BLUETOOTH HEARING AIDS ENABLED DURING VOICE ACTIVITY ON A MOBILE PHONE
First Claim
1. A method for remotely processing meaningful sound signals received on a hearing aid device to conserve battery power, comprising:
- receiving sound signals from a microphone;
determining whether the sound signals represent meaningful sound;
activating a transceiver in response to determining that the sound signals represent meaningful sound;
transmitting the sound signals to a mobile computing device via the transceiver;
receiving processed sound signals from the mobile computing device;
generating sound from the received processed sound signals; and
deactivating the transceiver when the transceiver is active in response to determining that the sound signals do not represent meaningful sound.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hearing aid device and methods implemented in hearing aid devices activate a radio frequency (RF) transceiver for communicating sounds signals for remote processing on a mobile computing device in response to the device detecting reception of meaningful sound, such as speech. Selectively activating the RF transceiver when sound is meaningful and avoiding powering the RF transceiver when detected sound is of little value to the wearer enables hearing aid to use the mobile computing device to process meaningful sound signals (e.g., speech from another person) while conserving batter power, thereby prolonging its battery life. The hearing aid device and methods may also deactivate the RF transceiver when the hearing aid device does not detect a meaningful sound signal.
16 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method for remotely processing meaningful sound signals received on a hearing aid device to conserve battery power, comprising:
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receiving sound signals from a microphone; determining whether the sound signals represent meaningful sound; activating a transceiver in response to determining that the sound signals represent meaningful sound; transmitting the sound signals to a mobile computing device via the transceiver; receiving processed sound signals from the mobile computing device; generating sound from the received processed sound signals; and deactivating the transceiver when the transceiver is active in response to determining that the sound signals do not represent meaningful sound. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A hearing aid device, comprising:
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means for receiving sound signals from a microphone; means for determining whether the sound signals represent meaningful sound; means for activating a transceiver in response to determining that the sound signals represent meaningful sound; means for transmitting the sound signals to a mobile computing device via the transceiver; means for receiving processed sound signals from the mobile computing device; means for generating sound from the received processed sound signals; and means for deactivating the transceiver when the transceiver is active in response to determining that the sound signals do not represent meaningful sound. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a hearing aid device processor to perform operations comprising:
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receiving sound signals from a microphone; determining whether the sound signals represent meaningful sound; activating a transceiver in response to determining that the sound signals represent meaningful sound; transmitting the sound signals to a mobile computing device via the transceiver; receiving processed sound signals from the mobile computing device; generating sound from the received processed sound signals; and deactivating the transceiver when the transceiver is active in response to determining that the sound signals do not represent meaningful sound. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A hearing aid device, comprising:
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a memory; a microphone; a transceiver; and a processor coupled to the memory, the microphone and the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising; receiving sound signals from the microphone; determining whether the sound signals represent meaningful sound; activating the transceiver in response to determining that the sound signals represent meaningful sound; transmitting the sound signals to a mobile computing device via the transceiver; receiving processed sound signals from the mobile computing device via the transceiver; generating sound from the received processed sound signals; and deactivating the transceiver when the transceiver is active in response to determining that the sound signals do not represent meaningful sound. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system, comprising:
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a mobile computing device; and a hearing aid device configured to communicate with the mobile computing device, wherein the hearing aid device comprises; a microphone; a hearing aid device transceiver configured to communicate with the mobile computing device; and a hearing aid device processor coupled to the microphone and the hearing aid device transceiver, wherein the hearing aid device processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising; receiving sound signals from the microphone; determining whether the sound signals represent meaningful sound; activating the hearing aid device transceiver in response to determining that the sound signals represent meaningful sound; transmitting the sound signals to the mobile computing device via the hearing aid device transceiver; receiving processed sound signals from the mobile computing device via the hearing aid device transceiver; generating sound from the received processed sound signals; and deactivating the hearing aid device transceiver when the transceiver is active in response to determining that the sound signals do not represent meaningful sound, and wherein the mobile computing device comprises; a memory; a mobile computing device transceiver configured to communicate with the hearing aid device; and a mobile computing device processor coupled to the memory and the mobile computing device transceiver, and wherein the mobile computing device processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising; receiving sound signals from the hearing aid device via the mobile computing device transceiver; processing the sound signals; and transmitting the processed sound signals to the hearing aid device via the mobile computing device transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification