Patent ID: 8065016

Claim:
A method for generating stimuli by an auditory prosthesis, including an array of stimulation electrodes, in response to an incoming acoustic signal, the method including: (a) dividing the incoming acoustic signal to obtain a plurality of filter band signals, each filter band corresponding to a stimulation electrode to be activated within the array and determining activation times for those stimulation electrodes; (b) deriving temporal adjustments for each stimulation electrode using a latency function, wherein for a particular stimulation electrode, the latency function depends on filter band signal amplitudes of a plurality of surrounding filter bands, and the latency function is constrained by a predetermined frequency range of the plurality of surrounding filter bands, relative to the filter band frequency of the particular stimulation electrode; (c) applying the temporal adjustments to the activation times of the stimulation electrodes, such that activation of stimulation electrodes corresponding to lower-amplitude filter band signals of said predetermined frequency range are delayed relative to activation of stimulation electrodes corresponding to higher-amplitude filter band signals of said predetermined frequency range; and (d) generating a stimulus using one or more of the stimulation electrodes.