Hearing is one of the most essential senses for interacting with the world. It allows us to converse, enjoy music and stay aware of our surroundings. Hearing loss is a prevalent problem that affects millions of individuals globally and disconnects them from a world where sound is vital to others and the environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that more than 5% of the global population requires hearing rehabilitation, a striking statistic that highlights the pervasiveness of this problem. Technology has transformed audiology, evolving from simple ear trumpets to sophisticated modern hearing aids. This evolution began with the invention of the transistor, paving the way for devices that can be worn completely inside or behind the ear.

Although hearing aids have been available for many years, historically, access to these critical devices has been insufficient, resulting in a lack of support for many people. However, recent advances in hearing aid technology promise improved acoustic experiences using modern techniques such as binaural processing and neural networks. These innovations require a sophisticated architecture to balance high memory needs with low power consumption in a user-friendly design.

Hearing aids: a testament to human ingenuity

The transition from analog to digital technology at the end of the 20th century further transformed hearing aids, offering superior sound quality, customization and the ability to connect to various electronic devices, thus improving the user experience significantly. Today’s hearing aids are highly effective, versatile and nearly invisible, a significant advance over early attempts to address hearing loss. They also offer advanced noise cancellation and connectivity options, allowing users to seamlessly integrate into the digital world. This progression not only highlights the industry’s commitment to improving user experience and accessibility, but also provides a glimpse into a future where hearing loss is no longer a barrier.

challenge

Despite advances and sophistication, there are several challenges to hearing aid design and adoption. Users are demanding smaller, more discrete devices that don’t sacrifice performance. While the move to sleeker designs is aesthetically pleasing, it introduces substantial complexities to product design. Designers are faced with the challenges of integrating critical components such as batteries and peripherals into increasingly compact spaces. Power consumption remains a critical concern as these devices must remain operational throughout the day. Using neural networks to improve signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for better quality requires additional memory capacity.

Consequently, there is a pressing need for flexible, low-power architectures that incorporate all the necessary memory and peripherals without compromising the compact size of the device. Adopting AI to adjust hearing aid volume to match an individual’s specific hearing requirements is a significant challenge and requires more memory and effort. In addition, reliability and cost are significant challenges for manufacturers.

Transformation of hearing aids

In hearing aid development, the ability to evaluate the energy efficiency of SoCs at different frequencies in real time is crucial. These applications require cohesive, energy-efficient solutions that can maintain high performance. The Cadence Tensilica HiFi and The Fusion F1 DSP family emphasizes minimal power consumption while providing robust performance ideally suited for a wide range of audio and voice applications.

The Cadence Tensilica HiFi DSP family, a high-performance audio technology with AI acceleration and advanced DSP capability, provides feature-rich audio, speech, and imaging for wearables, automotive, home entertainment, digital assistants, and ASR. The The Tensilica HiFi DSP family accelerates innovation with its comprehensive instruction set and supports fixed-point and floating-point data types. Simplifying software development, it offers C/C++ programming, an automatic vectorization compiler, and a rich DSP software library through the Cadence Tensilica Xplorer development environment.

Conclusion

Technological advances lead to the evolution of hearing aids; The future of hearing aids lies in further miniaturization and improved functionality. Cadence’s ongoing innovations aim to improve signal processing and noise reduction, even in challenging environments. The integration of neural networks promises more apparent sound transmission and greater adaptability.

Cadence is working to improve how these devices process signals and reduce noise, and has initiated a collaborative adventure with distinguished entities such as GlobalFoundries (GF), Hoerzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH and Leibniz University Hannover. This collaboration has borne fruit in the form of the industry’s first binaural hearing aid system-on-chip (SoC) prototype, the Intelligent Hearing Aid Processor (SmartHeAP).