New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids

Xubao Zhang

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12

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New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids

Xubao Zhang

Published in Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Volume 8, Issue 3)

Received: 25 May 2020 Accepted: 11 June 2020 Published: 23 June 2020

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Abstract

This paper describes new technologies of directional microphones for the practical hearing aids, referring to a front-delay direction microphone (DM), narrow beam DM, and minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamformer. Each of the DM technologies was researched against weaknesses of those existing DMs, such as imperfection in low level noise, short suppression to adjacent interference, and failing to simultaneously perceive multiple target voices. In order to eliminate them, the conventional DM architectures have been innovated: the front-delay DM exchanged the elements’ positions; the narrow beam DM employed binaural DMs to composite a relatively narrow lobe; the MVDR beamformer combined two types of processing in spatial and frequency domains; and the novel technologies are state-of-the-art beamformers for hearing aids. Based on some references related to the DM technologies and operation principles of the latest beamformers, we further researched the DM technologies, first proposed the implementing architectures, derived new gain equations of the relevant polar plots, accomplished the extensive experiments, and evaluated advantages and disadvantages of the DMs by the obtained evidences; then we confirmed that the new technologies could reach their expected goals. Meanwhile, we used the latest simulating software, Simulink of MatLab R2018b and audio edition software, SoundBooth, in our Lab computers.

Published in	Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Volume 8, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12
Page(s)	81-91
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Directional Microphone, Beamformer, Minimum Variance Distortionless Response, Hearing Aid

References

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APA Style

Xubao Zhang. (2020). New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids. Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 8(3), 81-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12

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ACS Style

Xubao Zhang. New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids. J. Electr. Electron. Eng. 2020, 8(3), 81-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12

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AMA Style

Xubao Zhang. New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids. J Electr Electron Eng. 2020;8(3):81-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12

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@article{10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12,
  author = {Xubao Zhang},
  title = {New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids},
  journal = {Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering},
  volume = {8},
  number = {3},
  pages = {81-91},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jeee.20200803.12},
  abstract = {This paper describes new technologies of directional microphones for the practical hearing aids, referring to a front-delay direction microphone (DM), narrow beam DM, and minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamformer. Each of the DM technologies was researched against weaknesses of those existing DMs, such as imperfection in low level noise, short suppression to adjacent interference, and failing to simultaneously perceive multiple target voices. In order to eliminate them, the conventional DM architectures have been innovated: the front-delay DM exchanged the elements’ positions; the narrow beam DM employed binaural DMs to composite a relatively narrow lobe; the MVDR beamformer combined two types of processing in spatial and frequency domains; and the novel technologies are state-of-the-art beamformers for hearing aids. Based on some references related to the DM technologies and operation principles of the latest beamformers, we further researched the DM technologies, first proposed the implementing architectures, derived new gain equations of the relevant polar plots, accomplished the extensive experiments, and evaluated advantages and disadvantages of the DMs by the obtained evidences; then we confirmed that the new technologies could reach their expected goals. Meanwhile, we used the latest simulating software, Simulink of MatLab R2018b and audio edition software, SoundBooth, in our Lab computers.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids
AU  - Xubao Zhang
Y1  - 2020/06/23
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12
T2  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
JF  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
JO  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
SP  - 81
EP  - 91
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2329-1605
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12
AB  - This paper describes new technologies of directional microphones for the practical hearing aids, referring to a front-delay direction microphone (DM), narrow beam DM, and minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamformer. Each of the DM technologies was researched against weaknesses of those existing DMs, such as imperfection in low level noise, short suppression to adjacent interference, and failing to simultaneously perceive multiple target voices. In order to eliminate them, the conventional DM architectures have been innovated: the front-delay DM exchanged the elements’ positions; the narrow beam DM employed binaural DMs to composite a relatively narrow lobe; the MVDR beamformer combined two types of processing in spatial and frequency domains; and the novel technologies are state-of-the-art beamformers for hearing aids. Based on some references related to the DM technologies and operation principles of the latest beamformers, we further researched the DM technologies, first proposed the implementing architectures, derived new gain equations of the relevant polar plots, accomplished the extensive experiments, and evaluated advantages and disadvantages of the DMs by the obtained evidences; then we confirmed that the new technologies could reach their expected goals. Meanwhile, we used the latest simulating software, Simulink of MatLab R2018b and audio edition software, SoundBooth, in our Lab computers.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Xubao Zhang

Research & Development, Sonova Unitron, Kitchener, Canada; Electronic Engineering Department, Xi’an Electronic Science and Technology University, Xi’an, China

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APA Style

Xubao Zhang. (2020). New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids. Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 8(3), 81-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Xubao Zhang. New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids. J. Electr. Electron. Eng. 2020, 8(3), 81-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Xubao Zhang. New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids. J Electr Electron Eng. 2020;8(3):81-91. doi: 10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12,
  author = {Xubao Zhang},
  title = {New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids},
  journal = {Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering},
  volume = {8},
  number = {3},
  pages = {81-91},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jeee.20200803.12},
  abstract = {This paper describes new technologies of directional microphones for the practical hearing aids, referring to a front-delay direction microphone (DM), narrow beam DM, and minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamformer. Each of the DM technologies was researched against weaknesses of those existing DMs, such as imperfection in low level noise, short suppression to adjacent interference, and failing to simultaneously perceive multiple target voices. In order to eliminate them, the conventional DM architectures have been innovated: the front-delay DM exchanged the elements’ positions; the narrow beam DM employed binaural DMs to composite a relatively narrow lobe; the MVDR beamformer combined two types of processing in spatial and frequency domains; and the novel technologies are state-of-the-art beamformers for hearing aids. Based on some references related to the DM technologies and operation principles of the latest beamformers, we further researched the DM technologies, first proposed the implementing architectures, derived new gain equations of the relevant polar plots, accomplished the extensive experiments, and evaluated advantages and disadvantages of the DMs by the obtained evidences; then we confirmed that the new technologies could reach their expected goals. Meanwhile, we used the latest simulating software, Simulink of MatLab R2018b and audio edition software, SoundBooth, in our Lab computers.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - New Technologies of Directional Microphones for Hearing Aids
AU  - Xubao Zhang
Y1  - 2020/06/23
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12
T2  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
JF  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
JO  - Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
SP  - 81
EP  - 91
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2329-1605
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jeee.20200803.12
AB  - This paper describes new technologies of directional microphones for the practical hearing aids, referring to a front-delay direction microphone (DM), narrow beam DM, and minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamformer. Each of the DM technologies was researched against weaknesses of those existing DMs, such as imperfection in low level noise, short suppression to adjacent interference, and failing to simultaneously perceive multiple target voices. In order to eliminate them, the conventional DM architectures have been innovated: the front-delay DM exchanged the elements’ positions; the narrow beam DM employed binaural DMs to composite a relatively narrow lobe; the MVDR beamformer combined two types of processing in spatial and frequency domains; and the novel technologies are state-of-the-art beamformers for hearing aids. Based on some references related to the DM technologies and operation principles of the latest beamformers, we further researched the DM technologies, first proposed the implementing architectures, derived new gain equations of the relevant polar plots, accomplished the extensive experiments, and evaluated advantages and disadvantages of the DMs by the obtained evidences; then we confirmed that the new technologies could reach their expected goals. Meanwhile, we used the latest simulating software, Simulink of MatLab R2018b and audio edition software, SoundBooth, in our Lab computers.
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download