Patent Description:
Currently, most of multimedia devices are wirelessly connected to host terminals for easy carrying and moving. However, multimedia data transmitted between the multimedia device and the host terminal is susceptible to distance, electromagnetic interference, and quality of the wireless transmission, such that the multimedia data cannot be played smoothly, which affects playing quality of the multimedia device. <CIT> discloses a transmission method wherein the compression rate of real time data is controlled according to the communication quality. <CIT> discloses a method of estimating initial channel quality in a receiver when allocated a new channel in order to select an optimal codec mode in a multi-rate service. <CIT> discloses a method of transmitting a media stream over a network comprising maintaining a measure of network quality indicative of available bandwidth over the network; using the measure of network quality to detect a reduction in network quality indicative of a reduced available bandwidth and, responsive to detecting said reduction, estimating a first bitrate corresponding to the reduced available bandwidth; responsive to estimating the first bitrate, determining a second bitrate lower than the first bitrate.

In order to illustrate the technical solution in the embodiments of the present disclosure or the prior art more clearly, brief description would be made below to the drawings required in the embodiments of the present disclosure or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are merely some of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art could obtain other drawings according to the structures shown in the drawings without any creative efforts.

The realizing of the aim, functional characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure are further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the embodiments.

It will be appreciated that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

The present disclosure provides a method for adjusting sound quality, which is performed based on the quality of the wireless transmission between the host terminal and the wireless audio device.

Referring to <FIG> is a flowchart diagram illustrating an embodiment of a sound quality adjusting method according to the present disclosure.

In this embodiment, the method for adjusting sound quality includes:.

The method for adjusting sound quality provided in this embodiment is mainly used to improve playing quality of the data during the wireless transmission, such as the wireless transmission between the host terminal and the wireless audio device in this embodiment. The host terminal may be a PC terminal, a server terminal, or a cloud; and the wireless audio device may be a BLUETOOTH™ headset, a BLUETOOTH™ speaker, or a multimedia device with BLUETOOTH™ function, or may also be a smart phone, a PC terminal, a smart watch using WIFI™ as data transmission standard, or a multimedia device with an audio playing function. The coding rate range of the wireless audio device is obtained when the host terminal establishes a wireless communication connection with the wireless audio device. The wireless communication connection may be BLUETOOTH™ connection, WIFI™ connection and ZIGBEE™ connection. The coding rate range of the wireless audio device is obtained, in response to that the host terminal and the wireless audio device are connected. The coding rate range of the wireless audio device is determined by a codec in the wireless audio device. During the data transmission process, the host terminal compresses or codes the digital signal to be transmitted by the codec, samples the digital signal, and limits data flow transmitted in a unit time by setting the sampling rate. Similarly, the codec of the wireless audio device converts the received digital signal into analog signal for output, whereby to generate sound. The coding rate range of the wireless audio device refers to how much flow of the audio data the wireless audio device can synchronously convert to sound analog signal, so as to avoid jamming when the audio data is played back, thereby improving the smoothness of audio playing.

After the wireless communication connection between the host terminal and the wireless audio device is established, the host terminal can transmit the audio data to the wireless audio device through the data transmission channel established therebetween. The transmission of the audio data depends on the coding rate of the data transmission terminal, and the coding rate is related to the sampling rate, the sampling bit number and the channel number of the wireless audio device. Thus, when adjusting the sound quality of the audio playing based on the wireless transmission quality, it is necessary to preset the first coding rate at which the host terminal transmits the audio data to the wireless audio device. In order to ensure the smoothness of the synchronous playing, the setting of the first coding rate also needs to consider the coding rate range of the wireless audio device; that is, the first coding rate of the host terminal is preset according to the coding rate range of the wireless audio device and the current signal strength of the wireless communication connection, and then the host terminal can be controlled to transmit the audio data to the wireless audio device at the first coding rate.

