Audio path diagnostics
First Claim
1. A method for detecting a change in performance of a hearing prosthesis comprising an audio signal processing path, the method comprising:
- receiving sound;
converting the received sound into an audio signal;
determining, by the hearing prosthesis, first and second reference values of a selected characteristic of the audio signal at first and second frequency bands of the audio signal, respectively, during a reference time period, wherein the selected characteristic is indicative of the energy content of the audio signal;
determining, by the hearing prosthesis, first and second test values of the selected characteristic of the audio signal at the first and second frequency bands, respectively, during a test time period;
calculating a reference ratio based on a ratio of the first and second reference values;
calculating a test ratio based on a ratio of the first and second test values; and
determining whether degradation has occurred over time in the audio signal processing path of the hearing prosthesis based on a comparison of the reference ratio with the test ratio.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method for detecting a change in the performance of an audio signal processing path is disclosed. The method comprises: selecting a characteristic of a received audio signal indicative of its energy content; determining first and second predetermined values of the selected energy characteristic at respective first and second audio signal frequency bands; calculating a ratio of the first and second predetermined values for a reference time period and a test time period; and comparing the ratio at the reference time period with the ratio of the test time period to determine a performance change in the audio path.
26 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for detecting a change in performance of a hearing prosthesis comprising an audio signal processing path, the method comprising:
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receiving sound; converting the received sound into an audio signal; determining, by the hearing prosthesis, first and second reference values of a selected characteristic of the audio signal at first and second frequency bands of the audio signal, respectively, during a reference time period, wherein the selected characteristic is indicative of the energy content of the audio signal; determining, by the hearing prosthesis, first and second test values of the selected characteristic of the audio signal at the first and second frequency bands, respectively, during a test time period; calculating a reference ratio based on a ratio of the first and second reference values; calculating a test ratio based on a ratio of the first and second test values; and determining whether degradation has occurred over time in the audio signal processing path of the hearing prosthesis based on a comparison of the reference ratio with the test ratio. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 37, 38)
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14. An apparatus for detecting a change in performance of a hearing prosthesis comprising an audio signal processing path, the apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving sound; means for converting the received sound into an audio signal; means for determining first and second reference values of a selected characteristic of the audio signal at first and second frequency bands of the audio signal, respectively, during a reference time period, wherein the selected characteristic is indicative of an energy content of the audio signal; means for determining first and second test values of the selected characteristic at the first and second frequency bands, respectively, during a test time period; means for calculating a reference ratio based on a ratio of the first and second reference values; means for calculating a test ratio based on a ratio of the first and second test values; and means for determining whether degradation has occurred over time in said audio signal processing path based on a comparison of the reference ratio with the test ratio. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 39)
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26. A cochlear implant system comprising:
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an audio signal processing path comprising at least portions of one or more components of the cochlear implant system; and an apparatus for detecting degradation in the audio signal processing path, comprising; means for receiving sound; means for converting the received sound into an audio signal; means for determining first and second reference values of a selected characteristic of the audio signal at first and second frequency bands of the audio signal, respectively, during a reference time period, wherein the selected characteristic is indicative of an energy content of the audio signal; means for determining first and second test values of the selected characteristic at the first and second frequency bands, respectively, during a test time period; means for calculating a reference ratio based on a ratio of the first and second reference values; means for calculating a test ratio based on a ratio of the first and second test values; and means for determining whether degradation has occurred over time in said audio signal processing path based on a comparison of the reference ratio with the test ratio. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40)
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Specification