Active cancellation hearing assistance device

• US 7,787,648 B1
• Filed: 08/26/2005
• Issued: 08/31/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cingular Wireless II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Frerking, Melvin Duane, Specht, Philip R., Hirvela, George O'Quinn
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin; Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kurr; Jason R
• Application Number:
  US11/213,471
• Time in Patent Office: 1,831 Days
• Field of Search: 381/94.7, 381/94.1, 381/71.6, 381/317, 381/71.1, 381/71.9, 455/570
• US Class Current: 381/317
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/49 Reducing the effects of electromagnetic noise on the functioning of hearing aids, by, e.g. shielding, signal processing adaptation, selective (de)activation of electronic parts in hearing aid
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/50 Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics

Abstract

An apparatus and method for active cancellation of interference at a hearing assistive devices are presented. The apparatus includes an interference cancellation circuit for cancelling an interference component of a composite signal, and an activator circuit for enabling interference cancellation circuit. The interference cancellation circuit generates an estimated replica of the interference from an interference profile, inverts the replica to form a cancellation waveform, then adds the cancellation waveform to the composite signal to cancel the interference component. An interference profile can be provided by performing a training sequence on a composite signal to detect a repetitive signal and building a profile using its parameters, retrieving a profile stored in memory, or using an antenna to capture an RF signal. The activator circuit may enable the interference cancellation circuit when RF energy is detected, when composite signal characteristics match one or more stored profiles, or in response to user input.

Claims

1. A method for cancelling interference received by a hearing assistive device, comprising:

receiving a composite signal containing a desired signal and interference;

activating a cancellation circuit, including;

storing at least one interference profile in a memory;

receiving a composite signal;

monitoring at least one signal parameter of the received composite signal;

detecting a repetitive signal component of the composite signal;

accessing the at least one stored interference profile;

comparing the repetitive signal component to the at least one stored interference profile; and

activating the cancellation circuit if the comparison of the repetitive signal component to the at least one stored interference profile satisfies a predetermined condition;

the cancellation circuit generating a replica waveform of the interference;

the cancellation circuit creating a cancellation waveform derived from the replica waveform; and

the cancellation circuit adding the cancellation waveform to the composite signal to produce an interference-cancelled signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises creating the interference profile using the at least one signal parameter, wherein generating the replica waveform includes generating the replica waveform based on the interference profile.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises:

capturing an RF signal at an antenna;

receiving the captured RF signal at a receiver;

determining at least one signal parameter of the received RF signal;

creating the interference profile using the at least one signal parameter of the received RF signal; and

wherein generating the replica waveform includes generating the replica waveform based on the interference profile.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises generating the replica waveform based on the at least one retrieved interference profile.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

performing a matching algorithm using the composite signal and the at least one stored interference profile; and

determining a best match profile using matching algorithm results.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said creating comprises inverting in phase said replica waveform.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the interference-cancelled signal.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein activating the cancellation circuit comprises receiving a first signal from an RFID tag, and providing the composite signal to the cancellation circuit if the first signal is received.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the activating the cancellation circuit comprises detecting RF emissions at an RF sensor, and providing the composite signal to the cancellation circuit if RF emissions are detected.

10. An apparatus for cancelling interference in a hearing assistive device, comprising:

an interference cancellation circuit including;

at least one interference profile provider;

an interference processor configured to receive an interference profile from the at least one interference profile provider and generate an interference replica;

an inverter configured to invert the interference replica to produce a cancellation waveform; and

a summer to combine the cancellation waveform and a composite signal comprising a desired signal and undesired interference, to produce an interference-cancelled signal; and

an activator circuit configured to enable the interference cancellation circuit, wherein the activator circuit includes;

an activator-circuit memory configured to store interference profiles; and

a controller in communication with the activation-circuit memory and configured to receive a composite signal, compare the composite signal to at least one interference profile stored in the activation-circuit memory, and activate the cancellation circuit if the comparison satisfies a predetermined condition.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one interference profile provider comprises an audio processor configured to monitor the composite signal, detect a repetitive component of the composite signal, and produce the interference profile based on one or more signal parameters of the repetitive signal component.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said at least one interference profile provider comprises an antenna to capture an RF signal, and a receiver to receive said RF signal from said antenna.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said at least one interference profile provider comprises an interference profile provider memory containing stored interference profiles.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising an RFID reader in communication with said interference processor, configured to receive a signal from an RFID tag.

