Digital Audio Hub Signal Routing Circuit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing signal routing circuits in consumer devices, such as smartphones, lack flexibility in interconnecting various signal processing components without being restricted to specific external devices or processing paths, limiting their functionality and usability.
Innovation Solution
A digital audio hub integrated circuit with a flexible digital mixing core and switching circuitry that allows for signal routing, processing, and conversion between multiple analogue and digital signals, enabling simultaneous handling of diverse audio tasks like phone conversations, music playback, and navigation instructions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a digital audio hub is designed with fixed signal processing paths, then the device complexity is reduced and manufacturing is easier, but the adaptability and flexibility for different signal sources and processing configurations are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic signal routing through a mixing fabric that can be reconfigured at runtime. The digital mixing core includes multiple selectable input sources and output destinations that can be dynamically connected through programmable routing paths, allowing the system to adapt to different audio processing configurations without physical reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital audio hub is designed with universal signal processing capabilities that can handle multiple signal types (microphone inputs, line inputs, Bluetooth audio, internal audio) through a common mixing fabric. The same core circuitry can be programmed to perform different functions such as audio playback, recording, conferencing, or navigation instructions without requiring dedicated hardware paths for each function.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the digital audio hub supports multiple simultaneous audio tasks, then the functionality and user experience are improved, but the processing load and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The digital mixing core is segmented into multiple independent processing channels, each capable of handling a separate audio task. The mixing fabric is divided into multiple routing paths that can be independently activated, allowing the system to process multiple audio streams simultaneously while only consuming energy for the active paths rather than maintaining all paths continuously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts processing parameters such as sample rate, bit depth, and processing intensity based on the current audio tasks being performed. When fewer audio tasks are active, the processor can operate at lower power states or reduced processing frequencies, thereby reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining the capability to handle multiple tasks when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated circuit for digital signal routing. Signal routing is achieved with a multiply-accumulate block, which takes data from one or more data sources and, after any required scaling, generates output data for a data destination. Data from a data source is buffered for an entire period of a data sample clock so that the multiply-accumulate block can retrieve the data at any point in the period, and output data of the multiply-accumulate block is buffered for an entire period of the data sample clock so that the data destination can retrieve the data at any point in the period. The multiply-accumulate block operates on a time division multiplexed basis, so that multiple signal paths can be processed within one period of the sample clock.