SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING REPRESENTATION BY AN AUDITORY PROSTHESIS SYSTEM OF AUDIO SIGNALS HAVING INTERMEDIATE SOUND LEVELS

• US 20140074463A1
• Filed: 05/26/2011
• Published: 03/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advanced Bionics AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Advanced Bionics AG (Sonova Holding AG)
• Inventors: Litvak, Leonid M., Kulkarni, Abhijit, Okuyama, Nobutaka
• Granted Patent: US 9,232,321 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/225
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0541 Cochlear electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36038 Cochlear stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/20 Automatic control H03G3/005 takes precedence; combined with volume compression or expansion H03G7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/50 Customised settings for obtaining desired overall acoustical characteristics

Abstract

An exemplary system includes a detection facility configured to detect an input sound level of an audio signal presented to an auditory prosthesis patient; and an adaptive gain control (AGC) facility configured to 1) determine whether the detected input sound level is in a quiet region, an intermediate region, or a loud region, and 2) apply a gain to the audio signal in accordance with an AGC gain function that specifies the gain to be substantially equal to or less than a first gain threshold if the detected input sound level is in the quiet region, substantially equal to or less than a second gain threshold if the detected input sound level is in the loud region, and greater than the first and second gain thresholds if the detected input sound level is in the intermediate region. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a detection facility configured to detect an input sound level of an audio signal presented to an auditory prosthesis patient; and

an adaptive gain control (“

AGC”

) facility communicatively coupled to the detection facility and configured to

determine whether the detected input sound level is in a quiet region that includes input sound levels at or below a first input sound level boundary, an intermediate region that includes input sound levels above the first input sound level boundary and below a second input sound level boundary, or a loud region that includes input sound levels at or above the second input sound level boundary, and

apply a gain to the audio signal in accordance with an AGC gain function that specifies the gain to be substantially equal to or less than a first gain threshold if the detected input sound level is in the quiet region, substantially equal to or less than a second gain threshold if the detected input sound level is in the loud region, and greater than the first and second gain thresholds if the detected input sound level is in the intermediate region.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the application of the gain to the audio signal results in an amplified audio signal, and wherein the system further comprises a control facility communicatively coupled to the AGC facility and configured to direct an auditory prosthesis to apply electrical stimulation representative of the amplified audio signal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the detection facility is further configured to

detect an input sound level of an additional audio signal presented to the auditory prosthesis patient, and

detect a noise level associated with the additional audio signal; and

the AGC facility is further configured to

dynamically adjust the AGC gain function in accordance with the detected noise level, and

apply a gain to the additional audio signal in accordance with the dynamically adjusted AGC gain function.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the AGC gain function:

defines a mapping between a plurality of input sound levels and a plurality of gains; and

comprises an expansion phase within the intermediate region and a compression phase within the loud region.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the expansion phase and the compression phase meet within the intermediate region.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the AGC gain function further comprises an additional expansion phase within the quiet region.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the AGC facility is further configured to use a syllabic compressor heuristic during the expansion phase.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein the AGC facility is further configured to use a dual loop heuristic during the compression phase.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the AGC gain function is specific to a particular channel included in a plurality of channels associated with an auditory prosthesis communicatively coupled to the sound processor, and wherein one or more other channels included in the plurality of channels are each associated with a different AGC gain function than the AGC gain function specific to the particular channel.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the AGC gain function is associated with each channel included in a plurality of channels associated with an auditory prosthesis communicatively coupled to the sound processor.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the AGC gain function is associated with a first subset of channels included in a plurality of channels associated with an auditory prosthesis communicatively coupled to the sound processor and another AGC gain function is associated with a second subset of channels included in the plurality of channels.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the second gain threshold is greater than the first gain threshold.

13. A system comprising:

a detection facility configured to detect a noise level associated with an audio signal presented to an auditory prosthesis patient; and

an adaptive gain control (“

AGC”

) facility communicatively coupled to the noise detection facility and configured to

dynamically adjust an AGC gain function in accordance with the detected noise level, and

apply a gain to the audio signal in accordance with the dynamically adjusted AGC gain function.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the noise level corresponds to a noise signal associated with the audio signal, and wherein the AGC facility is further configured to apply a gain to the noise signal in accordance with the dynamically adjusted AGC gain function.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the detection facility is configured to detect the noise level associated with the audio signal by:

detecting an environment in which the auditory prosthesis patient is located; and

setting the noise level to be equal to a predetermined noise level associated with the detected environment.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the detected noise level is higher than a previously detected noise level; and

the AGC facility is configured to dynamically adjust the AGC gain function by decreasing a range of an expansion phase included in the AGC gain function.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the detected noise level is lower than a previously detected noise level; and

the AGC facility is configured to dynamically adjust the AGC gain function by increasing a range of an expansion phase included in the AGC gain function.

18. A method comprising:

detecting, by a speech processor, an input sound level of an audio signal presented to an auditory prosthesis patient;

determining, by the speech processor, whether the detected input sound level is in a quiet region that includes input sound levels at or below a first input sound level boundary, an intermediate region that includes input sound levels above the first input sound level boundary and below a second input sound level boundary, or a loud region that includes input sound levels at or above the second input sound level boundary; and

applying, by the speech processor, a gain to the audio signal in accordance with an adaptive gain control (“

AGC”

) gain function that specifies the gain to be substantially equal to or less than a first gain threshold if the detected input sound level is in the quiet region, substantially equal to or less than a second gain threshold if the detected input sound level is in the loud region, and greater than the first and second gain thresholds if the detected input sound level is in the intermediate region.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the applying of the gain to the audio signal results in an amplified audio signal, and wherein the method further comprises directing, by the speech processor, an auditory prosthesis to apply electrical stimulation representative of the amplified audio signal.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

detecting, by the speech processor, an input sound level of an additional audio signal presented to the auditory prosthesis patient;

detecting, by the sound processor, a noise level associated with the additional audio signal;

dynamically adjusting, by the speech processor, the AGC gain function in accordance with the detected noise level; and

applying, by the speech processor, a gain to the additional audio signal in accordance with the dynamically adjusted AGC gain function.