Hearing Aid Audio Signal Transmission via Linear Prediction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing aid systems with two devices struggle to transmit audio signals with high quality and low latency while minimizing energy consumption, due to the attenuating effect of the head and limited power sources, which restricts transmission rate and power.
Innovation Solution
A method that subdivides audio signals into time windows, divides them into frequency channels, and uses linear prediction to create transmission values that are transmitted, allowing for efficient reconstruction of the signal at the receiver, reducing data dimensionality and noise through quantization, and combining data sets to form a reconstructed output signal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If audio signals are transmitted with high transmission rate to maintain audio quality and low latency, then audio quality is improved, but energy consumption increases due to limited power sources and head attenuation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and transmits only the essential information (deviation values) rather than the complete audio signal. By predicting channel values and transmitting only the differences between predicted and actual values, the system reduces data dimensionality and transmission energy requirements while maintaining audio quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transmits partial information (only deviation values from predictions) rather than complete audio data. This partial transmission approach reduces energy consumption while sufficient information is provided for accurate signal reconstruction at the receiver.
2Productivity
If transmission power is increased to overcome head attenuation, then transmission rate is improved, but energy stores are depleted faster and strain on the person increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the necessary deviation information from the audio signal for transmission. This extraction of essential data reduces the amount of power needed for transmission while maintaining adequate transmission rate for spatial hearing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter being transmitted from complete audio signals to compressed deviation values. This parameter transformation reduces the energy required for transmission while maintaining sufficient transmission rate through efficient data representation.
3Reliability
If complete audio signals are transmitted to maintain audio quality, then audio quality is improved, but data dimensionality and noise increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the deviation values from predicted channel values for transmission. This extraction reduces data dimensionality by transmitting only the essential differences rather than complete high-dimensional audio signals, while maintaining audio quality through accurate prediction and deviation representation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transmits partial information (deviation values) rather than complete audio data. This partial transmission reduces data dimensionality and noise while providing sufficient information for accurate signal reconstruction.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method (26) for transmitting an audio signal (16) from a transmitter (18) to a receiver (20) and to a hearing aid (4), in particular a hearing aid, with a communication device (24) which is provided and configured for sending and/or receiving an audio signal (16) according to such a method (26). The invention further relates to a hearing aid system (2) with two hearing aids (4) which is provided and configured to transmit audio signals (16) between the two hearing aids (4) by means of their communication devices (24) according to such a method.