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

• US 8,199,946 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2007
• Issued: 06/12/2012
• 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: Ritter, Hartmut, Weidner, Tom
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Jr., Jerome
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chen, Yu
• Application Number:
  US11/881,378
• Publication Number:
  US 20080025537A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,783 Days
• Field of Search: 381/314, 381/327, 381/315
• 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. 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,

wherein the RFID receiver is configured to generate the tag signal based on one of a plurality of radio frequency tags attached to different telephones,

wherein the transmission unit is configured to generate the power signal based on a transfer function and a frequency or an amplitude of the microphone signal,

wherein the transfer function is selected from at least two transfer functions based on the tag signal,

wherein a first transfer function is assigned to a predefined class of tag data items in the radio frequency tags,

wherein a second transfer function is assigned to an individual item of tag data in the radio frequency tags, and

wherein the hearing aid is configured to switch between the first transfer function for all the telephones and the second transfer function for an individual adaption to a particular type of telephone.

2. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, 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.

3. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 2, wherein the RFID receiver generates the tag signal corresponding to the item of tag data.

4. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

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

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.

5. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 4, 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.

6. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the RFID receiver detects the radio frequency tag based on a pulsed detection.

7. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hearing aid is a component of a pair of vision spectacles.

8. The hearing aid as claimed in claim 7, 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.