CN104869516A - Resource manager - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to resource managers. A hearing aid comprising a power supply connected to supply power to a hearing aid circuit, the hearing aid circuit having: a wireless communication unit configured to communicate with another device; and a scheduler configured to receive communication requests from the communication tasks and schedule each communication task based on the communication task priority and the state of the power supply.

Description

resource manager

technical field

A new hearing aid configured to communicate wirelessly with other devices while taking into account the power state of the hearing aid.

Wireless communication can take place in a wireless network that facilitates the interconnection of multiple devices in the network, such as hearing aids, remote controls, accessory devices, mobile phones, headsets, doorbells, alarm systems, public address systems, etc.

Background technique

WO2004/110099 discloses a wireless network for hearing aids in which the communication protocol is unitary so that only a small amount of code is required and the power consumption during operation is low. In addition, the acquisition time is short and there is little delay time.

Contents of the invention

A new hearing aid capable of performing wireless communication according to a plurality of different wireless communication protocols is provided.

A new hearing aid is provided comprising a hearing aid circuit having:

an input transducer configured to output an audio signal based on a signal applied to the input transducer and representing sound;

a hearing loss processor configured to compensate for the hearing loss of a user of the hearing aid and to output a hearing loss compensation audio signal, for example the hearing aid may be used to restore loudness such that the applied The loudness of the signal substantially matches the loudness of the hearing loss compensation signal as perceived by the user;

an output transducer, such as a receiver, an implantable transducer, etc., configured to output an auditory output signal based on the hearing loss compensation audio signal, the auditory output signal capable of being received by the human auditory system such that the user hears the sound; and

A wireless communication unit configured to communicate with another device.

A power source is connected to power the hearing aid circuitry.

The hearing aid may also include a processor with an operating system configured to manage hearing aid hardware and software resources, including for example a hearing loss processor and possibly other processors and associated signal processing algorithms, a wireless communication unit, memory resources, power, etc., and provide public services to the tasks to be performed. The operating system can schedule tasks to efficiently use the hearing aid sources, and also includes computational software for cost allocation, including power consumption, processor time, storage, wireless transmission, and other resources.

While the application code for a task is usually executed directly by the appropriate hearing aid processing circuitry, for various tasks such as wireless communication and memory allocation, the operating system acts as an intermediary between the task and the hearing aid circuitry and will frequently cause the system to call operating system functions Or interrupt it.

The processor may be a hearing loss processor, or the wireless communication unit may include a processor with an operating system, or the operating system may be split between the processors, such as the hearing loss processor and the wireless communication unit processor and possibly a or multiple other processors.

Specifically, the operating system may be configured to control the wireless communication unit to perform communication with other devices according to a plurality of communication protocols and priorities of communication tasks.

The operating system may include a scheduler, or the operating system may consist of a scheduler. The scheduler may be configured to receive communication requests from communication tasks and may schedule each communication task based on task priority and the state of said power source, eg a discharge state of a battery of the power source and/or a capacitor of the hearing aid circuit.

A new method of scheduling wireless communications for a hearing aid comprising a hearing aid circuit having:

an input transducer configured to output an audio signal based on a signal applied to the input transducer and representing sound;

a hearing loss processor configured to compensate for a hearing loss of a user of the hearing aid and output a corresponding hearing loss compensation audio signal;

an output transducer configured to output an auditory output signal based on the hearing loss compensated audio signal, the auditory output signal capable of being received by the human auditory system to allow the user to hear the sound;

a wireless communication unit configured to communicate with another device;

a power supply connected to provide power to the hearing aid circuitry, and

An operating system configured to control the wireless communication unit to communicate with other devices according to respective communication protocols and priorities.

The new method may include receiving a communication request from the communication task, and scheduling the communication task based on a task priority and a state of the power source.

A transducer is one that converts a signal applied to the transducer in one form of energy into a corresponding output signal in another form of energy.

The input transducer may include a microphone that converts an acoustic signal applied to the microphone into a corresponding analog audio signal, wherein the instantaneous voltage of the audio signal varies continuously with the sound pressure of the acoustic signal.

The input transducer may also include a telecoil that converts the changing magnetic field across the telecoil into a correspondingly varying analog audio signal, wherein the instantaneous voltage of the audio signal varies continuously as the magnetic field strength across the telecoil varies . Telecoils can be used to augment the signal to loudspeakers used to find large numbers of people in public places such as churches, lecture halls, theaters, cinemas, etc. or to voice through public address systems such as in train stations, airports, shopping malls, etc. noise ratio. Speech from the speaker is converted to a magnetic field with an induction coil system (also known as a "hearing coil"), and a telecoil is used to magnetically pick up the speech signal carried by the magnetic field.

The input transducer may also include at least two spaced apart microphones, and a beamformer configured to combine the microphone output signals of the at least two spaced apart microphones into a directional microphone signal.

The input transducer may include one or more microphones, telecoils, and switches, for example, to select among omnidirectional microphone signals, or directional microphone signals, or telecoil signals, individually or in any combination, as audio signals .

Typically, the analog audio signal is adapted for digital signal processing by conversion to a corresponding digital audio signal by an analog-to-digital converter such that the amplitude of the analog audio signal is represented by a binary number. In this manner, a discrete-time and discrete-amplitude digital audio signal in the form of a sequence of values represents a continuous-time and continuous-amplitude analog audio signal.

Throughout this disclosure, "audio signal" may be used to identify any analog or digital signal forming portion of a signal path from the output of an input transducer to the input of a hearing loss processor.

Throughout this disclosure, "hearing loss compensated audio signal" may be used to identify any analog or digital signal forming portion of a signal path from the output of a hearing loss processor to the input of an output transducer that may pass through a digital to analog converter.

The wireless communication unit may include a transceiver.

A wireless communication unit may be a device or circuit including a wireless transmitter and a wireless receiver. The transmitter and receiver can share a common circuit and/or a single housing. Alternatively, the transmitter and receiver may not share circuitry, and the wireless communication unit may comprise separate devices with a transmitter and a receiver, respectively.

Wireless communication may be performed according to a frequency diversification or spread spectrum scheme, ie the frequency range utilized by hearing aids is divided into channels and wireless transmissions switch channels according to a predetermined scheme such that the transmissions are distributed over the entire frequency range.

Frequency hopping algorithms can be set up to allow devices in the network to calculate what channel in the network will be in use at any given point in time, independent of the network's history, such as a pseudo-random number generator calculating the next channel based on the current channel number serial number. This facilitates the synchronization of new devices with hearing aids, eg the new device includes the same pseudo-random number generator as the hearing aids. Thus, once the current channel number is received during the request, the new device will calculate the same next channel number as the hearing aid.

Each device in the network has its own identification number, for example a 32-bit number. Since the possibility of having two users of a hearing aid with the same identity is negligible, no globally unique identity is required.

Preferably, new devices are automatically recognized by the network and interconnected with the network.

An advantage of a network operating according to a spread spectrum scheme is that communication has a low sensitivity to noise since noise is typically present in a particular channel, and communication will only be performed in a particular channel for a short period of time, after which, Communication will switch to another channel.

Furthermore, since the probability of two networks using the same specific channel at the same time is very low, several networks can co-exist closely, eg two or more hearing aid users can exist in the same room without network interference. Likewise, the hearing aid network can co-exist with other wireless networks utilizing the same frequency band, such as Bluetooth networks or other wireless local area networks.

Advantageously, the hearing aids can be embedded in a binaural hearing aid system, in which two hearing aids are interconnected, for example via a wireless network, for digitally exchanging data, such as audio signals, signal processing parameters, control data such as identification of signal processing programs, etc. Other devices such as remote controls are optionally interconnected.

Typically, only a limited amount of power is available from the hearing aid's power supply. For example, power is typically provided by conventional _ZnO2 batteries in hearing aids.

Size and power consumption are important considerations in hearing aid design. The size of the hearing aid depends on the size of the battery used, and to ensure that the hearing aid is compact and unobtrusive, small battery sizes are used, such as the "312" and "13" models. However, small batteries have relatively large internal resistances. For example, a "312" battery typically has an internal resistance of 5 ohms, which is two orders of magnitude higher than that of an AA-sized battery. The high internal resistance causes a significant drop in output voltage as the output current increases. This may be particularly important for part of the operation of hearing aid circuits.

The wireless communication unit of the hearing aid may be included in a radio chip, such as the Nordic Semiconductor radio chip "nRF24I01", which generally operates at the voltage provided by the traditional _ZnO2 battery mentioned above. Therefore, it may be necessary to convert the Power is provided to the radio chip. In addition, the radio chip draws a large amount of current during transmission and reception. _A conventional ZnO2 battery can only supply the wireless communication unit during transmission and reception for a limited period of time, typically 1 millisecond. The amount of current required. With the continuous supply of the required amount of current from the battery for a longer period of time, the supply voltage will drop and drop below a certain threshold and the hearing aid circuit, specifically the digital portion of the hearing aid circuit, will not function properly .

Furthermore, _ZnO2 batteries require time to recover even after current has been supplied to the radio chip for a limited period of time during communication. Typically, the radio chip duty cycle, the percentage of time the radio is on relative to the sum of the time the radio is on and off, must remain below 10%.

This problem can be alleviated by connecting the circuit with resistors and capacitors between the power supply of the hearing aid circuit and the source voltage input of the wireless communication unit, eg between the output of the voltage doubler and the power input of the radio chip. The capacitor will pass the peak current to the wireless communication unit so that the peak current drawn from the power supply becomes smaller, and the resistor will limit the current drawn by the wireless communication unit from the power supply during the capacitor voltage drop.

The scheduler may be configured to calculate the earliest possible start-up time for executing the next communication task based on the estimated power consumption of the current or most recent communication task, in order to provide power such as the aforementioned batteries and/or capacitors, at the current or most recent The recovery time period between the end of a communication task and the start of the next communication task.

The resume time period for the application after the communication task performed by the wireless communication unit ends may be calculated as the estimated duration or the actual duration of the communication task performed by the wireless communication unit multiplied by a constant.

The estimated duration may consist of time periods added by the pre-processing, transmission, reception and post-processing of the communication task.

The actual duration may consist of an increased period of time during which the wireless device is actually powered while performing a communication task. Therefore, when the actual duration is used to calculate the recovery time period, possible periods of power down of the wireless device during the performance of the communication task are not added to the recovery time period.

The constant may range from 0.5 to 2, preferably from 0.6 to 1.8, more preferably from 0.7 to 1.5, most preferably from 0.8 to 1.4. For example, a constant could be equal to 1.125.

The recovery time period applied after the end of the communication task performed by the wireless communication unit may be calculated from the charge or current drawn from the power source during the execution of the communication task.

When calculating the recovery time period, the scheduler can take into account the power state, ie the state of discharge of the battery. For example, the above constants may increase as a function of the state of discharge of the battery.

The communication request may contain a priority of the communication task.

The communication request may include a start time for performing the requested communication task.

The communication request may include a duration for performing the requested communication task.

The scheduler may determine that the requested start time is not available, and may communicate to the requesting task that another start time must be requested.

The scheduler may determine that an already scheduled task cannot execute at the scheduled start time, eg, due to a higher priority request, and may communicate to the already scheduled task that a new start time must be requested.

The scheduler may be configured to allow communication tasks with lower priority to perform communications before communication tasks with higher priority, as long as the communication tasks with lower priority will be within the appropriate power recovery time period Ends its communication to die before a communication task with higher priority starts.

The scheduler can also schedule tasks other than the wireless communication task, therefore, the scheduler can be configured to receive task requests from tasks other than the wireless communication task, and can Schedule each task.

The scheduler may also consider the power consumption of other tasks besides wireless communication when scheduling. Examples of other tasks include power consumption algorithms, storage in flash memory, etc. The recovery time periods for such other tasks may be calculated in the same manner as explained above in relation to recovery time periods for wireless communication tasks. The constants may be different for different types of tasks, eg due to different power consumption.

The scheduler may be configured to power down one or more parts of the hearing aid circuitry to avoid excessive power consumption due to simultaneous operation of power consuming circuits.

For example, the scheduler may be configured to turn off the wireless communication unit during sleep periods, eg, during writing to and/or reading from flash memory, during execution of power consumption algorithms, etc.

Preferably, the scheduler is configured to schedule the next launch of each requested task even if multiple launch times, such as streaming audio, are readily determined or have been determined for a given task's repeated execution The time at which the scheduler is configured not to schedule multiple start times for a given task. In this way, the number of scheduled tasks is kept low, thereby keeping the scheduler simple and dynamic since no rescheduling in response to new requests is required.

In the event that a communication task ends or terminates earlier than scheduled, the scheduler may be configured to recalculate the recovery time period based on the actual duration and/or actual power consumption of the suspected communication task. After the recomputed recovery time period has elapsed, and until the scheduled start time of the next scheduled task, there may be sufficient time to execute another task, and as described above, the scheduler may be configured such that even if another task has A lower priority than the next scheduled task also allows another task to execute, as long as the task will finish by the time of the associated recovery time period to elapse before the next scheduled task starts.

Signal processing in the new hearing aid may be performed by dedicated hardware, or may be performed in one or more signal processors, or in a combination of dedicated hardware and one or more signal processors.

A protocol is a system of digital rules for exchanging data within or between devices, eg in a network. Protocols define the syntax, semantics, and synchronization of communications. Protocols can be implemented in hardware, software, or both.

Communication tasks include actions that require communication to be performed, such as sending a data packet to a hearing aid. The communication request may be executed by another device or processor in the hearing aid that needs to cooperate with the communication unit of the hearing aid.

As used herein, the terms "processor," "signal processor," "controller," "system," and the like are used to refer to a CPU-related entity, or hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or software , or software in execution.

For example, "processor", "signal processor", "controller", "system", etc. may be, but not limited to, processing running in a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution idea, and/or or program.

By way of example, the terms "processor", "signal processor", "controller", "system", etc. designate applications and hardware processors running in a processor. One or more "processors", signal processors ", "controller", "system", etc. or any combination thereof, may be included in the processing and/or ideas performed, and one or more "processors", "signal processors", "controllers", "systems ” etc., or any combination thereof, may be implemented in one hardware processor, may be implemented in combination with another hardware circuit, and/or distributed between two or more hardware processors, or may be implemented in combination with other hardware circuits Realized in the hardware circuit combination.

Furthermore, a processor (or similar term) may be any element or combination of elements capable of performing signal processing. For example, a signal processor may be an ASIC processor, FPGA processor, general purpose processor, microprocessor, circuit element, or integrated circuit.

Description of drawings

In the following, the new method and hearing aid will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a hearing aid according to the appended claims communicating in a wireless network.

Figure 2 is a schematic view of a new hearing aid according to the appended claims.

Figure 3 illustrates slots and frames.

Figure 4 illustrates various task requests, and

Figure 5 shows a reservation list and a priority task list.

Detailed ways

In the following, various examples of new methods and hearing aids are illustrated. However, the novel method and hearing aid according to the appended claims may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples described herein.

It should be noted that the figures are schematic and simplified for clarity, they only show details necessary to understand the new method and hearing aid, while other details are left out.

The same reference numerals refer to the same elements throughout the drawings. Therefore, the same elements will not be described in detail in the description of each drawing.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates binaural hearing aids 10L, 10R, namely a left ear hearing aid 10L and a right ear hearing aid 10R, each having a wireless communication unit for connecting to a wireless network that connects the two hearing aids to each other. and interconnect the hearing aids 10L, 10R and multiple other devices in the wireless network. In the example illustrated in Figure 1, doorbells, mobile phones, cordless phones, televisions and accessory devices are also connected to the wireless network.

ID identifies each device. This ID is unique within the network.

The hearing aid network exemplified in Figure 1 operates in the Industrial Scientific Medical (ISM) frequency band at 2.4 GHz. It includes 80 channels of 1MHz bandwidth. Use frequency hopping time division multiplexing scheme. During acquisition, the frequency hopping scheme involves reducing the number of channels for faster acquisition, eg less than 16 channels, preferably 8 channels. The members of the reduced channel group represent acquisition channels. Preferably, the acquisition channels are distributed evenly across all frequency bands utilized by the network.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the new hearing aid 10 .

The hearing aid 10 has a ZnO ₂ battery 12 connected for powering the hearing aid circuitry 14 .

The hearing aid circuit 14 includes an input transducer 16 in the form of a microphone 16 . When the hearing aid 10 is in operation, the microphone 16 outputs an analog audio signal 18 based on the acoustic sound signal reaching the microphone 16 .

An analog-to-digital converter 20 converts the analog audio signal 18 into a corresponding digital audio signal 22 for digital signal processing in the hearing aid circuit 14 . In particular, the hearing loss processor 24A is configured to compensate for the hearing loss of the user of the hearing aid 10 . Preferably, the hearing loss processor 24A comprises a dynamic range processor known in the art for compensating for ancillary frequency losses commonly referred to in the art as supplemental user's dynamic range. Accordingly, the hearing loss processor 24A outputs a digital hearing loss compensated audio signal 26 . The hearing aid may be configured to restore the loudness such that the loudness of the hearing loss compensation signal, as perceived by a user wearing the hearing aid 10, substantially matches the loudness of the acoustic sound signal reaching the microphone 16, as would have been perceived by a normally hearing listener .

A digital-to-analog converter 28 converts the digital hearing loss compensation audio signal 26 into a corresponding analog hearing loss compensation audio signal 30 .

An output transducer in the form of a receiver 32 converts the analog hearing loss compensating audio signal 30 into a corresponding acoustic signal for transmission to the user's eardrum so that the user hears the sound reaching the microphone; while the user's personal hearing loss is compensated .

The hearing loss processor 24A forms part of a processor A which executes a part 36A and memory 38A of the hearing aid's operating system 36A, 36B.

The hearing aid circuit 14 also includes a wireless communication unit B having a radio 34 configured to communicate wirelessly with other devices in a hearing aid network as shown in FIG. 1 for a binaural hearing aid system. Wireless communication unit B includes a processor that executes a portion 36B and memory 38B of the hearing aid's operating system 36A, 36B, and a processor 24B that executes various communication protocols and other tasks.

Operation of the hearing aid 10 is controlled by the operating system 36A, 36B. Operating system 36A, 36B is configured to manage hearing aid hardware and software resources, including, for example, hearing loss processor 24A and possibly other processors and associated signal processing algorithms, wireless communication unit B, memory resources 38A, 38B, power supply 12, etc. , and the operating system 36A, 36B allocates hearing aid resources to tasks to be performed.

The operating system 36A, 36B schedules tasks to efficiently use the hearing aid sources and also includes computational software for cost allocation including power consumption, processor time, memory location, wireless transmission and other resources.

While the application code for a task is usually executed directly by the appropriate portion of the hearing aid circuitry, for various tasks such as wireless communication and memory allocation, the operating system acts as an intermediary between the task and the hearing aid circuitry hardware, and will frequently make system calls to various operating system functions or interrupt them.

Specifically, the operating system 36B controls the radio device 34 to perform wireless communication with other devices according to respective communication protocols and priorities of respective communication tasks.

Operating system 36B includes a scheduler 40 that receives requests, including communication requests, from tasks to be performed. The communication request includes a priority of the communication task, a request initiation time for performing the requested communication task, and a desired duration for performing the requested communication task.

Scheduler 40 schedules each task based on task priority and the state of discharge of capacitor 42 to power radio 34 and charge by battery 12 through resistor 44 in response to task requests.

The circuit with resistor 44 and capacitor 42 may be omitted, i.e. resistor 44 may be replaced by a short circuit and capacitor 42 may be replaced by an open circuit, and in this case the scheduler 40 responds to the task request based on the task priority and the battery 12 discharge state to schedule each task.

In the illustrative example of the battery 12 and capacitor 42 combination, in order to provide a recovery time period of power between the end of the current or most recent communication task and the start of the next communication task, scheduler 40 is based on the estimated power consumption of the current or most recent communication task , to calculate the earliest possible start time for executing the next communication task.

The resume time period applied after the communication task performed by the radio 34 ends may be calculated as the estimated or actual duration of the communication task performed by the radio 34 multiplied by a constant.

The estimated duration may consist of time periods added by the pre-processing, transmission, reception and post-processing of the communication task.

The actual duration may consist of an increased period of time during which the radio 34 is actually powered while performing a communication task. Thus, when the actual duration is used to calculate the recovery time period, possible periods of power down of the radio 34 while performing a communication task are not added to the recovery time period.

In the example hearing aid 10, the constant may be equal to 1.125.

In another example, the application's recovery time period after a communication task performed by the radio device 34 may be calculated from the charge or current drawn from the power supply during execution of the communication task.

Additionally, scheduler 40 may take into account the state of the power supply, ie, the state of discharge of battery 12 and/or capacitor 42 , when calculating the recovery time period. For example, the aforementioned constants may increase as a function of battery 12 discharge.

Scheduler 40 may determine that the requested start time is unavailable, and may communicate to the requesting task that another start time must be requested.

The scheduler 40 may determine that an already scheduled task cannot execute at the scheduled start time, for example due to the incoming request with a higher priority, and may communicate to the already scheduled task that a new start time must be requested.

The scheduler 40 may be configured to allow communication tasks with lower priority to perform communications before communication tasks with higher priority, as long as the communication tasks with lower priority will complete their communication tasks by the time of the associated recovery time period. Communications to elapse before higher priority communication tasks are started. This might be useful, for example, in cases where a task is terminated or ended in a shorter time than the requested duration. This reserves space for another task to execute before starting the next scheduled task.

The scheduler 40 may also consider the power consumption of other tasks besides wireless communication when scheduling. Examples of other tasks include power consumption algorithms, storage in flash memory, etc. The recovery time periods for such other tasks may be calculated in the same manner as explained above in relation to recovery time periods for wireless communication tasks. The constants may be different for different types of tasks, eg due to different power consumption.

The scheduler 40 may be configured to power down one or more portions of the hearing aid circuitry to avoid excessive power consumption due to simultaneous operation of power consuming circuits, such as radios 34, flash memory, signal processors executing signal processing algorithms, etc. .

For example, scheduler 40 may be configured to power down radio 34 during sleep periods, eg, during writes to and/or reads from flash memory, during execution of power consumption algorithms, and the like.

Preferably, the scheduler 40 is configured to only schedule the next start time for each task, even if multiple start times for a given task are repeatedly executed, can be easily determined or have already been determined, e.g. streaming audio , that is, the scheduler 40 is configured not to schedule the start-time order of a given task. In this way, the number of scheduled tasks is kept low, thereby keeping the scheduler 40 simple and dynamic since no rescheduling in response to new requests is required.

