Binaural enhancement of tone language for hearing assistance devices

1. A method for enhancing pitch in a hearing assistance system having a first and second hearing assistance device, the method comprising:

receiving a signal using a microphone of the first hearing assistance device;

performing pitch detection on the signal to obtain a pitch value;

wirelessly transmitting the pitch value from the first hearing assistance device to the second hearing assistance device;

combining the pitch value of the first hearing assistance device with a detected pitch value of the second hearing assistance device using pitch detection confidence determined based on signal-to-noise ratio of the first hearing assistance device and the second hearing assistance device, including classification based on a slope of a pitch contour value; and

adjusting gain based on the combined pitch value to improve understanding of speech.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein combining the pitch value of the first hearing assistance device with the pitch value of the second hearing assistance device includes using pitch correction.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing pitch detection on the signal to obtain a pitch value includes determining a pitch contour value.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

applying the adjusted gain to the signal to obtain an enhanced signal.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

playing the enhanced signal using a receiver.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein using pitch correction includes combining pitch values from the first and second hearing assistance device using pitch detection confidence.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein using pitch detection confidence includes determining a first hearing assistance device pitch detection confidence and a second hearing assistance device pitch detection confidence.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the pitch detection confidence is a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the pitch detection confidence is calculated using a non-linear function.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

wirelessly transmitting the first hearing assistance device pitch detection confidence from the first hearing assistance device to the second hearing assistance device.

11. A method for enhancing pitch in a hearing assistance system having a first and second hearing assistance device, the method comprising:

sensing a time domain signal using a microphone of the first hearing assistance device;

converting the time domain signal to a frequency domain signal;

performing pitch detection on the frequency domain signal to obtain a pitch contour value and a pitch detection confidence of the first hearing assistance;

wirelessly transmitting the pitch contour value and the pitch detection confidence from the first hearing assistance device to the second hearing assistance device;

combining the pitch detection contour value of the first hearing assistance device with a detected pitch detection contour value of the second hearing assistance device using the pitch detection confidence based on signal-to-noise ratio of the first hearing assistance device and a pitch detection confidence based on signal-to-noise ratio of the second hearing assistance device;

classifying the tone based on the combined pitch contour value, including classification based on a slope of the combined pitch contour value; and

adjusting gain based on the tone classification to improve understanding of speech.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

applying the adjusted gain to the frequency domain signal.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein wirelessly transmitting the pitch contour value and the pitch detection confidence includes using a Bluetooth™ wireless communication protocol.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein wirelessly transmitting the pitch contour value and the pitch detection confidence includes using IEEE 802.11, 802.15 or 802.16.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein wirelessly transmitting the pitch contour value and the pitch detection confidence includes using a cellular protocol such as CDMA or GSM.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein wirelessly transmitting the pitch contour value and the pitch detection confidence includes using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

converting the frequency domain signal back to an adjusted time domain signal.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

playing the adjusted time domain signal using a receiver.

19. A hearing assistance system, comprising:

a first hearing assistance device in a first ear of a wearer; and

a second hearing assistance device in a second ear of the wearer,

wherein the first hearing assistance device is configured to:

receive a signal;

perform pitch detection on the signal to obtain a pitch value; and

wirelessly transmit the pitch value to the second hearing assistance device, and wherein the second hearing assistance device is configured to:

combine the pitch value of the first hearing assistance device with a detected pitch value of the second hearing assistance device using pitch detection confidence determined based on signal-to-noise ratio of the first hearing assistance device and the second hearing assistance device, including classification based on a slope of a pitch contour value; and

adjust gain based on the combined pitch value to improve understanding of speech.

20. The hearing assistance system of claim 19 , wherein the first and second hearing assistance devices include first and second hearing aids.