Audio Session Controller Delay Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network delays disrupt the turn-taking process in audio communication sessions, affecting user experience and interaction quality, as participants may be unaware of the disruptions or their causes.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that analyze time measures of audio contributions to identify disparities between participants, adjusting audio parameters such as volume and spatial effects to mitigate the adverse effects of network delays and improve user experience by modifying audio representations in real-time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If real-time audio streaming is used to enable natural conversation, then communication speed and responsiveness are improved, but network delays disrupt turn-taking and degrade interaction quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors audio streams to detect turn-taking disruptions caused by network delays. By analyzing the timing and content of audio contributions, the system identifies when delays are affecting the natural flow of conversation and triggers appropriate mitigation actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts audio parameters such as volume levels and spatial positioning based on detected turn-taking disruptions. When delays are identified, the system modifies these parameters to compensate for the disruption and maintain natural conversation flow.
2Reliability
If audio parameters are adjusted in real-time to mitigate network delays, then interaction quality is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects turn-taking disruptions and adjusts audio parameters without requiring user intervention. The monitoring and adjustment processes are self-managing, reducing the operational complexity despite the increased system capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes baseline audio parameters before communication begins and prepares mitigation strategies in advance. When disruptions are detected, pre-defined adjustment protocols are executed, reducing the complexity of real-time decision-making.
3Reliability
If audio parameters are modified to compensate for network delays, then user experience is improved, but loss of original audio characteristics occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies parameter adjustments selectively and locally to specific audio contributions affected by turn-taking disruptions. Rather than uniformly modifying all audio, only the affected segments are adjusted, preserving the original characteristics of unaffected audio.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies minimal necessary adjustments to audio parameters - only enough to mitigate the detected disruption. This partial action approach avoids over-adjustment that would unnecessarily alter audio characteristics while still improving user experience.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, apparatus and systems are disclosed for managing digitally-streamed audio communication sessions between user devices (7a, 7b, 7c). The user devices are configured to send digitally-streamed data (21) indicative of received audio contributions from respective participants in a multiple-participant audio communication session to a multiple-participant audio communication session controller (30) for processing and onward streaming of data (22) indicative of the received audio contributions from the session controller (30) to one or more other user devices (7a, 7b, 7c) for conversion to audio representations for respective other participants of the received audio contributions. The data (22) streamed from the session controller to the respective user devices has one or more audio parameters affecting the audio representations provided by the user devices to the participants using them.