SYSTEM TO DELIVER PRIORITIZED GAME AUDIO WIRELESSLY WITH A MINIMAL LATENCY

• US 20140031122A1
• Filed: 07/23/2013
• Published: 01/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microchip Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ISSC Technologies Corporation (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Inventors: PENG, Kelvin Chi-Hsuang, LIU, Sheng
• Granted Patent: US 9,233,300 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/35
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/00 Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions gaming systems which provide a financial reward G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/332 using wireless networks, e.g. cellular phone networks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/355 Performing operations on behalf of clients with restricted processing capabilities, e.g. servers transform changing game scene into an encoded video stream for transmitting to a mobile phone or a thin client
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/54 involving acoustic signals, e.g. for simulating revolutions per minute [RPM] dependent engine sounds in a driving game or reverberation against a virtual wall
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/6063 for sound processing

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a system to deliver prioritized game audio wirelessly with a minimal latency by processing a low-priority game audio (such as background music) and high-priority game audio (such as sound effects) in a wireless gaming system, resulting in a minimal high-priority audio latency. The disclosure can then be used to transmit high quality positional multichannel audio at a minimal wireless bandwidth.

Claims

1. A system to deliver prioritized game audio wirelessly with a minimal latency, comprising:

a game console, having a game audio signal as a stereo audio signal;

a game controller, electrically connected to the game console, used to control the game audio signal;

a wireless audio transmitter, with a first antenna, electrically connected to the game console, used to take the game audio signal from the game console and generate a corresponding radio signal from the game audio signal; and

a wireless gaming headphone, with a second antenna, wirelessly connected to the game console, used to receive wirelessly the corresponding radio signal from the wireless audio transmitter;

wherein the game audio signal is separated as two components;

a background music track (BGM) and a digital command for sound effects (SFX), the background music track is processed as a low-priority game audio and the digital command for sound effects is processed as a high-priority game audio.

2. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein before generating the corresponding radio signal, the game audio signal is digitized, compressed and put into a packet format.

3. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the wireless gaming headphone further comprises a radio transmitter to transmit an acknowledgement packet to the wireless audio transceiver.

4. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the wireless audio transceiver further comprises a radio receiver to receive the acknowledgement packet from the wireless gaming headphone.

5. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the wireless gaming headphone further comprises a sound effects database to store a sound effect of the game audio and at least an audio processing algorithm for distance/positioning/volume of the sound effect of the game audio, and the sound effects database is not compressed to send wirelessly.

6. The system as claimed as claim 5, wherein the audio processing algorithm is digital signal processing (DSP).

7. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the background music track processed as a low-priority game audio is streamed to the wireless gaming headphone in near real-time, around 40 ms, and compressed or not.

8. The system as claimed as claim 5, wherein the sound effects database is stored in a memory card of the wireless gaming headphone.

9. The system as claimed as claim 5, wherein the sound effects database is stored on chip of the wireless gaming headphone.

10. The system as claimed as claim 5, wherein before the game console plays a sound effect, the game console sends the digital command for sound effects in a packet form to the wireless gaming headphone through the wireless transceiver.

11. The system as claimed as claim 5, wherein when the wireless gaming headphone receives the digital command for sound effects from the game console through the wireless transceiver, the audio processing algorithm stored in the wireless gaming headphone can process the received digital command for sound effects and then play back the sound effect of the game audio on the wireless gaming headphone.

12. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the digital command for sound effects as a high-priority game audio would be played with a delay from 10 ms to 20 ms, and the background music track processed as a low-priority game audio would be played with a delay around 40 ms.

13. The system as claimed as claim 2, wherein the wireless transceiver can send both the digital commands for sound effects and the encoded and packetized background music track.

14. The system as claimed as claim 5, wherein the wireless gaming headphone process the received digital commands for sound effects and generate the sound effect of the game audio using the digital signal processing stored in sound effects database at the wireless gaming headphone.

15. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the wireless gaming headphone further includes at least one microphone to support a wireless “

live chat”

among the game players.

16. The system as claimed as claim 15, wherein the generated sound effect of the game audio using the digital signal processing and the background music track are separately amplified and multiplexed before played to a speaker of the wireless gaming headphone.

17. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the game audio signal comprising the background music track and the digital command for sound effects is played in a 5.1 channel of the wireless gaming headphone.

18. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the memory in the wireless gaming headphone is implemented from one of the CMOS 14, 20 and 28 nm nano-meter manufacturing technologies.

19. The system as claimed as claim 1, wherein the digital signal processing (DSP) is implemented on chip from one of the CMOS 14, 20 and 28 nm nano-meter manufacturing technologies.