Patent Description:
Wireless binaural hearing systems may be used, for example, with a wireless audio source, such as a wireless microphone used by a person speaking to the user of the hearing devices. An example of such system is described in <CIT>, wherein the RF signal strength received by the right ear hearing device is compared to the RF signal strength as received by the left ear hearing device so as to estimate from the respective difference of the RSSI ("received signal strength indicator") values the angular location, i.e., the angle of arrival, of the RF signal source. The estimated angular localization of the audio source is used in the processing of the audio signals received wirelessly from the audio source in a manner so that the angular localization impression of the audio signals received from the audio source as perceived by the user corresponds to the estimated angular localization of the audio source. It is mentioned in <CIT> that the accuracy of the angular localization estimation depends on a proper calibration of the RSSI readout during manufacturing of the hearing devices.

Another example of a wireless binaural hearing system using a wireless microphone is described in <CIT>, wherein in the angular localization estimation not only the received signal strength of the RF signals is used, but in addition the phase difference between the audio signal received via the RF link from the audio source and the acoustic audio signal received from the audio source and also the difference of the level of the acoustic audio signal received by the hearing devices are used.

<CIT> relates to a binaural hearing system, wherein channel selection of the binaural communication occurs based on the RSSI of the signal received from the other hearing device.

<CIT> relates to testing of a wireless hearing system, wherein a transmitter may be checked by measuring RSSI, FER (frame error rate) or BER (bit error rate).

<CIT> relates to a binaural hearing system, wherein the antenna matching circuit of a hearing device is adjusted according to the RSSI of a signal wirelessly received from the other hearing device.

In practice, the wireless receiver chip in wireless hearing devices will have a certain spread allowed by the specification, for example ± <NUM> dBm; further, also the antenna and the soldering of the antenna may add to the sensitivity spread. On top of such spread resulting from production of the hearing device also the head anatomy of the user may contribute to a difference in the received signal strength.

It is an object of the disclosure to provide for a wireless binaural hearing system which is capable of using binaural asymmetries in the received RF signals in a relatively reliable manner. It is a further object to provide for a corresponding method of operating a wireless binaural hearing system.

According to the disclosure, these objects are achieved by a hearing system as defined in claim <NUM> and a method as defined in claim <NUM>, respectively.

Each of the hearing devices of the binaural hearing system comprises a receiver unit for wirelessly receiving RF signals, a control unit and a signal processing unit for processing input audio signals so as to generate processed audio signals to provide hearing assistance to the user. The receiver unit comprises a measurement unit for measuring quality of the received RF signal so as to provide for an ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter. The control unit comprises an offset adapter unit for adjusting the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter to produce an adjusted ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter, which is supplied to the ipsilateral signal processing unit, and a filter unit for determining a filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter by filtering the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter. The control unit is configured to receive a filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter from the other hearing device and to adjust the offset adapter unit according to a difference between the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter and the filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter.

By providing the binaural hearing system with such in-situ calibration of the receiver unit, sensitivity asymmetries may be compensated without the need for calibration or measurement of sensitivity during production.

In some implementations, the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter is indicative of an RF signal level, such as an RSSI value, a BER value, a FER value or a retransmission rate value.

In some implementations, the control unit is configured to control the offset adapter unit in a manner so as to equalize the adjusted ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter and the adjusted contralateral RF signal quality parameter in the event that the two hearing devices receive an RF signal with the same quality.

In some implementations, the filter unit is configured to determine the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter as a function of a history of the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter, thereby considering values of the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter having been input into the filter unit over a preceding period of time. In particular, the filter unit may be configured to provide thereby for an averaging over time. In some implementations, the filter unit may comprise a median filter, and in particular it may comprise an IIR (infinite impulse response) filter and/or an FIR (finite impulse response) filter.

Some embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.

Examples of the disclosure are illustrated by reference to the drawings, wherein:.

<FIG> shows an example of a wireless binaural hearing system comprising a first hearing device <NUM> to be worn at or at least partly in the left ear of a user and a second hearing device <NUM> to be worn at or at least partly in the right ear of the user. In the example of <FIG>, the hearing devices <NUM>, <NUM> are hearing aids comprising a receiver unit <NUM>, a microphone arrangement <NUM>, a signal processing unit <NUM>, a control unit <NUM> and an electroacoustic output transducer (loudspeaker) <NUM>. As used hereinafter, "hearing devices" include all kind of audio devices which are to be worn at the ear or are to be inserted at least in part into the ear canal; such hearing devices include, for example, earbuds, earphones, in-ear headphones, all kinds of hearing aids, and all kinds of hearing prostheses, like cochlear implants.

The receiver unit <NUM> is for wirelessly receiving RF signals via wireless links 24A, 24B and 24C from the other one of the hearing devices <NUM>, <NUM>, from an audio source device (transmission unit) <NUM>, such as a wireless microphone, and/or from an accessory device <NUM>, such as a remote control or a communication device, e.g., a smartphone. It is to be understood that the wireless links 24A, 24B, 24C typically are bidirectional, so that the receiver unit <NUM> has the function of a transceiver. The receiver unit <NUM> comprises an antenna <NUM> and a measurement unit <NUM> for measuring quality of the received RF signal so as to provide for an ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter.

