ISBN 978-3-8439-3762-7

978-3-8439-3762-7, Reihe Elektrotechnik

Henning Schepker
Robust Feedback Suppression Algorithms for Single- and Multi-Microphone Hearing Aids

234 Seiten, Dissertation Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (2017), Hardcover, B5

Zusammenfassung / Abstract

When providing the necessary amplification in hearing aids, the risk of acoustic feedback is increased due to the coupling between the hearing aid loudspeaker and the hearing aid microphone(s). This acoustic feedback is often perceived as an annoying whistling or howling. Thus, to reduce the occurrence of acoustic feedback, robust and fast-acting feedback suppression algorithms are required.

The main objective of this thesis is to develop and evaluate algorithms for robust and fast-acting feedback suppression in hearing aids. Specifically, we focus on enhancing the performance of adaptive filtering algorithms that estimate the feedback component in the hearing aid microphone by reducing the number of required adaptive filter coefficients and by improving the trade-off between fast convergence and good steady-state performance. Additionally, we develop fixed spatial filter design methods that can be applied in a multi-microphone earpiece.