Multi-Channel Audio Mixing via API Polling for Low Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing applications and services, particularly those with multi-channel audio features, are not effectively accessible remotely due to limitations in current network access technologies, making it difficult to provide seamless audio experiences across various computing devices.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that periodically polls audio channels through an Application Programming Interface (API) to retrieve and mix audio data from multiple channels, transmitting a minimum sample duration of audio data to remote computing devices, ensuring low latency and compatibility with diverse devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multi-channel audio is transmitted over a network to remote devices, then audio quality and channel separation are improved, but device compatibility and network accessibility deteriorate due to limitations in remote access technologies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the multi-channel audio stream into individual channel components, allowing each channel to be processed and transmitted separately. This enables selective mixing of channels based on device capabilities while maintaining the integrity of the original multi-channel source, thus resolving the contradiction between audio quality and device compatibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes audio parameters by mixing multiple audio channels into a single channel stream for transmission over the network. This parameter transformation allows the audio to be adapted to various device capabilities while preserving the ability to reconstruct higher-quality multi-channel audio when appropriate, thereby improving both audio quality and device compatibility
2Loss of time
If audio data is polled and transmitted with minimum sample duration, then transmission latency is reduced, but data completeness and audio quality may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by transmitting only the minimum necessary audio sample duration required to maintain continuous playback. This approach reduces transmission latency by avoiding unnecessary data transmission while ensuring that the transmitted audio samples are sufficient to maintain audio quality and prevent gaps in playback
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-buffering audio data and determining the minimum sample duration in advance before transmission. This allows the system to optimize transmission timing and ensure that audio data is ready for immediate transmission, reducing latency while maintaining audio quality through proactive data preparation
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for providing remote access to multi-channel audio by periodically polling channels of audio produced by, e.g., an application program by calling an Application Programming Interface (API). A method performs the polling to retrieve audio data from multiple channels and to mix the multiple channels into a mixed multichannel audio that is communicated to a remote computing device. The method transmits a sample minimum duration of audio data retrieved from all channels during at polling interval to provide low latency transmission of audio to remotely connected computing devices.