Binaural Hearing Impulse Noise Suppression With Shared Limitation Values
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Solution Overview
Problem
Binaural hearing devices face challenges in synchronizing impulse noise suppression across individual devices, leading to fluctuations in natural interaural level differences and impaired spatial perception due to differing signal levels and head shadow effects.
Innovation Solution
A method involving scalar limitation values are defined and synchronized between devices to limit attenuation curves, ensuring consistent signal amplification by using a common limitation value derived from individual device attenuation curves, thereby reducing fluctuations and maintaining spatial perception.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If impulse noise suppression is implemented independently in each individual device, then impulse noise attenuation is achieved, but interaural level differences fluctuate and spatial perception deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the independently operating impulse noise suppressions of two individual hearing devices by introducing a synchronization mechanism. Scalar limitation values from both devices are exchanged and a common limitation value is defined to coordinate the attenuation curves, thereby combining the noise suppression effect while maintaining binaural spatial perception stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by having each individual device exchange scalar limitation values with the other device via a transceiver unit. This feedback loop allows both devices to adjust their attenuation curves based on the other device's attenuation characteristics, ensuring synchronized impulse noise suppression that preserves interaural level differences.
2Reliability
If exact synchronization of attenuation curves is implemented, then spatial perception is maintained, but communication time and data exchange increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential synchronization information (scalar limitation values) from the complete attenuation curves and exchanges only this compressed data between devices. This extraction approach maintains spatial perception stability by synchronizing the key parameter while minimizing communication time and data exchange requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter representation from complete multi-channel attenuation curves to simplified scalar limitation values. This parameter transformation reduces the data dimensionality that needs to be exchanged between devices, significantly reducing communication time while preserving the essential information needed for synchronized impulse noise suppression.
3Reliability
If scalar limitation values are synchronized between devices, then interaural level differences remain stable, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial synchronization by exchanging and coordinating only scalar limitation values rather than complete attenuation curves. This partial action approach achieves the essential goal of maintaining stable interaural level differences while avoiding the excessive complexity that would result from full curve synchronization, implementing just enough coordination to preserve spatial perception.
Data Source
AI summary
A method operates a binaural hearing device having two individual devices. The individual devices each have an input transducer to receive an acoustic signal and convert it into a multi-channel input signal, impulse noise suppression to generate an attenuation curve to reduce impulse noise signal levels, an amplifier for the multi-channel signal amplification of the input signal and for generating an output signal based on the attenuation curve, an output transducer to convert the output signal into a sound signal, and a transceiver unit for signal coupling between the individual devices. In each individual device a scalar limitation value is defined from the attenuation curve. The limitation values are communicated to the respective other individual device. A common limitation value is defined from the two limitation values. The attenuation curves are limited with the common limitation value, and the signal amplification is set based on the limited attenuation curves.