Sonova Ag

Georg Dickmann

Daniel Lucas-Hirtz

Alexander Maksyagin

Michael Von Tessin

Amre El-Hoiydi

Marc Secall

Andreas Breitenmoser

Federico Ferrari

Jonas Högberg

Doris Zahnd

Michael Osterwalder

An illustrative system includes a hearing device and a charging device configured to provide a power signal to the hearing device while the hearing device is within a charging range of the charging device. The hearing device and the charging device are configured to establish a primary communication channel between the hearing device and the charging device and participate in an authenticated pairing procedure for the primary communication channel in which authentication information is transmitted from one device to the other by way of a secondary communication channel that allows for communication only over distances that are below a threshold distance.

Systems and methods for performing an authenticated pairing procedure for a communication channel between a hearing device and a charging 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 relates to a hearing device that can determine whether a client device is implementing rich and/or simple volume control. Based on if the client device implementing rich and/or simple volume control, the hearing device can locally adjust the volume, levels, or amplification of output signals at the hearing device. In some implementations, the hearing device determines that the client device is implementing a rich volume control, and the hearing device only adjust master volume amplification for output signals of the hearing device. In other implementations, the hearing device determines that the client device is implementing simple volume control and the hearing device adjusts a balance of ambient and external sound levels for the output signal of the hearing device.

Volume control for external devices and 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.

Growing community of inventors

Ebmatingen, Switzerland

Georg Dickmann