Methods, systems and computer program products for zone based distribution of audio signals
First Claim
1. A site based dynamic distribution system for distributing an audio signal over a local network for the site, the system comprising:
- a network interface that receives digital audio streams and outputs the digital audio streams on a local network for the site using an Internet protocol (IP) address based protocol and wherein ones of the digital audio streams have different associated identifiers;
a plurality of network attached audio devices configured to receive a selected digital audio stream over the local network for the site based on a designated one of the associated identifiers and to output the received digital audio stream to audio equipment located at the site, each of the respective network attached audio devices being associated with a different group of audio equipment;
a user interface configured to receive a user designation of aggregations of the audio equipment located at the site; and
a controller coupled to the plurality of network attached audio devices that designates the associated identifiers to be received by respective ones of the plurality of network attached audio devices based on the user designation to provide dynamic zone aggregation of the audio equipment at the site.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for dynamic distribution of audio signals at a site based on defined zones within the site. A plurality of addressable audio devices are coupled to a local network for the site which are configured to receive a designated digital audio stream over the local network and to output the received digital audio stream to audio equipment located at the site. A zone manager defines a plurality of zones for the site which may include a plurality of the addressable audio devices. The zone manager defines a relationship between a characteristic of the audio signal for a reference audio device and for the addressable audio devices in the zones. An audio interface receives digital audio streams and outputs the digital audio streams on the local network addressed to selected ones of the audio devices based on the defined zones, the defined relationship between a characteristic of the audio signal for a reference audio device and for the addressable audio devices and a control input associated with the characteristic. A user interface is provided which is configured to receive a user designation of the control input. Systems and methods for dynamic aggregation of audio equipment in zones are also provided.
1389 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A site based dynamic distribution system for distributing an audio signal over a local network for the site, the system comprising:
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a network interface that receives digital audio streams and outputs the digital audio streams on a local network for the site using an Internet protocol (IP) address based protocol and wherein ones of the digital audio streams have different associated identifiers;
a plurality of network attached audio devices configured to receive a selected digital audio stream over the local network for the site based on a designated one of the associated identifiers and to output the received digital audio stream to audio equipment located at the site, each of the respective network attached audio devices being associated with a different group of audio equipment;
a user interface configured to receive a user designation of aggregations of the audio equipment located at the site; and
a controller coupled to the plurality of network attached audio devices that designates the associated identifiers to be received by respective ones of the plurality of network attached audio devices based on the user designation to provide dynamic zone aggregation of the audio equipment at the site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A site based dynamic distribution system for distributing an audio signal over a local network for the site, the system comprising:
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a plurality of addressable audio devices coupled to the local network and configured to receive a designated digital audio stream over the local network for the site and to output the received digital audio stream to audio equipment located at the site;
a zone manager that defines a plurality of zones for the site, at least one of the zones including at least two of the addressable audio devices and that defines a relationship between a characteristic of the audio signal for a reference audio device and for the at least two of the addressable audio devices in the at least one of the zones;
an audio interface that receives digital audio streams and outputs the digital audio streams on the local network addressed to selected ones of the audio devices based on the defined zones, the defined relationship between a characteristic of the audio signal for a reference audio device and for the at least two of the addressable audio devices and a control input associated with the characteristic; and
a user interface configured to receive a user designation of the control input. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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25. A method for dynamic distribution of an audio signal over a local network for a site, the method comprising:
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receiving digital audio streams at an interface to the local network;
associating the digital audio streams with identifiers;
providing the digital audio streams over the local network with the associated identifiers using an Internet protocol (IP) address based protocol;
receiving a user designation of aggregations of groups of audio equipment at the site, each group of audio equipment being associated with an addressable audio device coupled to the local network;
dynamically designating to respective ones of the addressable audio devices in an aggregation of groups of audio equipment one of the identifiers associated with a digital audio stream to be received by the respective ones of the addressable audio devices in the aggregation of groups and output to their associated group of audio equipment responsive to the received user designation;
receiving the digital audio stream associated with the designated identifier at the respective ones of the addressable audio devices over the local network; and
outputting the received digital audio stream to the groups of audio equipment associated with the respective ones of the addressable audio devices.
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32. A method for dynamic distribution of an audio signal in a zoned environment, the method comprising:
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defining a plurality of zones in the zoned environment, at least one of the defined zones including at least two addressable audio devices;
defining a relationship between a characteristic of the audio signal for a reference audio device and for the at least two of the addressable audio devices;
distributing the audio signal to the at least two of the addressable audio devices based on the defined relationships and a control input associated with the characteristic;
receiving an update to the control input from a user; and
distributing the audio signal to the at least two of the addressable audio devices based on the defined relationships and the update to the control input. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A computer program product for dynamic distribution of an audio signal over a local network for a site, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising;
computer-readable program code which receives digital audio streams at an interface to the local network;
computer-readable program code which associates the digital audio streams with identifiers;
computer-readable program code which provides the digital audio streams over the local network with the associated identifiers;
computer-readable program code which receives a user designation of aggregations of groups of audio equipment at the site, each group of audio equipment being associated with an addressable audio device coupled to the local network;
computer-readable program code which dynamically designates to respective ones of the addressable audio devices in an aggregation of groups of audio equipment one of the identifiers associated with a digital audio stream to be received by the respective ones of the addressable audio devices in the aggregation of groups and output to their associated group of audio equipment responsive to the received user designation;
computer-readable program code which receives the digital audio stream associated with the designated identifier at the respective ones of the addressable audio devices over the local network; and
computer-readable program code which outputs the received digital audio stream to the groups of audio equipment associated with the respective ones of the addressable audio devices.
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42. A computer program product for dynamic distribution of an audio signal in a zoned environment, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising;
computer-readable program code which defines a plurality of zones in the zoned environment, at least one of the defined zones including at least two addressable audio devices;
computer-readable program code which defines a relationship between a characteristic of the audio signal for a reference audio device and for the at least two of the addressable audio devices;
computer-readable program code which distributes the audio signal to the at least two of the addressable audio devices based on the defined relationships and a control input associated with the characteristic;
computer-readable program code which receives an update to the control input from a user; and
computer-readable program code which distributes the audio signal to the at least two of the addressable audio devices based on the defined relationships and the update to the control input.
Specification