US 12,231,851 B1
Method, apparatus and system for low latency audio enhancement
Igor Lovchinsky, New York, NY (US); Jonathan Macoskey, Pittsburgh, PA (US); Philip Meyers, IV, Brooklyn, NY (US); Andrew J. Casper, Inver Grove Heights, MN (US); and Nicholas Morris, Brooklyn, NY (US)
Assigned to Chromatic Inc., New York, NY (US)
Filed by Chromatic Inc., New York, NY (US)
Filed on Jan. 23, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/100,513.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/302,462, filed on Jan. 24, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/302,531, filed on Jan. 24, 2022.
Int. Cl. H04R 25/00 (2006.01)
CPC H04R 25/507 (2013.01) [H04R 25/554 (2013.01); H04R 2225/43 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for enhancing audio signals with a hearing aid, the hearing aid comprising a microphone, a processing circuit coupled to the microphone, and an output signal generator coupled to the processing circuit, the method comprising:
detecting an audio signal with the microphone of the hearing aid;
as the audio signal is being detected, dividing, with the processing circuit of the hearing aid, the audio signal into a plurality of overlapping segments, the plurality of overlapping segments comprising a first segment and a second segment, the first segment and the second segment sharing an overlapping portion;
after detecting the first segment, enhancing the overlapping portion by processing the first segment with a neural network engine (NNE) of the processing circuit to obtain a first output for enhancing the first segment including the overlapping portion;
transmitting the enhanced overlapping portion to the output signal generator for playback;
beginning playback of the enhanced overlapping portion with the output signal generator;
detecting the second segment during the playback of the enhanced overlapping portion;
after detecting the second segment including the overlapping portion and a non-overlapping portion, enhancing the non-overlapping portion of the second segment by processing the second segment with the NNE to obtain a second output for enhancing the second segment including the overlapping portion and the non-overlapping portion;
transmitting the enhanced non-overlapping portion to the output signal generator for playback; and
beginning playback of the enhanced non-overlapping portion with the output signal generator.