SYNCHRONIZING WIRELESS EARPHONES

• US 20120230510A1
• Filed: 09/10/2010
• Published: 09/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koss Corporation
• Original Assignee: Koss Corporation
• Inventors: Mazza, Joseph, Gaza, Brian, Sagan, Michael, Dinescu, Mihail C., Kujanski, Adam
• Granted Patent: US 9,002,044 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1016 Earpieces of the intra-aural type
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/105 Earpiece supports, e.g. ear hooks for stereophonic headphones H04R5/0335
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/022 Plurality of transducers corresponding to a plurality of sound channels in each earpiece of headphones or in a single enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/033 Headphones for stereophonic communication details thereof, e.g. relating to batteries, cables or control elements H04R1/10

Abstract

Electroacoustical speaker devices that synchronously play audio received from a source. In one embodiment, one speaker acts as the master and the other speaker acts as the slave. The master speaker receives digital audio data from a source and, in addition to playing the digital audio received from the source, the master speaker retransmits the digital audio to the slave speaker. The master speaker additionally sends synchronization data to the slave speaker, such as data that indicates the buffer status or playback position of the master speaker. The slave speaker utilizes the synchronization data from the master speaker to adjust, for example, its buffer status or playback position, so that the two speakers play the audio synchronously (e.g., within thirty milliseconds). In one embodiment, the master speaker uses a connection-oriented protocol, such as TCP/IP, to transmit buffered audio data to the slave speaker and uses a connectionless protocol, such as UDP or ICMP, for the synchronization data. In addition, the speakers may transition roles as master and slave.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a first acoustic speaker device comprising a first acoustic transducer and a first transceiver,

wherein the first transceiver receives and transmits wireless signals; and

a second acoustic speaker device comprising a second acoustic transducer and a second transceiver, wherein the second transceiver receives and transmits wireless signals, wherein the first and second speaker devices communicate wirelessly, and wherein;

the first acoustic speaker device transmits wirelessly to the second acoustic speaker device data that comprises (1) digital audio data and (2) synchronization data;

the first acoustic speaker device transmits wirelessly the digital audio data to the second acoustic speaker via a connection-oriented communication protocol; and

the first acoustic speaker device transmits wirelessly the synchronization data to the second acoustic speaker via a connectionless communication protocol.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the digital audio data sent via the connection-oriented communication protocol comprises TCP/IP protocol data packets.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the synchronization data sent via the connection communication protocol comprises UDP protocol data packets.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the synchronization data sent via the connection communication protocol comprises ICMP messages.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the digital audio data sent via the connection-oriented communication protocol comprises TCP/IP protocol data packets; and

the synchronization data sent via the connection communication protocol comprises UDP protocol data packets.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first acoustic speaker device comprises a first earphone and the second acoustic speaker device comprises a second earphone.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the digital audio data transmitted by the first acoustic speaker device to the second acoustic speaker device comprises received digital audio data that was buffered in a first buffer of the first acoustic audio device and received from a wireless digital audio source via a first wireless communication link.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first acoustic speaker device wireless transmits to the second acoustic speaker device via a second wireless communication link.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the first wireless communication link comprises a Wi-Fi communication link; and

the second wireless communication link comprises a Wi-Fi communication link.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the synchronization data comprises audio playback data of the first acoustic speaker device.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the synchronization data comprises clock synchronization data.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the clock synchronization data comprises a heartbeat signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the synchronization data comprises buffer status data of the first buffer of the first acoustic speaker device.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second acoustic speaker device comprises a second buffer for buffering the digital audio data received from the first acoustic speaker device.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first acoustic speaker device transmits the synchronization data to the second acoustic speaker device periodically.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second acoustic speaker device is configured to track time intervals between receipt of the synchronization data from the first acoustic speaker device.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second acoustic speaker device is configured to compute a status adjustment for the second buffer of the second acoustic speaker device based on the tracked time intervals between receipt of the synchronization data from the first acoustic speaker device.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second acoustic speaker device are configured such that after a period of operation, the second acoustic speaker device transmits wirelessly to the first acoustic speaker device (1) digital audio data via the connection-oriented communication protocol and (2) synchronization data via the connectionless communication protocol.

19. A method for synchronizing audio playback by first and second acoustic speaker devices, wherein the first and second acoustic speaker device communicate wirelessly, the method comprising:

transmitting wirelessly by the first acoustic speaker device to the second acoustic speaker device data that comprises (1) digital audio data and (2) synchronization data, wherein;

the first acoustic speaker device transmits wirelessly the digital audio data to the second acoustic speaker via a connection-oriented communication protocol; and

the first acoustic speaker device transmits wirelessly the synchronization data to the second acoustic speaker via a connectionless communication protocol.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the digital audio data sent via the connection-oriented communication protocol comprises TCP/IP protocol data packets.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the synchronization data sent via the connection communication protocol comprises UDP protocol data packets.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the synchronization data sent via the connection communication protocol comprises ICMP messages.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the digital audio data sent via the connection-oriented communication protocol comprises TCP/IP protocol data packets; and

the synchronization data sent via the connection communication protocol comprises UDP protocol data packets.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the first acoustic speaker device comprises a first earphone and the second acoustic speaker device comprises a second earphone.

25. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving wirelessly by the first acoustic speaker device digital audio data from a wireless digital audio source via a first wireless communication link; and

buffering by the first acoustic speaker device the digital audio data from the wireless digital audio source in a first buffer of the first acoustic speaker device, wherein

the digital audio data transmitted by the first acoustic speaker device to the second acoustic speaker device comprises digital audio data buffered in the first buffer of the first acoustic speaker device.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the first acoustic speaker device wireless transmits to the second acoustic speaker device via a second wireless communication link.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein:

the first wireless communication link comprises a Wi-Fi communication link; and

the second wireless communication link comprises a Wi-Fi communication link.

28. The method of claim 19, wherein the synchronization data comprises audio playback data of the first acoustic speaker device.

29. The method of claim 19, wherein the synchronization data comprises clock synchronization data.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the clock synchronization data comprises a heartbeat signal.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the synchronization data comprises buffer status data of the first buffer of the first acoustic speaker device.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein the second acoustic speaker device comprises a second buffer for buffering the digital audio data received from the first acoustic speaker device.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first acoustic speaker device transmits the synchronization data to the second acoustic speaker device periodically.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising tracking by the second acoustic speaker device time intervals between receipt of the synchronization data from the first acoustic speaker device.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising computing by the second acoustic speaker device a status adjustment for the second buffer of the second acoustic speaker device based on the tracked time intervals between receipt of the synchronization data from the first acoustic speaker device.

36. The method of claim 19, further comprising, after a period of operation, transmitting wirelessly by the second acoustic speaker device to the first acoustic speaker device (1) digital audio data via the connection-oriented communication protocol and (2) synchronization data via the connectionless communication protocol.