Programmable Gaming Headset Audio Paths With Recallable Presets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gaming headsets lack the ability to easily modify and recall parameter settings for sound modifiers, making it cumbersome for users to customize audio performance during gameplay, especially with limited physical controls and fixed hardware implementations that do not allow for flexible adjustments across different environments and user preferences.
Innovation Solution
A programmable headset with individual audio signal processors for game, chat, and microphone signals, equipped with memory to store user-selectable parameter settings, allowing users to customize and recall presets through a personal computer interface, enabling adjustable sound characteristics without the need for additional hardware controls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If fixed signal modifiers are used in conventional gaming headsets, then the device structure remains simple, but the ability to modify parameter settings and recall modifications is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces fixed hardware signal modifiers with software-based parameter control. A host adapter communicates with the headset through a serial communications port, allowing parameter settings to be modified and stored in memory without changing the physical structure of the headset. This substitution enables flexible parameter modification while maintaining a simple device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements programmable parameter settings that can be modified and stored. The host adapter allows users to change signal modifier parameters (such as bass boost levels, equalization settings) and recall these modifications later. This enables the system to adapt to different gaming scenarios without requiring physical reconfiguration of the device.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple physical controls are added to the headset for parameter adjustment, then parameter customization capability improves, but the headset design becomes more complex and space-constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a host adapter as an intermediary device that handles all parameter customization through software interface. This mediator communicates with the headset via serial port, allowing extensive parameter control without adding physical controls to the headset itself. The intermediary approach separates the control interface from the audio processing unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses software-based parameter storage and recall functionality. Instead of physical controls, the system creates and stores digital copies of parameter settings in memory. Users can save multiple preset configurations and recall them as needed, providing full customization capability without physical intervention.
3Adaptability or versatility
If fixed hardware implementations are used, then manufacturing is simpler, but flexibility to adjust settings across different environments and user preferences is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces fixed hardware signal processing with software-based parameter control. The host adapter and serial communications port enable flexible parameter adjustment while maintaining a relatively simple hardware design that is easy to manufacture. The complexity is shifted from hardware to software, which can be updated without remanufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a universal control interface through the host adapter that can manage multiple signal modifier parameters across different gaming environments. The same basic hardware design can be customized for various applications through software configuration, making the product universally adaptable without requiring multiple hardware variants.
Data Source
AI summary
A headset having game, chat and microphone audio signals is provided with a programmable signal processor for individually modifying the audio signals and a memory configured to store a plurality of user-selectable signal-processing parameter settings that determine the manner in which the audio signals will be altered by the signal processor. The parameter settings collectively form a preset, and one or more user-operable controls can select and activate a preset from the plurality of presets stored in memory. The parameters stored in the selected preset can be loaded into the signal processor such that the sound characteristics of the audio paths are modified in accordance with the parameter settings in the selected preset.