In some implementations, the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter is indicative of an RF signal level; in particular, the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter provided by the measurement unit <NUM> may be an RSSI value, BER value, FER value or retransmission rate value.

The signal processing unit <NUM> is for processing input audio signal so as to generate processed audio signals to be used for hearing stimulation. In the example of <FIG>, the processed audio signals are supplied to the loudspeaker <NUM>, which serves to stimulate the user's hearing according to the processed audio signals.

The input audio signals may be supplied by the microphone arrangement <NUM>, which captures input audio signals from ambient sound. Alternatively or in addition, the input audio signals may be received from an external audio source, for example, via the wireless links 24A, 24B and/or 24C. In particular, such input audio signals may be provided by the wireless microphone <NUM>, the other one of the hearing devices <NUM>, <NUM> and/or the communication device <NUM>.

In the example of <FIG>, the signal processing unit <NUM> comprises a "spatial awareness module" <NUM>, which serves to achieve a close-to-natural hearing impression for wirelessly received audio signals by processing the wirelessly received audio signals in a manner so that the angular localization impression of the wirelessly received audio signals as perceived by the user corresponds to an estimated angular localization of the wireless audio source from which the wireless audio signals are received. Examples of such audio signal processing, which requires as an input the estimated angular localization of the wireless audio source, can be found in <CIT> or in <CIT>.

As is described in these documents, an angular localization estimation can be obtained by comparing the RF signal received by the right ear hearing device <NUM> and the RF signal received by the right ear hearing device <NUM>. In particular, due to the adsorption of RF signals by the user's head, the difference in the quality of the RF signal as received by the right ear hearing device and the left ear hearing device will depend on the angular localization of the wireless audio source relative to the user's head. This principle is illustrated in <FIG>, according to which the RF signals 24B transmitted by, for example, the wireless microphone <NUM> are received by the right ear hearing device <NUM> and the left ear hearing device <NUM> at a level depending on the angle of arrival α in a horizontal plane formed by the looking direction <NUM> of the user (which is a direction in a horizontal plane and perpendicular to the line connecting the two ears of the user <NUM>) and a line <NUM> connecting the audio source <NUM> to the center of the head of the user <NUM> (typically, the vertical position of the audio source <NUM> will be close to the vertical position of the user's head, so that the looking direction <NUM> and the line <NUM> may be considered as being located in the same horizontal plane). The reason for the level difference is that once the angle α deviates from zero (this is the case when the user <NUM> looks into a direction different from the direction <NUM> of the audio source <NUM>), due to the adsorption of RF signals by the user's head, the RF signals 24B will be received at the right ear hearing device <NUM> and the left ear hearing device <NUM> at different levels.

In the example of <FIG>, the RF signal level as received by the right ear hearing device <NUM> will be lower than the RF signal level received at the left ear hearing device <NUM>. In general, the signal at the side of the user's head, which is in the "shadow" with regard to the audio source <NUM> will receive a weaker RF signal. Hence, by comparing the RF signal strength as received by the right ear hearing device <NUM> and the RF signal strength received at the left ear hearing device <NUM>, for example by comparing the respective RSSI values, for a given RF signal source it is possible to estimate the angular localization (which is the angle of arrival α) for each RF signal source <NUM>.

The accuracy of the angular estimation depends on the accuracy of the RF signal level measurement in each of the hearing devices <NUM>, <NUM>; in particular, the angular localization estimation will be deteriorated if the two receiver units <NUM>/RSSI measurement units <NUM> do not provide the same RSSI reading output to a given reference signal.

In the example of <FIG>, the control unit <NUM> is provided for addressing this issue by providing for an appropriate binaural compensation for differences in the RF signal sensitivity of the receiver units <NUM>. To this end, the control unit <NUM> comprises an offset adapter unit <NUM>, which is for adjusting the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter as provided by the RSSI measurement unit <NUM> before supplying such adjusted ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter to the signal unit <NUM>, namely the spatial awareness module <NUM> thereof. In some implementations, the control unit <NUM> is configured to control the offset adapter unit <NUM> in a manner so as to equalize the adjusted ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter and the adjusted contralateral RF signal quality parameter (which is received from the other hearing device) for the case that the two hearing devices receive an RF signal with the same quality/level.

To achieve the desired adjustment of the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter, the control unit <NUM> comprises a filter unit <NUM>, which filters the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter provided by the RSSI measurement unit <NUM> so as to provide a filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter. The respective filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter is received via the binaural wireless link 24A from the other hearing device <NUM>, <NUM>. The offset adapter unit <NUM> is adjusted according to the difference between the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter and the filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter. In other words, the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter provided by the measurement unit <NUM> is supplied not only to the offset adapter unit <NUM> for being adjusted prior to be supplied to the signal processing unit <NUM>, but it is also supplied to the filter unit <NUM>, the output of which is used, together with the respective filter unit output received from the other hearing device, for controlling the adjustment of the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter in the offset adapter unit <NUM>.

