Method and apparatus for a binaural hearing assistance system using monaural audio signals
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing sound to first and second ears of a wearer using a wireless transmitter, comprising:
- a pair of hearing assistance devices configured to receive radio signals including a monaural information signal from the wireless transmitter, process the radio signals to produce a first monaural signal and a second monaural signal based on the monaural information signal with a controllable interaural level difference between the first and second monaural signals, and provide a first sound based on the first monaural signal to the first ear of the wearer and a second sound based on the second monaural signal to the second ear of the wearer to provide binaural sound to the wearer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present application provides method and apparatus for a binaural hearing assistance system using a monaural audio signal input. The system, in various examples, provides adjustable delay/phase adjustment and sound level adjustment. Different embodiments are provided for receiving the monaural signal and distributing it to a plurality of hearing assistance devices. Different relaying modes are provided. Special functions are supported, such as telecoil functions. The system also has examples that account for a head-related transfer function in providing advanced sound processing for the wearer. Other examples are provided that are described in the detailed description.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing sound to first and second ears of a wearer using a wireless transmitter, comprising:
a pair of hearing assistance devices configured to receive radio signals including a monaural information signal from the wireless transmitter, process the radio signals to produce a first monaural signal and a second monaural signal based on the monaural information signal with a controllable interaural level difference between the first and second monaural signals, and provide a first sound based on the first monaural signal to the first ear of the wearer and a second sound based on the second monaural signal to the second ear of the wearer to provide binaural sound to the wearer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for providing sound to first and second ears of a wearer, comprising:
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a wireless device configured to transmit radio signals containing monaural information; and a pair of hearing assistance devices configured to receive the radio signals from the wireless transmitter, process the radio signals to produce a first monaural signal and a second monaural signal based on the monaural information with a controllable interaural level difference between the first and second monaural signals, and provide a first sound based on the first monaural signal to the first ear of the wearer and a second sound based on the second monaural signal to the second ear of the wearer to provide binaural sound to the wearer. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for providing sound to first and second ears of a wearer of first and second hearing assistance devices, comprising:
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deriving a first sound and a second sound from a monaural information signal provided by a wireless device wirelessly coupled to the first and second hearing assistance devices using radio communication, including setting the second sound to a different level relative to the first sound; and presenting the first sound to the first ear using the first hearing assistance device and the second sound to the second ear using the second hearing assistance device to provide binaural sound to the wearer. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification