METHOD FOR CONFIGURING AN AUDIO RENDERING AND/OR ACQUIRING DEVICE, AND CORRESPONDING AUDIO RENDERING AND/OR ACQUIRING DEVICE, SYSTEM, COMPUTER READABLE PROGRAM PRODUCT AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM

• US 20170272860A1
• Filed: 03/15/2017
• Published: 09/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings SAS (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: JEANNE, Ludovic, Bertin, Jean-Pierre, Peaudouye, Anne
• Granted Patent: US 10,200,789 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/406 microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/05 Detection of connection of loudspeakers or headphones to amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/12 for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/30 Control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/20 Master-slave selection or change arrangements

Abstract

The present principles relate to a method, for configuring an audio rendering and/or acquiring device of a communication system comprising a master device, the audio rendering and/or acquiring device being adapted to use at least one channel of a plurality of audio channels of the master device, the method being performed in the audio rendering and/or acquiring device. According to an embodiment, the method includes obtaining a state of at least one of the audio channels, the state of an audio channel being representative of a current assigning of the audio channel to another audio rendering and/or acquiring device and selecting the at least one audio channel to be used according to its state. The present principles also relate to the corresponding audio rendering and/or acquiring device, system, computer readable program product and computer readable storage medium.

Claims

1. A method, to be performed in an audio rendering and/or acquiring device of a communication system comprising a master device, said method comprising configuring said audio rendering and/or acquiring device to use at least one audio channel of a plurality of audio channels of said master device, said method comprising:

obtaining a state of at least one of said plurality of audio channels, the state of one of said audio channels being representative of a current assigning of said audio channel to at least another audio rendering and/or acquiring device;

selecting the at least one audio channel to be used amongst said plurality of audio channels according to the obtained state.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said obtaining and said selecting are performed during a pairing between said audio rendering and/or acquiring device and said master device.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said audio channel is selected beyond the audio channels not yet assigned to another audio rendering and/or acquiring device.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when all audio channels are already assigned to at least another audio rendering and/or acquiring device, said selecting is performed beyond said already assigned audio channels.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said obtaining results are in an ordered set of states, and said selecting takes into account an order of the state of said audio channel inside said ordered set.

6. An audio rendering and/or acquiring device belonging to a communication system comprising a master device, said audio rendering and/or acquiring device being adapted to use at least one assigned channel of a plurality of audio channels of said master device, said audio rendering and/or acquiring device comprising at least one processor configured for:

obtaining a state of at least one of said plurality of audio channels, the state of an audio channel being representative of a current assigning of said audio channel to at least another audio rendering and/or acquiring device;

selecting at least one audio channel to be used by said audio rendering and/or acquiring device according to its state.

7. The audio rendering and/or acquiring of claim 6, wherein said audio channels are wireless audio channels.

8. The audio rendering and/or acquiring of claim 6, wherein said audio rendering and/or acquiring device is an audio rendering device and said master device outputs at least on audio signal on said plurality of audio channels.

9. The audio rendering and/or acquiring device of claim 6, wherein said audio rendering and/or acquiring device is an audio acquiring device and at least one audio signal is input to said master device by said plurality of audio channels.

10. The audio rendering and/or acquiring device of claim 6, wherein said obtaining and said selecting are performed during a pairing between said audio rendering and/or acquiring device and said master device.

11. The audio rendering and/or acquiring device of claim 6, wherein said audio channel to be used is selected beyond the audio channels not yet assigned to another audio rendering and/or acquiring device.

12. The audio rendering and/or acquiring device of claim 6 wherein, when all audio channels are already assigned to at least another audio rendering and/or acquiring device, said selecting is performed beyond said already assigned audio channels.

13. The audio rendering and/or acquiring device of claim 6, wherein said audio rendering and/or acquiring device is configurable to use a variable number of audio channels.

14. The audio rendering and/or acquiring device of claim 6, wherein said obtaining results are in an ordered set of states, and said selecting takes into account an order of the state of said audio channel inside said ordered set.

15. A communication system comprising a least one master device and at least one audio rendering and/or acquiring device linked together by a communication network, said audio rendering and/or acquiring device being adapted to be configured to use at least one assigned channel of a plurality of audio channels of said master device, wherein said audio rendering and/or acquiring device comprises at least one processor configured for:

obtaining a state of at least one of said plurality of audio channels, the state of one of said audio channels being representative of a current assigning of said audio channel to at least another audio rendering and/or acquiring device;

selecting the at least one audio channel to be used amongst said plurality of audio channels according to the obtained state.

16. The communication system of claim 15, wherein said obtaining results are in an ordered set of states, and said selecting takes into account an order of the state of said audio channel inside said ordered set.

17. The communication system of claim 16, wherein said communication system comprises a plurality of audio rendering and/or acquiring devices and at least a part of said plurality of audio rendering and/or acquiring devices is sequentially powered on according to the order of said ordered set of states.

18. The communication system of claim 16, wherein said obtaining and said selecting are performed during a pairing between said audio rendering and/or acquiring device and said master device.

19. The communication system of claim 16, wherein said audio channel is selected beyond the audio channels not yet assigned to another audio rendering and/or acquiring device.

20. The communication system of claim 16, wherein, when all audio channels are already assigned to at least another audio rendering and/or acquiring device, said selecting is performed beyond said already assigned audio channels.