Sonova Ag

Daniel Lucas-Hirtz

Georg Dickmann

Michael Von Tessin

Jonas Högberg

Ullrich Sigwanz

Alexander Maksyagin

Ivo Spieler

Doris Zahnd

Amre El-Hoiydi

Nadim El Guindi

Marc Secall

Stephan Gehring

Federico Ferrari

Nina Stumpf

Jan Mattmüller

Michael Osterwalder

Nanda Sandhu

Georg Dickman

The disclosed technology generally relates to operation modes for hearing devices. In some implementations, the disclosed technology includes a hearing device entering into and operating in an airplane mode or a mode of operation that limits communication with a select frequency or select group of frequencies. To enter a mode of operation, a user may use two inputs for the hearing device. For example, one input may be a battery closing and another input may include the pushing of a button on a device (e.g., on the hearing device or a mobile device in communication with the hearing device).

Activating a mode of a hearing device

A binaural hearing system includes first and second hearing devices communicatively coupled by way of a binaural communication link. The first hearing device determines that a signal quality measure of a wireless signal transmitted by the remote audio source is greater than an upper threshold level. In response, both hearing devices enter a wireless audio rendering mode in which they render a remote audio stream from the remote audio source to a user. While operating in the wireless audio rendering mode, both hearing devices determine that a signal quality measure of the remote audio stream drops below a lower threshold level. In response to this determination, both hearing devices exit the wireless audio rendering mode.

Systems and methods for coordinating rendering of a remote audio stream by binaural hearing devices

There is provided a method of controlling access of a client to a service of a hearing instrument, the method comprising the steps of: requesting access of the client to the service of the hearing instrument by providing a client authenticator to the hearing instrument; authenticating the client based on a validation of the provided client authenticator by the hearing instrument; upon successful authentication, comparing a security level associated with the service requested by the client with a highest security level assigned to the client by the hearing instrument, wherein the security level is selected from a plurality of hierarchically structured security levels, and granting access of the client to the service of the hearing instrument, if the requested security level is below or equal to the highest security level assigned to the client.

Method of controlling access to hearing instrument services

There is provided a method of wirelessly connecting a communication device to other devices using a communication protocol, wherein the communication device searches for external devices known to the communication device by executing a search activity in which the search effort to be spent by the communication device increases with the number of known external devices to be searched, wherein the communication device adjusts the search effort spent on the search activity for each one of the external devices according to the relevance of that external device, with a higher relevance of the external device resulting in a higher search effort, and wherein the search effort is determined by at least one of the following parameters of the search activity: scheduling frequency, duty cycle and transmission power.

Communication device having a wireless interface

A communication device, including a wireless interface including a transceiver unit, and a controller configured to control the transceiver unit when applying a first protocol which is a Bluetooth Low Energy protocol and a second protocol which is suitable for exchanging both audio data and non-audio data. The controller is further configured to apply a first control configuration while the transceiver unit is not used for audio data reception and/or transmission of audio data via the second protocol, and to apply a second control configuration while the transceiver unit is used for audio data reception and/or transmission of audio data via the second protocol. In the second control configuration duration of BLE connection events is limited to a maximum duration shorter than the maximum duration of BLE connection events in the first control configuration.

Communication device using two wireless protocols

The disclosed technology includes a system and method for providing pairing information to assist in pairing devices for wireless communication. For example, the disclosed technology includes a method for visually displaying time remaining in pairing time windows for hearing aid devices. A hearing aid professional can view the displayed information on a computer, fitting station, or mobile device and then use this information to determine which devices can be paired or how much time is remaining to pair the device.

Pairing information for wireless communication

The disclosed technology generally relates to operation modes for hearing devices. In some implementations, the disclosed technology includes a hearing device entering into and operating in airplane mode or a mode of operation that limits communication with a select frequency or select group of frequencies. To enter a mode of operation, a user can use two inputs for the hearing device. For example, one input is a battery closing and another input is the device pushing of a button on the device (e.g., on the hearing device or a mobile device in communication with the hearing device).

