Dosimeter for sound exposure
A method includes determining multiple sound-exposure doses ( 111 ) for multiple time intervals of a discretized and rolling sequence ( 100 ) of time intervals ( 101 - 109 ). The method also includes determining a cumulative sound-exposure dose based on a combination of the sound-exposure doses ( 111 ). The combination comprises a weighted contribution of the sound-exposure dose of at least one earliest time interval of the rolling sequence ( 100 ) of time intervals ( 101 - 109 ).
1. A method of tracking sound exposure, comprising:
determining multiple sound-exposure doses for multiple time intervals of a discretized and rolling sequence of time intervals; and
determining, based on a combination of the sound-exposure doses, a cumulative sound-exposure dose,
wherein the combination of the sound-exposure doses comprises a weighted contribution of the sound-exposure dose of at least one earliest time interval of the rolling sequence of time intervals, wherein the weighted contribution is defined by a weighting factor w which is a non-zero weighting factor.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the weighting factor w is less than 1 with 0<w<1, the method comprising:
damping, according to the weighted contribution defined by the weighting factor w, a factor of the combination associated with the sound-exposure dose of the at least one earliest time interval.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the weighting factor w is time dependent such that the weighting factor w changes as time progresses within a current time interval, the method comprising:
damping, according to the weighted contribution defined by the time-dependent weighting factor w, the factor of the combination associated with the sound-exposure dose of the at least one earliest time interval, wherein the damping increases with a progression into the current time interval of the rolling sequence of time intervals.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
progressively adjusting the sound-exposure dose of a current time interval of the rolling sequence of time intervals along with a progression into the current time interval,
wherein the weighted contribution depends on a relation between (i) the progression into the current time interval and a length of the current time interval, or (ii) the progression into the current time interval and a length of the at least one earliest time interval.
5. The method of claim 4 , comprising:
progressively adjusting the sound-exposure dose of the current time interval in accordance with sampling intervals during which acoustic energy is measured, wherein a duration of the sampling intervals is shorter than the length of the at least one earliest time interval.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the progressively adjusting comprises progressively adjusting the sound-exposure dose of the current time interval in accordance with the sampling intervals during which acoustic energy is measured, wherein the duration of the sampling intervals is shorter than the length of one or more of the multiple time intervals at least by a factor of 1000.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one earliest time interval includes a single time interval at a beginning of the rolling sequence of time intervals.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one earliest time interval includes multiple earliest time intervals at a beginning of the rolling sequence of time intervals, the method comprising:
differently damping, according to the weighted contribution defined by the weighting factor w, factors of the combination associated with the sound-exposure doses of the multiple earliest time intervals forming the at least one earliest time interval.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one earliest time interval includes multiple earliest time intervals at a beginning of the rolling sequence of time intervals, wherein the weighted contribution is based on an average of the multiple earliest time intervals forming the at least one earliest time interval, the method comprising:
averaging sound-exposure doses from the multiple earliest time intervals forming the at least one earliest time interval such that their weighted contributions to the cumulative sound-exposure dose is evenly distributed across the multiple earliest time intervals.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining comprises determining the cumulative sound-exposure dose based on the combination of the sound-exposure doses determined for multiple time intervals, wherein the combination of sound-exposure doses comprises the weighted contribution, the weighted contribution depending on a predefined time-dependent filter function.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to the cumulative sound-exposure dose crossing a predefined threshold, selectively triggering a warning.
12. A device configured to track sound exposure, the device comprising:
a control circuitry comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transient memory device operatively coupled with the at least one processor, the non-transient memory device storing a computer program comprising executable program code that, when executed on the at least one processor of the control circuitry or loaded onto the at least one processor of the control circuitry, causes the control circuitry to automatically track sound exposure,
wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
determine multiple sound-exposure doses for multiple time intervals of a discretized and rolling sequence of time intervals; and
determine, based on a combination of the sound-exposure doses, a cumulative sound-exposure dose,
wherein the combination of the sound-exposure doses comprises a weighted contribution of the sound-exposure dose of at least one earliest time interval of the rolling sequence of time intervals, wherein the weighted contribution is defined by a weighting factor w which is a non-zero weighting factor.
13. The device according to claim 12 , wherein the weighting factor w is less than 1 with 0<w<1, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
damp, according to the weighted contribution defined by the weighting factor w, a factor of the combination associated with the sound-exposure dose of the at least one earliest time interval.
14. The device according to claim 13 , wherein the weighting factor w is time dependent such that the weighting factor w changes as time progresses within a current time interval, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
damp, according to the weighted contribution defined by the time-dependent weighting factor w, the factor of the combination associated with the sound-exposure dose of the at least one earliest time interval, wherein the damping increases with a progression into the current time interval of the rolling sequence of time intervals.
15. The device according to claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
progressively adjust the sound-exposure dose of a current time interval of the rolling sequence of time intervals along with a progression into the current time interval,
wherein the weighted contribution depends on a relation between (i) the progression into the current time interval and a length of the current time interval, or (ii) the progression into the current time interval and a length of the at least one earliest time interval.
16. The device according to claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
progressively adjust the sound-exposure dose of the current time interval in accordance with sampling intervals during which acoustic energy is measured, wherein a duration of the sampling intervals is shorter than the length of the at least one earliest time interval.
17. The device according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one earliest time interval includes multiple earliest time intervals at a beginning of the rolling sequence of time intervals, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
differently damp, according to the weighted contribution defined by the weighting factor w, factors of the combination associated with the sound-exposure doses of the multiple earliest time intervals forming the at least one earliest time interval.
18. The device according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one earliest time interval includes multiple earliest time intervals at a beginning of the rolling sequence of time intervals, wherein the weighted contribution is based on an average of the multiple earliest time intervals forming the at least one earliest time interval, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
average sound-exposure doses from the multiple earliest time intervals forming the at least one earliest time interval such that their weighted contributions to the cumulative sound-exposure dose is evenly distributed across the multiple earliest time intervals.
19. The device according to claim 12 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
selectively output a warning to a user, in response to the cumulative sound-exposure dose crossing a predefined threshold, via a human-machine-interface.
20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising program code that, when executed on at least one processor of a computer or loaded onto the at least one processor of the computer, causes the computer to perform a method of tracking sound exposure, by:
determining multiple sound-exposure doses for multiple time intervals of a discretized and rolling sequence of time intervals; and
determining, based on a combination of the sound-exposure doses, a cumulative sound-exposure dose,
wherein the combination of the sound-exposure doses comprises a weighted contribution of the sound-exposure dose of at least one earliest time interval of the rolling sequence of time intervals, wherein the weighted contribution is defined by a weighting factor w which is a non-zero weighting factor.