In the synchronous playing process of the wireless audio device based on the wireless transmission, the throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device needs to be obtained at any time, so as to determine whether the throughput of the current audio data transmission matches the current wireless transmission quality at any time, namely detecting whether the audio data may be played unsmoothly on the wireless audio device; or to determine whether the occupation of the data transmission channel between the host terminal and the wireless audio device is low, which causes waste of network resources. Finally, the first coding rate at which the host terminal transmits the audio data to the wireless audio device is adjusted, according to the determination result that whether the throughput of audio data transmission fed back by the wireless audio device matches the current wireless transmission quality, so as to adjust the playing sound quality of the audio data, thereby improving the playing quality of the wireless audio device.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the method for adjusting sound quality is performed based on the quality of the wireless transmission between the host terminal and the wireless audio device. The method includes: acquiring a coding rate range of a wireless audio device, in response to a host terminal establishing a wireless communication connection with the wireless audio device; presetting a first coding rate of the host terminal according to the coding rate range and a current signal strength of the wireless communication connection, and controlling the host terminal to transmit audio data to the wireless audio device at the first coding rate; acquiring a throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device, and determining whether the throughput matches a current wireless transmission quality; and adjusting the first coding rate according to a determination result, to adjust the sound quality of the audio data. In the method for adjusting sound quality, the host terminal, by determining whether the throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device matches the current wireless transmission quality, adjusts the first coding rate that is predetermined according to the coding rate range of the wireless audio device and the current signal of the wireless transmission, and further adjusts the sound quality of the audio data played on the wireless audio device, which avoids unsmooth playback under a poor condition of wireless transmission quality, thereby improving the smoothness of the playback of the audio data on the wireless audio device.

Referring to <FIG>, step S10 in the above embodiments of the method for adjusting sound quality further includes:.

In this embodiment, the host terminal and the wireless audio device are connected by using a wireless communication protocol, such as BLUETOOTH™, WIFI™, and ZIGBEE™. Taking the BLUETOOTH™ as an example, after the BLUETOOTH™ function of the host terminal is turned on, the host terminal is controlled to search for all wireless audio devices within an identifiable range, where the identifiable range, according to the BLUETOOTH™ communication standard, is generally a range within <NUM> to <NUM> meters around the host terminal. That is, after the BLUETOOTH™ function of the host terminal is turned on, the host terminal is controlled to search for all the wireless audio devices that also have the BLUETOOTH™ function turned on within the range of <NUM> to <NUM> meters around. In another embodiments, after the BLUETOOTH™ function of the host terminal is turned on, the host terminal may automatically search for all the wireless audio devices within the identifiable range. After the wireless audio device is searched, the host terminal sends the wireless communication protocol to the wireless audio device, and the wireless audio device may accept the wireless communication protocol or reject the wireless communication protocol according to a preset program. The host terminal receives a connection success message fed back by the wireless audio device if the wireless communication protocol is accepted by the wireless audio device, and establishes a data transmission channel with the wireless audio device. The host terminal receives a connection failure message fed back by the wireless audio device if the wireless communication protocol is rejected by the wireless audio device. In this case, the BLUETOOTH™ function of the host terminal can be controlled to restart, or the connection can be re-attempted after another searching until the connection is successful. The host terminal acquires hardware information of the wireless audio device in response to the host terminal establishing the data transmission channel with the wireless audio device, mainly including data information of a codec of the wireless audio device, and then acquires the coding rate range of the wireless audio device according to the data information of the codec.

Referring to <FIG>, step S20 in the above embodiments of the method for adjusting sound quality further includes:.

