Mobile phones and other products producing personalized hearing profiles for users

Abstract

A mobile phone or other personal communication device includes resources applying measures of an individual's hearing profile, personal choice profile, and induced hearing loss profile, separately or in combination, to build the basis of sound enhancement. A personal communication device thus comprises a transmitter / receiver coupled to a communication medium for transmitted receiving audio signals, control circuitry that controls transmission, reception and processing of call and audio signals, a speaker, and a microphone. The control circuitry includes logic applying one or more of a hearing profile of the user, a user preference related hearing, and environmental noise factors in processing the audio signals. The control circuitry may includes instruction memory and an instruction execution processor such as a digital signal processor.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 957,344 filed 20 Sep. 2001. [0002] This application is related to co-pending application Ser. No. ______ filed on ______ (RXSD 1009-7).BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 1. Field of the Invention [0004] The present invention relates the field of sound enhancement for mobile phones and other products which produce audio for users, and more particularly to techniques for enhancing sound based upon an individual's hearing profile, based upon environmental factors like noise-induced hearing impairment, and based on personal choice. [0005] 2. Description of Related Art [0006] Assessing an individual's hearing profile is important in a variety of contexts. For example, individuals with hearing profiles that are outside of a normal range, must have their profile recorded for the purposes of prescribing hearing aids which fit the individual profile. Typically hearing profile ass...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] The invention disclosed herein is designed to enhance the reception of audio by the listener using a personal communication device, based upon measuring a person's hearing impairment, environmental factors which are modeled as induced hearing loss, and personal choice, and then utilizing signal processing to accommodate for lost functionality of the cochlea suggested by the hearing profile, and to enhance the sound based upon environmental factors, like background noise, and personal choice.

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, hearing profile assessments have been relatively difficult to obtain and expensive.

The mobile phone is a unique class of personal audio device, which presents difficulties to persons with hearing profiles that do not fall within the normal ranges.

However, digital mobile phones can cause electromagnetic and acoustic interference with digital hearing aids, forcing removal of aids during mobile phone usage, leaving the user with no compensatory signal processing.

However the inconvenience and small market penetration of Telecoils in hearing aids makes them a limited solution.

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