Audio Stream Silence Signaling to Prevent Pops and Clicks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Audio artifacts such as pops or clicks occur in SOUNDWIRE audio streams due to undetected halts, which are exacerbated in fast streams like pulse density modulation, negatively impacting the user experience.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that detects audio halts in the transmitter, embeds a silence signal into the audio stream, and transmits it to receivers, allowing them to play silence or mute the output, preventing unwanted artifacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If audio stream transmission is performed without proactive halt detection, then the system complexity is reduced, but audio artifacts such as pops or clicks occur due to undetected halts
Solution Approach 1:
The transmitter proactively detects audio halts before they reach the receiver by monitoring the audio stream at the transmitter side. When a halt is detected, the transmitter embeds a silence indicator in the stream, allowing the receiver to prepare silence output in advance, preventing audio artifacts like pops or clicks from occurring
Solution Approach 2:
A silence indicator is introduced as an intermediary element in the audio stream. This indicator acts as a mediator between the transmitter's halt detection and the receiver's output control, enabling the receiver to recognize and respond to halts by playing silence instead of producing artifacts
2Reliability
If software detection of audio halts is used, then the system complexity is reduced, but audio artifacts occur because detection happens after the halt has already been played
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based detection with hardware-based detection at the transmitter. The transmitter's audio halt detector continuously monitors the audio stream and detects halts at the hardware level, enabling immediate recognition and response without the delays inherent in software processing
Solution Approach 2:
By detecting halts at the transmitter before transmission, the system takes preliminary action to embed silence indicators in the stream. This allows the receiver to prepare silence output in advance of the actual halt occurrence, eliminating the time delay between halt occurrence and artifact prevention
3Device complexity
If audio halts are not proactively detected and addressed, then the device complexity is reduced, but unwanted audio artifacts are produced at the speaker output
Solution Approach 1:
The transmitter performs preliminary anti-action by detecting audio halts and embedding silence indicators before the halts can cause artifacts. The receiver then uses these indicators to play silence or mute the output, preemptively preventing the generation of unwanted audio artifacts like pops or clicks
Solution Approach 2:
The silence indicator serves as an intermediary that carries information about upcoming halts from the transmitter to the receiver. This mediator enables the receiver to take preventive action by playing silence or muting the output, thereby eliminating audio artifacts without requiring complex artifact detection and correction mechanisms at the receiver side
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 2B
Figure 3
AI summary
Systems and methods for handling silence in audio streams are disclosed. In one aspect, a transmitter detects a halt in an audio stream. After detection of the halt in the audio stream, the transmitter embeds a silence signal into the audio stream and transmits the silence signal to associated receivers. The associated receivers may respond to the embedded silence signal by "playing" silence or by using the silence signal to activate a silence protocol. In either event, the associated receivers do not receive the original audio halt and do not produce an unwanted audio artifact.