Synchronization Strategies for IP Networked Home Audio Equipment
Tom Blank, Robert Atkinson · 2005
By using Internet Protocol (IP) interconnections for both audio/video (A/V) media movement and control, personal computers and A/V devices can seamlessly interact. This allows a variety of previously difficult scenarios-- such as whole house audio-- to be easily implemented. However, the non-isosynchronous (not all running on one common clock) IP network design must be overcome. We describe a variety of techniques that can coordinate IP interconnected home A/V devices to sufficient accuracy so that speakers and displays can synchronously render common content. Both hardware and software techniques are described. Our software implementation achieves sufficient accuracy for multi-channel synchronization and lip-sync. and would have the lowest implementation cost. Tests on different IP network technologies and load conditions demonstrate the software solution quality.