852results about "Broadcast circuit arrangements" patented technology

The sound reproduction of a multichannel sound reproduction system with a plurality of speakers which is connected to the output of an FM stereo receiver is controlled by a control signal derived from the reception quality. Preferably, the control signal from the FM stereo receiver for controlling the stereo and mono components is also employed to control the multichannel sound reproduction system. For example, stereo, pseudo-stereo or mono reproduction are provided in the multichannel sound reproduction system in response to the stereo component within the output signal.

The present invention discloses a solution for assuring user-defined voice commands are unambiguous. The solution can include a step of identifying a user attempt to enter a user-defined voice command into a voice-enabled system. A safety analysis can be performed on the user-defined voice command to determine a likelihood that the user-defined voice command will be confused with preexisting voice commands recognized by the voice-enabled system. When a high likelihood of confusion is determined by the safety analysis, a notification can be presented that the user-defined voice command is subject to confusion. A user can then define a different voice command or can choose to continue to use the potentially confusing command, possibly subject to a system imposed confusion mitigating condition or action.

Control system for devices such as an audio reproduction system, an actuator device, an electromechanical device and a telephony device. The system includes control circuitry which receives an input signal and a signal indicative of a position of a portion of the controlled apparatus. The control circuit provides an output signal to the controlled apparatus to affect an operation of the controlled apparatus. The output signal provides control of the apparatus to compensate for one or more of: motor factor; spring factor; back electromotive force; and impedance of a coil in a driver of the controlled apparatus. The signal indicative of position is derived by one or more position indicator techniques such as an infrared LED and PIN diode combination, position dependent capacitance of one portion of the controlled apparatus with respect to another portion of the controlled apparatus, and impedance of a coil in the controlled apparatus. The control circuitry is configurable to control transconductance and / or transduction of the system being controlled. A technique is disclosed to detect and measure a cant of a voice coil transducer, the technique including measuring a capacitance between one portion of the voice coil transducer with respect to another portion of the voice coil transducer over a range of movement of the voice coil during operation.

Control system for devices such as an audio reproduction system, an actuator device, an electromechanical device and a telephony device. The system includes control circuitry which receives an input signal and a signal indicative of a position of a portion of the controlled apparatus. The control circuit provides an output signal to the controlled apparatus to affect an operation of the controlled apparatus. The output signal provides control of the apparatus to compensate for one or more of: motor factor; spring factor; back electromotive force; and impedance of a coil in a driver of the controlled apparatus. The signal indicative of position is derived by one or more position indicator techniques such as an infrared LED and PIN diode combination, position dependent capacitance of one portion of the controlled apparatus with respect to another portion of the controlled apparatus, and impedance of a coil in the controlled apparatus. The control circuitry is configurable to control transconductance and / or transduction of the system being controlled. A technique is disclosed to detect and measure a cant of a voice coil transducer, the technique including measuring a capacitance between one portion of the voice coil transducer with respect to another portion of the voice coil transducer over a range of movement of the voice coil during operation.

Control system for devices such as an audio reproduction system, an actuator device, an electromechanical device and a telephony device. The system includes control circuitry which receives an input signal and a signal indicative of a position of a portion of the controlled apparatus. The control circuit provides an output signal to the controlled apparatus to affect an operation of the controlled apparatus. The output signal provides control of the apparatus to compensate for one or more of: motor factor; spring factor; back electromotive force; and impedance of a coil in a driver of the controlled apparatus. The signal indicative of position is derived by one or more position indicator techniques such as an infrared LED and PIN diode combination, position dependent capacitance of one portion of the controlled apparatus with respect to another portion of the controlled apparatus, and impedance of a coil in the controlled apparatus. The control circuitry is configurable to control transconductance and / or transduction of the system being controlled. A technique is disclosed to detect and measure a cant of a voice coil transducer, the technique including measuring a capacitance between one portion of the voice coil transducer with respect to another portion of the voice coil transducer over a range of movement of the voice coil during operation.

An audio-on-demand communication system provides real-time playback of audio data transferred via telephone lines or other communication links. One or more audio servers include memory banks which store compressed audio data. At the request of a user at a subscriber PC, an audio server transmits the compressed audio data over the communication link to the subscriber PC. The subscriber PC receives and decompresses the transmitted audio data in less than real-time using only the processing power of the CPU within the subscriber PC. According to one aspect of the present invention, high quality audio data compressed according to lossless compression techniques is transmitted together with normal quality audio data. According to another aspect of the present invention, metadata, or extra data, such as text, captions, still images, etc., is transmitted with audio data and is simultaneously displayed with corresponding audio data. The audio-on-demand system also provides a table of contents indicating significant divisions in the audio clip to be played and allows the user immediate access to audio data at the listed divisions. According to a further aspect of the present invention, servers and subscriber PCs are dynamically allocated based upon geographic location to provide the highest possible quality in the communication link.

