Granted Patent B2

US 12,501,225 · App. 18/092,425 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Inventor: Alexander I. Poltorak (Monsey, NY)

Assignee: Poltorak Technologies LLC

H04R25/554G06F3/167G10L15/16G10L15/22H04R25/602H04R25/606H04R25/609G10L2015/088G10L2015/223H04R2225/025H04R2225/55H04R2460/13

Abstract

Claims (48)

1 . A hearing aid, comprising:

an input port configured to receive a signal representing sounds;

an output port configured to output an electrical signal representing acoustic waves;

a wireless transceiver, configured to bidirectionally communicate digital audio signals;

a memory, configured to store wireless transceiver addresses; and

a digital processor configured to:

receive a digital audio signal from the wireless transceiver;

define the electrical signal based on the signal representing sounds from the input port, the communicated digital audio signals, and an audio equalization profile; and

implement a speech controlled user interface, configured to access the memory, select a counterparty wireless transceiver for communication through the wireless transceiver from a plurality of counterparty wireless transceivers based on a spoken command and at least one wireless transceiver address stored in the memory.

2 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , further comprising a housing, wherein the wireless transceiver, digital processor and a self-contained power source are contained within the housing.

3 . The hearing aid according to claim 2 , further comprising a microphone configured to produce the signal representing sounds, and a speaker configured to generate the acoustic waves, the microphone and the speaker each being contained within the housing, wherein the housing is an intraaural housing, and the microphone comprises a bone conduction microphone.

4 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one motion sensor selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an absolute position sensor, and a relative position sensor, wherein the digital processor is further configured to select the counterparty dependent on a signal from the at least one motion sensor.

5 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver comprises at least one of a Bluetooth transceiver and a Bluetooth Low Energy transceiver configured to implement a mesh network.

6 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the digital processor is further configured to perform keyword spotting from among a plurality of predetermined keywords.

7 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the digital processor is further configured to perform keyword spotting using a convolutional neural network.

8 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the spoken command comprises a human name, and the digital processor is further configured to look up an address stored in the memory corresponding to the human name.

9 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one mediator network hub device communicatively coupled with the wireless transceiver, configured to facilitate communications between the wireless transceiver and a respective wireless transceiver of another hearing aid.

10 . The hearing aid according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one mediator network hub device is communicatively coupled with a Bluetooth or a Bluetooth Low Energy network interface;

further comprising a plurality of Bluetooth enabled hearing aid devices, each comprising a digital processor, a memory, a Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy transceiver, a microphone, a data conversion module, an amplifier and a speaker.

11 . The hearing aid according to claim 10 , wherein the hearing aid is communicatively coupled to at least one other hearing aid through the Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy network interface.

12 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicate directly with a respective wireless transceiver of another hearing aid according to a Bluetooth mesh network protocol.

13 . The hearing aid according to claim 1 , further comprising a bone conduction microphone configured to generate the signal representing sounds.

14 . The hearing aid of claim 1 , wherein the hearing aid is directly communicatively coupled to at least two other hearing aids through a Bluetooth mesh network.

15 . A method of intercommunication using a hearing aid according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver comprises a Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy transceiver, comprising:

receiving and converting into the electrical signal, by a microphone of the hearing aid; the acoustic waves to be transmitted from a first user to at least one second hearing aid of at least one second user;

converting, using a first data conversion module of the hearing aid, the electrical signal into the digital audio signals;

transmitting, by the Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy transceiver, the digital audio signals to the at least one second Bluetooth hearing aid;

receiving, by the at least one second hearing aid, the digital audio signals transmitted by the hearing aid;

re-converting the received digital audio signals into an analog signal corresponding to the acoustic waves;

amplifying, by an amplifier of the at least one second hearing aid device, the re-converted received digital audio signals; and

emitting, by a speaker of the at least one second hearing aid, the amplified re-converted received digital audio signals into an ear of the at least one second user.

16 . A hearing aid, comprising:

a microphone configured to receive acoustic waves and to generate therefrom an electrical signal representing the acoustic waves;

a speaker responsive to an output signal configured to produce audible sounds;

a Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver, configured to communicate information representing the electrical signal and to receive digital audio signals representing the audible sounds;

a memory, configured to store identifiers and associated addresses of other Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceivers; and

a digital processor configured to:

receive the digital audio signal from the Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver;

define the output signal based on the electrical signal, the digital audio signals, a noise cancellation process, and an audio equalization profile;

detect a speech command in the electrical signal to define an identifier of another Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver;

access the memory to determine the address corresponding to the identifier;

initiate a communication with the other Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver according to the address;

detect a speech command to terminate the communication; and

terminate the communication.

17 . The hearing aid of claim 16 , wherein the communication with the other Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver according to the address is a communication through a Bluetooth mesh network.

18 . The hearing aid of claim 16 , wherein the communication with the other Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver according to the address is conducted through at least one mediator network hub device in a star network.

19 . The hearing aid of claim 16 , wherein the digital processor is further configured to receive a request from another Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver, and in response thereto, open a communication with the other Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceiver.

20 . The hearing aid according to claim 16 , wherein the digital processor is further configured to update the identifiers and associated addresses of other Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low Energy wireless transceivers stored in the memory.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (400)