Wireless Audio Distribution System

Abstract

A system for wirelessly distributing audio, the system including a controller for receiving audio content from a source external to the controller, one or more speakers wirelessly coupled to the controller, a wireless communications interface coupled to or integrated within the controller for wirelessly distributing the audio content to the one or more speakers, a memory for storing a sonic characteristic of at least one of the one or more speakers, and a processor for associating at least some elements of the audio content with the at least one of the one or more speakers based at least in part on the sonic characteristic.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for wirelessly distributing audio, the system comprising:
 a controller for receiving audio content from a source external to the controller;   one or more speakers wirelessly coupled to the controller;   a wireless communications interface coupled to or integrated within the controller for wirelessly distributing the audio content to the one or more speakers;   a memory for storing a sonic characteristic of at least one of the one or more speakers; and   a processor for associating at least some elements of the audio content with the one or more speakers based at least in part on the sonic characteristic.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the memory and processor are coupled to or integrated within the controller. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the sonic characteristic includes a left or right channel allocation and the one or more speakers include a left or right designated speaker. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the sonic characteristic includes a bass channel allocation and the one or more speakers include a subwoofer. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the wireless communications interface distributes the audio content to the one or more speakers based on an association made by the processor. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the characteristic includes frequency handling capability. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the memory and processor are coupled to or integrated within the one or more speakers. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more speakers are physically located in one or more rooms and the wireless communications interface distributes the audio content to a selected subset of the one or more speakers. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more speakers periodically poll the controller to indicate operational status of the one or more speakers. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more speakers are wireless speakers with dedicated amplifiers. 
     
     
         11 . A method for distributing audio to a plurality of speakers, the method comprising:
 receiving audio content from a source external to the plurality of speakers;   storing a sonic characteristic of at least one of the plurality of speakers;   associating at least some elements of the audio content with at least one of the plurality of speakers based at least in part on the sonic characteristic; and   wirelessly distributing the audio content to the plurality of speakers based at least in part on the associating.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the sonic characteristic includes a left or right channel allocation and the plurality of speakers include a left or right designated speaker. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the sonic characteristics include a bass channel allocation and the plurality of speakers include a subwoofer. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein at least some elements of the audio content are wirelessly distributed to at least one of the plurality of speakers based in part on the associating. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the sonic characteristic includes frequency handling capability. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the audio content is stereo audio content received from the Internet. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11  wherein further comprising polling the plurality of speakers periodically to determine operational status. 
     
     
         18 . A bridge for wirelessly distributing audio content to one or more speakers, the bridge comprising:
 a network interface adaptor for receiving audio content from a source external to the bridge, the audio content having multiple channels;   a wireless communications interface for wirelessly distributing at least a channel of the audio content to at least one of the one or more speakers;   a memory for storing a sonic characteristic of at least one of the one or more speakers; and   a processor for associating a channel of the audio content with at least one of the one or more speakers based at least in part on the sonic characteristic.   
     
     
         19 . The bridge of  claim 18  wherein the sonic characteristic is a left or right speaker designation and the processor associates a left or right channel of the audio content with the left or right speaker designation and the wireless communication interface distributes the audio content to a speaker associated with the left or right speaker designation. 
     
     
         20 . The bridge of  claim 18  wherein the sonic characteristic is a bass speaker designation and the processor associates a bass channel of the audio content with the bass speaker designation and the wireless communication interface distributes the audio content to a speaker associated with the bass speaker designation.