Systems, methods and devices for gathering data concerning media usage by predetermined audience members. An audience measurement code in acoustic energy produced by a media receiver is detected by a portable media monitor. The monitor also detects a location code produced in a vicinity of the media receiver.

A digital broadcasting transmission and / or reception system having an improved reception performance and a signal-processing method thereof. A digital broadcasting transmitter comprises a randomizer to input and randomize data streams including a plurality of segments having at least one segment having one or more null packets, a null packet exchanger to create known data having a predetermined pattern and to replace the null packets at positions of the segments having the null packets of the randomized data streams to insert the known data, an encoder to encode the data streams to which the known data is inserted, and a modulation / RF unit to modulate, RF-modulate, and transmit the encoded data streams. A digital broadcasting receiver detects the known data from a signal received from the digital broadcasting transmitter and uses the detected known data for synchronization and equalization, so that a digital broadcasting reception performance of the digital broadcasting receiver can be improved at poor multipath channels.

A method for assigning audio channels of audio data content to speakers, each of which is associated with a different one of N speaker nodes of a wireless network. The method is performed by a manager node of the wireless network. The method includes, for each of the N speaker nodes, obtaining a piece of orientation information for each of N−1 other speaker nodes different from the given speaker node, regarding an orientation of a reception antenna of the given speaker node when receiving data sent by each of the N−1 other speaker nodes through the wireless network. The method also includes assigning a different one of the audio channels to a different one of the speaker nodes, as a function of N−1 pieces of orientation information obtained for each of the N speaker nodes.

A method for selecting an audio source when capturing audio data with at least one capture device includes connecting an audio source to an audio input port of the capture device, turning off the output of the audio source, calculating first signal strengths of the audio signals detected through the audio input ports of the capture device, turning on the output of the audio source, calculating second signal strengths of the audio signals detected through the audio input ports of the capture device, calculating a signal change between the first signal strength and the second signal strength of each audio input port, and selecting the audio input port with the largest signal change.

A system and method for audio telepresence. The system includes a user station and a telepresence unit. The telepresence unit includes a directional microphone for capturing sounds at the remote location, and means for converting the captured sounds into a stream of data to be communicated to the user station. The user station includes means for receiving the stream of data and a plurality of speakers for recreating the sounds of the remote location. The user station and the speakers are located within an anechoic chamber where sound reflections are substantially absorbed by anechoic linings of the chamber walls. Because of the substantial lack of sound reflection within the anechoic chamber, a user within the anechoic chamber will be able to experience an aural ambience that closely resembles the sounds captured at the remote location. The user station may include microphones for capturing the user's voice, and the telepresence unit may include speakers for projecting the user's voice at the remote location. Feedback suppression, audio direction steering, and head-coding techniques may also be used to enhance the user's sense of remote presence.

Control system for devices such as an audio reproduction system, an actuator device, an electromechanical device and a telephony device. The system includes control circuitry which receives an input signal and a signal indicative of a position of a portion of the controlled apparatus. The control circuit provides an output signal to the controlled apparatus to affect an operation of the controlled apparatus. The output signal provides control of the apparatus to compensate for one or more of: motor factor; spring factor; back electromotive force; and impedance of a coil in a driver of the controlled apparatus. The signal indicative of position is derived by one or more position indicator techniques such as an infrared LED and PIN diode combination, position dependent capacitance of one portion of the controlled apparatus with respect to another portion of the controlled apparatus, and impedance of a coil in the controlled apparatus. The control circuitry is configurable to control transconductance and / or transduction of the system being controlled. A technique is disclosed to detect and measure a cant of a voice coil transducer, the technique including measuring a capacitance between one portion of the voice coil transducer with respect to another portion of the voice coil transducer over a range of movement of the voice coil during operation.

An audio apparatus, an audio signal transmission method, and an audio system are provided. The audio signal transmission method includes: wirelessly receiving an audio signal from a first external device; converting the received audio signal into audio signals of multi-channels; and wirelessly transmitting an audio signal of at least one of the multi-channels to at least one of second external devices. Therefore, the audio apparatus wirelessly communicates with a plurality of external devices, and thus a user can connect an audio device to an external device without using wired cables.