15. A system for cancelling interference in a hearing assistive device, comprising:

an interference cancellation circuit configured to produce an interference-cancelled waveform; and

an activator circuit configured to enable the interference cancellation circuit, the activator circuit including;

an activator-circuit memory configured to store interference profiles; and

a controller in communication with the activator-circuit memory and configured to;

receive a composite signal including a desired signal and an undesired signal; and

compare the composite signal to at least one interference profile stored in the activator-circuit memory, and activate the cancellation circuit if the comparison satisfies a predetermined condition.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the interference cancellation circuit comprises:

an interference processor configured to receive the at least one interference profile and generate an interference replica;

an inverter configured to invert the interference replica to produce a cancellation waveform; and

a summer to combine the cancellation waveform and the composite signal to produce the interference-cancelled signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one interference profile provider comprises an audio processor configured to monitor the composite signal, detect a repetitive component of the composite signal, and produce the interference profile based on one or more signal parameters of the repetitive signal component.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said at least one interference profile provider comprises an antenna to capture an RF signal and a receiver to receive said RF signal from said antenna.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one interference profile provider comprises an interference profile provider memory containing stored interference profiles.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising an RFID reader in communication with said interference processor, configured to receive a signal from an RFID tag.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the activator circuit comprises a switch operable by a user to activate the interference cancellation circuit.

22. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the controller of the activator circuit is configured to receive input from a user and activate the interference cancellation circuit in response to the user input.

23. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

the activator circuit comprises an RFID reader configured to receive a first signal from an RFID tag; and

the controller is coupled to the RFID reader and configured to activate the cancellation circuit if the first signal from the RFID tag is received by the RFID reader.

24. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said activator circuit is further configured to receive a first signal and provide the composite signal to said cancellation circuit in response to the first signal.

25. An apparatus for cancelling interference at a hearing assistive device comprising:

at least one signal input device;

a central processor in communication with the at least one signal input device and configured to receive a composite signal including a desired component and an interference component;

an interference cancellation circuit in communication with the central processor, configured to receive the composite signal, replicate the interference component of the composite signal, and output an interference-cancelled signal; and

an activator circuit in communication with the central processor and configured to activate the interference cancellation circuit, the activator circuit including;

an activator-circuit memory configured to store at least one predetermined interference profile; and

a controller in communication with the memory, the controller being configured to;

receive a composite signal;

compare the composite signal to the at least one interference profile stored in the memory; and

activate the cancellation circuit if the comparison satisfies a predetermined condition.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising a signal processor in communication with said central processor.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

an analog-to-digital converter in communication with said signal processor and configured to digitize signals prior to processing; and

a digital-to-analog converter in communication with said signal processor and configured to convert digital signals to analog prior to outputting signals to a user.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the interference cancellation circuit comprises:

an interference processor configured to receive the interference profile and replicate the interference component of the composite signal to generate an interference replica;

an inverter configured to invert the interference replica to produce a cancellation waveform; and

,

a summer configured to combine the cancellation waveform and the composite signal, and output the interference-cancelled signal.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the at least one interference profile provider comprises an audio processor configured to monitor the composite signal, detect a repetitive component of the composite signal, and produce the interference profile based on one or more signal parameters of the repetitive signal component.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said at least one interference profile provider comprises an antenna to capture an RF signal, and a receiver configured to receive said RF signal from said antenna.

31. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said at least one interference profile provider comprises an interference profile provider memory containing stored interference profiles.

32. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said at least one interference profile provider comprises an RFID reader configured to receive a signal from an RFID tag.

33. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein said activator circuit comprises a switch operable by a user to activate the interference cancellation circuit.

34. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the controller of the activator circuit is configured to receive input from a user and activate the interference cancellation circuit in response to the user input.

35. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein:

the activator circuit comprises an RFID reader configured to receive a first signal from an RFID tag; and

the controller is in communication with the RFID reader and is configured to activate the cancellation circuit if the first signal from the RFID tag is received by the RFID reader.

36. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising an output device to deliver sound to a user.