Patent ID: 10064021

Abstract:
A device and method for lower latency digital audio sample playback is provided. The device comprises: a hardware digital signal processor (DSP); higher and lower latency audio paths to the DSP; a kernel driver; a kernel random-access memory (RAM) including kernel RAM buffers accessible by the kernel driver; and a controller. The controller: prior to digital audio samples being used by an application, pre-loads, using the kernel driver, the samples at the kernel RAM buffers; responsive to a trigger in the application to play a given digital audio sample, determines, using a sample identifier of the given sample, whether the given sample is pre-loaded at the kernel RAM buffers; when the sample is pre-loaded, plays, using the DSP, the given sample via the lower latency path; and when the given digital audio sample is not pre-loaded, plays, using the DSP, the given sample via the higher latency path.