US-20260129385-A1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRANSPORT OF AUXILIARY DATA

US20260129385A1US 20260129385 A1US20260129385 A1US 20260129385A1US-20260129385-A1

Abstract

The illustrative embodiments provide a wireless audio system. The system includes a transmitter including one or more radios. The system includes receivers including one or more radios. The transmitter is configured to transmit audio data and auxiliary data through communications channel differing in at least one of frequency bandwidth, modulation, scheme, or communication protocol. The auxiliary data is configured to modify at least one operating parameter of one or more of the receivers.

Inventors

Kenneth A. Boehlke
Jason R. Abele

Assignees

DATAVAULT AI INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20260105

Claims (20)

1 . A method, comprising: determining, by at least one processor, an audio presentation delay margin for a forward audio link; generating, by the at least one processor, a link schedule permitting an auxiliary data transmission window when the audio presentation delay margin exceeds a threshold; modifying, by the at least one processor, at least one medium access parameter or coordinating, by the at least one processor, a request-to-send and clear-to-send exchange to reserve a network allocation vector period for the auxiliary data transmission window; and transmitting, by the at least one processor, a non-uniform auxiliary data burst in the auxiliary data transmission window while maintaining uninterrupted audio playback over the forward audio link.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein data associated with the auxiliary data transmission window comprises room calibration, equalization parameters, or both.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary data transmission window is coordinated on an independent side-channel selected from Bluetooth, infrared, or ultrasound.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the link schedule is further configured to permit reverse-link microphone capture windows, reserved by network allocation vector.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the link schedule comprises using one or more methods selected from Forward Control, Independent Channel Control, Tuning Channel Access Parameters, and Network Allocation Vector (NAV) Reservation.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is met when the audio presentation delay margin exceeds an estimated time to render or process a packet plus a guard interval.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-uniform auxiliary data burst comprises aperiodic bursts having variable slot widths coordinated to TSF time.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the at least one medium access parameter comprises decreasing a backoff parameter to increase link priority for the auxiliary data transmission window.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising coordinating, by the at least one processor of a transmitter, the request-to-send and clear-to-send exchange by transmitting an RTS frame configured to elicit a CTS that provides a reservation of a network allocation vector window for the auxiliary data transmission window, and adjusting, by the at least one processor of the transmitter, transmitter MAC parameters to maintain the reservation.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the non-uniform auxiliary data burst comprises configuration and control data exchanged transmitted from the transmitter to at least one receiving speaker, and the forward audio link employs unicast, multicast, or groupcast packets scheduled to minimize disruption to forward-path audio.
11 . A communication device, comprising: at least one processor and a memory storing computer code; wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer code that causes the at least one processor to: determine an audio presentation delay margin for a forward audio link; generate a link schedule permitting an auxiliary data transmission window when the audio presentation delay margin exceeds a threshold; modify at least one medium access parameter or coordinate a request-to-send and clear-to-send exchange to reserve a network allocation vector period for the auxiliary data transmission window; and transmit a non-uniform auxiliary data burst in the auxiliary data transmission window while maintaining uninterrupted audio playback over the forward audio link.
12 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein data associated with the auxiliary data transmission window comprises room calibration, equalization parameters, configuration and control data, or any combination thereof.
13 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the auxiliary data transmission window is coordinated on an independent side-channel selected from Bluetooth, infrared, or ultrasound.
14 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the link schedule is further configured to permit reverse-link microphone capture windows reserved by a network allocation vector.
15 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein generating the link schedule comprises using one or more methods selected from Forward Control, Independent Channel Control, Tuning Channel Access Parameters, and Network Allocation Vector (NAV) Reservation.
16 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the threshold is met when the audio presentation delay margin exceeds an estimated time to render or process a packet plus a guard interval.
17 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the non-uniform auxiliary data burst comprises aperiodic bursts having variable slot widths coordinated to TSF time.
18 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein modifying the at least one medium access parameter comprises decreasing a backoff parameter of the communication device to increase link priority for the auxiliary data transmission window.
19 . The communication device of claim 11 , wherein the communication device is a transmitter and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to coordinate the request-to-send and clear-to-send exchange by transmitting an RTS frame configured to elicit a CTS that provides a reservation of a network allocation vector window for the auxiliary data transmission window, and to adjust transmitter MAC parameters to maintain the reservation.
20 . The communication device of claim 19 , wherein the non-uniform auxiliary data burst comprises configuration and control data exchanged transmitted from the transmitter to at least one receiving speaker, and the forward audio link employs unicast, multicast, or groupcast packets scheduled to minimize disruption to forward-path audio.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 19/284,215, filed Jul. 29, 2025, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/196,990, filed May 12, 2023, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,375,862 which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/341,190 , filed May 12, 2022, each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure is related generally to the wireless distribution of high-quality audio signals and, in particular to systems and methods of distributing high-bitrate, multichannel, audio wirelessly while maintaining low latency. BACKGROUND Generally, a key element of a positive customer experience with wireless audio systems is a robust-low latency wireless link. Low latency audio is desirable for enabling good audio to video synchronization (or Lip Sync). For example, low latency audio systems allow for compatibility with abroad range of televisions. A low latency audio system will work with both low and high latency televisions as the transmitted audio can always be delayed to match the video. On the other hand, an audio system with high latency may be incompatible with low latency televisions because the audio cannot be advanced to match the video. Low latency requires quick access to the radio medium as well as low computational times. Techniques found in the art have failed to achieve significant latency reductions due to the high-cost computation resources required to achieve accurate transmission with low latency. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides for novel systems and methods of audio transmission that alleviate shortcomings in the art, and provide novel mechanisms for robust and scalable audio transmission. In some embodiments, a method of audio transmission may transmit auxiliary data via at least one of a forward link and a reverse link. In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a wireless audio system. The system includes a transmitter including one or more radios. The system includes receivers including one or more radios. The transmitter is configured to transmit audio data and auxiliary data through communications channel differing in at least one of frequency bandwidth, modulation, scheme, or communication protocol. The auxiliary data is configured to modify at least one operating parameter of one or more of the receivers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following description of embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles of the disclosure: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 2A illustrates a timing diagram of audio data transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 2B illustrates a timing diagram of auxiliary data transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 2C illustrates a timing diagram of data packets according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 illustrates a process for auxiliary data transmission according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show, by way of non-limiting illustration, certain example embodiments. Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any example embodiments set forth herein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative. Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matter is intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may be embodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly, embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof (other than software per se). The following detailed description is, therefore, not intended to be taken in a limiting sense. Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matte