Hearing Device Impulse Suppression via Selective Frequency Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing devices struggle to effectively suppress sound impulses with high sound pressure levels, leading to discomfort or damage due to insufficient compression techniques that distort temporal speech characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A hearing device with a sound impulse suppression module that detects sound impulses in a reduced frequency band set, applying a detection scheme to reduce gain in specific frequency bands, using a detection set that is a subset of the processing set, and employing frequency domain analysis to efficiently suppress impulses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If dynamic sound level compression with long time constants is used to reduce distortion of temporal speech characteristics, then speech quality is improved, but the ability to compress sound impulses with high energy is reduced, increasing discomfort for users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic compression with two distinct time constants: a first time constant for speech signals and a second, shorter time constant for impulse signals. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to optimize compression parameters based on signal type, resolving the contradiction between preserving speech temporal characteristics and suppressing uncomfortable impulses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the compression parameter (time constant) based on the detected signal characteristics. When speech is detected, a longer time constant is used to preserve temporal characteristics, while when impulses are detected, a shorter time constant is applied to effectively compress high-energy transient signals, thereby reducing discomfort.
2Measurement precision
If a detection scheme covering all frequency bands is used to detect sound impulses, then detection accuracy is improved, but power consumption and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the frequency spectrum into multiple bands and applies the impulse detection scheme selectively to specific frequency bands rather than analyzing all bands uniformly. This segmentation allows the system to focus computational resources on bands where impulses are most likely to occur, reducing overall processing load and power consumption while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different processing quality levels to different frequency bands. Impulse detection is applied with high precision in frequency bands where impulses are most problematic, while other bands receive reduced or no impulse detection processing, optimizing the balance between detection accuracy and power consumption.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Disclosed is a method and a hearing device. The hearing device comprises a first microphone for provision of a first microphone input signal; a sound impulse suppression module configured for detecting a sound impulse in the first microphone input signal; a processor for processing the first microphone input signal in a processing set of frequency bands to obtain an electrical output signal; and a receiver for converting the electrical output signal to an audio output signal, wherein the sound impulse suppression module is configured to apply a detection scheme on the first microphone input signal, wherein the detection scheme defines a detection set of frequency bands, wherein the frequency bands of the detection set covers a part of the frequency bands of the processing set, and wherein a sound impulse is detected based on the detection set of frequency bands.