Portable communication device with tunable antenna and method of operating such portable communication device

• US 9,966,992 B2
• Filed: 04/16/2014
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sonova AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Sonova AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Inventors: Secall, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Lugo, David B.
• Application Number:
  US15/303,312
• Publication Number:
  US 20170041043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,483 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/1027 assessing signal quality or detecting noise/interference for the received signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/18 Input circuits, e.g. for coupling to an antenna or a transmission line coupling networks between antennas or lines and receivers independent of the nature of the receiver H03H
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/713 using frequency hopping
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7156 Arrangements for sequence synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2001/71563 Acquisition
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/55 Communication between hearing aids and external devices via a network for data exchange

Abstract

A portable communication device having a transceiver unit (30) for establishing a wireless communication link (16) using a digital modulation scheme with a packet-based frequency hopping scheme including at least one advertising channel, an antenna (32), an antenna tuning circuit (34) connected to the transceiver unit and the antenna for tuning the antenna, and a control unit (36) for controlling the antenna tuning circuit. The transceiver unit is adapted to estimate the strength of signals received in the at least one advertising channel and to supply the control unit with a signal representative of the estimated signal strength in the at least one advertising channel. The control unit is adapted to control the antenna tuning circuit such that the antenna is tuned according to the signal representative of the estimated signal strength in the at least one advertising channel.

Claims

1. A hearing aid, comprising:

a transceiver unit for establishing a wireless communication link using a digital modulation scheme with a packet-based frequency hopping scheme including an advertising channel, wherein the transceiver unit is configured to receive audio data;

an antenna;

an antenna tuning circuit physically coupled to the transceiver unit and the antenna for tuning the antenna,

wherein the transceiver unit is adapted to estimate strength of signals received in the advertising channel and to transmit a control signal partially based on the estimated strength of signals;

wherein the antenna tuning circuit is adapted to tune the antenna partially based on the control signal, wherein tuning the antenna includes reducing a frequency range for transmission or increasing transmission strength of signals associated with the advertising channel, and

wherein the transceiver unit is adapted to judge whether an interferer is present during the estimation of the received strength of signals in the advertising channel and to use the respective estimation of the received strength of signals only in case that it has been judged that there is no interferer present.

2. The hearing aid of claim 1 wherein the hearing aid is a body worn device.

3. The hearing aid of claim 1 wherein the hearing aid is to be worn at ear level.

4. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the frequency hopping scheme uses frequencies from 2.400 to 2.484 GHz.

5. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the advertising channel is a first advertising channel of multiple advertising channels, wherein the multiple advertising channels are evenly distributed over the frequencies used by the frequency hopping scheme.

6. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the estimated strength of signals are associated with received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values.

7. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is further configured to estimate an amplitude of a gain regulation loop in an automatic gain control (AOC) unit.

8. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is adapted to control the tuning circuit to tune the antenna such that the estimated strength of signals in the advertising channel is increased.

9. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is adapted to control the tuning circuit in a manner so as to tune the antenna such that variation of the strength of signals in the advertising channel is decreased.

10. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the transceiver unit is adapted to conduct an estimation of the received strength of signals during a listening period.

11. The hearing aid of claim 10, wherein the listening period is divided into a guard period followed by an observation period, wherein the control unit is adapted to decide that there is no interferer if no signal with an amplitude above a given minimum signal threshold is detected within the guard period and if the variation of the detected signal within the observation period, at times where the signal amplitude is above the minimum signal threshold, is within a given signal variation range.

12. The hearing aid of claim 11, wherein the transceiver unit is adapted to exclude transient signal amplitude changes having a slope steepness higher than a given threshold, when determining whether the variation of the detected signal is within the given signal variation range.

13. The hearing aid of claim 12, wherein the transceiver is adapted to determine when a first peak value of the signal amplitude is reached within the observation period, and wherein the center value of the given signal variation range is set to the first peak signal amplitude value, so that is decided that there is an interferer once the signal amplitude exceeds the first peak signal amplitude value by at least half of the width of the signal variation range or falls below the first peak signal amplitude value by at least half of the width of the signal variation range.

14. The hearing aid of claim 10, wherein the audio device is adapted to decode a data packet received in the at least one advertising channel during the estimation of the received signal strength and to determine whether or not the data packet has been correctly received, and wherein the control unit judges that an interferer is present in case that the data packet has not been correctly received.

15. A method of operating a hearing aid, the method comprising:

establishing a wireless communication link between a hearing aid and an external device by using a digital modulation scheme with a packet-based frequency hopping scheme including an advertising channel;

estimating, by the hearing aid, strength of signals received in the advertising channel, and

tuning the antenna partially based on a signal representative of the estimated strength of signals in the advertising channel, wherein tuning includes reducing a frequency range for transmission or increasing transmission strength of signals associated with the advertising channel;

decoding an audio data packet in the advertising channel during the estimation of the received signal strength; and

determining an interferer is present based on determining the audio data packet has not been correctly received.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the advertising channel is a first advertising channel of multiple advertising channels, wherein the multiple advertising channels are evenly distributed over the frequencies used by the frequency hopping scheme.