Classroom system

• US 10,152,297 B1
• Filed: 04/06/2018
• Issued: 12/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lightspeed Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Lightspeed Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Jordahl, David M., Ren, Baiqiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Flanders, Andrew C
• Application Number:
  US15/947,655
• Time in Patent Office: 249 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1089 by adding media; by removing media
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2499/11 Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

A distributed audio system can comprise a first radio and a second radio. The first radio can comprise a first control data pathway for wirelessly coupling to a first mobile device through which first control signals are transmitted and a first audio pathway for wirelessly coupling to a second mobile device through which audio signals are transmitted. The second radio can comprise a second control data pathway for wirelessly coupling to a second mobile device through which second control signals are transmitted and a second audio pathway for wirelessly coupling to the first mobile device through which audio signals are transmitted. Transmission of the audio and control signals is selectively blocked from one of the mobile devices when the other is recording or playing back audio.

Claims

1. A distributed audio system for transmitting audio signals to and receiving audio signals from at least one remote audio source and for transmitting and receiving audio and control signals to and from at least first and second mobile devices, the distributed audio system comprising:

a first radio comprising a first control data pathway for wirelessly coupling to the first mobile device through which first control signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the first mobile device, the first radio comprising a first audio pathway for wirelessly coupling to the second mobile device through which audio signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the second mobile device;

a second radio comprising a second control data pathway for wirelessly coupling to the second mobile device through which second control signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the second mobile device, the second radio comprising a second audio pathway for wirelessly coupling to the first mobile device through which audio signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the second mobile device;

a processor coupled to the first and second radios and programmed to cause the delivery of control signals to the second mobile device through the second control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the second mobile device to the second control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the second mobile device to the first audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the first mobile device is receiving audio signals through the second audio pathway from the at least one remote audio source and recording the received audio signals from the at least one remote audio source, the processor also being programmed to cause the delivery of control signals to the first mobile device through the first control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the first mobile device to the first control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the first mobile device to the second audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the second mobile device is receiving audio signals through the first audio pathway from the at least one remote audio source and recording the received audio signals from the at least one remote audio source.

2. A distributed audio system according to claim 1 wherein the processor is programmed to cause a message to be displayed at the one of the first and second mobile devices from which the transmission of control signals and audio signals is blocked, the blocked mobile device to indicate the blocking out of the blocked mobile device.

3. A distributed audio system according to claim 1 wherein the first and second radios have Bluetooth low energy (BLE) standard enabled respective first and second control data pathways and Bluetooth (BT) enabled respective first and second audio pathways.

4. A distributed audio system according to claim 1 further comprising a third radio coupled to the first and second audio pathways and to the first and second control data pathways and wirelessly coupled to the at least one remote audio source, in response to control signals from the processor, the third radio receiving and delivering audio signals from the at least one remote audio source to the first and second audio pathways.

5. A distributed audio system according to claim 4 wherein the third radio is a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard enabled radio.

6. A distributed audio system according to claim 4 further comprising a fourth radio coupled to the first and second control data pathways and wirelessly coupled to the at least one remote audio source, in response to control signals from the processor, the fourth radio receiving and delivering control signals to cause the at least one remote audio source to transmit audio signals to the first and second audio pathways.

7. A distributed audio system according to claim 6 wherein the fourth radio is a Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (Zigbee RF4CE) standard enabled radio.

8. A distributed audio system according to claim 1 wherein the first and second radios have Bluetooth low energy (BLE) standard enabled respective first and second control data pathways and Bluetooth (BT) enabled respective first and second audio pathways, further comprising a third radio coupled to the first and second audio pathways and to the first and second control data pathways and wirelessly coupled to the at least one remote audio source, in response to control signals from the processor, the third radio receiving and delivering audio signals from the at least one remote audio source to the first and second audio pathways, wherein the third radio is a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard enabled radio, and further comprising a fourth radio coupled to the first and second control data pathways and wirelessly coupled to the at least one remote audio source, in response to control signals from the processor, the fourth radio receiving and delivering control signals to cause the at least one remote audio source to transmit audio signals to the first and second audio pathways, and wherein the fourth radio is a Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (Zigbee RF4CE) standard enabled radio.