An OFDM subcarrier method and apparatus effectively reassigns subcarriers with respect to a data stream from a plurality of Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) services or programs to reduce selective effects (e.g., selective channel fading) of the transmission channel (e.g., an FM station) on some of the DAB services or programs but not on others. In one embodiment, a symbol reassignment encoder at the transmitter shuffles the data or symbols in the data stream from the DAB services to effectively reassign the subcarriers used by each of the DAB services. The reassignment spreads the selective effects of the transmission channel, e.g., channel fading, over a larger group of DAB services, to improve the robustness and quality of the overall transmission channel.

The present invention includes apparatuses and methods comprising a means for detecting the presence of speakers and microphones coupled to a portable multi-function device (such as Apple's iPhone™). In response, a portable multi-function device can adapt its output depending on the nature of the coupled headset device. In particular, a portable multi-function device containing the present invention can, upon detecting only one speaker in a coupled headset accessory device, combine the multiple channels of a stereo audio signal into a single mono audio signal. Likewise, a portable multi-function device containing the present invention can alert users to the absence of a coupled microphone.

The invention enables the inclusion of voice and remaining audio information at different parts of the audio production process. In particular, the invention embodies special techniques for VRA-capable digital mastering, accommodation of PCPV / PCA and / or SCRA signals in audio CODECs, VRA-capable encoders and decoders, and VRA in DVD and other digital audio file formats. The invention facilitates an end-listener's voice-to-remaining audio (VRA) adjustment upon the playback of digital audio media formats by focusing on new configurations of multiple parts of the entire digital audio system, thereby enabling a new technique intended to benefit audio end-users (end-listeners) who wish to control the ratio of the primary vocal / dialog content of an audio program relative to the remaining portion of the audio content in that program. The invention facilitates storage of VRA audio programs on optical storage media, authoring systems for VRA-capable DVDs, playback hardware integrated into VRA-capable optical disc apparatus, and VRA playback hardware for use with non-VRA capable optical disc playback apparatus.

A lossless audio codec encodes / decodes a lossless variable bit rate (VBR) bitstream with random access point (RAP) capability to initiate lossless decoding at a specified segment within a frame and / or multiple prediction parameter set (MPPS) capability partitioned to mitigate transient effects. This is accomplished with an adaptive segmentation technique that fixes segment start points based on constraints imposed by the existence of a desired RAP and / or detected transient in the frame and selects a optimum segment duration in each frame to reduce encoded frame payload subject to an encoded segment payload constraint. In general, the boundary constraints specify that a desired RAP or detected transient must lie within a certain number of analysis blocks of a segment start point. In an exemplary embodiment in which segments within a frame are of the same duration and a power of two of the analysis block duration, the RAP and / or transient constraints set a maximum segment duration to ensure the desired conditions. RAP and MPPS are particularly applicable to improve overall performance for longer frame durations.

A multi-channel synthesizer for generating at least three output channels using an input signal having at least one base channel, the base channel being derived from the original multi-channel signal, the input signal further including at least two different up-mixing parameters, and an up-mixer mode indication indicating, in a first state that a first up-mixing rule is to be performed, and, indicating, in a second state, that a different second up-mixing rule is to be performed, uses an up-mixer for up-mixing the at least one base channel using the at least two different up-mixing parameters based on the first or the second up-mixing rule in response to the up-mixer mode indication so that the at least three output channels are obtained.

A receiver such as in an automobile and / or wireless communication device is configured for a method of playing of live and recorded multimedia content. A desired genre of content is first defined. Both recorded and live content of that desired genre is identified and assembled into a playlist. Live content that is near a beginning of its being played can be rotated to a top of the playlist. In this way, live content, which a user may not have heard is given a priority of recorded content of the user. Since a start time of live content typically will not coincide with an end time of recorded content being played, the receiver can fade-in and fade-out to a the live content or buffer it for delayed play.

A digital broadcast transmitting / receiving system and a method for processing data are disclosed. The method for processing data may enhance the receiving performance of the receiving system by performing additional coding and multiplexing processes on the traffic information data and transmitting the processed data. Thus, robustness is provided to the traffic information data, thereby enabling the data to respond strongly against the channel environment which is always under constant and vast change.

