Musical instrument mixer

• US 8,761,404 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rateze Remote Mgmt. L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Porto Vinci Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Igoe, Patrick T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): MONIKANG, GEORGE C
• Application Number:
  US11/930,435
• Publication Number:
  US 20080071402A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,428 Days
• Field of Search: 725 80- 82, 725/131, 725/133, 725/139, 725/141, 725/151, 725/153, 381/119, 381/22, 381/23, 381/118, 846/25
• US Class Current: 381/23
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/08 by combining tones G10H1/14, G10H1/16 take precedence; chord G10H1/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440209 for formatting on an optical medium, e.g. DVD
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0254 detecting a user operation or a tactile contact or a motion of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A method of managing a power state of devices in a home entertainment system using a wireless home entertainment hub comprises obtaining a registration of a plurality of devices, where the plurality of devices includes at least one sink device and at least one source device. A selection of one of the source devices is received for presentation of program content to a user in the home entertainment system. A subset of the at least one sink device is determined for presentation of the program content to the user based on the selection of the source device. Each sink device in the subset of the at least one sink device is ensured to be active.

Claims

1. A method for presenting audio data using a wireless home entertainment hub, the method comprising:

obtaining a registration of each device in a plurality of devices with a wireless home entertainment hub based on a coordinated identifier that is unique for each device, wherein the plurality of devices include at least one musical sink device and at least one musical source device;

transmitting, by the wireless home entertainment hub, a first instruction to the at least one musical source device to transmit audio data to a musical instrument mixing device;

controlling, by the wireless home entertainment hub, the musical instrument mixing device to downmix the audio data based on available channels in a current sink device configuration;

transmitting, by the wireless home entertainment hub, a second instruction to the at least one musical sink device to receive downmixed audio data from the musical instrument mixing device; and

transmitting, by the wireless home entertainment hub, a third instruction to the at least one musical source device to increment an internal reference count based on transmitting the downmixed audio data to the at least one musical sink device, wherein the internal reference count describes a number of zones, from a plurality of zones, receiving the downmixed audio data, wherein each zone comprises at least one sink device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the musical instrument mixing device is used to process the audio data from the at least one musical source device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining a registration of the musical instrument mixing device with the wireless home entertainment hub.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a first instruction to the at least one source device comprises:

transmitting instructions to the at least one source device to transmit the audio data to one or more channels of the musical instrument mixing device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless home entertainment hub is included in the musical instrument mixing device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one musical source device and the at least one musical sink device are wireless devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the musical instrument mixer is a wireless device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a registration of a plurality of devices with a wireless home entertainment hub comprises:

automatically registering the plurality of devices with the wireless home entertainment hub.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a registration of a plurality of devices with a wireless home entertainment hub comprises:

registering the plurality of devices with the wireless home entertainment hub through a user initiated procedure.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein registering the plurality of devices with the wireless home entertainment hub through the user initiated procedure comprises:

transmitting, by the wireless home entertainment hub, a prompt to one of the plurality of devices to activate an actuator.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one musical source device includes at least one of musical instruments and wireless microphones.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one musical sink device includes wireless speakers.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the downmixed audio data is transmitted by the at least one sink device for presentation to one or more individuals.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a first instruction to the at least one musical source device comprises:

transmitting the first instruction to the at least one musical source device based at least in part on a user interaction with the at least one musical source device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the user interaction causes the at least one musical source device to switch from a low power mode to an active mode.

16. A method for presenting audio data using a wireless home entertainment hub, the method comprising:

obtaining a registration by a musical instrument mixing device with a wireless home entertainment hub based on a coordinated identifier that is unique for the musical instrument mixing device;

receiving, at the musical instrument mixing device, audio data from at least one musical source device in response to a first instruction from the wireless home entertainment hub;

downmixing, at the musical instrument mixing device controlled by the wireless home entertainment hub, the audio data based on available channels in a current sink device configuration; and

transmitting the downmixed audio data from the musical instrument mixing device, to at least one musical sink device in response to a second instruction from the wireless home entertainment hub, wherein the at least one musical source device comprises an internal reference count incremented based on the transmitting of the downmixed audio data to the at least one musical sink device, wherein the internal reference count describes a number of zones, from a plurality of zones, receiving the downmixed audio data, wherein each zone comprises at least one sink device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the wireless home entertainment hub is included in the musical instrument mixing device.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the musical instrument mixing device is a wireless device.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one musical source device is registered with the wireless home entertainment hub.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one musical sink device is registered with the wireless home entertainment hub.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the downmixed audio data is transmitted to the at least one musical sink device for presentation to one or more individuals.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one musical source device includes at least one of an effects processor and a remote analog-to-digital (A/D) converter.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one musical sink device includes at least one of wireless headphones and a remote digital-to-analog (D/A) converter.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one musical source device is assigned to transmit to one or more channels of the musical instrument mixing device.