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Simulation of fixed microphone arrays for directional hearing aids
1Julius Silver Institute, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|August 1, 1996
Summary
This study introduces a digital beamforming system for hearing aids that suppresses background noise and reverberation. Computer simulations show its effectiveness in both anechoic and reverberant environments.
Area of Science:
- Acoustics
- Signal Processing
- Hearing Aid Technology
Background:
- Conventional hearing aids are limited by background noise and reverberation.
- Optimum microphone arrays with fixed weights can improve hearing aid performance.
- Digital frequency-domain implementation offers a promising approach for advanced array processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a practical digital beamforming system for hearing aids.
- To implement sensitivity-constrained superdirective beamforming weights in a broadband system.
- To evaluate the system's performance in various acoustic environments.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a general technique for digital frequency-domain implementation of optimum broadband arrays.
- Employed five identical microphones (omnidirectional, cardioid, hypercardioid, or dipole) in endfire or broadside configurations.
- Applied broadband superdirective beamforming weights independently to each frequency component.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated the practical application of the technique through computer simulations in anechoic conditions.
- Evaluated the system's performance in simulated reverberant environments.
- Confirmed the ability to faithfully apply broadband superdirective beamforming weights.
Conclusions:
- The proposed digital broadband frequency-domain beamforming system is a practically promising solution for hearing aids.
- The system effectively suppresses background noise and reverberation.
- Further evaluation in simulated reverberant environments indicates robust performance.