Hearing Aid Mixed-Delay Audio Processing for Own-Voice Annoyance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing aids face challenges in managing processing delays, which cause own-voice annoyance (OVA) and distort sound quality, limiting advanced features and user comfort, especially in digital hearing aids with delays between 2 and 10 milliseconds.
Innovation Solution
Implementing mixed-delay signal processing that separates and processes user's own speech and external sounds using dual algorithmic pathways with different latencies, where own speech is processed with low latency and external sounds with higher latency, utilizing a combination of local and remote microphones and signal processing techniques like beamforming and adaptive cancellation filters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If digital hearing aids use advanced signal processing algorithms, then noise reduction and speech enhancement are improved, but processing delay increases causing own-voice annoyance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the audio signal processing into separate pathways: a low-latency pathway for own-voice signals and a high-latency pathway for external sound sources. This segmentation allows different processing delays for different signal types, resolving the contradiction between advanced processing and delay tolerance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing qualities to different parts of the audio signal. Own-voice components receive minimal processing with low latency, while external sound components receive advanced noise reduction and speech enhancement with higher latency. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by matching processing intensity to signal source.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If processing delay is minimized for own voice, then own-voice annoyance is reduced, but advanced processing features are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments processing pathways by signal source type, allowing own-voice signals to take a low-latency path that minimizes annoyance while external signals take a high-latency path that enables advanced features. This resolves the contradiction by decoupling the requirements for different signal types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically routes different audio signals to different processing pathways based on their characteristics. The system adapts the processing delay and algorithm selection in real-time based on whether the signal is identified as own-voice or external, allowing flexible optimization for each signal type independently.
3Device complexity
If single latency processing is used, then processing is simple, but sound quality and user comfort are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multiple latency pathways that segment the processing of different sound sources. This segmentation, while increasing some complexity, enables significantly improved sound quality by preventing the distortion caused by uniform processing of all signals. The benefit in sound quality outweighs the moderate increase in processing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Various examples are provided related to mixed-delay signal processing. In one example, a communication device includes at least one microphone positioned to capture sound signals from a surrounding environment; and processing circuitry operatively connected to the microphone(s), where the processing circuitry can generate audio signals from the sound signals captured by the microphone(s) and process the audio signals through dual algorithmic processing. In another example, a method includes separating audio signals corresponding to sound signals associated with a main source of sound and audio signals corresponding to sound signals associated with a secondary source of sound; processing the audio signals corresponding to the main source sound signals at a first low latency or delay and the secondary source sound signals at a second latency or delay higher than the first low latency or delay; and combining the processed audio signals for output to an output transducer.