Audio related system link management

• US 8,473,844 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2005
• Issued: 06/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kreifeldt, Richard Allen, Lee, John, Plunkett, William A., Shuttleworth, Timothy J., Stevenson, Andrew, Werf, Bruce Vander, Hatch, Steve, Hamling, Michael Douglas, Gardner, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): TILLERY, RASHAWN N
• Application Number:
  US11/090,542
• Publication Number:
  US 20050232602A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,014 Days
• Field of Search: 715/716, 715/717, 715/764, 715/771, 715/772, 715/970, 715/733, 715/740, 381/58
• US Class Current: 715/716
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/04 Studio equipment; Interconnection of studios
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2227/003 Digital PA systems using, e.g. LAN or internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 27/00 Public address systems circuits for preventing acoustic reaction H04R3/02; circuits for distributing signals to loudspeakers H04R3/12; monitoring or testing arrangements for public address systems H04R29/007; amplifiers H03F

Abstract

A system for management and control of audio-related equipment. A link manager may be included in the system. The link manager may be configured to manage subscriptions to multiple other audio-related devices or control panel views. When the managed data variables change, the link manager module may notify other audio-related devices and/or control panel views of the change. In response to the notification, the other audio-related devices and/or control panels may subscribe to the audio-related device with the changed data variable, to request receipt of the updated data variable. In some examples, the link manager module may also be configured to lessen the subscription burden for a particular audio-related device.

Claims

1. A method for tracking changes to settings on an audio-related device, comprising:

providing a first audio-related device having a first state variable, the first audio-related device including a user interface operable to change a value of the first state variable;

building a first control panel view associated with the first audio-related device, the first control panel view operable to display the value of the first state variable;

tracking changes to the value of the first state variable;

in response to a change in the value of the first state variable, notifying the first control panel view that the value of the first state variable has changed, in accordance with a first subscription established between the first audio-related device and the first control panel view for the first state variable using a subscribe string;

in response to a first notification message that the value of the first state variable has changed, the first control panel view updating to display the changed first state variable;

establishing a second subscription for the first state variable between a second control panel view associated with a second audio-related device and the first control panel view using said subscribe string;

in response to receipt of the first notification message that the value of the first state variable has changed, the first control panel view transmitting a second notification message directly to the second control panel view in accordance with the second subscription; and

the second control panel view updating to display the changed first state variable.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a third subscription between the second control panel view and a third control panel view for the first state variable using said subscribe string, the third control panel view associated with a third audio-related device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the second control panel view notifying the third control panel view of the change with a third notification message transmitted from the second audio-related device to the third audio-related device in accordance with the third subscription, in response to the change in the value of the first state variable.

4. The method of claim 3, where the second control panel view queries the first audio-related device for the value of the state variable in response to the first notification that the value of the first state variable has changed.

5. The method of claim 1, where the first control panel view includes a user interface adapted to change the value of the first state variable.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising notifying the first audio-related device that the value of the first state variable has been changed by the first control panel view in response to a change in the value of the first state variable by the first control panel view.

7. The method of claim 6, where the first audio-related device queries the first control panel view for the value of the first state variable in response to a notification that the first control panel view has changed the value of the first state variable.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a third subscription between a third audio-related device and the first state variable of the first audio-related device using said subscribe string, the third audio-related device having a second state variable.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the first audio-related device notifying the third audio-related device via transmittal of a third notification message from the first audio-related device to the third audio-related device in response to the change in the value of the first state variable.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising establishing a fourth subscription between the first audio-related device and the third audio-related device using said subscribe string, the third audio-related device notifying the first audio-related device via transmittal of a fourth notification message from the third audio-related device to the first audio-related device of changes to the second state variable.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the processing availability of the first audio-related device in response to a query to the first audio-related device by the first control panel view, the query for the value of the first state variable.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising forwarding the query from the first control panel view to a third audio-related device with which the first audio-related device is configured to communicate if the first audio-related device does not have sufficient processing availability, where the third audio-related device is subscribed to the first state variable and includes the value of the first state variable.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the third audio-related device responding to the first control panel view with the value of the first state variable in response to receiving a forwarded query regarding the first state variable from the first audio-related device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the first control panel view and the second control panel view to a memory.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising storing the value of the first state variable and the value of the second state variable to a memory.

16. The method of claim 5, further comprising allowing a user to select between a first type of graphical user interface element of the user interface of the first control panel view and a second type of graphical user interface element of the user interface of the first control panel view to adjust the value of the first state variable.

17. The method of claim 8, where the first control panel view includes a user interface operable to change the value of the first state variable and the value of the second state variable.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the first control panel view querying the first audio-related device for the value of the first state variable.

31. The method of claim 1, where tracking changes to the value of the first state variable comprises the act of tracking changes to the first state variable with a third audio related device that is subscribed to the first audio related device for the first state variable due to limited processing power of the first audio related device, where the third audio related device includes relatively more processing power than the first audio related device, and the act of notifying the first control panel view comprises the third audio related device notifying the first control panel view that the value of the first state variable has changed.

33. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the first control panel view to display the changed first state variable in a first graphical user interface, and updating the second control panel view to display the changed first state variable in a second graphical user interface.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification message is a set data message to set the first state variable at the second audio related device to the value, the second audio-related device storing the value of the first state variable in a data storage included in the second audio-related device in response to receipt of the set data message, and the second control panel view updating to display the changed first state variable stored in the data storage.

19. A system for tracking changes to settings on a first audio-related device, the system comprising:

the first audio-related device configured to include a state variable that includes a changeable value;

a first user interface comprising a first control panel view configured to selectively include display of the changeable value of the state variable; and

a second audio-related device in communication with the first audio-related device, the second audio-related device comprising a second user interface comprising a second control panel view configured to selectively include display of the changeable value of the state variable;

where the first control panel view is subscribed to the state variable in the first audio-related device through a first subscription between the control panel view and the first audio-related device established using a subscribe string, and the second control panel view is subscribed to the changeable value of the state variable selectively displayed with the first control panel view through a second subscription between the first control panel view and the second control panel view established using said subscribe string; and

where a first change notification of a change to the changeable value is communicated to the first control panel view from the first audio-related device in accordance with the first subscription, and the first control panel view, in response to the first change notification, is configured to communicate a second change notification to the second control panel view in accordance with the second subscription, the second change notification indicative of the change to the changeable value.

20. The system of claim 19, where the first change notification is communicated to the first control panel view in response to confirmation that the changeable value is being currently displayed in the first control panel view, and the second change notification is communicated to the second control panel view in response to confirmation that the changeable value is being currently displayed in the second control panel view.

21. The system of claim 19, where in response to receipt of the second change notification, the second audio-related device is configured to update a stored value of the changeable value.

22. The system of claim 19, where a plurality of other audio-related devices are subscribed to the changeable value of the state variable selectively displayed with the first control panel view, and where the second change notification indicative of the change to the changeable value is also communicated to the plurality of other audio-related devices.

23. The system of claim 19, where the first control panel view, in response to the first change notification, is further configured to query the first audio-related device for the change to the changeable value, and communicate the change to the changeable value to the second control panel view.

24. The system of claim 19, where the second control panel view, in response to the second change notification, is configured to query the first audio-related device for the change to the changeable value.

25. The system of claim 19, where the second control panel view, in response to the second change notification, is configured to query the first control panel view for the change to the changeable value.

32. The system of claim 19, where the first control panel view is subscribed to the state variable in the first audio-related device with a first subscription message received with the first audio-related device, and the second control panel view is subscribed to the changeable value of the state variable selectively displayed with the first control panel view with a second subscription message received with the first control panel view.

26. A system for tracking changes to settings on an audio-related device, the system comprising:

a memory device comprising computer code stored in the memory device that is executable by a processor, the computer code comprising;

computer code to generate a control panel view in a display;

computer code to generate and transmit a first subscribe message to a first audio-related device, the first subscribe message being a subscribe string comprising a request to subscribe to a state'"'"'variable, where the state variable comprises a changeable audio parameter of the first audio-related device, the changeable audio parameter configured to be updated manually, automatically, or logically during operation of the first audio-related device;

computer code to receive from the first audio-related device a first change notification message indicative of an update to the changeable audio parameter in the first audio-related device;

computer code to update the control panel view to display the received changeable audio parameter;

computer code to receive a second subscribe message from a second audio-related device, the second subscribe message being said subscribe string comprising a request to subscribe to the changeable audio parameter in the control panel view; and

computer code to generate and transmit a second change notification message to the second audio-related device that is subscribed to the changeable audio parameter in the control panel view, where the second change notification message is indicative that control panel view has been updated to display the received changeable audio parameter.

27. The system of claim 26, where the computer code further comprises computer code to generate a third change notification message to notify the first audio-related device and the second audio-related device of another change to the received changeable audio parameter, where the another change is originated with the control panel view, and computer code to transmit the third change notification message to the first audio-related device and the second audio-related device.

28. The system of claim 26, where the control panel view is a first control panel view, and where the computer code further comprises computer code to generate and transmit a third change notification message to the first audio-related device, the second audio-related device, and a third audio-related device having a second control panel view that is subscribed to the changeable audio parameter in the first control panel view, where the third change notification message is indicative that the first control panel view has been updated to display the received changeable audio parameter.

29. The system of claim 26, where the computer code further comprises computer code to generate, in response to receipt of the first change notification message, a first query to request transmittal of the changeable audio parameter from the first audio-related device, and computer code to receive the changeable audio parameter in response to the first query.

30. The system of claim 29, where the computer code further comprises computer code responsive to receipt of a second query from the second audio-related device to transmit the received changeable audio parameter from the control panel view to the second audio-related device.