Ear-Worn Selective ANC for Annoying Sound Attenuation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional active noise control systems in ear-worn devices do not effectively distinguish between different noise types and often cancel all noise, failing to allow users to remain aware of their environment while eliminating only annoying sounds, which is challenging due to strict processing delay requirements.
Innovation Solution
An annoyance model driven selective ANC system that identifies and attenuates pre-identified annoying sounds using a psychoacoustic annoyance model, Block Sparse Non-negative Matrix Factorization, and a Kalman filter, allowing for selective cancellation of annoying sounds while passing through other environmental noises.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional active noise control systems cancel all noise signals, then noise reduction is improved, but environmental awareness is lost and processing delays increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the noise signal into different components using non-negative matrix factorization, separating annoying sounds from environmental sounds. This allows selective cancellation of only the annoying components while preserving environmental awareness, resolving the contradiction between noise reduction and information loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different processing qualities to different parts of the audio signal. Annoying sounds identified through the annoyance model receive aggressive attenuation, while environmental sounds maintain their original quality and are preserved, enabling localized noise control without global information loss.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional active noise control systems process all noise signals, then noise reduction is improved, but processing delays worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the annoying sound components from the full noise signal using dictionary-based identification and non-negative matrix factorization. By processing only the extracted annoying components rather than the entire noise spectrum, the system reduces computational load and processing delays while maintaining effective noise reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by selectively attenuating only the annoying sound portions identified through the annoyance model, rather than processing the complete noise signal. This partial processing approach reduces computational complexity and processing time while achieving sufficient noise reduction for the user's needs.
3Reliability
If hearing devices amplify all sounds, then hearing assistance is improved, but annoying sounds become more bothersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the attenuation parameter dynamically based on the identified sound type. Environmental sounds receive minimal or no attenuation to preserve hearing assistance, while annoying sounds identified through the annoyance model receive increased attenuation. This parameter differentiation resolves the contradiction between providing hearing assistance and reducing annoying sounds.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality levels of sound processing are applied locally to different frequency components and time segments. Pleasant environmental sounds maintain their natural amplified quality for hearing assistance, while annoying sounds are selectively attenuated, creating localized quality variations that satisfy both hearing needs and comfort requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A system comprises an ear-worn electronic device configured to be worn by a wearer. The ear-worn electronic device comprises a processor and memory coupled to the processor. The memory is configured to store an annoying sound dictionary representative of a plurality of annoying sounds pre-identified by the wearer. A microphone is coupled to the processor and configured to monitor an acoustic environment of the wearer. A speaker or a receiver is coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to identify different background noises present in the acoustic environment, determine which of the background noises correspond to one or more of the plurality of annoying sounds, and attenuate the one or more annoying sounds in an output signal provided to the speaker or receiver.