Speaker having a wireless link to communicate with another speaker

• US 8,325,935 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2012
• Issued: 12/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Rutschman, Phillip
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Dao H
• Application Number:
  US13/410,230
• Publication Number:
  US 20120155670A1
• Time in Patent Office: 278 Days
• Field of Search: 381/11, 381/74, 381/79, 381/311, 381/384, 348/554, 348/558, 348/E5.114, 455/41.2, 455/570, 455/575.2
• US Class Current: 381/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1016 Earpieces of the intra-aural type
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/552 Binaural
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/033 Headphones for stereophonic communication details thereof, e.g. relating to batteries, cables or control elements H04R1/10

Abstract

A wireless system including a first speaker and a second speaker, where the first and second speakers communicate with each other over a wireless link. In some configurations, the first speaker includes both a primary wireless interface for receiving audio from an audio source and a secondary wireless interface transmitting a portion of the audio to the second speaker. The speaker can incorporate Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to provide the wireless link between each other. The wireless system can be configured to synchronize audio output at the speakers, and can also include a second-speaker detection mechanism that permits the first speaker to be used in either a stand-alone mode, with audio output at only the first speaker, or full-headset mode, with audio output at both speakers when the second speaker is detected within wireless range of the first speaker.

Claims

1. A method of outputting audio at a speaker, comprising:

receiving audio at a first speaker;

determining a codec type corresponding to the received audio;

determining, based on the codec type, whether to transcode the received audio;

transcoding the received audio if the codec type is in a predetermined class of codecs;

transmitting the transcoded audio from the first speaker to a second speaker over a wireless link; and

outputting the audio at the first and second speaker.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the codec type is not in the predetermined class of codecs, decoding the received audio for only a first channel;

buffering the first channel audio for output at the first speaker; and

packetizing a second channel of received, undecoded audio for transmission to the second speaker over the wireless link.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transcoding includes:

decoding the received audio into first and second channels; and

encoding the second channel audio using a reduced-complexity codec.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

time stamping the first channel audio and second channel audio;

buffering the first channel audio for output at the first speaker; and

packetizing the second channel audio for transmission to the second speaker over the wireless link.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the first speaker detecting the second speaker; and

upon detection of the second speaker, establishing the wireless link between the first and second speakers.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

synchronizing local clocks within the first and second speakers.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a time stamp at the first speaker;

transmitting the time stamp to the second speaker over the wireless link;

setting a local clock in the second speaker based on the time stamp; and

outputting the audio at the second speaker based on the local clock.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the second speaker decoding audio received over the wireless link.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means, included in the second speaker, for decoding audio received over the wireless link.

10. A system for outputting audio at a speaker, comprising:

means for receiving audio at a first speaker;

means for determining a codec type corresponding to the received audio;

means for determining, based on the codec type, whether to transcode the received audio;

means for transcoding the received audio if the codec type is in a predetermined class of codecs;

means for transmitting the transcoded audio from the first speaker to a second speaker over a wireless link; and

means for outputting the audio at the first and second speakers.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

means for decoding the received audio for only a first channel, if the codec type is not in the predetermined class of codecs;

means for buffering the first channel audio for output at the first speaker; and

means for packetizing a second channel of received, undecoded audio for transmission to the second speaker over the wireless link.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the transcoding means includes:

means for decoding the received audio into first and second channels; and

means for encoding the second channel audio using a reduced-complexity codec.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

means for time stamping the first channel audio and second channel audio;

means for buffering the first channel audio for output at the first speaker; and

means for packetizing the second channel audio for transmission to the second speaker over the wireless link.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

means, included in the first earpiece, for detecting the second speaker; and

means for establishing the wireless link between the first and second speakers, upon detection of the second speaker.

15. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

means for synchronizing local clocks within the first and second speakers.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for generating a time stamp at the first speaker;

means for transmitting the time stamp to the second speaker over the wireless link;

means for setting a local clock in the second speaker based on the time stamp; and

means for outputting the audio at the second speaker based on the local clock.

17. A computer-readable medium embodying a set of instructions, wherein the set of instructions when executed by one or more processors comprises:

a code segment for receiving audio at a first speaker;

a code segment for determining a codec type corresponding to the received audio;

a code segment for determining, based on the codec type, whether to transcode the received audio;

a code segment for transcoding the received audio if the codec type is in a predetermined class of codecs;

a code segment for transmitting the transcoded audio from the first speaker to a second speaker over a wireless link; and

a code segment for outputting the audio at the first speaker.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising:

a code segment for decoding the received audio for only a first channel, if the codec type is not in the predetermined class of codecs;

a code segment for buffering the first channel audio for output at the first speaker; and

a code segment for packetizing a second channel of received, undecoded audio for transmission to the second speaker over the wireless link.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the transcoding code segment includes:

a code segment for decoding the received audio into first and second channels; and

a code segment for encoding the second channel audio using a reduced-complexity codec.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

a code segment for time stamping the first channel audio and second channel audio;

a code segment for buffering the first channel audio for output at the first speaker; and

a code segment for packetizing the second channel audio for transmission to the second speaker over the wireless link.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

a code segment, executable by the first speaker, for detecting the second speaker; and

a code segment for establishing the wireless link between the first and second speakers, upon detection of the second speaker.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

a code segment for synchronizing local clocks within the first and second speakers.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

a code segment for generating a time stamp at the first speaker;

a code segment for transmitting the time stamp to the second speaker over the wireless link;

a code segment for setting a local clock in the second speaker based on the time stamp; and

a code segment for outputting the audio at the second speaker based on the local clock.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

a code segment, executable by the second speaker, for decoding audio received over the wireless link.

25. A wireless system comprising:

a first speaker; and

a second speaker;

wherein the first and second speakers are configured to communicate with each other over a wireless link, and

wherein the first speaker comprises a processor configured to transcode digitized audio prior to the digitized audio being transmitted to the second speaker.

26. The wireless system of claim 25, wherein the first speaker comprises a first wireless interface configured to communicate with an audio source over a first wireless link.

27. The wireless system of claim 26, wherein the first speaker comprises a second wireless interface configured to communicate with the second speaker over the wireless link;

and wherein the second speaker comprises a wireless interface configured to communicate with the first speaker over the wireless link.

28. The wireless system of claim 25, wherein the first speaker is configured to transmit one or more audio packets to the second speaker over the wireless link.

29. The wireless system of claim 25, wherein the processor is configured to decode audio received by the first speaker and encode at least a portion of the decoded audio using a reduced-complexity codec.

30. The wireless system of claim 29, wherein each of the audio packets comprises a time stamp for synchronizing audio output of the first and second speakers.

31. The wireless system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for synchronizing audio output of the first and second speakers.

32. The wireless system of claim 25, wherein the first speaker transmits one or more time synchronization packets to the second speaker over the wireless link.

33. The wireless system of claim 25, wherein the wireless link is a near field communication (NFC) wireless link.

34. The wireless system of claim 25, wherein the first speaker includes an audio buffer configured to buffer audio for output at the first speaker.

35. The wireless system of claim 25, wherein the second speaker includes an audio buffer configured to buffer audio for output at the second speaker.

36. A speaker, comprising:

a first wireless interface configured to communicate with an audio source over a first wireless link, and

a second wireless interface configured to communicate with a second speaker over a second wireless link;

a processor configured to transcode first encoded audio received from the audio source into second encoded audio; and

means for transmitting the second encoded audio through the second wireless interface.

37. The speaker of claim 36, wherein the first wireless interface is selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth interface and a Wi-Fi interface.

38. The speaker of claim 36, wherein the second wireless interface is a near field communication (NFC) interface.

39. The speaker of claim 36, where the processor further is configured to receive audio from the first wireless interface, process the audio, and transfer at least a portion of the processed audio to the second wireless interface for transmission to the second speaker over the second wireless link.