9. A distributed audio system according to claim 8 wherein the first, second, third and fourth radios are on a common circuit board with opposed first and second edges and opposed third and fourth side edges, wherein the first radio is positioned adjacent to the first side edge and the second radio is positioned adjacent to the second side edge, wherein the third radio is positioned in a central section of the circuit board and at a location that that is further from the first side edge than the first radio and further from the second side edge than the second radio and nearer to the fourth side edge than the third side edge, and wherein the fourth radio is positioned between the first and second side edges in a section of the circuit board that is between the first and second radios and adjacent to the third side edge.

10. A distributed audio system according to claim 1, wherein the first mobile device is not blocked by control signals on the first control data pathway from recording video of the location proximate to the at least one remote audio source during at least a portion of the time that the first mobile device is receiving audio signals through the second audio pathway and recording the received audio signals such that the first mobile device can record video corresponding to the recorded audio;

and wherein the second mobile device is not blocked by control signals on the second control data pathway from recording video of the location proximate to the at least one remote audio source during at least a portion of the time that the second mobile device is receiving audio signals through the first audio pathway and recording the received audio signals such that the second mobile device can record video corresponding to the recorded audio.

11. A distributed audio system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to cause the delivery of control signals to the second mobile device through the second control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the second mobile device to the second control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the second mobile device to the first audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the first mobile device is transmitting audio signals through the second audio pathway to the at least one remote audio source, the processor also being programmed to cause the delivery of control signals to the first mobile device through the first control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the first mobile device to the first control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the first mobile device to the second audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the second mobile device is transmitting audio signals through the first audio pathway to the at least one remote audio source.

19. A distributed audio system according to claim 8 wherein the first, second, third and fourth radios are on a common circuit board with opposed first and second edges and opposed third and fourth side edges, wherein the first radio is positioned adjacent to the first side edge and the second radio is positioned adjacent to the second side edge, wherein the third radio is positioned in a central section of the circuit board and at a location that that is further from the first side edge than the first radio and further from the second side edge than the second radio and nearer to the fourth side edge than the third side edge, and wherein the fourth radio is positioned between the first and second side edges in a section of the circuit board that is between the first and second radios and adjacent to the third side edge.

12. A distributed audio system comprising:

a radio relay station;

a base unit coupled to the radio relay station;

a plurality of speaker units, each speaker unit comprising a microphone and a speaker;

the radio relay station comprising a first radio configured to send and receive first control signals to and from a first mobile device and first audio signals to and from a second mobile device, and a second radio configured to send and receive second control signals to and from the second mobile device and second audio signals to and from the first mobile device, the radio relay station also being configured to send relay control signals to the speaker units corresponding to the first and second control signals and relay audio signals to the speaker units corresponding to the first and second audio signals;

wherein the base unit is configured to receive the relay control signals and relay audio signals from the radio relay station, the base unit being configured to transmit speaker unit control signals corresponding to the relay control signals to one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the relay control signals, the base unit being configured to transmit audio signals corresponding the first and second audio signals to one or more speakers of the speaker units selected in response to the speaker unit control signals, the base unit also being configured to receive audio signals corresponding to audio detected by one or more microphones of the speaker units selected in response to the speaker unit control signals and to transmit the audio signals corresponding to the audio at the microphones at the selected one or more speaker units to the relay station for transmission by the relay station as audio signals to one of the first and second mobile devices selected in response to the first and second control signals;

and wherein the speakers of one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the speaker unit control signals broadcast audio corresponding to the one or more audio signals, and audio signals corresponding to audio detected by the microphones of one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the speaker unit control signals are transmitted to the base unit and to one of the first and second mobile devices selected in response to the control signals for recording by the selected one of the first and second mobile devices.

