Wireless speaker arrangement

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless speaker arrangement. The present invention also relates to a wireless speaker system comprising at least a pair of such speaker arrangements, to a method for operating a wireless speaker arrangement and to a corresponding computer program product.

Claims

1. A self-contained wireless speaker arrangement configured to deliver an audio experience to a user, the wireless speaker arrangement comprising: an outer housing having a predefined volume and form factor; an electro-acoustic transducer comprising a plurality of matched speaker components; an amplifier connected to the electro-acoustic transducer and configured for converting audio information into sound, the amplifier comprising a plurality of amplifier components selected to match the plurality of matched speaker components of the electro-acoustic transducer; a first wireless transceiver module for providing a wireless Internet connection to the wireless speaker arrangement; a digital storage device for providing a buffer for the audio information to be delivered by the wireless speaker arrangement, and a control unit connected to and configured to control the amplifier, the first wireless transceiver module and the digital storage device, wherein the electro-acoustic transducer, the amplifier, the first wireless transceiver module, the digital storage device and the control unit are positioned entirely within the outer housing, the selection of components of the electro-acoustic transducer and the amplifier are based on the volume and form factor of the outer housing for maximizing quality of the audio experience delivered to the user, and the control unit is configured to: receive information, using the Internet connection, from a remotely arranged server, convert the received information into audio to be amplified using the amplifier and delivered to the user, allow a remote control to connect to the wireless speaker arrangement for controlling operation of the wireless speaker arrangement, and distinguish between a plurality of individual remote controls, thereby allowing for different control functionality of the wireless speaker arrangement for each of the plurality of individual remote controls, wherein the plurality of individual remote controls are each configured to access different individual playlists to be played by the wireless speaker arrangement.

2. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising a second wireless transceiver module connected to the control unit and configured for allowing wireless communication between the wireless speaker arrangement and at least one further wireless speaker arrangement.

3. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 2, wherein functionality of the first and the second wireless transceiver module is provided using a single wireless transceiver circuitry.

4. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is further configured to: synchronize a timing parameter for the wireless speaker arrangement and the at least one further wireless speaker arrangement; transmit at least a portion of the received information to the at least one further wireless speaker arrangement for buffering using a digital storage device of the at least one further wireless speaker arrangement, and deliver sound to the user using the wireless speaker arrangement and the at least one further wireless speaker arrangement in a synchronized manner.

5. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the wireless speaker arrangement is provided as a master node and the at least one further wireless speaker arrangement is arranged as a slave node.

6. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the wireless communication between the wireless speaker arrangement and the at least one further wireless speaker arrangement is provided using at least one of a protocol allowing forward error correction and acknowledge-resend of the transmitted information.

7. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is further configured to execute at least one of an embedded or a cloud based application for receiving information from the remotely arranged server.

8. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the wireless speaker arrangement is provided with a unique identification, thereby allowing the wireless speaker arrangement to be identified by the remotely arranged server connected to the wireless speaker arrangement using the Internet connection.

9. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the control unit is configured to log at least one parameter relating to the audio experience delivered to the user and to provide at least a portion of the logged information to the remotely arranged server.

10. A wireless speaker system, the wireless speaker system comprising: a first wireless speaker arrangement according claim 2, and a second wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the first wireless speaker arrangement is configured as a master node for receiving the received information using the Internet connection, and the second wireless speaker arrangement is configured to receive at least a portion of the received information directly from the first wireless speaker arrangement.

11. The wireless speaker arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of remote controls is provided with a unique identifier.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The various aspects of the invention, including its particular features and advantages, will be readily understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate a conceptual as well as a detailed view of a wireless speaker arrangement according to a currently preferred embodiment of the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a wireless speaker system according to the invention;

(4) FIGS. 3 and 4 show a first and a second exemplary configuration of the invention in relation to distribution of information to a uniquely identified Internet connected wireless speaker arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness, and fully convey the scope of the invention to the skilled addressee. Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout.