In some implementations, the filter unit <NUM> is configured to determine the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter as a function of a history of the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter, namely as a function of the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter values having been supplied to the filter unit <NUM> as input over a preceding period of time. In particular, the filter unit <NUM> may be configured to provide for some kind of averaging of the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter over time. For example, the filter unit may comprise a median filter. However, it is to be understood that any other averaging filter may be suitable. In particular, the filter unit <NUM> may comprise IIR and/or FIR filters.

The term "averaging" of previous measurements of the RF signal quality parameter in the measurement unit <NUM> is to be understood broadly such that the results of a plurality of previous measurements is somehow mathematically combined/processed in the filter unit <NUM> so as to obtain the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter (which then is compared with the respective filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter received from the other hearing device).

Such averaging is suitable for RF signal sensitivity calibration, since, when considering the angular position of the audio signal source relative to the user's head over a sufficiently long period of time, the average position will be approximately in the center (which is located on the line <NUM> in <FIG>).

Alternatively or in addition, the required calibration time period may be reduced by performing the filtering (e.g., averaging) under defined calibration conditions during which both hearing devices receive the RF signal under defined (spatial) conditions; for example, the RF signal source may be located in the center, so that both hearing devices receive a signal having the same RF signal quality.

Such calibration conditions may be established, for example, during a fitting procedure at a fitter's office. To this end, the control unit <NUM> may activate the filter unit <NUM> based on an activation signal so as to initiate a calibration mode during which the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter is generated as an output of the filter unit <NUM>. When the calibration mode is terminated by deactivating the filter unit <NUM>, the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter remains constant (at a value corresponding to the value provided at the end of the calibration period) during times when the filter unit <NUM> is not active.

In some implementations, the activation signal may be provided by a remote control external to the hearing devices <NUM>, <NUM>, such as the external device <NUM>, which may be, for example, a dedicated hearing device remote control or a communication device, such as a smartphone, with a corresponding remote control App, or a computer used for running a fitting software, etc. The calibration mode usually will be activated when the hearing devices <NUM>, <NUM> are worn by the user and the user faces the audio source (for example, the wireless microphone <NUM>) in a symmetrical manner. The calibration mode may be initiated, for example, by a hearing care professional/fitter through the device <NUM> or by the user of the hearing devices <NUM>, <NUM>. Accuracy of the calibration may be increased by repeating such calibration periods, wherein the filter unit <NUM> may integrate/average over several calibration periods.

A schematic example of the calibration algorithm is illustrated in <FIG>, wherein step <NUM> the signal quality parameter, such as a RSSI value, is measured, in step <NUM> the measured signal quality parameter is filtered, in step <NUM> the resulting filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter is compared with the respective filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter provided by the contralateral hearing device, and in step <NUM> the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter is corrected by applying an appropriate offset according to the difference of the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter and the filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter so as to achieve ipsilateral/contralateral symmetry of the RF signal quality parameter measurement.

As already mentioned above, the proposed in-situ calibration of the RF signal quality parameter measurement serves to increase accuracy of the binaural symmetry of the RF signal quality parameter measurement, in particular for improving accuracy of angular localization estimation for use in the audio signal processing, whereby, for example, calibration of the RF signal quality parameter measurement unit during production can be omitted.

Claim 1:
A binaural hearing system comprising a first hearing device (<NUM>) to be worn at or at least partly in a first ear of a user and a second hearing device (<NUM>) to be worn at or at least partly in a second ear of the user,
each of the hearing devices comprising :
a receiver unit (<NUM>) for wirelessly receiving Radio Frequency , RF, signals,
comprising a measurement unit (<NUM>) for measuring a quality of the received RF signals so as to provide for an ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter,
a control unit (<NUM>) , and
a signal processing unit (<NUM>) for processing input audio signals so as to generate processed audio signals to provide hearing assistance;
wherein the control unit comprises:
an offset adapter unit (<NUM>) for adjusting the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter to produce an adjusted ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter, which is supplied to the ipsilateral signal processing unit, and
a filter unit (<NUM>) for providing a filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter by filtering the ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter;
wherein the control unit is configured to :
receive a filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter from the other hearing device, and
adjust the offset adapter unit according to a difference between the filtered ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter and the filtered contralateral RF signal quality parameter; and
wherein the control unit (<NUM>) is configured to receive an adjusted contralateral RF signal quality parameter from the other hearing device (<NUM>, <NUM>), and wherein the signal processing unit (<NUM>) comprises a spatial awareness module (<NUM>) to which the adjusted contralateral RF signal quallity parameter and the adjusted ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter provided by the offset adapter unit are supplied as input and wherein the spatial awareness module (<NUM>) is configured to estimate from a difference between the adjusted ipsilateral RF signal quality parameter and the adjusted contralateral RF signal quality parameter an angular localization of a transmission unit (<NUM>, <NUM>) which transmits the RF signal received by the two hearing devices.