Virtual Line-In Bridging for Cross-System Audio Synchronization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Different media playback systems are not compatible with each other, preventing interoperability and synchronized playback across devices from various manufacturers, due to differences in control and timing signal protocols and domains.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a virtual line-in (VLI) interface that adapts to the timing and control domains of other systems, allowing playback devices to join hierarchical master-slave architectures and maintain native domain clocks for compatibility, enabling the creation of VLI groups for synchronized playback across systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If different media playback systems use their own proprietary control and timing signal protocols, then each system can maintain optimal performance and compatibility within its own ecosystem, but interoperability and synchronized playback across devices from various manufacturers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a virtual line-in (VLI) interface that acts as an intermediary between different media playback systems. The VLI receiver translates control and timing signals from a VLI sender into a standardized format, enabling devices from different manufacturers to communicate and synchronize playback without requiring proprietary protocol compatibility. This mediator approach allows each system to maintain its native protocol while achieving interoperability through the VLI translation layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes timing and control parameters by implementing a virtual line-in interface that adapts signal formats between different domains. The VLI receiver adjusts timing parameters and control signal characteristics to match the receiving system's requirements, enabling synchronized playback across systems with different protocol parameters while maintaining each system's native performance characteristics.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a media playback system implements strict proprietary protocols for control and timing signals, then system stability and performance within the ecosystem is improved, but ease of integration with other systems deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication interface into distinct functional layers: a native protocol layer that maintains stable, proprietary control and timing signals for each manufacturer's ecosystem, and a virtual line-in translation layer that handles interoperability. This segmentation allows each system to maintain its stable native protocol while the VLI interface manages the complexity of cross-system integration, making the system both stable and easily integrable.
3Measurement precision
If playback devices maintain independent native domain clocks for optimal performance, then timing precision within each system is improved, but synchronization across different systems deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual line-in interface acts as a timing intermediary that receives precise timing signals from the VLI sender and translates them into synchronized timing for the receiving system. This allows each system to maintain its native domain clock for optimal timing precision while the VLI translation layer ensures that playback events are synchronized across different systems by coordinating timing through the virtual line-in connection.
Data Source
AI summary
Example systems and techniques disclosed herein facilitate interoperability between different media playback systems referred to herein as a virtual line-in (VLI) media playback system and a native playback system. When a VLI session is created by a VLI sender, a first native playback device can join a VLI group as a VLI receiver. As a VLI receiver, the first native playback device receives audio content and playback commands from the VLI sender to facilitate synchronous playback with other VLI receivers. At the same time, this native playback device can concurrently operate as a native domain group coordinator of a native domain synchrony group. As the native domain group coordinator, the native playback device translates VLI domain audio, control, and timing signals into the native domain and distributes such signals to native domain group members. In this way, the native domain group members can synchronize their playback with the VLI group.