Operation Terminal Audio Channel Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing trend in audio channel counts for digital audio signals, such as 7.1 channels and higher, poses a challenge as existing audio devices often have limited adaptable channel counts, necessitating frequent and costly replacements to accommodate higher channel counts.
Innovation Solution
An operation terminal coordinates multiple audio devices to process multi-channel digital audio signals by distributing audio channels and determining output delay times for each device, allowing them to work together to support higher channel counts without the need for device replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a new audio device with higher channel count capability is purchased to support new digital audio signals, then the adaptable channel count is improved, but the device cost increases and resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the audio processing function across multiple existing audio devices. Instead of requiring a single device to handle all channels, the system divides the multi-channel digital audio signal into subsets that can be processed by different audio devices with lower individual channel counts. This allows the system to achieve higher overall adaptability without requiring expensive high-channel-count devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The operation terminal serves as a universal coordinator that manages multiple audio devices for various channel counts. It can distribute different channel configurations to different devices based on their capabilities, making the system universally adaptable to various signal requirements without requiring specialized high-end equipment for each scenario.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a new audio device with higher channel count capability is purchased to support new digital audio signals, then the adaptable channel count is improved, but resource waste increases due to obsolete devices
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of discarding existing audio devices when higher channel counts are needed, the patent recovers their utility by integrating them into a cooperative system. Existing devices with lower channel counts continue to be used by processing subsets of the overall audio signal, thereby recovering their value and avoiding resource waste while still achieving support for higher channel counts through the combined system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple audio devices are used to process multi-channel digital audio signal through cooperation, then the adaptable channel count is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The operation terminal acts as an intermediary that manages the complexity of coordinating multiple audio devices. It handles the distribution of audio channels, determination of output delay times, and synchronization of multiple devices, thereby isolating the user from the system complexity while enabling high channel count adaptability through device cooperation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically distributes audio channels to different devices based on their capabilities and determines appropriate output delay times for each device. This dynamic allocation and timing adjustment allows the system to adapt to various channel count requirements while managing the complexity of multiple devices through flexible, runtime decisions rather than fixed configurations.
4Reliability
If output delay time is determined for each audio device based on signal processing time, then the synchronization of analog audio signal output is improved, but the control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The operation terminal determines output delay times for each audio device based on their signal processing times. By measuring or estimating how long each device takes to process the audio signal and using this feedback information to calculate appropriate delay times, the system achieves synchronized output across all devices while managing control complexity through automated timing calculations based on actual device performance.
Data Source
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AI summary
[Problem] To enable the desired number of channels to be listened to at a lower cost and without wasting resources. [Solution] Process multi-channel digital audio signals by coordinating between a plurality of AV amp devices 1. An operation terminal 5 assigns audio channels to be processed, to each AV amp device 1, and, on the basis of the signal processing time for each AV amp device 1, determines an output delay time for each AV amp device 1 so that the output timing for analog audio signals matches for all AV amp devices 1. Each AV amp device 1 decodes input digital audio signals into analog audio signals for audio channels assigned to that AV amp device 1 by the operation terminal 5 and delays the output of the decoded analog audio signal, by the output delay time for that AV amp device 1 determined by the operation terminal 5.