codes to each user, with which the users can be addressed individually or in groups.
• Such a transmission system is mainly used in schools, with all the advantages of automatic matching taking effect, especially the fact that no knowledge of the transmission channel (carrier frequency, etc.) is required. Further applications are conceivable in public areas - for example in conference rooms, churches or train stations - as soon as a public area equipped with the transmission system is entered, the
• Receiver unit on the hearing aid automatically matched to the public transmission channel.
• Hearing aid only an electro-acoustic transducer is coupled to the receiving unit. In this case, the various functions that are normally offered by a hearing aid are dispensed with.
• control channel is used to transmit data that is stored in a storage unit of the receiving unit, i.e. the receiving unit or its storage unit can be programmed via the control channel.
• a preferred embodiment of the invention is that individual or more transmitters S1 to Sn with a transmitter unit for generating a control signal resp. are equipped to transfer the configuration parameters.
• the transmitted configuration parameters are enriched with a code, on the basis of which an expressly addressed receiver unit 1 makes corresponding settings based on the configuration parameters.
• FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a receiving unit 1 according to the invention, which according to FIG. 1 can be detachably connected to a hearing aid 100.
• An antenna A receives a frequency and / or phase-modulated signal S IN which is first applied to a filter / amplification unit 2 which has an externally connected adjustment unit 19 for setting the desired frequency band.
• the output of the filter / amplification unit 2 is connected to the one input of a mixer 3.
• a second input of the mixer 3 is connected to the output signal of a synthesizer 6 to be explained.
• Downstream of the mixer 3 and connected to it is a demodulation unit 4, in which - together with the mixer 3 - a demodulated signal S is generated, which is subsequently fed to an amplification unit 5 which can be set via a control unit 7.
• the output signals S outl and S out2 adapted in the amplification unit 5 are either connected directly to a loudspeaker or else to a hearing aid (not shown in FIG. 2).
• the I 2 S unit 13 is an interface unit for controlling a digital three-line bus.
• PCT / CH99 / 00009 with the publication number WO 99/13699 by the same applicant.
• This application is an integral part of the present application.
• the I 2 S unit 13 has a digital output, via which a digital audio signal S DIGITAL is fed, for example, directly to the hearing aid 100 (FIG. 1).
• a tone generator unit 14 is provided, which is coupled to the amplification unit 5 and which generates a signal for superimposition with the signal S. This allows the user a certain state of
• Receiving unit 1 such as a low battery charge or the setting of the standard carrier frequency, are acoustically displayed.
• the tone generator unit 14 is connected to the control unit 7 to be explained.
• the transmit / receive coil is designated by 15, via which configuration parameters are received via the so-called separate control channel.
• a capacitor 16 connected in series with it is provided, which is preferably designed to be variably adjustable.
• Transceiver coil 15 and capacitor 16 are connected to a transceiver unit 8, which in turn is connected to the control unit 7.
• the control unit 7 is the actual control center of the receiving unit 1 and, in addition to the components amplification unit 5, tone generator unit 14 and transceiver unit 8 already mentioned, also controls the synthesizer 6, in which the mixing frequencies for use in the mixer 3 are generated, and a monitoring unit 10, which controls the energy balance monitored and optimized in the receiving unit 1 so that the longest possible and flawless operation is guaranteed.
• the control unit 7 takes the sequence control and further information from a memory unit 11 which is connected to the control unit 7 via a bus system.
• the storage unit 11 is a non-volatile, programmable memory, for example a so-called EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only-Memory). It is known that higher voltages are required for programming such memory modules than are usually used to supply the other components. For this reason, furthermore is a
• Voltage multiplier 9 provided with capacitors 18. This enables voltage values to be achieved which can be a multiple of the basic supply voltage.
• Fig. 2 the components are contained within a dashed frame with a few exceptions. These are the components which are preferably integrated on a chip, using CMOS technology. All other components - such as the capacitors 18, the antenna A, the
• Transmit / receive coil 15, the adjustment unit 19, a quartz 20 connected to the synthesizer 6 and adjustment unit 21, etc. - are located outside the integrated one Circuit and are connected to this via appropriate contact points.
• This also includes the storage unit 11, which experience has shown is subject to rapid technological revision and consequently has a shorter average lifespan than the other components.
• a single switching element 17 which can be actuated by the user is provided on the receiving unit 1, with the aid of which, for example, the following functions can be triggered:
• the amplification unit 5 is automatically throttled as soon as the demodulation unit 4 has determined that no audio signal is being received. This is signaled to the control unit 7 and the amplifier unit 5 via the connection SQ, with which the components involved in the demodulation of the transmitted audio signal S IN can be switched off. This reduces the energy consumption in the receiving unit 1 as desired. At the same time, any interference noises are also eliminated by not transmitting them to the following hearing aid 100 (FIG. 1).
• FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of one with a
• the control unit 102 essentially consists of a microcomputer 200, which is connected in a star shape to a storage unit 204, an input / output unit 203, a display unit 202, a modulator unit 201 and an interface unit 205.
• the interface unit 205 is preferably designed to operate a bus system of the USB (Universal Serial Bus) type.
• this correction information is determined from calculations of a desired overall transmission function of the user channel, starting from the uncorrected overall transmission function. This enables any undesirable characteristics of the to correct the original overall transfer function.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Neurosurgery (AREA)
• Otolaryngology (AREA)
• Transmitters (AREA)
• Circuits Of Receivers In General (AREA)
• Circuit For Audible Band Transducer (AREA)

Priority Applications (7)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

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ID=4358132

Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (13)

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Citations (8)

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• 2000
  • 2000-09-18 EP EP00958086A patent/EP1319322A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-09-18 WO PCT/CH2000/000505 patent/WO2002023948A1/de active Application Filing
  • 2000-09-18 CA CA2422449A patent/CA2422449C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-09-18 AU AU6977300A patent/AU6977300A/xx active Pending
  • 2000-09-18 IL IL15397600A patent/IL153976A0/xx unknown
  • 2000-09-18 JP JP2002526797A patent/JP2004522333A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-09-18 AU AU2000269773A patent/AU2000269773B2/en not_active Expired

Patent Citations (8)

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