Patents by Inventor Harikrishna P. Natarajan

Harikrishna P. Natarajan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8634576
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for entrainment containment in digital filters using output phase modulation. Phase change is gradually introduced into the acoustic feedback canceller loop to avoid entrainment of the feedback canceller filter. Various embodiments employing different output phase modulation approaches are set forth and time and frequency domain examples are provided. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Arthur Salvetti, Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Jon S. Kindred
  • Patent number: 8553899
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for entrainment containment in digital filters using output phase modulation. Phase change is gradually introduced into the acoustic feedback canceller loop to avoid entrainment of the feedback canceller filter. Various embodiments employing different output phase modulation approaches are set forth and time and frequency domain examples are provided. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Arthur Salvetti, Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Jon S. Kindred
  • Publication number: 20130259278
    Abstract: Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatus for detecting battery chemistry or battery type and reconfiguring a hearing assistance device based on the detected battery. One aspect of the present subject matter relates to a method of operating a hearing assistance device having a battery. A voltage of the battery is detected at a predetermined load current and a battery chemistry or battery type is determined based on the detected voltage. An operating parameter of the hearing assistance device is adjusted based on the determined battery chemistry or battery type, in various embodiments. Examples of adjustments made based on the determined battery chemistry or battery type include gain, feedback cancellation (FBC) filter, self-diagnostic thresholds of the hearing assistance device, indicator loudness, low battery set point, or an end-of-discharge battery set point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Publication date: October 3, 2013
    Inventors: Howard Kill, James R. Newton, Zheng Yan, Harikrishna P. Natarajan
  • Patent number: 8116473
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for entrainment containment in digital filters using output phase modulation. Phase change is gradually introduced into the acoustic feedback canceller loop to avoid entrainment of the feedback canceller filter. Various embodiments employing different output phase modulation approaches are set forth and time and frequency domain examples are provided. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Arthur Salvetti, Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Jon S. Kindred
  • Publication number: 20110249846
    Abstract: Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatus for allocating feedback cancellation resources for improved acoustic feedback cancellation for hearing assistance devices. In various embodiments, a hearing assistance device includes a microphone and a processor configured to receive signals from the microphone and process them according to a plurality of processing blocks. The processor is adapted to include an event detector that can provide detection of an event and an output to adjust one or more processing blocks of the overall process to more efficiently use resources of the processor for the event detected, in various embodiments.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Publication date: October 13, 2011
    Applicant: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Harikrishna P. Natarajan
  • Publication number: 20110249847
    Abstract: Disclosed herein, among other things, are methods and apparatus for improved feedback cancellation for hearing assistance devices. In various embodiments the present acoustic feedback cancellation system is configured to identify the onset of acoustic feedback. This early detection is accomplished in a variety of ways, including detection of an exponential rise in a periodic signal which is associated with early acoustic feedback. The present system is very rapid and so it can operate when the conditions surrounding the hearing aid change quickly. It also is useful to not impose feedback cancellation to longer notes that will “fool” less sophisticated acoustic feedback cancellers into thinking the sound is feedback.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Publication date: October 13, 2011
    Applicant: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Arthur Salvetti, Harikrishna P. Natarajan
  • Publication number: 20110150231
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to tracking of acoustic feedback events of a hearing assistance device, such as a hearing aid. Information about the acoustic feedback events is stored for analysis. Such information is useful for programming acoustic feedback cancellers and other parameters of a hearing assistance device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Publication date: June 23, 2011
    Applicant: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Harikrishna P. Natarajan
  • Publication number: 20110116667
    Abstract: A system providing method and apparatus to detect occurrence of an entrainment artifact and address it. The system analyzing a feedback canceller filter for certain characteristics that are associated with an entrained filter. When an entrained filter is detected, the feedback canceller filter is reset to a good filter that ideally represents the current approximate external acoustic feedback path without the characteristics of the entraining signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2010
    Publication date: May 19, 2011
    Applicant: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Jon S. Kindred
  • Publication number: 20110091049
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for entrainment containment in digital filters using output phase modulation. Phase change is gradually introduced into the acoustic feedback canceller loop to avoid entrainment of the feedback canceller filter. Various embodiments employing different output phase modulation approaches are set forth and time and frequency domain examples are provided. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2010
    Publication date: April 21, 2011
    Applicant: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Arthur Salvetti, Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Jon S. Kindred
  • Patent number: 7809150
    Abstract: A system providing method and apparatus to detect occurrence of an entrainment artifact and address it. The system analyzing a feedback canceller filter for certain characteristics that are associated with an entrained filter. When an entrained filter is detected, the feedback canceller filter is reset to a good filter that ideally represents the current approximate external acoustic feedback path without the characteristics of the entraining signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2010
    Assignee: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Jon S. Kindred
  • Publication number: 20090316922
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to measurement of maximum stable gain of a hearing assistance device, including but not limited to hearing aids, as a function of frequency. In various approaches an adaptive filter with a variable step size is used to determine maximum stable gain as a function of frequency. In various approaches, the determination is done in process steps performed by the hearing assistance device. In various approaches, the determination is done in process steps performed by the hearing assistance device and by a host computer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2009
    Publication date: December 24, 2009
    Applicant: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Ivo Merks, Harikrishna P. Natarajan
  • Publication number: 20090175474
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for entrainment containment in digital filters using output phase modulation. Phase change is gradually introduced into the acoustic feedback canceller loop to avoid entrainment of the feedback canceller filter. Various embodiments employing different output phase modulation approaches are set forth and time and frequency domain examples are provided. Additional method and apparatus can be found in the specification and as provided by the attached claims and their equivalents.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2008
    Publication date: July 9, 2009
    Inventors: Arthur Salvetti, Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Jon S. Kindred
  • Publication number: 20080130927
    Abstract: A method of signal processing an input signal in a hearing aid to avoid entrainment, the hearing aid including a receiver and a microphone, the method comprising using an adaptive filter to measure an acoustic feedback path from the receiver to the microphone and adjusting an adaptation rate of the adaptive filter using an output from a filter having an autoregressive portion, the output derived at least in part from a ratio of a predictive estimate of the input signal to a difference of the predictive estimate and the input signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2007
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Applicant: Starkey Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Lalin Theverapperuma, Harikrishna P. Natarajan, Arthur Salvetti, Jon S. Kindred