Music – Instruments – Electrical musical tone generation
Patent
1996-03-25
1998-06-09
Hudspeth, David R.
Music
Instruments
Electrical musical tone generation
84603, 84621, 364736, G10H 702
Patent
active
057638012
ABSTRACT:
A PCI-based system and method for performing wavetable music synthesis which uses system memory to store wavetable data is provided. The system and method utilize the benefits of the PCI bus while mitigating the disadvantages introduced by having to arbitrate for a shared system bus. By using system memory for storing wavetable data, a more cost effective personal computer audio system can be produced. In the preferred embodiment a computer system is provided that includes a system memory storing wavetable data samples, a PCI bus, and a PCI-based audio synthesis device. The audio synthesis device includes a PCI bus interface, a synthesizer, and a plurality of buffers coupled to the PCI bus interface and the synthesizer for transferring wavetable data samples between system memory and the synthesizer. The number of buffers defines the maximum number of voices which can simultaneously be active. The operation of the buffers is controlled by a buffer manager. The buffer manager, in conjunction with the buffer depth, maximizes allowed PCI bus latency by filling the active buffers when they have become a certain amount empty. By filling all active buffers in a given bus mastership, the device minimizes the total number of PCI bus mastership requests to a manageable value. Additionally, the audio synthesis device includes a plurality of write-back buffers coupled to the PCI bus interface, the buffer manager, and the synthesizer, for audio effects processing.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5283386 (1994-02-01), Akutsu et al.
patent: 5311458 (1994-05-01), Haines
patent: 5486644 (1996-01-01), Kudo et al.
patent: 5539145 (1996-07-01), Kuribayashi et al.
patent: 5553011 (1996-09-01), Fujita
patent: 5659466 (1997-08-01), Norris
patent: 5668338 (1997-09-01), Hewitt
patent: 5689080 (1997-11-01), Gulick
Tom R. Halfhill, "The New PC," BYTE Magazine Cover Story, Oct. 1995, 6 pages.
The MIDI Manufacturers Association, Los Angeles, California., "Tutorial on MIDI and Music Synthesis," The Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification, Incorporating all Recommended Practices, document version 95.1, 1995, 24 pages.
International Search Report for PCT/US 97/02505 dated Jul. 11, 1997.
Abebe Daniel
Advanced Micro Devices , Inc.
Hudspeth David R.
Kivlin B. Noel
LandOfFree
Computer system and method for performing wavetable music synthe does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Computer system and method for performing wavetable music synthe, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Computer system and method for performing wavetable music synthe will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2202321