In the event that a communication task ends or terminates earlier than scheduled, the scheduler 40 may be configured to recalculate the recovery time period based on the actual duration and/or actual power consumption of the suspected communication task. After the recalculated recovery time period elapses, and until the scheduled start time of the next scheduled task, there may be sufficient time to execute another task, and as described above, the scheduler 40 may be configured such that even if another task Having a lower priority than the next scheduled task, another task is also allowed to execute, as long as the lower priority task will end at the time of the lower priority task's associated recovery time period to elapse before the next scheduled task starts .

An exemplary protocol is shown in FIG. 3 , where time is divided into so-called time slots with a length of 1250 μs (twice the length of the smallest Bluetooth ^™ time slot). The slots are numbered from 0 to 255.

256 slots, that is, slot 0 to slot 255 constitute one frame. Frames are also numbered.

Among the factors influencing the choice of slot length are the low latency required by the system, and the desired low overhead with respect to preamble and phase locked loop (PLL) locking.

Preferably, the length of the time slots is a multiple of 625 μS to facilitate (ie not prevent) the ability to implement the protocol according to the invention in a BLUETOOTH ^™ enabled device.

Each time slot (except time slot 128) is used for the transmission of one dedicated device, so that data collisions within the network are prevented. Any slave device may transmit data in time slot 128 such that a collision may occur during this time slot. The host device transmits timing information in slot 0. The slot and frame counters of the slave devices are synchronized with the respective counters of the master device of the network.

A device may use one or more time slots for data transfer. Time slots can be allocated during manufacture of a given device, or time slots can be allocated dynamically during acquisition. Preferably, the allocation table is stored in the host device.

The operation of the scheduler 40 is as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 .

Figure 4 illustrates a communication request made by two communication tasks, task 1 and task 2. Task 1 may be a communication task related to, for example, audio streaming from a television set to a hearing aid performed according to the hearing aid network communication protocol, and task 2 may be a communication related to communication between a smartphone and a hearing aid performed according to the Bluetooth low energy protocol Task. Each communication request contains the start time, duration and priority of the communication task to be performed. Duration includes pre-processing, transmission, reception and post-processing of communication tasks. In Fig. 4, open areas indicate pre-processing and post-processing.

In the illustrated example, communication task 1 has formed two communication requests so that audio data can be retransmitted if the first transfer (request 1 ) was unsuccessful. The second request has been made high priority such that the probability of executing the second communication task at the time of the request is high. In the example of FIG. 4 , communication task 1 has priority 2 , communication task 2 has priority 3 , and communication task 3 has priority 1 . The highest priority has the lowest priority number.

If a communication request has been received, the scheduler 40 calculates the end time of each communication request as the sum of the request duration d and the recovery time period to allow power recovery. In the illustrated example, the recovery time period is equal to 9/8 times the duration.

Therefore, end time ₁ =t ₁ +d ₁ +9/8*d ₁ , and end time ₂ =t ₂ +d ₂ +9/8*d ₂ , and end time ₃ =t ₃ +d ₃ +9/ 8*d ₃ .

Some communication tasks may not be active. For example, the remote control may not be used some of the time. Active and inactive tasks are marked as indicated in the request list shown in FIG. 5 . The parameters of the inactive task may be parameters of the most recent communication request, which are now no longer used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the scheduler 40 now schedules the communication tasks according to the request list and forms the priority list shown by listing the active communication requests in priority order. The scheduler then identifies tasks with requests that end time earlier than the start time of the communication task with the highest priority (communication request 3 in the illustrated example). In the illustrated example, communication request 1 and communication request 2 both have an end time earlier than _t3 in such a way that a corresponding task can be executed before the task with communication request 3 is started. In this case, the communication task with the highest priority, ie the task with communication request 1, is executed.

