Hearing aid with distributed processing in ear piece
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A hearing assistance device, comprising:
- hearing assistance electronics and a power supply in a housing configured to be worn above or behind an ear of a wearer;
an ear piece configured to be worn in an ear canal of the wearer; and
a digitally programmable processing component in the ear piece configured to perform functions in the ear piece including modulating an incoming data stream for a hearing assistance device speaker, and configured to communicate and coordinate processing of the incoming data stream with the hearing assistance electronics using a wired connection, the processing component including an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and configured to receive power from the power supply via the wired connection, wherein the processing component is configured to convert microphone and telecoil signals into a digital data stream to be transferred to the hearing assistance electronics using a one wire hardware protocol, wherein the ear piece includes a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor configured to be used with the processing component for switching to provide power conservation.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatus for hearing assistance devices, and in particular to behind the ear and receiver in canal hearing aids with distributed processing. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to a hearing assistance device including hearing assistance electronics in a housing configured to be worn above or behind an ear of a wearer. The hearing assistance device includes an ear piece configured to be worn in the ear of the wearer and a processing component at the ear piece configured to perform functions in the ear piece and to communicate with the hearing assistance electronics, in various embodiments.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A hearing assistance device, comprising:
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hearing assistance electronics and a power supply in a housing configured to be worn above or behind an ear of a wearer; an ear piece configured to be worn in an ear canal of the wearer; and a digitally programmable processing component in the ear piece configured to perform functions in the ear piece including modulating an incoming data stream for a hearing assistance device speaker, and configured to communicate and coordinate processing of the incoming data stream with the hearing assistance electronics using a wired connection, the processing component including an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and configured to receive power from the power supply via the wired connection, wherein the processing component is configured to convert microphone and telecoil signals into a digital data stream to be transferred to the hearing assistance electronics using a one wire hardware protocol, wherein the ear piece includes a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor configured to be used with the processing component for switching to provide power conservation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method, comprising:
providing a digitally programmable processing component in an ear piece portion of a hearing aid configured to be worn in an ear canal of a wearer to perform functions in the ear piece including modulating an incoming data stream for a hearing assistance device speaker, and configured to communicate using a wired connection and coordinate processing of the incoming data stream with hearing assistance electronics in a housing configured to be worn above or behind an ear of the wearer, the processing component including an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and configured to receive power from a power supply in the housing via the wired connection, wherein the processing component is configured to convert microphone and telecoil signals into a digital data stream to be transferred to the hearing assistance electronics using a one-wire hardware protocol, wherein the ear piece includes a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor configured to be used with the processing component for switching to provide power conservation. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
Specification