Auditory neuron models for cochlea implants

Auditory perception neurons, also called inner hair cells (IHCs), because of their physical shape, transform the mechanical movements of the basilar membrane into electrical impulses. The impulse coding of the IHC is the main information carrier in the auditory process and is the basis for improvements of cochlea implants as well as for low rate, high quality speech processing and compression. This paper compares biologically motivated models (MEDDIS, COOKE, BRACHMAN-PAYTON) with a newly developed model which is transfer function oriented. The new model has only three reservoirs and the parameters can be controlled through five small ROM tables. We compare this model with the often used MEDDIS model in terms of accuracy, system parameter flexibility, and hardware effort in an FPGA implementation.