Personalized Audio Gain Control to Prevent Hearing-Aid Clipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Against-the-ear audio devices, such as headphones and mobile phone handsets, fail to adequately amplify sound pressure levels for individuals with hearing impairments, leading to inconsistent listening experiences across different audio content types and frequencies.
Innovation Solution
A digital audio signal processing architecture that personalizes sound amplification based on a user's hearing profile, using multiband upward compression and gain lookup tables to enhance playback signals, while preventing clipping by adjusting volume levels and applying frequency-dependent gains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If amplification is applied to compensate for hearing loss, then sound pressure level is improved, but signal clipping occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing hearing loss compensation gains in lookup tables before audio playback. The hearing profile assessment and gain computation are done in advance, allowing the system to apply pre-determined amplification factors during playback without causing clipping, as the gains are optimized to compensate for hearing loss while maintaining signal integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters by applying frequency-dependent amplification gains that are tailored to the user's specific hearing profile. Different gain values are applied to different frequency bands based on the user's hearing thresholds, allowing optimal sound pressure level improvement across the audio spectrum while avoiding uniform over-amplification that would cause clipping.
2Ease of operation
If personalized sound enhancement is implemented, then listening experience is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs hearing profile assessment and gain computation in advance, storing results in lookup tables. This preliminary action simplifies the real-time processing during audio playback, as the system only needs to retrieve pre-computed gains rather than performing complex calculations for each audio signal, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining personalized enhancement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex real-time hearing analysis and gain computation with pre-computed lookup tables. Instead of performing intricate signal processing operations during playback, the system substitutes these with simple table lookups and gain applications, significantly reducing computational complexity while preserving the personalized sound enhancement functionality.
3Measurement precision
If frequency-dependent amplification is applied, then hearing loss compensation is improved, but signal distortion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies frequency-dependent amplification gains that are precisely tailored to the user's hearing profile across different frequency bands. By using multiple frequency bands with individually optimized gains rather than uniform amplification, the system achieves accurate hearing loss compensation while minimizing signal distortion through controlled, frequency-specific parameter adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary hearing profile analysis and determines optimal frequency-dependent gains before audio playback. These pre-computed gains are stored and applied during playback, ensuring accurate hearing loss compensation while avoiding real-time processing that could introduce distortion. The preliminary action allows for careful optimization of each frequency band's amplification.
Data Source
AI summary
Signal energy in auditory sub-bands of an input audio signal is determined. Sound pressure level, SPL, in those sub-bands is then determined, based on the signal energy and based on sound output sensitivity of the against-the-ear audio device. In one instance, at least first and second gain lookup tables are determined based on a hearing profile of a user of the against-the-ear audio device. Sub-band gains that are to be applied to the input audio signal are determined based on the determined SPL. When the input audio signal is for example telephony the sub-band gains are computed using the first gain lookup table, and when the input audio signal is for example media the sub-band gains are computed using the second gain lookup table. Other aspects are also described and claimed.