In this embodiment, before the host terminal transmits the audio data to the wireless audio device, the host terminal needs to be set with the first coding rate, which is used as a basis for obtaining the coding rate at which the host terminal transmits the audio data to the wireless audio device according to the wireless transmission quality. First, the current signal strength of the wireless communication connection between the host terminal and the wireless audio device is detected, so that the first coding rate of the host terminal can be set with reference to the current signal strength. Then, the first coding rate of the host terminal is set according to the current signal strength and the coding rate range of the wireless audio device. The coding rate range of the wireless audio device indicates the maximum rate that the codec of the wireless audio device can decode in a unit time. Thus, it should comprehensively consider the signal strength of the current wireless transmission and the coding rate range of the wireless audio device when setting the first coding rate of the host terminal, thereby to ensure the audio data to be played smoothly on the wireless audio device. For example, the first coding rate may be set to <NUM>* 16bit*2bps. Finally, the host terminal is controlled to transmit the audio data to the wireless audio device at the preset compression rate and the first coding rate, so as to realize the smooth playback of the audio data.

Referring to <FIG>, step S30 in the above embodiments of the method for adjusting sound quality further includes:.

In this embodiment, determining whether the current wireless transmission quality satisfies the requirement of the audio data transmission is implemented by acquiring the actual throughput when the host terminal transmits the audio data at the first coding rate. The actual throughput is the actual size of the audio data received by the wireless audio device in a unit time. Taking the first coding rate <NUM>* 16bit*2bps in the above embodiments as an example, the theoretical throughput corresponding to the first coding rate in a unit time is 1536kb. Accordingly, when determining whether the actual throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device matches the theoretical throughput corresponding to the first coding rate, it only needs to compare the actual throughput at the current moment with the theoretical throughput 1536kb. In some embodiments, the theoretical throughput may be set to a threshold range, for a more accurate adjustment of the first coding rate. The determination result that whether the actual throughput matches the theoretical throughput can be obtained, as long as the actual throughput is within the threshold range of the theoretical throughput.

Referring to <FIG>, step S40 in the above embodiments of the method for adjusting sound quality further includes:.

In this embodiment, adjusting the first coding rate and the sound quality of the audio data according to the determination result can be realized as follows. On condition that the actual throughput matches the theoretical throughput, namely the actual throughput is within the threshold range of the theoretical throughput, the current wireless transmission quality can enable the smooth playback of the audio data, and in this case, the host terminal is controlled to continuously transmit the audio data to the wireless audio device at the first coding rate and the preset compression rate, where the preset compression rate may be set according to the load of the data transmission channel. On condition that the actual throughput does not match the theoretical throughput, namely the actual throughput is not within the threshold range of the theoretical throughput, the current wireless transmission quality cannot enable the smooth playback of the audio data, and in this case, the host terminal is controlled to reduce the first coding rate to obtain an adjusted coding rate, so as to reduce the sound quality of the audio data with the adjusted coding rate; or the load of the current data transmission channel far exceeds the load required for the smooth playback, the host terminal is controlled to increase the first coding rate to obtain an adjusted coding rate, so as to improve the sound quality of the audio data with the adjusted coding rate, which also improves utilization rate of the network resources.

Referring to <FIG>, step S42 in the above embodiments of the method for adjusting sound quality further includes:.

In this embodiment, when the actual throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device does not match the theoretical throughput corresponding to the first coding rate, the specific operation is as follows. The condition of the actual throughput being less than the theoretical throughput indicates that the current wireless transmission quality can support a traffic load of a higher coding rate; that is, the current wireless transmission quality can enable the wireless audio device to play the received audio data with higher sound quality, and accordingly the coding rate of the host terminal can be increased to a second coding rate that is greater than the first coding rate, so as to automatically improve the playing sound quality of the wireless audio device, thereby providing users with more realistic sound. The condition of the actual throughput being greater than the theoretical throughput indicates that the current wireless transmission quality cannot support the traffic load of the first coding rate; that is, the current wireless transmission quality can only enable the wireless audio device to play the received audio data with lower sound quality, and accordingly the coding rate of the host terminal should be reduced to the third coding rate that is less than the first coding rate, so as to automatically reduce the playing sound quality of the wireless audio device. However, in this case, users can still be provided with a relatively smoother audio playback.

The present disclosure also provides a host terminal, including a memory, a processor and a program for adjusting sound quality stored in the memory and executable by the processor. The program for adjusting sound quality when being executed by the processor performs the following operations:.

