Hearing device with user driven settings adjustment
First Claim
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1. An audio system configured to be adjustable by a user, comprising:
- a microphone configured to receive an input sound and to produce a microphone signal representative of the received input sound;
a volume controller configured to receive a volume control (VC) command;
an audio processor configured to produce an output audio signal by processing the microphone signal according to a plurality of processor settings, the audio processor including;
an environmental parameter detector configured to detect environmental parameters from the microphone signal upon receiving the VC command, the environmental parameters characterizing the input sound received when the VC command is received and including at least a level of the input sound and at least one of an estimate of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the input sound, interaural time differences (ITDs), interaural level differences (ILDs), an environmental classification of the input sound, or a geographic location of the hearing device; and
a processing adjuster configured to adjust one or more processor settings of the plurality of processor settings, based on at least the VC command and the environmental parameters, to control signals substantially characteristic of the detected environmental parameters; and
a speaker configured to produce an output sound using the output audio signal.
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Abstract
The present subject matter provides a hearing device with selective adjustment of processor settings based on various characteristics of an input sound, in response to adjustment of output sound volume by a user. This addresses problems of undesirable sound effects resulting from applying same changes to processor settings to input sounds of all levels, frequencies, and classes.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An audio system configured to be adjustable by a user, comprising:
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a microphone configured to receive an input sound and to produce a microphone signal representative of the received input sound; a volume controller configured to receive a volume control (VC) command; an audio processor configured to produce an output audio signal by processing the microphone signal according to a plurality of processor settings, the audio processor including; an environmental parameter detector configured to detect environmental parameters from the microphone signal upon receiving the VC command, the environmental parameters characterizing the input sound received when the VC command is received and including at least a level of the input sound and at least one of an estimate of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the input sound, interaural time differences (ITDs), interaural level differences (ILDs), an environmental classification of the input sound, or a geographic location of the hearing device; and a processing adjuster configured to adjust one or more processor settings of the plurality of processor settings, based on at least the VC command and the environmental parameters, to control signals substantially characteristic of the detected environmental parameters; and a speaker configured to produce an output sound using the output audio signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An audio system configured to be adjustable by a user, comprising:
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a hearing device including; a microphone configured to receive an input sound and to produce a microphone signal representative of the received input sound; a volume controller configured to receive a volume control (VC) command; an audio processor configured to produce an output audio signal by processing the microphone signal according to a plurality of processor settings, the audio processor including; an environmental parameter detector configured to detect one or more environmental parameters from the microphone signal upon receiving the VC command, the one or more environmental parameters characterizing the input sound received when the VC command is received and including at least an input level being a level of the input sound; and a processing adjuster configured to adjust one or more processor settings of the plurality of processor settings, based on at least the VC command and the one or more environmental parameters, to control signals substantially characteristic of the detected one or more environmental parameters, the one or more processor settings including a gain being a function of the input level; and a speaker configured to produce an output sound using the output audio signal, wherein the processing adjuster includes a timer configured to time a time period starting from an adjustment made to the one or more processor settings and is further configured to adjust the one or more processor settings further based on whether the time period has expired. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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13. A method for operating a hearing device configured to be adjustable by a user, comprising:
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receiving an input sound and producing a microphone signal representative of the input sound using a microphone of the hearing device; processing the microphone signal to produce an output audio signal using a processor of the hearing device according to a plurality of processor settings; generating an output sound based on the output audio signal using a speaker of the hearing device; receiving a volume control (VC) command from the user; detecting environmental parameters upon receiving the VC command, the environmental parameters characterizing the input sound received when the VC command is received and including at least a level of the input sound and at least one of an estimate of a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the input sound, interaural time differences (ITDs), interaural level differences (ILDs), an environmental classification of the input sound, or a geographic location of the hearing device; and adjusting one or more processor settings of the plurality of processor settings to control signals substantially characteristic of the detected environmental parameters using the VC command and the detected environmental parameters. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification