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LE Audio and the Future of Hearing

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Edited
@Euang said:

I am a total amateur and can VERY EASILY be wrong but the BT version available on a chip seems to be a combination of both hardware and firmware

This is true. It is a combination of both HW/FW component. The chip that runs them generally 5- 10 years old. but the firmware is newer.

@Euang said:

. I am not surprised that this generation of already released aids is not implementing LE Audio & Auracast (although the exception could be Starkey Ai as it is a brand new chip).

I think judging from the usecase of that it requires new HW/FW/SW combination that the current chip platform cannot provide.

@Euang said:

Is I offered earlier in the thread, Le audio seems to be a software update usable on the BT5.2 hardware.

However I don’t see the issue of adding BTLE Audio without auracast extension to it.
If history repeats, It is like resound/Cochlear adding protocol to Quattro / N7 sound processor in a firmware update back in 2019.

An err on my part, I was not thinking of the entire bluetooth spec. I was talking about the LE audio without involved and I misguided some people into thinking the LE audio will include Auracast for it first generation .

Sorry for the misunderstanding

Edited

Here is a technical deep dive into the chip that is used in cochlear/resound platform

Link between Cochlear and resound platform for Bluetooth
I found information that Cochlear is using resound’s bluetootth platform. (Bluetooth SIG) Baha 5 (prototype i guess) using Resound’s LEWIS platform (Linx) Baha 5 using Resound’s LEWIS-2 platform (Linx^2) Cochlear N7 using Resound’s LEWIS-2 platform (Linx^2) Osia 2 using Resound’s LEWIS-3 platform (Linx 3D) BAHA 6 max using Resound’s LEWIS-5 platform ( ONE) Based on the data (speculation): Kanso 2 is using LEWIS 4 platform (bluetooth 5.0) (Quattro) Niucleus 8 is using LEWIS-7 platfor…

Quartto to Omnia is using nRF52840 chipset which is released in 2017

Nordic Semiconductor introduces latest nRF52 Series SoC and demonstrates...

Nordic and design partners unveil latest Bluetooth low energy and IEEE 802.15.4 innovations at Asia’s leading consumer electronics event. Product demonstrations include Thread for home automation, voice-activated remote control, NFC, and wireless...

A quote from Bluetooth.c** “Questions & Answers on ”

Will existing Bluetooth devices be able to transmit or receive Auracast™ broadcasts? Or will new software or hardware be required?

The new specifications allow for upgradability of existing products in the field. Whether field upgrades occur will depend on the underlying Bluetooth capabilities already in a device and the supplier’s product strategy. We do expect some product types will be upgradeable, but do not have visibility into specific product strategies. For certain Auracast™ transmitter categories such as TVs, we expect many will require a hardware upgrade. However, we also expect to see plug-and-play aftermarket Auracast™ transmitters used to add support for Auracast™ broadcast audio to TVs and other Auracast™ transmitter product types.

seems to have arrived in the audio market. Searching for Auracast on amazon.com1 brings up a number of items including headphones and transmitters. While this doesn’t necessarily mean anything for hearing aids, at least it’s progress.

Amazon.com: Auracast™ LE Audio Broadcasting & Bluetooth 5.0 Model : Prestige AT53C Auracast™ Headphones with one Transmitter, 2 Pack Up LE Audio Broadcasting up to +1,000PCS, Dolby Movie & Music 3D Surround. : Electronics12

It’s just two items with . Everything else is just Amazon’s algorithm for showing us what it thinks we might want to buy. I do think the item you linked to is significant though in an odd kind of way. Once you get low cost Asian manufacturers getting involved, the market is heading in my direction. And it shows that there’s a lot of development going on. Not sure the design on the headphones was a great idea though.

You will be able to get enabled accessory from manufacture. it does not matter which you can connect to brand…

In reply to @ssa

@ssa said:

Auracast need next gen firmware / software to run on.,You need to interact with something(i.e. an app) to switch on auracast broadcast what to do when the button is pressed, and other similar use case.

That “something” could be as simple as the button on the hearing aid. Take for example the VOCE Auracast Transceiver1. It is controlled by a single button: In receiver mode, triple push switches to and starts scanning the air for broadcasts. Scanning stops and starts receiving the first found broadcast. If it’s not what you’re looking for, press the button and searching continues. So you can select Auracast source and start receiving with your hearing aids without the need for an external device.

@ssa said:

You are confusing that auracast is Bluetooth le audio… it is an extension of the Bluetooth le audio.

I’m not. Auracast is a more catchy name for Bluetooth Low Energy Audio Sharing and as such it is a subset of .

@ssa said:

However I don’t see the issue of adding BTLE Audio without auracast extension to it.

Auracast is a subset of Audio - not an extension.

@ds63tgtpep said:

Auracast is a subset of BLE Audio - not an extension.

extension or subset is the same thing in my mind

@ds63tgtpep said:

That “something” could be as simple as the button on the hearing aid. Take for example the VOCE Auracast Transceiver. It is controlled by a single button: In receiver mode, triple push switches to Auracast and starts scanning the air for broadcasts. Scanning stops and starts receiving the first found broadcast. If it’s not what you’re looking for, press the button and searching continues. So you can select Auracast source and start receiving with your hearing aids without the need for an external device.

It is actually not that simple… Manufacture can do what whatever they like but the problem UI/UX can be horrible when switching broadcast… you can expect so many broadcast devices and you expect the system to randomly pick an a unused broadcast and oh what about password protected (encrypted) broadcast?

Edited
@ssa said:

extension or subset is the same thing in my mind

In my mind an extension is a superset (A subset of a set A is any set B such that every element of B is also an element of A. A superset of A is any set C such that A is a subset of C.

@ssa said:

what about password protected (encrypted) broadcast?

In public locations - including conference centers, movie theaters, transportation centers, places of worship, silent info-displays anywhere, in short, any location where is to replace induction loop, encryption won’t be used. I prefer using my remote with status display1 or smartphone app to control my , but the HAs with Auracast could in most situations be controlled with a single button.

Edited

To clarify. requires . LE Audio does not require Auracast. I believe that is correct. This appears to be wrong. See previous post.

Edited
@MDB said:

To clarify. …

Thanks for trying, but it didn’t help much. It’s really quite simple. is the full package, part of which is , formerly known as Audio Sharing. LE Audio was announced by EHIMA on January 7, 2020. The term Auracast appeared on July 12, 2022 as a novelty, IMHO because the industri realised, that it would be easier to sell a product supporting Auracast, than it would be to sell a product supporting Bluetooth Low Energy Audio, Audio Sharing Broadcast.

LE-Audio_Specifications_Diagram

There are lots of use case specific profiles, you can put on top of the generic audio framework. One of them is the Public Broadcast Profile2 which then gives you the basic functions of Auracast.

The main components of LE Audio are:

LE-Audio-Components

Is there such a thing as an Auracast specification? No, Auracast is a subset of LE Audio.

Where-Is-Auracast-Broadcast-Audio-Defined

I can recommend Ken Kolderups 24 minute talk on the occasion of World Hearing Day 20204.

Good find. I was in error. I do suspect there will be a lot of confusion though. I will correct my post.

In reply to @ds63tgtpep

Again. PBP is not required to make work but it is an optional feature to implement the LE audio…

LE Audio don’t need the full spec to make the audio protocol work. They can implement a version of LE Audio without PBP… all they need , BAP, and CAP.

Use case specific profiles ARE OPTIONAL and companies don’t need to implement them unless they want to.

Generic Audio framework and LC3 is required to implement the “full” LE Audio protocol

It depends on your definition of LE Audio,

My definition of LE Audio is without the use , where auracast is a nice feature to have but not needed.

In reply to @ds63tgtpep

Further research confirms my impression that there will be a lot of confusion regarding what terms mean.
The article seems clear to me, but others have different impressions. I looked up data on my Galaxy S23 phone in it’s NRF Connect app. It has a YES for Supported but NO for LE Audio Source and LE Audio Assistant supported.

Edited

In reply to @MDB

@MDB said:

The article seems clear to me

Which article?

@MDB said:

my Galaxy S23 phone has in it’s NRF Connect app a YES for LE Audio Supported but NO for LE Audio Source and LE Audio Assistant supported.

Agree it’s very confusing and your guess is as good as mine. The terms “Source” (broadcast transmitter) and “Assistant” are related to , so my guess is, that your phone supports , Multi-Stream and Unicast but not Auracast.

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