INAUDIBLE METHODS, APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS FOR JOINTLY TRANSMITTING AND PROCESSING, ANALOG-DIGITAL INFORMATION

• US 20100208631A1
• Filed: 02/17/2010
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Original Assignee: Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Inventors: ZHANG, Duo, Zeng, Fan-Gang
• Application Number:
  US12/707,583
• Publication Number:
  US 20100208631A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/297
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36036 of the outer, middle or inner ear
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36038 Cochlear stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/39 Aspects relating to automatic logging of sound environment parameters and the performance of the hearing aid during use, e.g. histogram logging, or of user selected programs or settings in the hearing aid, e.g. usage logging
• 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 2225/55 Communication between hearing aids and external devices via a network for data exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/70 Adaptation of deaf aid to hearing loss, e.g. initial electronic fitting

Abstract

The disclosure relates to jointly transmitting and processing analog-digital information using Inaudible Synchronous Online User-optimized Processing (iSOUP), wherein digital and analog information can be transmitted via one connection. iSOUP may be implemented in real-time MP3 anti-piracy, customized MP3 songs, Internet customized medical devices, Internet customized consumer electronics, Internet controlled psychoacoustic and physiological tests, tinnitus treatment devices, anti-piracy MP3 players, assistive listening MP3 players, healthcare sensor networks, Bluetooth sensors, audio-visual hearing aids (HAs) and cochlear implants (CIs), audio-touch HAs and CIs, Bluetooth HAs and CIs, automated fitting of HAs and CIs. The invention has applicability in copyright protection, data hiding, hearing aid remote controls, children learning devices, musical special effects generators, multiuser multimedia devices, Internet treatment and disease surveillance, wireless medical devices, wireless telemetry, multimedia rehabilitation devices, hearing aids and other implants.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting information comprising:

transmitting, in a first direction over a communication link, a forward subframe containing feature information and user information;

transmitting, in a second direction over the communication link, a backward subframe including customer data, wherein such customer data comprise at least one of body resistance, capacitance, inductance, current, voltage, electromagnetic field distribution and response, user information, and feature information, and wherein the forward subframe and backward subframe are transmitted over the same communication link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the feature information includes at least one of energy, rms, magnitude spectrum, phase spectrum, spectrogram, intensity, pitch, formants (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, and F6), slope of pitch, interval of pitch, contour of pitch, rhythm, onset time-points, sound source location, sensory type, sensory location, sensory duration, mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, high-order central moments, cumulants, and a statistical characteristic.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user information includes at least one of MP3 anti-piracy information, human psychophysical parameter, hearing aid parameter, human test parameter, physiological parameter, stereo parameter, customer preference, User ID, Serial Number, Music ID, relative amplitudes, delays, program selection, timer, digital volume control, direction of listening (with directional microphones), music/speech/noisy/environmental/directional/omnidirectional/automatic mode selection, sensitivity control, battery remote turn-off/turn-on, production date, distribution date, reproduction date, purchase date, purchase store, user class, bar code, index of frequency bin, electrode index, FIR/IIR filter coefficient, subchannel gain, audible threshold (THL), most comfortable level (MCL), windowing function, compression function, block size of input, block size of processing, and block size of output.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein digital and analog information are transmitted over the communication link.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the forward subframe and backward subframe is inaudible.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the backward subframe is not transmitted.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting and processing are jointly performed.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitting further comprises transmitting, simultaneously, the forward subframe to a plurality of hardware devices.

9. A device comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a forward subframe, comprising feature information and user information, over a communication link;

a receiver configured to receive a backward subframe over the communication link, wherein the backward subframe includes customer data, wherein such customer data comprise at least one of body resistance, capacitance, inductance, current, voltage, electromagnetic field distribution and response, feature information, and user information, and wherein the forward subframe and backward subframe are respectively transmitted and received over the same communication link.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the feature information includes at least one of energy, rms, magnitude spectrum, phase spectrum, spectrogram, intensity, pitch, formants (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, and F6), slope of pitch, interval of pitch, contour of pitch, rhythm, onset time-points, sound source location, sensory type, sensory location, sensory duration, mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, high-order central moments, cumulants, and a statistical characteristic.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the user information includes at least one of MP3 anti-piracy information, human psychophysical parameter, hearing aid parameter, human test parameter, physiological parameter, stereo parameter, customer preference, User ID, Serial Number, Music ID, relative amplitudes, delays, program selection, timer, digital volume control, direction of listening (with directional microphones), music/speech/noisy/environmental/directional/omnidirectional/automatic mode selection, sensitivity control, battery remote turn-off/turn-on, production date, distribution date, reproduction date, purchase date, purchase store, user class, bar code, index of frequency bin, electrode index, FIR/IIR filter coefficient, subchannel gain, audible threshold (THL), most comfortable level (MCL), windowing function, compression function, block size of input, block size of processing, and block size of output.

12. The device of claim 9, wherein digital and analog information are transmitted over the communication link.

13. The device of claim 9, wherein the transmission of the forward subframe and backward subframe is inaudible.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the backward subframe is not transmitted.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting and processing are jointly performed.

16. The device of claim 9, wherein said transmitter is further configured to simultaneously transmit the forward subframe to a plurality of hardware devices.