(6) Referring now to the drawings and to FIGS. 1a and 1b in particular, there is depicted a wireless speaker arrangement 100. The wireless speaker arrangement 100 comprises in the illustrated embodiment a plurality of speaker elements (transducers) 102 and 104, for example configured for different, possibly overlapping frequency spectrums. Furthermore, the wireless speaker arrangement 100 comprises an amplifier 106 and a control unit 108, arranged in electrical connection with each other. The control unit 108 may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable digital signal processor or another programmable device. The control unit 108 may also, or instead, include an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable gate array programmable array logic, a programmable logic device, or a digital signal processor. Where the control unit 108 includes a programmable device such as the microprocessor or microcontroller mentioned above, the processor may further include computer executable code that controls operation of the programmable device.

(7) The control unit 104 is typically, and as is illustrated in FIG. 1b, connected to storage means 110, allowing computer executable code and other information to be digitally stored. In some implementations the storage means 110 may be integrated with the control unit 108. In addition, the wireless speaker arrangement 100 further comprises a first 112 and a second 114 wireless transceiver module connected to the control unit 106 and configured for allowing wireless communication to and from the wireless speaker arrangement 100. In a typical embodiment of the illustrated wireless speaker arrangement 100, the first 112 wireless transceiver module allowing the wireless speaker arrangement 100 to be connected to the Internet (e.g. through a router), whereas the second 114 wireless transceiver module allows a plurality of further (but preferably similar) wireless speaker arrangements to be connected to the wireless speaker arrangement 100.

(8) In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1a, a remote control 116 is disclosed for allowing control of wireless speaker arrangement 100; including for example adjusting the volume settings, change songs, configure playlists, etc.

(9) However, the wireless speaker arrangement 100 may alternatively or also be configured to be “indirectly controlled”, where the remote control or a similar device (e.g. a computer or other electronic device being mobile or stationary) is connected to the wireless speaker arrangement 100 “over the Internet” using the Internet connection. In such a case, typically implemented using a cloud service, initial control commands may be provided from the control device (i.e. the computer, electronic device, or similar) to the cloud service (e.g. a cloud server) where they in turn are converted and provided (again over the Internet) to the wireless speaker arrangement 100. Accordingly, instead of provided the wireless speaker arrangement 100 with for example a web server and allowing the user to “browse” to this server, all such functionality may be provided at the cloud service, reducing computational load from the wireless speaker arrangement 100, and move such handling to the cloud service. Such an implementation also reduces any user handling/updates of the wireless speaker arrangement 100 since such updates handling instead may be provided in relation to the cloud service. The connection between the wireless speaker arrangement 100 and remote servers/cloud services will be discussed further below.

(10) As mentioned above, the remote control 116 may be individualized, for example with a “unique tag”. In the illustrated embodiment the individualization is provided using a memory card 118 (or similar). Other means for individualizing the remote control (including specifically programmed features of the remote control 116) is possible and within the scope of the invention.

(11) Turning now to FIG. 2, which illustrates a wireless speaker system 200, comprising a plurality of wireless speaker arrangement as shown in FIG. 1. In the illustrated embodiment, the wireless speaker system 200 comprises four individual but typically similarly (hardware and software) configured wireless speaker arrangement 100, 202, 204, 206. As understood, any number of wireless speaker arrangements may be possible. In FIG. 2, the wireless speaker arrangement 100 is arranged as a master node, having a direct connection to the Internet 208, in turn allowing the wireless speaker arrangement 100 to be e.g. connected to a remote server/database arrangement 210.

(12) Acting as a master node, the wireless speaker arrangement 100 organizes an internal network allowing the wireless speaker arrangements 100, 202, 204, 206 to in some way be connected to each other. In an embodiment, the wireless speaker arrangements 100 may be arranged to connect to each of the remaining wireless speaker arrangements 202, 204, 206. Alternatively and as is illustrated in FIG. 2, the wireless speaker arrangements 100 may be directly connected to the wireless speaker arrangements 202, 204, and information received by the wireless speaker arrangement 204 may be forwarded (e.g. relayed) to the wireless speaker arrangement 206. Other means for forming a wirelessly connected wireless speaker system 200 comprising a plurality of wireless speaker arrangements 100, 202, 204, 206 is of course possible and within the scope of the invention.

