Hearing device and a hearing system configured to localize a sound source
First Claim
1. A hearing system comprising first and second hearing devices, each being adapted to be worn at or on the head or to be fully or partially implanted in the head of a user, the first and second hearing devices being adapted to be located at or in first and second ears, respectively, of the user, and each of the hearing devices comprising:
- at least one input transducer for converting an input sound comprising mixture of a) a target sound signal from a target sound source and b) a possible additive noise sound signal from the environment to a noisy electric input signal;
at least one wireless receiver for receiving a wirelessly transmitted version of the target signal and providing an essentially noise-free target signal; and
a signal processing unit connected to said at least one input transducer and to said at least one wireless receiver, the signal processing unit comprisinga frequency independent sound propagation model of an acoustic propagation channel from the target sound source to the hearing device when worn by the user, the sound propagation model being configured to be used for estimating a direction of arrival of the target sound signal relative to the user,wherein the signal processing unit is configured toprovide a maximum-likelihood estimate of the direction of arrival θ
of the target sound signal based on an additive noise signal model, andestimate the value of the direction of arrival θ
that maximizes the likelihood function using Inverse Discrete Fourier Transforms (IDFTs); and
wherein each of the first and second hearing devices, comprises antenna and transceiver circuitry configured to allow an exchange of information between them, including to allow an exchange of audio data and/or data regarding the direction of arrival as estimated in a respective one of the first and second hearing devices to the other one.
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Abstract
The problem of estimating the direction to one or more sound sources of interest relative to a user wearing a pair of hearing devices, e.g. hearing aids, is dealt with. A target signal is generated by a target signal source and transmitted through an acoustic channel to a microphone of a hearing system. Due to additive environmental noise, a noisy acoustic signal is received at the microphones of the hearing system. An essentially noise-free version of the target signal is transmitted to the hearing devices of the hearing system via a wireless connection. Each of the hearing devices comprises a signal processing unit comprising a sound propagation model of the acoustic propagation channel from the target sound source to the hearing device when worn by the user. The sound propagation model is configured to be used for estimating a direction-of-arrival of the target sound signal relative to the user.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A hearing system comprising first and second hearing devices, each being adapted to be worn at or on the head or to be fully or partially implanted in the head of a user, the first and second hearing devices being adapted to be located at or in first and second ears, respectively, of the user, and each of the hearing devices comprising:
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at least one input transducer for converting an input sound comprising mixture of a) a target sound signal from a target sound source and b) a possible additive noise sound signal from the environment to a noisy electric input signal; at least one wireless receiver for receiving a wirelessly transmitted version of the target signal and providing an essentially noise-free target signal; and a signal processing unit connected to said at least one input transducer and to said at least one wireless receiver, the signal processing unit comprising a frequency independent sound propagation model of an acoustic propagation channel from the target sound source to the hearing device when worn by the user, the sound propagation model being configured to be used for estimating a direction of arrival of the target sound signal relative to the user, wherein the signal processing unit is configured to provide a maximum-likelihood estimate of the direction of arrival θ
of the target sound signal based on an additive noise signal model, andestimate the value of the direction of arrival θ
that maximizes the likelihood function using Inverse Discrete Fourier Transforms (IDFTs); andwherein each of the first and second hearing devices, comprises antenna and transceiver circuitry configured to allow an exchange of information between them, including to allow an exchange of audio data and/or data regarding the direction of arrival as estimated in a respective one of the first and second hearing devices to the other one. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification