Synchronization of signals for multiple data sinks

• US 9,877,130 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2014
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Jia, Zhanfeng, Julian, David Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Jamal, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): Truong, Kenny
• Application Number:
  US14/150,544
• Publication Number:
  US 20140119582A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,476 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/69 Spread spectrum techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/47 specially adapted for stereophonic broadcast systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0658 Clock or time synchronisation among packet nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0682 by delay compensation, e.g. by compensation of propagation delay or variations thereof, by ranging
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/04 Speed or phase control by synchronisation signals H04L7/0075 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/041 using special codes as synchronising signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/08 the synchronisation signals recurring cyclically
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/033 Headphones for stereophonic communication details thereof, e.g. relating to batteries, cables or control elements H04R1/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 1/007 in which the audio signals are in digital form data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02

Abstract

A data source sends a synchronization signal and information to several data sinks that use the synchronization signal and a specified parameter to determine when to process the information. The data source and data sinks may comprise wireless nodes such as, for example, a wireless audio source that sends multi-channel data to a pair of wireless earpieces. The wireless earpieces use the synchronization signal and a latency interval to determine the appropriate time to output audio based on the audio channels.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

receiving, at a multi-channel data source and from each data sink of multiple data sinks, information indicative of a processing delay for the respective data sink;

defining, at the multi-channel data source for each data sink of the multiple data sinks, a latency parameter for the respective data sink based on the received information indicative of the processing delay for the respective data sink and further information received at the multi-channel data source that indicates the processing delay for at least one other data sink from among the multiple data sinks;

defining, at the multi-channel data source, at least one parameter for each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks, the at least one parameter for each respective data sink specifying timing for each respective data sink to process data after receipt of a synchronization signal, the at least one parameter for each respective data sink defined based on the latency parameter defined for each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks;

providing, by the multi-channel data source, the at least one parameter to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks;

wirelessly transmitting, by the multi-channel data source, the synchronization signal to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks; and

wirelessly transmitting, by the multi-channel data source, the data to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks, the multi-channel data source configured to transmit a first channel of the data to one of the multiple data sinks and transmit a second channel of the data to another one of the multiple data sinks.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising synchronizing a plurality of data streams to provide the data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter further specifies at least one latency interval following receipt of the synchronization signal by the multiple data sinks for the multiple data sinks to output signals based on the data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one parameter comprises at least one latency interval for specifying processing times for the multiple data sinks to process the data; and

the synchronization signal comprises timing information for further specifying the processing times.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the processing times are substantially concurrent or differ by at least one defined timing offset.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the processing times comprise:

times at which the multiple data sinks output signals based on the data;

or

times at which the multiple data sinks process the data.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the data comprises a dual-channel audio stream;

the multiple data sinks comprise a first wireless earpiece and a second wireless earpiece; and

the processing times comprise times that the first and second wireless earpieces output audio signals based on the dual-channel audio stream.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the data is transmitted via at least one packet; and

the synchronization signal comprises a preamble of the at least one packet or a delimiter of the at least one packet.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the defining of the at least one parameter comprises determining a latency time that is achievable by each of the respective multiple data sinks.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first channel and the second channel are defined by at least one of:

different time hopping sequences, different time hopping sequence offsets, or different communication coding.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-channel data source is further configured to multicast the first channel and the second channel to all of the multiple data sinks simultaneously.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the latency parameter defined for a first data sink of the multiple data sinks is different than the latency parameter defined for a second data sink of the multiple data sinks.

13. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a receiver for receiving, at a multi-channel data source and from each data sink of multiple data sinks, information indicative of a processing delay for the respective data sink;

a communication processor for defining, at the multi-channel data source for each data sink of the multiple data sinks, a latency parameter for the respective data sink based on the received information indicative of the processing delay for the respective data sink and further information received at the multi-channel data source that indicates the processing delay for at least one other data sink from among the multiple data sinks

and for defining, at the multi-channel data source, at least one parameter for each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks, the at least one parameter for each respective data sink specifying timing for each respective data sink to process data after receipt of a synchronization signal, the at least one parameter for each respective data sink defined based on the latency parameter defined for each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks; and

a transmitter for providing, by the multi-channel data source, the at least one parameter to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks and

wirelessly transmitting, by the multi-channel data source, the synchronization signal and the data to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks, the multi-channel data source configured to transmit a first channel of the data to one of the multiple data sinks and transmit a second channel of the data to another one of the multiple data sinks.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the communication processor is further configured to synchronize a plurality of data streams to provide the data.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one parameter further specifies at least one latency interval following receipt of the synchronization signal by the multiple data sinks for the multiple data sinks to output signals based on the data.

16. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a latency controller configured to;

receive, from each data sink of multiple data sinks, information indicative of a processing delay for the respective data sink;

define, at the apparatus for each data sink of the multiple data sinks, a latency parameter for the respective data sink based on the received information indicative of the processing delay for the respective data sink and further information received at the apparatus that indicates the processing delay for at least one other data sink from among the multiple data sinks;

define at least one parameter for each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks; and

provide the at least one parameter to the multiple data sinks, the at least one parameter for each respective data sink defined based on the latency parameter defined for each respective data sink and specifying timing for the multiple data sinks to process data after receipt of a synchronization signal; and

a transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the synchronization signal and the data to the multiple data sinks, the transmitter configured to transmit a first channel of the data to one of the multiple data sinks and transmit a second channel of the data to another one of the multiple data sinks.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a data source configured to synchronize a plurality of data streams to provide the data.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one parameter further specifies at least one latency interval following receipt of the synchronization signal by the multiple data sinks for the multiple data sinks to output signals based on the data.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein:

the at least one parameter comprises at least one latency interval for specifying processing times for the multiple data sinks to process the data; and

the synchronization signal comprises timing information for further specifying the processing times.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing times are substantially concurrent or differ by at least one defined timing offset.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing times comprise:

times at which the multiple data sinks output signals based on the data;

or

times at which the multiple data sinks process the data.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the data comprises data packets, overlapping orthogonal code signals, overlapping pseudo-orthogonal code signals, or packets transmitted back-to-back.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the synchronization signal comprises a preamble of a packet in which the data is transmitted, a delimiter of the packet in which the data is transmitted, or an independently coded signal.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first channel and the second channel are defined by at least one of:

different time hopping sequences, different time hopping sequence offsets, or different communication coding.

25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the data is concurrently transmitted to different ones of the multiple data sinks via the first channel and the second channel.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the concurrent transmission comprises transmitting a portion of a first packet associated with the first channel after transmitting a portion of a second packet associated with the second channel but before transmitting a second portion of the second packet.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the concurrent transmission comprises transmitting different packets for the first and second channels such that the different packets are received substantially simultaneously.

28. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the transmitter is further configured to multicast the first channel and the second channel to all of the multiple data sinks simultaneously.

29. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the latency parameter defined for a first data sink of the multiple data sinks is different than the latency parameter defined for a second data sink of the multiple data sinks.

30. A computer-program product for wireless communication, comprising:

non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with codes executable to;

receive, at a multi-channel data source and from each data sink of multiple data sinks, information indicative of a processing delay for the respective data sink;

define, at the multi-channel data source for each data sink of the multiple data sinks, a latency parameter for the respective data sink based on the received information indicative of the processing delay for the respective data sink and further information received at the multi-channel data source that indicates the processing delay for at least one other data sink from among the multiple data sinks;

define, at the multi-channel data source, at least one parameter for each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks, the at least one parameter for each respective data sink specifying timing for each respective data sink to process data after receipt of a synchronization signal, the at least one parameter for each respective data sink defined based on the latency parameter defined for each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks;

provide, by the multi-channel data source, the at least one parameter to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks;

wirelessly transmit, by the multi-channel data source, the synchronization signal to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks; and

wirelessly transmit, by the multi-channel data source, the data to each respective data sink of the multiple data sinks, the multi-channel data source configured to transmit a first channel of the data to one of the multiple data sinks and transmit a second channel of the data to another one of the multiple data sinks.