(13) During operation of the wireless speaker system 200, one of the wireless speaker arrangement 100 is set as the master node, whereas the remaining wireless speaker arrangements 202, 204, 206 are arranged as slave nodes. In case a user, for example using the remote control 116, initiates a listening session connected to a specific playlist, the master node 100 connects, using the Internet connection 208, to the remote server 210 for requesting audio related information corresponding to the specific playlist. Possibly, the control unit 108 converts the audio related information to signals to be amplified by the amplifier 108 and provided to the user using the speaker elements 102, 104.

(14) As the slave nodes 202, 204, 206 are connected to the master node 100; the audio related information from the remote server 210 is also conveyed to the slave nodes 202, 204, 206 where a similar process takes place, such that the user is presented with e.g. music from the playlist throughout all of the wireless speaker arrangements 100, 202, 204, 206. For allowing the music to be synchronized, i.e. without any user apparent time lags, the wireless speaker arrangements 100, 202, 204, 206 are thoroughly synchronized with each other. In addition, the communication between the wireless speaker arrangements 100, 202, 204, 206 is arranged such that the presence of any delay preferably is reduced.

(15) In FIG. 3 there is depicted a possible scenario in which the inventive concept may be applied. In the illustrated embodiment a plurality of wireless speaker arrangements 100, 302, 304, 306 are shown, in this embodiment for example provided at different (e.g. distant) geographical locations and thus possibly each functioning as a master node connected to a plurality of further wireless speaker arrangements at each individual location. As understood, any number of wireless speaker arrangements may be possible.

(16) The wireless speaker arrangements 100, 302, 304, 306 are also in this case connected to the remote server 210 using the Internet connection 208. However, in the illustrated embodiment a further device, such as a computer 310 may be connected to the remote server 210, possibly allowing control of a specifically identified wireless speaker arrangement. In an exemplary case, the computer 310 may be configured to connect to and control the wireless speaker arrangement 100. For example, the computer 310 may be configured to update playlists (possibly stored on either of the remote server 210 and/or the wireless speaker arrangement 100). Further devices may be connected to the server 210, including for example a mobile phone 312. It should however be noted that the mobile phone 312 also may be directly connected to one of the wireless speaker arrangements 100, 302, 304, 306, for example using a Bluetooth connection (e.g. provided as a functionality of both the mobile phone 312 and the wireless speaker arrangement). Other types of connections are of course possible and within the scope of the invention.

(17) As discussed above, as the wireless speaker arrangements 100, 302, 304, 306 typically (each) are provided with a unique identifier, it may be possible to collect information as e.g. to the geographical location and use of the wireless speaker arrangement, including for example which songs are being played, intensity (i.e. number of times) a specific song is played and at what volume level a specific song is being played. Such information may e.g. be sent back, using the Internet connection 208, to the remote server 210 and stored on the database for allowing further processing, including compiling e.g. geographically dependent, song intensity dependent, volume level dependent playlists or a combination thereof.

(18) Turning finally to FIG. 4 illustrating a further possible scenario in which the inventive concept may be applied. In the illustrated embodiment again a plurality of wireless speaker arrangements 100, 402, 404, 406 are shown. As understood, any number of wireless speaker arrangements may be possible. However, in this embodiment it may be possible to allow e.g. audio related data that normally only is played on the first wireless speaker arrangement 100 to also be played also on further wireless speaker arrangements 402, 404, 406, possibly located at different geographical locations as compared to the location of the first wireless speaker arrangement 100. It may accordingly be possible, and within the scope of the invention, to control the wireless speaker arrangement 100, for example using the mobile device 312, to play a selected song, playlist and/or any other type of information also on all (or a selected few) of the wireless speaker arrangements 402, 404, 406.

(19) The present disclosure contemplates methods, systems and program products on any machine-readable media for accomplishing various operations. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computer processor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or another purpose, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure include program products comprising machine-readable media for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example, such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a machine, the machine properly views the connection as a machine-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed a machine-readable medium. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executable instructions include, for example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions.

(20) Although the figures may show a specific order of method steps, the order of the steps may differ from what is depicted. Also two or more steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Such variation will depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and on designer choice. All such variations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, software implementations could be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule based logic and other logic to accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps, comparison steps and decision steps. Additionally, even though the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplifying embodiments thereof, many different alterations, modifications and the like will become apparent for those skilled in the art. Variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by the skilled addressee in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. Furthermore, in the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality.