高階助聽器晶片及系統---子計畫二：助聽器雙耳通訊技術(I)

Abstract

高階的助聽器系統的發展日新月異，目前雙耳助聽器產品已成為高端助聽器的主力，以其具有大量的訊號處理功能，例如適應性指向麥克風、雜訊消除、迴音消除等，能大幅提升舒適感和實用性。本研究計劃目的即在為前瞻雙耳助聽器提供穩定的雙耳通訊平台。本計劃將先針對各種不同的雙耳技術進行通訊需求評估。依據通訊需求在未來三年的演進，結合三位教授及研究群的專長，在低功耗架構、通訊協定( communication protocol )、資料格式及壓縮、調變方式、通道編碼、介面電路等方面提出整體方案，並依序進行電路設計實做。助聽器的尺寸及電池容量都是電路設計上重要的限制，因此在架構考量上必須盡量採用低功耗及省電的設計方式，而功耗便是傳統高頻無線通訊系統應用在雙耳助聽器上最大的問題。因此在本計畫中希望利用近身通訊低功耗的優點來設計雙耳通訊系統，另外也將透過基頻傳輸方式來節省訊號調變所需的能量，以及採用數位電路設計來降低發送端與傳輸端的功耗。期待將近身通訊的特性與優點整合至本期計畫的雙耳助聽器通訊系統，利用90nm製程實現更低功耗的雙耳助聽器通訊系統電路設計，並積極貢獻最終雙耳助聽器的系統總成。

The hearing-aid technology has seen tremendous progress in recent years, with one major result being the increasing popularity of binaural hearing aids. Binaural hearing aids with their advanced signal processing functions, such as directional microphones, noise reduction, feedback cancellation, etc., have significantly improved the user experience with hearing aids. Therefore, development of binaural hearing-aids becomes a necessary for any serious hearing-aid projects. This subproject aims to providing essential communication support for binaural hearing aids. First, we will evaluate communication requirements for various types of binaural hearing-aid technologies. Then, according to the three-year evolution of communication requirement, a coherent development plan will be adopted, considering topics in data compression, modulation, channel coding, and interfacing circuitry, toward the realization of a binaural communication system. It is noteworthy that power consumption is a big issue for hearing-aid applications, and it is why conventional wireless communication systems may not be suitable for binaural hearing aids. We opt to use intra-body communication technologies for the possible advantage of ultra low power consumption. Low power circuit design strategy and 90nm technology will also be adopted to further our cause of making the intra-body communication system the key enabler of the advanced binaural hearing aid,