Hearing aid with radio frequency indentification receiver for switching a transmission characteristic

• US 20080025537A1
• Filed: 07/26/2007
• Published: 01/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sivantos Gmbh (WS Audiology A/S)
• Original Assignee: Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Weidner, Tom, Ritter, Hartmut
• Granted Patent: US 8,199,946 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/314
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/41 Detection or adaptation of hearing aid parameters or programs to listening situation, e.g. pub, forest
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/51 Aspects of antennas or their circuitry in or for hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils

Abstract

The invention relates to a hearing aid with a sound receiver for generating a microphone signal representing a sound wave received and a sound generator for generating a sound depending on a power signal received. The hearing aid has a transmission unit which on the input side is connected to the sound receiver and on the output side to the sound generator and generates a power signal depending on a microphone signal received. The transmission unit modifies a transmission characteristic of the transmission unit as a function of a tag signal received. The hearing aid has a radio frequency detection device connected to the transmission unit, with a spatial detection zone where the radio frequency detection device detects, electromagnetically and in particular inductively, a radio frequency tag and, depending on the radio frequency tag, to generate a tag signal and to output this to the transmission unit.

Claims

1-13. -13. (canceled)

14. A hearing aid, comprising:

a sound receiver that receives a sound wave and generates a microphone signal representing the sound wave;

a sound generator that generates a sound depending on a power signal;

a transmission unit connected between the sound receiver and the sound generator that;

generates the power signal depending on the microphone signal, and

modifies a transmission characteristic of the transmission unit as a function of a tag signal; and

an RFID receiver connected to the transmission unit that generates the tag signal based on a radio frequency tag presented and electromagnetically detected in a detection zone.

15. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 14, wherein the radio frequency tag comprises a transmitting and receiving antenna connected to a chip where an item of tag data in the radio frequency tag is stored.

16. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 15, wherein the RFID receiver generates the tag signal corresponding to the item of tag data.

17. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 14, wherein the power signal is generated based on a transfer function and a frequency or an amplitude of the microphone signal.

18. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 17, wherein the transfer function is selected from at least two transfer functions based on the tag signal.

19. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:

an assignment unit connected between the RFID receiver and the transmission device,

a look-up memory connected to the assignment unit for storing assignment dataset representing an assignment of a predefined item of tag data or a class of tag data to a predefined transfer function.

20. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 19, wherein the assignment unit:

evaluates the tag signal,

selects one assignment dataset from the look-up memory corresponding to the tag signal,

generates a transfer signal corresponding to one predefined transfer function based on the selected assignment dataset, and

outputs the transfer signal to the transmission unit for the modification.

21. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 14, wherein the RFID receiver detects the radio frequency tag based on a pulsed detection.

22. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 14, wherein the hearing aid is a component of a pair of vision spectacles.

23. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 22, wherein the RFID receiver comprises an antenna for detecting the radio frequency tag and the antenna is at least partly integrated into a frame or a sidearm of the vision spectacles.

24. A program system for a hearing aid, comprising:

a radio frequency tag comprising an item of tag data that is assigned to a predefined transfer function of the hearing aid; and

a programming device that generates the item of tag data for selecting the predefined transfer function.

25. The program system as claimed in claim 24, wherein the radio frequency tag comprises at least two items of tag data that differ from one another and are respectively assigned to at least two predefined different transfer functions.

26. The programming system as claimed in claim 24, wherein the radio frequency tag is detected in a detection zone.

27. The programming system as claimed in claim 24, wherein an assignment dataset representing an assignment of the item of tag data or a class of tag data to the predefined transfer function is stored in the hearing aid.

28. A method for modifying a transmission characteristic of a hearing aid, comprising:

electromagnetically detecting a radio frequency tag in a detection zone of the hearing aid; and

modifying the transmission characteristic as a function of the radio frequency tag presented and detected in the detection zone.

29. The method as claimed in claim 28, wherein the transmission characteristic is defined by a transfer function.

30. The method as claimed in claim 29, further comprising:

providing at least two different transfer functions,

selecting one of the transfer functions depending on the detected radio frequency tag, and

modifying the transmission characteristics according to the selected transfer function.