Interactive audio system
First Claim
1. An interactive audio system comprising:
- an audio source;
a playing terminal connected to the audio source by means of a data link; and
an audio transducer and a user control device connected to the playing terminal, wherein the audio source is arranged to transmit a plurality of audio components to the playing terminal by means of the data link, each audio component comprising audio data relating to an audible sound or track, the playing terminal being arranged to output the audible sound or track corresponding to each audio component, by means of the audio transducer, the user control device being arranged to enable user-selection of one of the audio components as a focus component based on the user selecting one of the audible sounds or tracks being emitted from the audio transducer, the playing terminal being further arranged to control the quantity of transmitted data, relating to each audio component, sent from the audio source to the playing terminal, the quantity of transmitted data being dependant on the selected focus sound or track.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive audio system comprises an audio source terminal 11 and a audio playback terminal 13 connected to each another by a wireless data link 14. The playback terminal 13, in this case, is in the form of a mobile telephone receiver. The source terminal 1 comprises a source computer 5 provided at some fixed network core. Connected to the playback terminal 13 is an audio transducer 15, and a user control device 17. The wireless data link 14 is established over a network connection which is set-up using an existing cellular telecommunications network (as are used in mobile telephony systems). In use, the source terminal 11 acts as a device by which the playback terminal 13 can access particular services. The presentation of available services is not performed using visual data displayed at the remote terminal, but instead, audible sound is used to present services. The services are represented by audio components which are transmitted from the audio source terminal 11 over the data link 14. A user is able to select an audio component as a focus component by using the user control device 17. The focus component is transmitted at a higher bit-rate than the non focus components so as to maintain the required bandwidth of the data link at a suitable level.
61 Citations
33 Claims
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1. An interactive audio system comprising:
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an audio source;
a playing terminal connected to the audio source by means of a data link; and
an audio transducer and a user control device connected to the playing terminal, wherein the audio source is arranged to transmit a plurality of audio components to the playing terminal by means of the data link, each audio component comprising audio data relating to an audible sound or track, the playing terminal being arranged to output the audible sound or track corresponding to each audio component, by means of the audio transducer, the user control device being arranged to enable user-selection of one of the audio components as a focus component based on the user selecting one of the audible sounds or tracks being emitted from the audio transducer, the playing terminal being further arranged to control the quantity of transmitted data, relating to each audio component, sent from the audio source to the playing terminal, the quantity of transmitted data being dependant on the selected focus sound or track. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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15. An interactive audio system comprising:
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a playing terminal connected to one or more audio sources by means of a respective data link or respective data links; and
an audio transducer and a user control device connected to the playing terminal, wherein the playing terminal is arranged to receive a plurality of audio components from the one or more audio sources by means of the data link or data links, each audio component comprising audio data relating to an audible sound or track, the playing terminal being arranged to output the audible sound or track corresponding to each audio component, by means of the audio transducer, the user control device being arranged to enable user-selection of one of the audio components as a focus component based on the user selecting one of the audible sounds or tracks being emitted from the audio transducer, the playing terminal being further arranged to control the quantity of transmitted data, relating to each audio component, sent from the or each audio source to the playing terminal, the quantity of transmitted data being dependant on the selected focus sound or track.
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16. A playing terminal for use in an interactive audio system, the playing terminal comprising:
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a first port for receiving a plurality of audio components from a remote audio source, each audio component comprising audio data relating to an audible sound or track which can be played through an audio transducer means connected to the playing terminal;
a second port for receiving selection commands from a user control device which is connectable to the playing terminal; and
a processing means connected to the first and second ports, wherein the processing means is arranged to (a) receive the audio components from the first port and to play the audible sound or track relating to each audio component by means of the audio transducer, (b) receive a selection command from the second port, the selection command being indicative of one of the audible sounds or tracks currently selected by a user as a focus sound or track, and (c) send a control signal to the audio source by means of the first port, the control signal indicating the quantity of data, relating to each audio component, to be transmitted from the audio source to the playing terminal, the quantity of data being dependant on the audio component selected as the focus component.
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18. A method of operating an interactive audio system, the method comprising:
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receiving, at a playing terminal, a plurality of audio components transmitted over a data link from a remote audio source, each audio component comprising audio data relating to an audible sound or track;
playing each of the audio components so as to output their respective audible sound or track from an audio transducer connected to the playing terminal;
selecting one of the audible sounds or tracks as a focus sound or track; and
in response to the selection step, transmitting a control signal to the remote audio source so as to control the quantity of transmitted data, relating to each audio component, at which the audio components are transmitted from the audio source, the quantity of transmitted data being dependant on the selected focus sound or track.
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32. A computer program stored on a computer-usable medium, the computer program comprising computer-readable instructions for causing a processing device to perform the steps of:
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receiving a plurality of audio components transmitted over a data link from a remote audio source, each audio component comprising audio data relating to an audible sound or track;
playing each of the audio components so as to output their respective audible sound or track from the audio transducer connected to the processing device;
setting one of the audible sounds or tracks as a focus sound or track; and
in response to the setting step, transmitting a control signal to the remote audio source so as to control the quantity of transmitted data, relating to each audio component, at which the audio components are transmitted from the audio source, the quantity of transmitted data being dependant on the focus sound or track.
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33. An interactive audio system comprising:
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an audio source means;
audio playing means connected to the audio source means by a communication means; and
an audio production means and a user control means connected to the audio playing means, wherein the audio source means is arranged to transmit a plurality of audio components to the audio playing means by means of the communication means, each audio component comprising audio data relating to an audible sound or track, the audio playing means being arranged to output the audible sound or track corresponding to each audio component, by means of the audio production means, the user control means being arranged to enable user-selection of one of the audio components as a focus component based on the user selecting one of the audible sounds or tracks being emitted from the audio production means, the audio playing means being further arranged to control the quantity of transmitted data, relating to each audio component, sent from the audio source means to the audio playing means, the quantity of transmitted data being dependent on the selected focus sound or track.
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Specification