Wireless link to transmit digital audio data between devices in a manner controlled dynamically to adapt to variable wireless error rates

• US 9,160,487 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2013
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jawbone Innovations, LLC
• Original Assignee: AliphCom, Inc. (AliphCom Corp.)
• Inventors: Banks, Jano, Boone, Jeffrey D., Bozarth, Bradley
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Tuan
• Application Number:
  US13/942,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20140177680A1
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 455/39, 455/68, 455/69, 455/127.1, 455/41.2, 455/500, 455/507, 455/517, 455/73, 455/130, 455/522, 455/3.01
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/005 Correction of errors induced by the transmission channel, if related to the coding algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/707 using direct sequence modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0009 by adapting the channel coding H04L1/1812 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0014 by adapting the source coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0015 characterised by the adaptation strategy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0041 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/07 Applications of wireless loudspeakers or wireless microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/09 Applications of special connectors, e.g. USB, XLR, in loudspeakers, microphones or headphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/00 Circuits for transducers , loudspeakers or microphones

Abstract

A communication system including a host transceiver, one or many device transceivers, and a wireless or wired link, in which encoded digital audio data and optionally also other auxiliary data are transmitted and received between the host transceiver and one or many device transceivers. The wireless link can but need not be a Certified Wireless USB (“CWUSB”) link, which utilizes WiMedia Ultra-Wideband (“UWB”) radio technology. For certain embodiments, packets of encoded audio data are transmitted from a host to a device or multiple devices over the wireless link utilizing a variety of data packet transfer methods, with the host adapting its algorithms dynamically to provide the digital audio content over a changing wireless error rate environment. The host intelligently controls the method of data transmission, including data encoding format, synchronization, latency, and transmission rate, in response to data transfer error information it detects or receives from each individual device in the system. Other embodiments are devices that employ audio-data-specific error concealment methods. Other embodiments concern host and device management of graceful muting and restart of audio on a device-by-device basis.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a wireless WiMedia Ultra-Wideband (UWB) link between a host and a device to transmit data including encoded audio data from the host to the device in a manner controlled dynamically to adapt to variable wireless error rates;

error processing algorithms included on the host, the error processing algorithms including forward error correction coding (FECC), the error processing algorithms configured, upon detection of an audio data error from the device, to log specific characteristics of the audio data error, to dynamically choose among a plurality of error recovery algorithms based on a plurality of statistics, to execute a chosen error recovery algorithm, and to retry transmission of the encoded audio data if the chosen error recovery algorithm corrects the audio data error; and

circuitry configured to vary a transmission rate between the host and the device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wireless WiMedia UWB link further comprises:

circuitry to send data transfer error information from the device to the host;

circuitry to dynamically control a method of transmission of the encoded audio data from the host to the device in response to the data transfer error information.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the circuitry to dynamically control the method of transmission of the encoded audio data comprises:

data encoding format circuitry;

synchronization circuitry;

latency circuitry; and

transmission rate circuitry including the circuitry configured to vary a transmission rate between the host and the device.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

circuitry to provide graceful muting and restart of the device in response to the data transfer error information.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wireless WiMedia UWB link comprises a Certified Wireless Universal Serial Bus circuitry that includes WiMedia Ultra-Wideband radio circuitry.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the host includes an audio receiver and the device includes an audio speaker.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the host includes an audio/video receiver and the device includes an audio speaker.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the FECC is specifically configured for the wireless WiMedia UWB link and for a data payload that includes uncompressed audio.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the error processing algorithms utilize the FECC only when an error can be corrected using the FECC.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the error processing algorithms utilize audio error concealment the when the error cannot be corrected utilizing the FECC.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the audio error concealment includes graceful muting and restart of the audio data.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a bidirectional wireless WiMedia Ultra-Wideband (UWB) link to transmit digital audio data between a first device and a second device in a manner controlled dynamically to adapt to wireless error rates, wherein at least one of the first device and the second device comprises error processing software configured upon detection of an audio data error in the digital audio data transmitted from the first or second device,

to log specific characteristics of the audio data error,

to dynamically choose among a plurality of error recovery algorithms based on a plurality of statistics,

to execute a chosen error recovery algorithm, and

to retry transmission of the digital audio data if the chosen error recovery algorithm corrects the audio data error; and

circuitry configured to vary a transmission rate between the first device and the second device.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the bidirectional wireless WiMedia UWB link further comprises:

circuitry to send data transfer error information from the second device to the first device;

circuitry to dynamically control a method of transmission of the digital audio data from the first device to the second device in response to the data transfer error information.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the circuitry to dynamically control the method of transmission of the digital audio data comprises:

data encoding format circuitry;

synchronization circuitry;

latency circuitry; and

transmission rate circuitry including the circuitry configured to vary a transmission rate between the first device and the second device.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

circuitry to provide graceful muting and restart of the second device in response to the data transfer error information.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the bidirectional wireless WiMedia UWB link comprises a Certified Wireless Universal Serial Bus circuitry that includes WiMedia Ultra-Wideband radio circuitry.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first device includes an audio receiver and the second device includes an audio speaker.

18. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first device includes an audio/video receiver and the second device includes an audio speaker.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the error processing software includes forward error correction coding (FECC).

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the error processing software utilizes the FECC only when an error can be corrected using the FECC.