Synchronization of signals for multiple data sinks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9877130-B2
Application number	US-201414150544-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 8, 2014
Priority date	May 5, 2008
Publication date	Jan 23, 2018
Grant date	Jan 23, 2018

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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

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 fu

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Jia Zhanfeng
• Julian David Jonathan

Classifications

• H04L7/04

  Speed or phase control by synchronisation signals {(H04L7/0075 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• H04S1/007 Primary

  in which the audio signals are in digital form (data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02) · CPC title

• H04J3/0682 Primary

  by delay compensation, e.g. by compensation of propagation delay or variations thereof, by ranging · CPC title

• H04B1/69

  Spread spectrum techniques · CPC title

• H04H20/47

  specially adapted for stereophonic broadcast systems · CPC title