In the case of successful execution of the task with communication request 1, scheduler 40 deletes communication request 3, the second reservation of communication request 1, since the audio data has now been successfully communicated. Since the end time ₁ is greater than t ₂ , and the message is sent to the request task that must make a new communication request, the scheduler 40 also determines that the communication task 2 cannot be performed at the request time;

In case communication task 1 ends immediately after t ₁ , e.g. in case no header is detected due to noise, then a new end time is calculated based on an update calculation with a correspondingly shorter recovery time, and at If the start time t2 of the communication request ₂ is later than the new end time of the communication task 1, since the end time _t2 is before the start time t3 of the higher priority communication request ₃ , the communication task 2 is executed. If the end time _t2 is already later than _t3 , the communication task 2 will be rescheduled, ie the scheduler 40 will pass the message to the requesting task which has to make a new communication request.

In the case where communication task ₁ ends immediately after t1; however, later than in the previous example, so that the new end time is later than t2, communication task ₂ is rescheduled again, and communication of communication request 3 is performed Task.

Claims (17)

1. A hearing aid comprising a power supply connected to power the hearing aid circuitry, the hearing aid having: an input transducer configured to output an audio signal based on a signal applied to the input transducer and representing sound; a hearing loss processor configured to compensate for the hearing loss of a user of the hearing aid and output a hearing loss compensation audio signal; an output transducer configured to output an auditory output signal based on the hearing loss compensation audio signal, the auditory output signal being receivable by the human auditory system to enable a user to hear sound; and a wireless communication unit configured to communicate with another device; and an operating system configured to control the wireless communication unit to perform communications with other devices according to a plurality of communication protocols and priorities, wherein the operating system includes: a scheduler configured to receive communication requests from communication tasks and schedule each of the communication tasks based on task priority and a state of the power source. 2. The hearing aid of claim 1, wherein the hearing aid circuit includes a capacitor for supplying current to the wireless communication unit. 3. The hearing aid of claim 2, wherein the hearing aid circuit includes a resistor connected between the power supply and the capacitor. 4. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scheduler is configured to calculate the earliest possible start time for executing the next communication task based on the estimated power consumption of the current or most recent communication task , in order to provide the recovery time period of the power supply. 5. The hearing aid of claim 4, wherein the recovery time period is the duration of the current or most recent communication task multiplied by a constant. 6. The hearing aid of claim 4, wherein the recovery time period is a function of the current drawn from the power supply during execution of the current or most recent communication task. 7. The hearing aid according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the power source comprises a battery, and wherein the recovery time period is a function of the state of the battery. 8. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the communication requests contains a priority of the communication task. 9. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the communication requests contains a start time for performing the requested communication task. 10. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the communication requests comprises a duration for performing the requested communication task. 11. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scheduler is configured to allow communication tasks with lower priority to perform communication before communication tasks with higher priority, as long as The communication task with said lower priority will end its communication at the time of the appropriate restoration time period of said power to elapse before the communication task with said higher priority starts. 12. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scheduler is configured to switch off the communication unit during sleep time periods. 13. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scheduler is configured to determine that the requested start time is not available, and to communicate to the requesting task that another start time must be requested. 14. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scheduler is configured to determine that a scheduled task cannot be executed at the scheduled start time, and communicate to the scheduled task that it must Request a new start time. 15. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scheduler is configured to take into account power consumption of tasks other than wireless communication when scheduling. 16. The hearing aid according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least part of the operating system is comprised in the hearing loss processor. 17. A method of scheduling wireless communications for a hearing aid, the hearing aid comprising a power supply connected to power circuitry of the hearing aid, the hearing aid having: an input transducer configured to output an audio signal based on a signal applied to the input transducer and representing sound; a hearing loss processor configured to compensate for a hearing loss of a user of the hearing aid and output a corresponding hearing loss compensation audio signal; an output transducer configured to output an auditory output signal based on the hearing loss compensation audio signal, the auditory output signal being receivable by the human auditory system to allow a user to hear sound; a wireless communication unit configured to communicate with another device; and an operating system configured to control the wireless communication unit to communicate with other devices according to a plurality of communication tasks having respective communication protocols and priorities, the method comprising: receiving a communication request from said communication task, Based on task priority and the state of the power source, an order is scheduled according to which communication tasks with the communication requests are transmitted by the wireless communication unit.