Listening device

• US 7,957,543 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2006
• Issued: 06/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semiconductor Components Industries LLC (ON Semiconductor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ON Semiconductor Trading, Ltd (ON Semiconductor Corporation)
• Inventors: Matthey, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz; Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): Elbin; Jesse A
• Application Number:
  US11/375,031
• Publication Number:
  US 20060222192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,910 Days
• Field of Search: 381 941- 943, 381/98, 381101-103, 700/94, 708320-323
• US Class Current: 381/94.2
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/02085 Periodic noise
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/02 Speech enhancement, e.g. noise reduction or echo cancellation reducing echo effects in line transmission systems H04B3/20; echo suppression in hands-free telephones H04M9/08
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/0208 Noise filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/43 Signal processing in hearing aids to enhance the speech intelligibility
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/57 Aspects of electrical interconnection between hearing aid parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/00 Deaf-aid sets , i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception electrical stimulation of auditory nerves to promote the auditory function A61N1/36038; optical stimulation of auditory nerves to promote the auditory function A61N5/0622
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/43 Electronic input selection or mixing based on input signal analysis, e.g. mixing or selection between microphone and telecoil or between microphones with different directivity characteristics H04R25/407 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/505 using digital signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/602 of batteries

Abstract

In a listening device such as for example a hearing aid (1) where an input signal (10) is received by a microphone (2), converted from analog to digital (3), digitally processed (4) including a conversion from a time domain into a frequency domain, converted from digital to analog (5) and transmitted to a user by means of a loudspeaker (6), the internal digital processing (4) generates an unwanted noise signal, the so called undesired periodic noise (12), at specific frequencies. The undesired periodic noise is coupled via ground and the battery (7) into the signal processing path. According to the invention, the undesired periodic noise is filtered out of the input signal (10.2) during the digital signal processing (4), after the conversion of the digital signal into the frequency domain.

Claims

1. A method for processing an analog acoustic signal, particularly for processing an audio signal in a listening device, the method comprising:

converting the analog acoustic signal into a digital signal; and

processing the digital signal for specific blocks of input data at a block processing frequency, wherein said processing of said digital signal results in a noise signal superposed on the digital signal, the processing comprising;

converting the digital signal from a time domain into a frequency domain,

splitting the frequency domain of the digital signal into a plurality of frequency bands, each frequency band being processed separately,

determining the frequency bands affected by the noise, and

filtering, in each determined frequency band, said noise signal out of said digital signal after said conversion of the digital signal into the frequency domain,

wherein converting the digital signal from a time domain to a frequency domain includes determining a complex transformation value, where said noise signal is, for each determined frequency band, filtered out of said complex transformation value by subtracting a first correction value from a real part of said complex transformation value to obtain a corrected real value and by subtracting a second correction value from an imaginary part of said complex transformation value to obtain a corrected imaginary value, and

when the absolute value of the corrected real value is below a predetermined threshold value, the frequency band is determined to include the noise signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said noise signal is filtered out with a highpass digital filter where said first and second correction values are updated after subtracting them from the real and imaginary parts of said complex transformation value respectively.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a first initial value is set for said first correction value, and a second initial value is set for said second correction value.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said analog acoustic signal is converted into said digital signal with a given sampling frequency, a frequency range from 0 Hz to half the sampling frequency being divided into a plurality of frequency bands where said step of filtering said noise signal out of said digital signal is carried out for a subset of said frequency bands.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein said analog acoustic signal is converted into said digital signal with a given sampling frequency, a frequency range from 0 Hz to half the sampling frequency being divided into a plurality of frequency bands where said step of filtering said noise signal out of said digital signal is carried out for a subset of said frequency bands.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said analog acoustic signal is converted into said digital signal with a given sampling frequency, a frequency range from 0 Hz to half the sampling frequency being divided into a plurality of frequency bands where said step of filtering said noise signal out of said digital signal is carried out for a subset of said frequency bands.

7. A listening device, particularly a hearing aid, comprising:

an analog to digital converter that converts an analog acoustic input signal into a digital input signal;

a processing device that processes said digital input signal and determines a digital output signal, including converting the digital input signal from a time domain into a frequency domain; and

a digital to analog converter that converts the digital output signal into an analog output signal, wherein

the processing device is connected to said analog to digital converter and to said digital to analog converter, said processing device being built such that it processes said digital input signal for specific blocks of input data at a block processing frequency thereby generating a noise signal, said noise signal being superposed on said digital input signal, said processing device comprising a frequency domain splitter that splits the frequency domain of the digital input signal into a plurality of frequency bands, a determination unit that determines frequency bands affected by the noise and a filtering unit that for each determined frequency band filters said noise signal out of said digital input signal after said conversion of the digital input signal into the frequency domain, and

converting the digital input signal from a time domain into a frequency domain includes determining a complex transformation value, where said noise signal is, for each determined frequency band, filtered out of said complex transformation value by subtracting a first correction value from a real part of said complex transformation value to obtain a corrected real value and by subtracting a second correction value from an imaginary part of said complex transformation value to obtain a corrected imaginary value, and

each frequency band is determined to affected by the noise when the absolute value of the corrected real value is below a predetermined threshold value.

8. The processing device for processing a digital input signal with a superposed noise signal and determining a digital output signal for a listening device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said processing device is implemented as an integrated circuit on a programmable microchip and includes said filtering unit that filters said noise signal out of said digital input signal.