Hearing Device Remote Microphone Gain Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Binaural hearing devices face challenges in improving speech intelligibility in noisy environments, as simple amplification fails to distinguish speech from environmental noise, and existing solutions like remote microphones can disrupt binaural cues and introduce transmission delays.
Innovation Solution
A hearing system with a pair of hearing devices and a remote microphone, where gains are calculated using signals from both hearing devices and the remote microphone to enhance speech intelligibility, applying these gains to produce output signals that preserve binaural cues and minimize perceivable delay.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If simple amplification is used in hearing devices, then the volume is increased, but speech intelligibility in noisy environments is not improved
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the audio signal processing by using multiple microphones (hearing device microphones and remote microphone) to capture different signal components, then processes these segments separately through beamforming and gain calculation to enhance speech while suppressing noise
Solution Approach 2:
A remote microphone acts as an intermediary element positioned near the speech source to capture a clean reference signal of the target speech, which is then transmitted to the hearing devices to improve the signal-to-noise ratio without requiring complex processing at the source
2Reliability
If remote microphone is used to improve speech intelligibility, then speech clarity is enhanced, but binaural cues may be disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the remote microphone signal with the local hearing device microphone signals through beamforming and gain application, combining the advantages of both remote speech capture and local spatial information to preserve binaural cues while enhancing intelligibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality processing by calculating separate gains for each hearing device based on the spatial relationship between microphones and sound sources, ensuring that each ear receives appropriately processed signals that maintain local spatial characteristics and binaural information
3Reliability
If remote microphone signal is transmitted to hearing devices, then speech signal is improved, but transmission delay is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-calculating gains based on the spatial configuration of microphones and sound sources, and by continuously tracking and compensating for transmission delays to minimize their perceptual impact on the processed speech signal
Data Source
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AI summary
A hearing system includes a pair of first and second hearing devices wirelessly coupled to a remote device that includes a microphone. One or more gains can each be calculated as a function of a first microphone signal received from the first hearing device, a second microphone signal received from the second hearing device, and a remote microphone signal received from the remote device. The function can be designed to improve speech intelligibility in a noisy environment. The one or more gains are applied to the first and second microphone signals to produce output sounds by the first and second hearing devices.