In this embodiment, the host terminal, by determining whether the throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device matches the current wireless transmission quality, adjusts the first coding rate that is predetermined according to the coding rate range of the wireless audio device and the current signal of the wireless transmission, and further adjusts the sound quality of the audio data played on the wireless audio device, which avoids unsmooth playback under a poor condition of wireless transmission quality, thereby improving the smoothness of the playback of the audio data on the wireless audio device.

In some embodiments, the program for adjusting sound quality when being executed by the processor performs the following operations:.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication connection includes a BLUETOOTH™ connection, a WIFI™ connection, or a ZIGBEE™ connection. The wireless audio device includes a BLUETOOTH™ earphone, a BLUETOOTH™ speaker, or a mobile phone.

The present disclosure also provides a system for adjusting sound quality, including a host terminal as described above, and a wireless audio device configured to receive and play the audio data transmitted by the host terminal.

In this embodiment, the system for adjusting sound quality includes the host terminal described above and the wireless audio device configured to receive and play the audio data transmitted by the host terminal. In operation, the host terminal, by determining whether the throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device matches the current wireless transmission quality, adjusts the first coding rate that is predetermined according to the coding rate range of the wireless audio device and the current signal of the wireless transmission, and further adjusts the sound quality of the audio data played on the wireless audio device, which avoids unsmooth playback of the audio data under a poor condition of wireless transmission quality, thereby improving the smoothness of the playback of the audio data on the wireless audio device.

The present disclosure also provides a storage medium, storing a program for adjusting sound quality. The program for adjusting sound quality when being executed by a processor performs the steps of the method for adjusting sound quality as described above.

The technical solutions realized when executing the program for adjusting sound quality can refer to the embodiments of the method for adjusting sound quality in the present disclosure, which are not detailed herein.

It's to be clarified that the term "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof is intended to encompass a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, device, or system including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements that are not explicitly listed, or elements that are inherent to such a process, method, device, or system. In the absence of more restrictions, an element defined by the phrase "including one. " does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, device, or system that includes the element.

The numbers of the embodiments according to the present disclosure are merely for description, and do not represent for the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments.

According to the description of the above-mentioned embodiments, the skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method of embodiments above may be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, of course, also by means of hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation. Based on the understanding, the technical solution of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or in part contributing to the prior art. The software product is stored in a storage medium (such as a ROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk) as described above, including a plurality of instructions for causing a host terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device, and so on. ) to execute the method described in various embodiments according to the present disclosure.

Claim 1:
A method for adjusting sound quality, the method comprising:
acquiring (S <NUM>) a range of coding rates of a wireless audio device, in response to establishing a wireless communication connection directly with the wireless audio device using a BLUETOOTH™ connection within an identifiable range, wherein a host terminal is capable of establishing the wireless communication connection directly with the wireless audio device that is searchable by the host terminal in the identifiable range using the BLUETOOTH™ connection;
presetting (S20) a first coding rate of the host terminal according to the range of coding rates and a current signal strength of the wireless communication connection, and controlling the host terminal to transmit audio data to the wireless audio device at the first coding rate, wherein the first coding rate is represented as n bit per second, bps, and n is a positive integer, the coding rate is related to a sampling rate, a sampling bit number, and a channel number of the wireless audio device, the coding rate range of the wireless audio device indicates the maximum rate that the codec of the wireless audio device can decode in a unit time;
acquiring (S30) a throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device, and determining whether the throughput matches a current wireless transmission quality; and
adjusting (S40) the first coding rate according to a determination result, to adjust the sound quality of the audio data;
wherein the operation of acquiring (S30) a throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device, and determining whether the throughput matches a current wireless transmission quality comprises:
acquiring (S31) an actual throughput during the transmission of the audio data fed back by the wireless audio device, when the host terminal transmits the audio data transmission at the first coding rate; and
determining (S32) whether the actual throughput matches a theoretical throughput corresponding to the first coding rate, and outputting the determination result.