HEARING DEVICE AND A METHOD OF SELECTING AN OPTIMAL TRANSCEIVER CHANNEL IN A WIRELESS NETWORK

• US 20130279727A1
• Filed: 10/14/2011
• Published: 10/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GN Hearing A/S (GN Store Nord A/S)
• Original Assignee: GN Resound A/S (GN Store Nord A/S)
• Inventors: Liu, Hong, Pedersen, Brian Dam
• Granted Patent: US 9,894,447 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0033 arrangements specific to the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/51 Aspects of antennas or their circuitry in or for hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/50 Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/552 Binaural
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality

Abstract

A method in a wireless network comprising a plurality of frequency channels and a receiving participant, the method includes: receiving data on a first subset of the plurality of frequency channels, wherein the frequency channels in the first subset are utilized at least once; receiving data on a second subset of the plurality of frequency channels; determining packet error rates for the respective frequency channels in the first and the second subsets; and selecting one of the plurality of frequency channel as an optimal frequency channel based on a result from the act of determining.

Claims

1. A method in a wireless network comprising a plurality of frequency channels and a receiving participant, the method comprising:

receiving data on a first subset of the plurality of frequency channels, wherein the frequency channels in the first subset are utilized at least once;

receiving data on a second subset of the plurality of frequency channels;

determining packet error rates for the respective frequency channels in the first and the second subsets; and

selecting one of the plurality of frequency channel as an optimal frequency channel based on a result from the act of determining.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining long term evaluations of the respective frequency channels in the first and second subsets based on the packet error rates for the respective frequency channels in the first and the second subsets, and a first time constant;

wherein the one of the plurality of frequency channels is selected as the optimal frequency channel based on the long term evaluations.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining long term evaluations of the respective frequency channels in the first and second subsets based on the packet error rates for the respective frequency channels in the first and the second subsets, and a first time constant; and

determining short term evaluations of the respective frequency channels in the first and second subsets based on the packet error rates for the respective frequency channels in the first and second subsets, and a second time constant, the second time constant being smaller than the first time constant;

wherein the one of the plurality of frequency channels is selected as the optimal frequency channel based on the short term evaluations if the long term evaluations of two or more of the frequency channels have a same evaluation value.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining long term evaluations of the respective frequency channels in the first and second subsets based on the packet error rates for the respective frequency channels in the first and the second subsets, and a first time constant; and

determining short term evaluations of the respective frequency channels in the first and second subsets based on the packet error rates for the respective frequency channels in the first and second subsets, and a second time constant, the second time constant being smaller than the first time constant;

wherein the one of the plurality of frequency channels is selected as the optimal frequency channel based on a random selection from two or more of the frequency channels having the respective short term evaluations that are identical, and the respective long term evaluations that are identical.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining an environment of the receiving participant based on long term evaluations of some of the plurality of frequency channels, short term evaluations of some of the plurality of frequency channels, or both.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising maintaining the selected one of the plurality of frequency channels as the optimal frequency channel if the packet error rate for the selected one of the plurality of frequency channels is below a first threshold value or if the packet error rates for the frequency channels in the second subset are above a second threshold value.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting a countdown value from the receiving participant to a transmitting participant, wherein the countdown value indicates to the receiving and transmitting participants when to switch to the optimal frequency channel.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting high bandwidth data between the receiving participant and a transmitting participant in the second subset of the plurality of frequency channels.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the high bandwidth data is configured to carry a real-time audio signal.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting redundant data between the receiving participant and a transmitting participant in the first subset of the plurality of frequency channels.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising excluding a certain one of the frequency channels in the first and second subsets as a possible candidate for the optimal frequency channel if the packet error rate for f the certain one of the frequency channels is above a threshold value.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving participant is a hearing device.

13. A hearing device comprising a transceiver and a digital signal processor configured to perform the method according to claim 1.

14. A method of selecting an optimal frequency channel in a wireless network comprising a plurality of frequency channels and a transmitting participant and a receiving participant, the method comprising:

utilizing redundant data to determine which of the plurality of frequency channels is a frequency channel with a lowest packet error rate.

15. A hearing device comprising a transceiver and a digital signal processor configured to perform the method according to claim 14.