Playback Calibration State Sync Across Multi-Room Speakers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing media playback systems lack efficient methods to maintain calibration across multiple playback devices, especially when power-cycled or relocated, leading to inconsistent audio quality and synchronization issues.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a calibration state variable that is stored and shared among playback devices to maintain calibration status, allowing devices to update and synchronize their acoustic settings based on environmental changes and device movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If calibration settings are stored locally on each playback device, then device autonomy and initial setup are improved, but calibration consistency across multiple devices and persistence through power cycles deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges local calibration storage on individual playback devices with centralized cloud-based calibration profile storage. The system combines local device autonomy for initial setup with cloud synchronization to maintain calibration consistency across multiple devices and through power cycles, resolving the contradiction between device independence and system-wide reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a cloud-based calibration profile storage system as an intermediary between playback devices. This intermediary stores calibration profiles centrally and enables synchronization across devices, allowing local devices to maintain autonomy while ensuring consistent calibration state persistence through power cycles and across device relocations.
2Reliability
If calibration profiles are synchronized across all playback devices, then audio quality consistency is improved, but network dependency and system complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary calibration profiling during initial device setup and environmental scanning. By pre-establishing calibration profiles based on the acoustic environment before multi-device operation begins, the system reduces the need for complex real-time synchronization while maintaining audio quality consistency across devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables playback devices to autonomously retrieve and apply their own calibration profiles from cloud storage without requiring complex inter-device communication or centralized control. Each device independently manages its calibration state by self-service retrieval from the cloud, reducing system complexity while maintaining consistency.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If calibration state is maintained through cloud synchronization, then persistence across power cycles is improved, but network connectivity requirement and energy consumption worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary calibration profiling during initial setup when the device is first powered on and in the acoustic environment where it will operate. By pre-establishing calibration profiles before power cycles occur, the system ensures calibration persistence is restored automatically after power cycles without requiring continuous network connectivity or additional energy consumption for recalibration.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples disclosed herein relate to playback device calibration. A calibration state variable may represent a calibration state of a playback device. A control device may display an indications of the calibration state. For instance, in a first instance, the control device may display an indication that a first playback device is in an uncalibrated state. Further, in a second instance, the control device may display an indication that the first playback device is in an calibrated state, perhaps after instructing the first playback device to initiate calibration.