Extensible kernel-mode audio processing architecture

• US 20060005201A1
• Filed: 08/19/2005
• Published: 01/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Puryear, Martin G.
• Granted Patent: US 7,433,746 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/310
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0066 using a MIDI interface
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/183 Channel-assigning means for polyphonic instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/225 Portamento, i.e. smooth continuously variable pitch-bend, without emphasis of each chromatic pitch during the pitch change, which only stops at the end of the pitch shift, as obtained, e.g. by a MIDI pitch wheel or trombone pitch bend with emphasis of each chromatic pitch during pitch change, e.g. glissando, G10H2210/221
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/281 Reverberation or echo
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/291 SCSI, i.e. Small Computer System Interface
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/295 Packet switched network, e.g. token ring circuit-switched networks, e.g. traditional analog telephone transmission G10H2240/241
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/305 Internet or TCP/IP protocol use for any electrophonic musical instrument data or musical parameter transmission purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 7/00 Instruments in which the tones are synthesised from a data store, e.g. computer organs
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 7/002 using a common processing for different operations or calculations, and a set of microinstructions (programme) to control the sequence thereof

Abstract

An extensible kernel-mode audio (e.g., MIDI) processing architecture is implemented using multiple modules that together comprise a module graph. The module graph is implemented in kernel-mode, reducing latency and jitter when handling audio data by avoiding transfers of the audio data to user-mode applications for processing. In one embodiment, the audio processing architecture is readily extensible. A graph builder can readily change the module graph, adding new modules, removing modules, or altering connections as necessary, all while the graph is running.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a series of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, causes the one or more processors to perform acts including:

maintaining a pool of memory available for allocation to a plurality of transform filters executing at a privileged level;

allocating a portion of the pool of memory to one of the plurality of transform filters to use to store audio data; and

returning the allocated portion to the pool of memory after the plurality of transform filters have finished processing the audio data.

2. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the privileged level comprises kernel-mode.

3. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the portion comprises a data buffer to store a plurality of audio data messages.

4. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the series of instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to perform acts including requesting additional memory, from a memory manager, to add to the pool of memory.

5. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 4, wherein the series of instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to perform acts including requesting additional non-paged memory from the memory manager to add to the pool of memory.