High quality, low power, wireless audio system
First Claim
1. A wireless audio system comprising:
- an audio source for receiving audio signals and audio status information from a first external device and transmitting said audio signals and said audio status information over a wireless connection; and
at least one audio sink for receiving said audio signals and said audio status information from said audio source and communicating said audio signals and said audio status information to a second external device, wherein a specified one of said at least one audio sink receives audio control information from said second external device and transmits said audio control information to said audio source via said wireless connection,wherein said wireless connection uses a specified one of a plurality of available channels, and wherein said audio source comprises;
a source packet formatter and buffer communicating with said first external devices, wherein said source packet formatter creates a plurality of source transmit packets containing said audio signals and said audio status information, and wherein said source buffer stores said plurality of source transmit packets prior to transmission to said audio sink;
a source transmitter communicating with said source packet formatter and buffer for receiving said plurality of source transmit packets from said source buffer and transmitting said plurality of source transmit packets to said audio sink every defined unit of time;
a source audio synchronizer communicating with said source transmitter for defining said unit of time for said source transmitter;
a source receiver for receiving said audio control information from said audio sink, wherein said audio control information is in the form of a plurality of sink transmit packets, and wherein said source receiver communicates with said source transmitter to coordinate said receiving and transmitting within respective ones of said defined units of time;
a source packet de-formatter communicating with said source receiver for receiving said plurality of sink transmit packets and extracting said audio control information; and
a source channel quality monitor communicating with said source packet de-formatter and source transmitter for monitoring said specified in use one of said plurality of available channels.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to the field of wireless communications and more specifically to an high quality, low power wireless audio system. More specifically, the invention comprises an audio source for receiving audio signals (e.g. music) and audio status information (e.g. song title) from a first external device (e.g. an MP3 player) and transmitting the audio signals and the audio status information over a wireless connection; and at least one audio sink for receiving the audio signals and said audio status information from the audio source and communicating the audio signals and the audio status information to a second external device (e.g. headphones), wherein a specified one of the at least one audio sink receives audio control information (e.g. pause) from the second external device and transmits said audio control information to said audio source via said wireless connection. Among other features, the wireless audio system of the present invention incorporates dynamic channel selection as well as dynamic adjustment of the transmission interval to ensure enhanced audio quality using the lowest possible power.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A wireless audio system comprising:
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an audio source for receiving audio signals and audio status information from a first external device and transmitting said audio signals and said audio status information over a wireless connection; and at least one audio sink for receiving said audio signals and said audio status information from said audio source and communicating said audio signals and said audio status information to a second external device, wherein a specified one of said at least one audio sink receives audio control information from said second external device and transmits said audio control information to said audio source via said wireless connection, wherein said wireless connection uses a specified one of a plurality of available channels, and wherein said audio source comprises; a source packet formatter and buffer communicating with said first external devices, wherein said source packet formatter creates a plurality of source transmit packets containing said audio signals and said audio status information, and wherein said source buffer stores said plurality of source transmit packets prior to transmission to said audio sink; a source transmitter communicating with said source packet formatter and buffer for receiving said plurality of source transmit packets from said source buffer and transmitting said plurality of source transmit packets to said audio sink every defined unit of time; a source audio synchronizer communicating with said source transmitter for defining said unit of time for said source transmitter; a source receiver for receiving said audio control information from said audio sink, wherein said audio control information is in the form of a plurality of sink transmit packets, and wherein said source receiver communicates with said source transmitter to coordinate said receiving and transmitting within respective ones of said defined units of time; a source packet de-formatter communicating with said source receiver for receiving said plurality of sink transmit packets and extracting said audio control information; and a source channel quality monitor communicating with said source packet de-formatter and source transmitter for monitoring said specified in use one of said plurality of available channels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. In a wireless audio system, an audio source comprising:
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a source packet formatter and buffer communicating with a first external device, wherein said source packet formatter creates a plurality of source transmit packets containing audio signals and audio status information, and wherein said source buffer stores said plurality of source transmit packets prior to transmission to an audio sink; a source transmitter communicating with said source packet formatter and buffer for receiving said plurality of source transmit packets from said source buffer and transmitting said plurality of source transmit packets to said audio sink every defined unit of time; a source audio synchronizer communicating with said source transmitter for defining said unit of time for said source transmitter; a source receiver for receiving audio control information from said audio sink, wherein said audio control information is in the form of a plurality of sink transmit packets, and wherein said source receiver communicates with said source transmitter to coordinate said receiving and transmitting within respective ones of said defined units of time; a source packet de-formatter communicating with said source receiver for receiving said plurality of sink transmit packets and extracting said audio control information; and a source channel quality monitor communicating with said source packet de-formatter and source transmitter for monitoring a specified one of a plurality of available channels. - View Dependent Claims (36, 38, 40)
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35. In a wireless audio system, an audio sink comprising:
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a sink receiver for receiving a plurality of source transmit packets from an audio source every defined unit of time, wherein said plurality of source transmit packets comprise audio signals and audio status information; a sink packet de-formatter and buffer communicating with said sink receiver, wherein said sink packet de-formatter extracts said audio signals and said audio status information from said source transmit packets, and wherein said sink buffer stores said extracted audio signals and said audio status information; a sink audio synchronizer communicating with said sink receiver for defining said unit of time for said sink receiver; a sink packet formatter communicating with a second external device for creating a plurality of sink transmit packets containing audio control information; a sink transmitter communicating with said sink packet formatter for transmitting said plurality of sink transmit packets, wherein said sink receiver communicates with said sink transmitter to coordinate said receiving and transmitting within specified ones of said defined units of time; and a sink channel quality monitor communicating with said sink packet de-formatter and buffer and said sink receiver for monitoring a specified one of a plurality of available channels. - View Dependent Claims (37, 39, 41)
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42. A bi-directional wireless audio system comprising:
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a packet formatter and buffer communicating with an external device, wherein said source packet formatter creates a plurality of transmit packets containing transmit audio signals and audio status information, and wherein said buffer stores said plurality of source transmit packets prior to transmission; a transmitter communicating with said packet formatter and buffer for receiving said plurality of transmit packets from said buffer and transmitting said plurality of transmit packets every defined unit of time; an audio synchronizer communicating with said transmitter for defining said unit of time for said transmitter; a receiver for receiving receive audio signals and audio status information, wherein said receive audio signals and audio status information are in the form of a plurality of receive packets, and wherein said receiver communicates with said transmitter to coordinate said receiving and transmitting within respective ones of said defined units of time; a packet de-formatter and buffer communicating with said receiver and said external device for receiving said plurality of receive packets and extracting said receive audio signals and audio status information; and a channel quality monitor communicating with said packet de-formatter and buffer and said transmitter, for monitoring a specified one of a plurality of available channels, wherein, if an analog audio signal is delivered from said external device, said bi-directional wireless audio system further comprises an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) communicating with said external device, and wherein an audio sampling clock signal generated by said audio synchronizer is fed to said ADC, and wherein, if an analog audio signal is required by said external device, said wireless audio system further comprises a digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) communicating with said packet de-formatter and buffer, and wherein said audio sampling clock signal is fed to said DAC. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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Specification