Hearing assistance device ear-to-ear communication using an intermediate device
First Claim
1. A system for wireless communication, comprising:
- a first audio device configured to be worn in a first ear of a wearer;
a second audio device configured to be worn in a second ear of the wearer; and
an external device in wireless communication with at least one of the first device and the second device, the external device including;
a wireless communication transceiver; and
a processor in communication with the wireless transceiver, the processor configured to;
monitor communication between the first device and the second device;
determine whether communication between the first device and the second device has fallen below a programmable threshold, wherein the programmable threshold includes a link margin threshold; and
if communication between the first device and the second device has fallen below the programmable threshold, using the wireless communication transceiver to switch dynamically between direct communication and relay communication between the first and second devices, to improve link quality, latency and power consumption.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein, among other things, are systems and methods for relaying wireless communication from ear-to-ear for hearing assistance devices using an intermediate device. One aspect of the present subject matter includes a method of using a first hearing assistance device in a first ear of a wearer to communicate with a second hearing assistance device in a second ear of the wearer using wireless communication, and determining whether quality of the communication between the devices has fallen below a programmable threshold such that communication can be improved by relaying the communication using an external intermediary device such as a smart phone. One method of determining the quality is to monitor a number of retransmissions that are used to maintain communication between the left and right devices.
55 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for wireless communication, comprising:
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a first audio device configured to be worn in a first ear of a wearer; a second audio device configured to be worn in a second ear of the wearer; and an external device in wireless communication with at least one of the first device and the second device, the external device including; a wireless communication transceiver; and a processor in communication with the wireless transceiver, the processor configured to; monitor communication between the first device and the second device; determine whether communication between the first device and the second device has fallen below a programmable threshold, wherein the programmable threshold includes a link margin threshold; and if communication between the first device and the second device has fallen below the programmable threshold, using the wireless communication transceiver to switch dynamically between direct communication and relay communication between the first and second devices, to improve link quality, latency and power consumption. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A device, comprising:
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a wireless communication transceiver; and a processor in communication with the wireless transceiver, the processor configured to; monitor communication between a left audio device and a right audio device worn by a wearer; determine whether communication between the left device and the right device has fallen below a programmable threshold, wherein the programmable threshold includes a link margin threshold; and if communication between the left device and the right device has fallen below the programmable threshold, using the wireless communication transceiver to switch dynamically between direct communication and relay communication between the first and second devices, to improve link quality, latency and power consumption. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification