US 12,271,656 B2
Systems and methods of distributing audio to one or more playback devices
Ted Lin, Ayer, MA (US); and Romi Kadri, Cambridge, MA (US)
Assigned to Sonos, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA (US)
Filed by Sonos, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA (US)
Filed on Oct. 2, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/479,498.
Application 18/479,498 is a continuation of application No. 18/063,887, filed on Dec. 9, 2022, granted, now 11,782,675.
Application 18/063,887 is a continuation of application No. 17/543,055, filed on Dec. 6, 2021, granted, now 11,526,326, issued on Dec. 13, 2022.
Application 17/543,055 is a continuation of application No. 16/782,962, filed on Feb. 5, 2020, granted, now 11,194,541, issued on Dec. 7, 2021.
Application 16/782,962 is a continuation of application No. 16/416,714, filed on May 20, 2019, granted, now 10,592,200, issued on Mar. 17, 2020.
Application 16/416,714 is a continuation of application No. 15/888,789, filed on Feb. 5, 2018, granted, now 10,296,288, issued on May 21, 2019.
Application 15/888,789 is a continuation of application No. 15/009,319, filed on Jan. 28, 2016, granted, now 9,886,234, issued on Feb. 6, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2024/0028293 A1, Jan. 25, 2024
Int. Cl. G06F 3/16 (2006.01); H03G 3/30 (2006.01); H03G 5/16 (2006.01); H03G 7/00 (2006.01); H03G 9/02 (2006.01); H04R 3/04 (2006.01); H04R 3/12 (2006.01); H04R 27/00 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/165 (2013.01) [H03G 3/3005 (2013.01); H04R 3/04 (2013.01); H04R 3/12 (2013.01); H04R 27/00 (2013.01); H03G 5/165 (2013.01); H03G 7/002 (2013.01); H03G 9/025 (2013.01); H04R 2227/003 (2013.01); H04R 2227/005 (2013.01)] 29 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A media playback system comprising:
a control device comprising:
at least one first network interface;
at least one microphone;
at least one first processor; and
at least one first non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising first program instructions that are executable by the at least one first processor such that the control device is configured to:
capture, via the at least one microphone, a signal representing an utterance; and
send, via the at least one first network interface, data representing the utterance, and
a computing device comprising:
a line-in interface;
at least one second network interface;
at least one second processor; and
at least one second non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising second program instructions that are executable by the at least one second processor such that the computing device is configured to:
receive, via the line-in interface, media content;
generate, from the received media content, multiple audio streams comprising a first audio stream representing a first audio channel and a second audio stream representing a second audio channel;
cause playback of the first audio channel via a first playback device, wherein the second program instructions that are executable by the at least one second processor such that the computing device is configured to cause playback of the first audio channel via the first playback device comprise second program instructions that are executable by the at least one second processor such that the computing device is configured to: send, via the at least one second network interface to the first playback device, the first audio stream;
cause playback of the second audio channel via a second playback device, wherein the second program instructions that are executable by the at least one second processor such that the computing device is configured to cause playback of the second audio channel via the second playback device comprise second program instructions that are executable by the at least one second processor such that the computing device is configured to: send, via the at least one second network interface to the second playback device, the second audio stream;
receive, via the at least one second network interface, the data representing the utterance; and
perform one or more playback commands according to the received data representing the utterance.