TV Streamer Audio Synchronization for Hearing Aids
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with ear-worn devices like hearing aids face challenges while watching TV due to differences in sound timing between the hearing aids and external sound sources, leading to interference and poor listening experiences.
Innovation Solution
A TV streamer device is developed, equipped with communication, control, and delay circuitry, which synchronizes the audio signals from the TV streamer and hearing aids to ensure they reach the user's ears within 10 milliseconds of each other, using a neural network for noise reduction and buffering audio for enhanced processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If audio is transmitted to hearing aids with delay compensation, then sound synchronization is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The TV streamer pre-calculates and applies delay compensation to the audio signal before transmission to hearing aids. By measuring the inherent delay in the hearing aid playback path and compensating for it in advance at the streamer, the system achieves synchronized sound arrival without requiring complex real-time coordination or additional hardware components in the hearing aids themselves.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If noise reduction processing is applied to audio, then listening quality is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system buffers audio data before noise reduction processing to provide the neural network with sufficient context window (e.g., 50 milliseconds or more). This preliminary buffering enables effective noise reduction by allowing the processing algorithm to analyze broader temporal patterns, while the buffered approach is efficiently managed by the system to minimize overall processing delay.
Solution Approach 2:
The neural network-based noise reduction processor dynamically adjusts processing parameters such as buffer window size and processing intensity based on the characteristics of the audio signal and environmental conditions. This allows the system to optimize the balance between noise reduction effectiveness and processing speed, applying more aggressive processing when needed and lighter processing when the signal is already clean.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If audio buffering is increased for neural network processing, then noise reduction quality is improved, but audio latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies delay compensation to the audio transmitted to hearing aids to account for the buffering required by the neural network processor. By measuring the total delay introduced by the noise reduction processing pipeline and compensating for it in advance, the system ensures that the processed audio arrives at the hearing aid at the appropriate time, effectively hiding the processing latency from the user experience.
Data Source
AI summary
A TV streamer may be configured to receive audio associated with a TV program; transmit the audio, or a processed version of it, to hearing aids over a wireless connection; and determine when a delay time has elapsed. In some embodiments, the TV streamer may be configured to then generate sound based on the audio, or a processed version of it, after the delay time has elapsed. In some embodiments, the TV streamer may be configured to then transmit the audio, or a processed version of it, to another device after the delay time has elapsed.