13. The distributed audio system of claim 12, wherein, in response to first control signals from the first mobile device that cause the radio relay station to send relay control signals to the base unit that cause audio signals corresponding to the second audio signals to be sent from the radio relay station to one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the speaker control signals, the second radio sends second control signals to the second mobile device to block the second mobile device from sending second control signals and first audio signals to the radio relay station;

and

wherein, in response to second control signals from the second mobile device that cause the radio relay station to send relay control signals to the base unit that cause audio signals corresponding to the first audio signals to be sent to one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the speaker control signals, the first radio sends first control signals to the first mobile device to block the first mobile device from sending first control signals and second audio signals to the radio relay station.

14. The distributed audio system of claim 13, further comprising:

a first instructor unit comprising a first instructor unit speaker and a first instructor unit microphone;

a second instructor unit comprising a second instructor unit speaker and a second instructor unit microphone;

wherein, in response to first control signals, the radio relay station sends relay control signals to the base unit causing the base unit to open an audio pathway between the first instructor unit and one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the first control signals; and

wherein, in response to second control signals, the radio relay station sends relay control signals to the base unit causing the base unit to open an audio pathway between the second instructor unit and one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the second control signals.

15. The distributed audio system of claim 14, further comprising:

a remote control configured to send remote control signals to the base unit causing the base unit to open an audio pathway between one or more of the first instructor unit and the second instructor unit and one or more of the speaker units selected in response to the remote control signals.

16. The distributed audio system of claim 13, wherein the first and second control signals are sent to the first and second mobile devices by the radio relay station using a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio, wherein the first and second control signals are received from the first and second mobile devices by the radio relay station using a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio, wherein the first and second audio signals are received from the first and second mobile devices by the radio relay station using a Bluetooth (BT) radio, and wherein the first and second audio signals are sent from the radio relay station to the first and second mobile devices using a Bluetooth (BT) radio.

17. The distributed audio system of claim 13, wherein the relay control signals are sent to the base unit from the radio relay station using a Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (Zigbee RF4CE) standard protocol, and wherein the first and second audio signals are sent to the base unit from the radio relay station using a Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard protocol.

18. The distributed audio system of claim 12, wherein the radio relay station further comprises a third radio to send and receive audio signals to and from the base unit and a fourth radio to send relay control signals to the base unit.

20. A method for transmitting audio signals to and receiving audio signals from at least one remote audio source and for transmitting and receiving audio and control signals to and from at least first and second mobile devices, the method comprising:

wirelessly coupling the first mobile device to a first radio via a first control data pathway through which first control signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the first mobile device and wirelessly coupling the second mobile device to the first radio via a first audio pathway through which audio signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the second mobile device;

wirelessly coupling the second mobile device to a second radio via a second control data pathway through which second control signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the second mobile device and wirelessly coupling the first mobile device to the second radio via a second audio pathway through which audio signals are wirelessly transmitted to and received from the first mobile device;

delivering control signals to the second mobile device through the second control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the second mobile device to the second control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the second mobile device to the first audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the first mobile device is receiving audio signals through the second audio pathway from the at least one remote audio source and recording the received audio signals from the at least one remote audio source, and delivering control signals to the first mobile device through the first control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the first mobile device to the first control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the first mobile device to the second audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the second mobile device is receiving audio signals through the first audio pathway from the at least one remote audio source and recording the received audio signals from the at least one remote audio source.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

delivering control signals to the second mobile device through the second control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the second mobile device to the second control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the second mobile device to the first audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the first mobile device is transmitting audio signals through the second audio pathway to the at least one remote audio source; and

delivering control signals to the first mobile device through the first control data pathway to block the transmission of control signals from the first mobile device to the first control data pathway and to block the transmission of audio signals from the first mobile device to the second audio pathway at least during a portion of a time that the second mobile device is transmitting audio signals through the first audio pathway to the at least one remote audio source.