An audio signal is processed to derive primary and ambient components of the signal. The signal is first transformed to generate frequency-domain subband signals. Primary and ambient components are separated by comparing frequency subband content using a complex-valued similarity metric, wherein one of the primary and ambient components is determined to be the residual after the other is identified using the similarity metric.

A method and apparatus are provided for generating a personalized radio channel playlist by time division multiplexing songs from multiple received channels from one or more broadcast source streams in a queue. Users can specify favorite channels for building their personal playlists, or multiple default playlist channels can be provided by genre. Navigation tools permit users to see upcoming songs in their playlist queue and skip ahead and backward. Thumbs up / down buttons on the radio receiver permit entering a song or artist being played back into a favorites list that is used to search all channels for matches or a banned list used to block songs from future playlists. If matches are found, the channel carrying the favorite is extracted and added to the playlist. Channel searching for matches involves monitoring real-time song and artist labels for all channels carried in a separate data channel (e.g., Broadcast Information Channel (BIC)). Segments on the playlist are dynamically truncated to reduce the average time each segment is played to facilitate preview of playlist segments. Preview times can vary depending on the size of the playlist or number of channels used. During a preview of a segment, users can opt to listen to the full song or back up in the playlist to listen to a previous song. Connectivity options and web interfaces are provided to facilitate transfer and sharing of customization parameters for personalized radio configuration.

In a television receiver, based on speaker information of each of one or more devices including speakers which is a memory of the television receiver, a transmitting audio signal to be transmitted to each device including a speaker, in which synchronization is established between devices including speakers in a reproduction mode, is formed and transmitted to the device (including a speaker) through a communication interface. The device (including a speaker) receives the transmitting audio signal addressed thereto through a communication interface, plays back the signal, and uses a speaker of the device to generate sound.

For generating a parametric representation of a multi-channel signal especially suitable for low-bit rate applications, only the location of the maximum of the sound energy within a replay setup is encoded and transmitted using direction parameter information. For multi-channel reconstruction, the energy distribution of the output channels identified by the direction parameter information is controlled by the direction parameter information, while the energy distribution in the remaining ambience channels is not controlled by the direction parameter information.

There is provided an audio signal transmitting apparatus which can communicate with a plurality of external connection apparatuses and transmits audio signals to the external connection apparatuses. The audio signal transmitting apparatus includes an external output unit which outputs the audio signal to the outside, an audio signal transmitting unit which transmits the audio signal to the external connection apparatus being in a communicable state, and an audio output control unit which, when headphone information representing that a headphone function that outputs the audio signal through headphones is valid is received from at least one of the external connection apparatuses which receive the audio signals, performs control to stop an output by the external output unit.

An audio apparatus, an audio signal transmission method, and an audio system are provided. The audio signal transmission method includes: wirelessly receiving an audio signal from a first external device; converting the received audio signal into audio signals of multi-channels; and wirelessly transmitting an audio signal of at least one of the multi-channels to at least one of second external devices. Therefore, the audio apparatus wirelessly communicates with a plurality of external devices, and thus a user can connect an audio device to an external device without using wired cables.

A method of processing a signal, including taking a signal formed from a plurality of source signal emitters and expressed in an original domain, decomposing the signal into a mathematical representation of a plurality of constituent elements in an alternate domain, analyzing the plurality of constituent elements to associate at least a subset of the constituent elements with at least one of the plurality of source signal emitters, separating at least a subset of the constituent elements based on the association and reconstituting at least a subset of constituent elements to produce an output signal in at least one of the original domain, the alternate domain and another domain.

The invention enables the inclusion of voice and remaining audio information at different parts of the audio production process. In particular, the invention embodies special techniques for VRA-capable digital mastering, accommodation of PCPV / PCA and / or SCRA signals in audio CODECs, VRA-capable encoders and decoders, and VRA in DVD and other digital audio file formats. The invention facilitates an end-listener's voice-to-remaining audio (VRA) adjustment upon the playback of digital audio media formats by focusing on new configurations of multiple parts of the entire digital audio system, thereby enabling a new technique intended to benefit audio end-users (end-listeners) who wish to control the ratio of the primary vocal / dialog content of an audio program relative to the remaining portion of the audio content in that program. The invention facilitates storage of VRA audio programs on optical storage media, authoring systems for VRA-capable DVDs, playback hardware integrated into VRA-capable optical disc apparatus, and VRA playback hardware for use with non-VRA capable optical disc playback apparatus.