A hearing device configured to be worn at a head of a user. The hearing device includes a vibration sensor to detect a vibration conducted through the user's head to the hearing device and to output a vibration signal including information about the vibration. At least part of the vibration can be caused by an own voice activity of the user. A method of operating the hearing device allows a reliable own voice detection at rather low processing effort. The processor determines a presence of an own voice characteristic in the vibration signal at a vibration frequency associated with the own voice characteristic and identifies the own voice activity based on an identification criterion including the presence of the own voice characteristic in the vibration signal at the associated vibration frequency. The own voice characteristic indicative of part of the vibration can be caused by the own voice activity.

Hearing device for own voice detection and method of operating a hearing device

There is provided a hearing device to be worn by a user for stimulating the user's hearing, comprising an interface () for wireless communication with external devices (), and a pairing control unit () for controlling pairing of the hearing device with external devices. The pairing control unit is configured to maintain a plurality of pairing tables (P, P), wherein each pairing table is configured to persistently store a limited number of pairing information entries for external devices paired with hearing device, and wherein, once the maximum number of external devices has been reached, one of the existing entries is overwritten when a new pairing information entry is to be stored in the paring table. The pairing control unit is further configured to decide in which one of the pairing tables a new pairing information entry is to be persistently stored, the decision being based on target pairing table selection information provided to the pairing control unit during the pairing process.

Wireless hearing device comprising split pairing tables

An exemplary hearing device configured to assist a user in hearing comprises a memory storing instructions and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory. The processor may be configured to execute the instructions to receive, by way of a first wireless link established between the hearing device and a first external device using a first wireless communication protocol, audio content transmitted by the first external device, receive signaling data transmitted by a second external device and indicating that the second external device has additional audio content available to be transmitted to the hearing device, the signaling data transmitted to the hearing device using a second wireless communication protocol that is of a different type than the first wireless communication protocol, and perform, in response to receiving the signaling data, an action with respect to the additional audio content.

Hearing device and systems and methods for communicating with the same

There is provided a hearing device () comprising a BTLE 4.1 or higher wireless interface () and a control unit () for handling connectivity via the wireless interface to a plurality of client devices () wherein the control unit is configured to direct the hearing device to transmit connectable advertising packets at least as long as less than N client devices are connected to the hearing device via a protected connection () and less than N+1 client devices are connected to the hearing device in total; wherein the control unit is further configured to prevent that the hearing device maintains sustained connections to more than N client devices at a time by disconnecting, if the hearing device is connected to N client devices via sustained connections and at least one of these connections is not a protected connection, one of the client devices connected via a not protected connection once a new sustained connection to a client device has been established in addition to the N connections, with N&#x2265;2.

Hearing device with wireless interface

There is provided a personal device to be worn at the body of a user (), comprising an interface () for wireless data exchange with an external device (); at least one sensor () for sensing a parameter indicative of the proximity of the personal device () to the user; a loss detection unit () for determining, by regularly analyzing signals received from the sensor, whether the personal device is presently worn by the user or not; a control unit () for controlling operation of the personal device in a regular mode as long as the loss detection unit determines that the personal device is worn by the user and in a loss mode as long as the loss detection unit determines that the personal device is no longer worn by the user, wherein the wireless interface is directed to transmit in the regular mode a non-traceable device address and to transmit in the loss mode a traceable public device address.

Wireless body worn personal device with loss detection functionality

A hearing assistance system, having first and second hearing devices worn at respective ears of a user, each hearing device having a BLUETOOTH&#xae; interface for wireless reception from an external audio source device, the hearing devices being adapted to establish a binaural data link between each other, wherein the hearing devices are adapted to define first and second sets of BLUETOOTH&#xae; profiles assigned to the first and second hearing devices respectively, with the first set and the second set differing by at least one profile, wherein the first devices are adapted to establish a BLUETOOTH&#xae; connection to an external device and to advertise their BLUETOOTH&#xae; profile to the external device, wherein the hearing devices are adapted to modify, by data exchange via the binaural link, the first and second set of BLUETOOTH&#xae; profiles by moving at least one of the profiles from one of the sets to the other set.

Growing community of inventors

Rapperswil, Switzerland

Daniel Lucas-Hirtz