Hearing system comprising a database of acoustic transfer functions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12323767-B2
Application number	US-202418759161-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2024
Priority date	Aug 20, 2021
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

Abstract

A hearing system comprises a) a multitude of M of microphones providing M corresponding electric input signals x m (n), m=1, . . . , M, and n representing time, b) a processor connected to said multitude of microphones and providing a processed signal in dependence thereof, c) an output unit for providing an output signal in dependence of said processed signal, and d) a database (Θ) comprising a dictionary (Δ pd ) of previously determined acoustic transfer function vectors (ATF pd ). The processor is configured A) to determine a constrained estimate of a current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur ) in dependence of said M electric input signals and said dictionary (Δ pd ), B) to determine an unconstrained estimate of a current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) in dependence of said M electric input signals, and C) to determine a resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*) for a user of the hearing system in dependence thereof and of a confidence measure related to said electric input signals. A method of operating a hearing device is also disclosed. Thereby an improved noise reduction system for a hearing aid or headset may be provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A hearing device configured to be worn on the head at or in an ear of a user, wherein the hearing device comprises:
a processor configured to provide a processed signal in dependence of M electric input signals, each of the M electric input signals being indicative of a sound in an environment of the hearing device, and
an output unit configured to provide an output signal in dependence of the processed signal,
wherein the processor is configured to:
determine an unconstrained estimate of a current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) in dependence of a confidence measure, wherein the confidence measure is related to current values of the M electric input signals,
determine a resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*) in dependence of the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ), and
provide the processed signal in dependence of the resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*).

2. A hearing device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
determine a constrained estimate of a current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur ) in dependence of the current values of said M electric input signals and previously determined acoustic transfer function vectors (ATF pd ), and
determine the resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*) in dependence of the constrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur ) and the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ).

3. A hearing device according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the confidence measure which comprises a resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure, the resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure being indicative of a degree of matching of the constrained estimate and the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur , ATF uc,cur ).

4. A hearing device according to claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to, in accordance with the resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure meeting a first secondary criterion, determine the resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*) as the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ).

5. A hearing device according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the confidence measure which comprises:
a resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure indicative of a degree of matching of the constrained estimate and the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur , ATF uc,cur ), and
a target-sound-source-location-identifier indicative of a location of, or proximity of, a target sound source relative to the user, the sound comprising a target sound signal propagated from the target sound source,
wherein the processor is configured to determine the resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*) as the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) in accordance with the resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure meeting a first secondary criterion and the target-sound-source-location-identifier meeting a first tertiary primary criterion.

6. A hearing device according to claim 2 , wherein the sound in the environment of the hearing device comprises a target sound signal propagated from a target sound source, wherein the processor is configured to determine the confidence measure which comprises one or more of:
a target-signal-quality-measure indicative of a signal quality of a current target sound signal from the target sound source in dependence of at least one of the current values of said M electric input signals, wherein the processor is configured to determine the resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*) as a mixture of the constrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur ) and the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) in dependence of the target-signal-quality-measure, and
a resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure indicative of a degree of matching of the constrained estimate and the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur , ATF uc,cur ), wherein the processor is configured to determine the resulting acoustic transfer function vector (ATF*) as a mixture of the constrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur ) and the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) in dependence of the resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure.

7. A hearing device according to claim 2 , wherein the hearing device is configured to obtain the previously determined acoustic transfer function vectors (ATF pd ) from a database (Θ).

8. A hearing device according to claim 7 , wherein the sound in the environment of the hearing device comprises a target sound signal propagated from a target sound source, wherein the processor is configured to determine the confidence measure which comprises one or more of:
a target-signal-quality-measure indicative of a signal quality of a current target sound signal from the target sound source in dependence of at least one of the current values of said M electric input signals, wherein the hearing device is configured to, in accordance with the target-signal-quality-measure meeting a second primary criterion, update the previously determined acoustic transfer function vectors (ATF pd ) by transmitting the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) to the database (Θ),
a resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure indicative of a degree of matching of the constrained estimate and the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF pd,cur , ATF uc,cur ), wherein the hearing device is configured to, in accordance with the resulting acoustic-transfer-function-vector-matching-measure meeting a second criterion meeting a second secondary criterion, update the previously determined acoustic transfer function vectors (ATF pd ) by transmitting the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) to the database (Θ), and
target-sound-source-location-identifier indicative of a location of, or proximity of, the target sound source relative to the user, wherein the hearing device is configured to, in accordance with the target-sound-source-location-identifier meeting a second tertiary criterion, update the previously determined acoustic transfer function vectors (ATF pd ) by transmitting the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) to the database (Θ).

9. A hearing device according to claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to, upon transmitting the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) to the database (Θ), assign the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF uc,cur ) to a target location (θ* j ) associated with an element (ATF pd (θ* j )) of the previously determined acoustic transfer function vectors (ATF pd ) having the smallest difference to the unconstrained estimate of the current acoustic transfer function vector (ATF tr,cur ).

10. A hearing device according to claim 2 , wherein the sound in the environment of the hearing device comprises a target sound signal propagated from a target sound source, wherein the previously determined a

Assignees

• Oticon As

Inventors

• De Haan Jan M
• Jensen Jesper
• Pedersen Michael Syskind
• Feldt Svend
• Petri Stig
• Lauridsen Jakob Sloth

Classifications

• H04S2420/01

  Enhancing the perception of the sound image or of the spatial distribution using head related transfer functions [HRTF's] or equivalents thereof, e.g. interaural time difference [ITD] or interaural level difference [ILD] · CPC title

• H04S7/302

  Electronic adaptation of stereophonic sound system to listener position or orientation (H04S7/301 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04R25/554

  using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils · CPC title

• H04R1/406

  microphones · CPC title

• H04S7/00

  Indicating arrangements; Control arrangements, e.g. balance control · CPC title