Dynamic information storage or retrieval – Combined independent audio systems – Combining signals to form composite
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-24
2001-04-10
Cabeca, John W. (Department: 2752)
Dynamic information storage or retrieval
Combined independent audio systems
Combining signals to form composite
C369S047360, C369S047360, C369S275300, C386S349000, 36, C381S022000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06215737
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to recording and playback of multi-channel digital audio having different sampling rates for different channels.
Commonly assigned McPherson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/066,042, filed Apr. 24, 1998 and McPherson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/066,041, filed Apr. 24, 1998 are incorporated herein by reference.
Technology of the type used for software carriers such as the Digital Versatile Disc (“DVD”) makes it economically viable to provide recording media containing greatly enhanced audio information. For example, it is possible to provide digital audio recordings on software carriers having six channels of digital audio to be played by six-channel audio systems. The typical six-channel audio system has a front left channel, a front center channel, a front right channel, a rear left channel, a rear right channel, and a subwoofer (low frequency effect, “LFE”) channel.
It is known that increased sampling rates provide better audio reproduction. However, sampling all channels of multi-channel audio at very high rates may produce more data and take up more space on the software carrier than is necessary to produce better reproduction. In addition, many potential purchasers of audio software carriers may have only two-channel stereophonic audio systems, and it may be wasteful of space on the software carrier to record the same audio programming in both six-channel and two-channel versions, especially when higher sampling rates are to be used to enhance audio reproduction quality.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide methods and apparatus for recording and playing back multi-channel digital audio having different sampling rates for different channels in order to avoid recording more data than is necessary and consequently to conserve space on the software carrier.
It is another object of this invention to provide methods and apparatus for deriving from audio information recorded and played back in one format audio signals in a different format so that both formats do not have to be recorded on the software carrier.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing methods and apparatus for recording by sampling a plurality of channels of audio data such that at least two channels of the plurality of channels are sampled at different rates and bit depths. In addition, the samples of the plurality of channels of audio data are preferably arranged on the software carrier in a single sequence in which the samples are in most nearly the order that they will be needed during playback. Methods and apparatus for playing back are also provided which access the multi-channel samples, taken at different rates for different channels and interleaved into a single stream as described above, and reconstruct the multi-channel analog audio information from those samples. In addition, the playback methods and apparatus may include deriving another version of the audio information from the information retrieved from the software carrier. For example, two-channel stereophonic audio signals may be derived from six-channel audio information retrieved from the software carrier, and various weighting factors may be used for combining information from various ones of the six channels to produce the signals for each of the two stereophonic channels.
Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
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“Compact Disc mit gemultiplexten Informationskanälen”, Neues aus der Technik, Feb. 20, 1987.
Lydecker George
McPherson Alan
Mecca Charles M. J.
Outwater, III Edwin
Thagard Gregory
Cabeca John W.
Cardwell Douglas A.
Chu Kim-Kwok
Fish & Neave
Jackson Robert R.
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