Method for improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching

Abstract

A method improves audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching. The receiver system includes the processor which contains the ASRC (Arbitrary Sample Rate Converter), demodulator, channel splitter, channel decoder and middleware & application along with the secondary storage system. The nascent digital broadcast radio signal after the sample rate conversion is cached in a secondary storage and given as input to the demodulator. The demodulator starts the demodulation process over the received signal by utilizing default channel parameters and detects the channel parameters of the received signal. If the default channel parameters are different from the detected channel parameters, the demodulator starts the re-demodulation process with the detected channel parameters over the nascent digital signal cached in the secondary storage, instead of waiting for a subsequently transmitted signal, thereby improving the audio acquisition time.

Claims

1. A method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching, the method comprising steps of: a. receiving a nascent digital broadcast radio signal by a demodulator (206) after sample rate conversion has been performed by an arbitrary sample rate converter (ASRC) (204); b. caching the nascent digital broadcast radio signal after the sample rate conversion in a secondary storage (205) as well as providing the nascent digital broadcast signal as an initial input to the demodulator (206); c. starting a demodulation process over the received nascent digital broadcast signal by the demodulator (206) by utilizing default channel parameters and detecting channel parameters of the received nascent digital broadcast radio signal; and d. registering a difference between the default channel parameters utilized for demodulation process from the detected channel parameters detected by the demodulator (206) thereby, enabling re-demodulation over the nascent digital broadcast radio signal cached in the secondary storage (205) with the detected channel parameters.

2. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 1, wherein, using the secondary storage (205) to cache the nascent digital broadcast radio signal in a digital radio receiver system, wherein, the digital radio receiver system includes a processor which includes the ASRC (204), the demodulator (206), a channel splitter (207), a channel decoder (208) and a middleware and application (209) along with the secondary storage (205).

3. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching, as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the secondary storage (205) includes at least one of a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive, an optical disk drive, a universal serial bus flash drive, and a floppy disk.

4. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 1, further comprising outputting data from the demodulator to a channel splitter.

5. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 4, further comprising splitting the output data from the demodulator by the channel splitter to generate split data.

6. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 5, further comprising decoding the split data from the channel splitter by a channel decoder to generate channel decoded data.

7. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 6, further comprising parsing the channel decoded data from the channel decoder by middleware to process as audio and data.

8. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 7, further comprising using an application with the middleware to send the audio and processed data to at least one output device.

9. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one output device includes a speaker or a display.

10. The method of improving audio acquisition time by nascent signal caching as claimed in claim 1, further comprising receiving the nascent digital broadcast radio signal at an antenna and tuner connected to the ASRC.

11. A digital radio receiver system comprising: a demodulator to receive a nascent digital broadcast radio signal after sample rate conversion is performed by an arbitrary sample rate converter (ASRC); and a secondary storage to cache the nascent digital broadcast radio signal after the sample rate conversion, wherein the secondary storage is connected to the demodulator, wherein the demodulator starts a demodulation process over the received nascent digital broadcast radio signal by utilizing default channel parameters and detecting channel parameters of the received nascent digital broadcast radio signal, wherein the demodulator registers a difference between the default channel parameters and the detected channel parameters, and wherein the secondary storage enables re-demodulation over the nascent digital broadcast radio signal with the detected channel parameters.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The manner in which the present invention is formulated is given a more particular description below, briefly summarized above, and may be had by reference to the components, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawing. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and therefore should not be considered limiting to its scope and may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

(2) Throughout the drawings, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements and features.

(3) The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed descriptions along with the accompanying figures, in which:

(4) FIG. 1: Block Diagram describing the components of the digital radio receiver system in accordance with the present invention;

(5) FIG. 2: Block Diagram describing the interaction between the components and the process flow of the method in accordance with the present invention;

REFERENCE NUMERALS

(6) 100Antenna 101Tuner 102Digital Signal Processor 103Secondary Storage 104Output Devices 200Antenna 201Tuner/Tuning systems 202Processor system 203Output devices 204Arbitrary Sample Rate Converter 205Secondary Storage system 206Demodulator 207Channel Splitter 208Channel Decoder 209Middleware and application 210Display 211Speaker

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The principles of operation, design configurations and evaluation values in these non-limiting examples can vary and are merely cited to illustrate at least one embodiment of the invention, without limiting the scope thereof.

(8) The embodiments disclosed herein can be expressed in different forms and should not be considered as limited to the listed embodiments in the disclosed invention. The various embodiments outlined in the subsequent sections are constructed such that it provides a complete and thorough understanding of the disclosed invention, by clearly describing the scope of the invention, for those skilled in the art.

(9) Throughout this specification, various indications have been given as preferred and alternative embodiments of the invention. It should be understood that it is the appended claims, including all equivalents, which are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.

(10) The current embodiment of the present invention relates to the method of improving the audio acquisition time with the help of secondary storage caching for the nascent radio audio signal after the sample rate conversion process in the radio receiver systems. The digital broadcast radio receiver block diagram is shown in FIG. 1, which consists of the receiver antenna system (100), the tuner (101), the processor (102), and the output devices (104) which output the received signals for user consumption.

(11) FIG. 2 gives a detailed view of the receiver processor system which includes the antenna system (200), the tuner (201) and the other parts of the receiver system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The processor (202) contains the ASRC (Arbitrary Sample Rate Converter) (204), the secondary storage (205), Demodulator (206), the Channel splitter (207), the Channel decoder (208), and Middleware & Application (209). The ASRC component (204) will convert the tuned digital broadcast radio signal sample rate to the sample rate of the Demodulator.

(12) The Demodulator (206) receives the nascent digital broadcast radio signal after the sample rate conversion. In the present invention method, the nascent digital broadcast radio signal is cached in secondary storage (205) after the sample rate conversion and also given as input to the Demodulator. The Demodulator (206) component starts the demodulation process over the received signal by utilizing default channel parameters. The Demodulator (206) component detects the channel parameters of the received signal. If the initial channel parameters utilized for the demodulation process are different from the detected channel parameters, the Demodulator starts the re-demodulation process with the detected channel parameters over the nascent digital signal cached in the secondary storage (205), instead of waiting for a subsequently transmitted signal. Since the nascent digital signal is cached in the secondary storage, the additional time taken for audio output in digital broadcasting radio is reduced.

(13) The Demodulator output data is split into different channels by the channel splitter (207). The channel split data is decoded by the channel decoder (208). The middleware (209) will parse the channel-decoded data and process the audio and data. The application (209) sends the processed data to the desired output devices (203), such as the display (210) and speaker (211).

(14) Acquisition time is one of the critically differentiating competitive parameters of Digital Broadcast Radio Receivers. The present invention method improves the audio acquisition time even if the initial channel parameters considered for the demodulation are wrong. This improves user experience. The presence of secondary storage (205) at the Demodulator (206) input stage aids in providing the same nascent radio signal for the repetition of the demodulation process with different demodulation parameters, depending on the input signal parameters.

(15) While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should, therefore, not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope of the invention as claimed.