US 7,853,341 · Granted 2010-12-14

The Patent That Wired Your Whole House for Sound

This patent describes a system that lets audio, video, and control signals bounce around your home using multiple types of networks — wireless WiFi, old-fashioned wires, infrared remotes, and even your power outlets. Instead of needing separate cables for everything, different devices can talk to each other however works best.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

What's protected here is a method for routing audio, video, and control signals between entertainment devices in a home using multiple network types simultaneously. The claim covers the ability to have one device (like a center speaker) receive signals from an input source and then redistribute different types of signals to different output devices over different networks — sending audio over wireless to one speaker, video over wired to a display, and control commands over infrared or powerline to yet another device.

Why it matters

This patent captures a fundamental approach to home entertainment flexibility that became standard as living rooms evolved from single TV setups to multi-room audio and video systems. By claiming the right to use multiple network types (wireless, wired, infrared, powerline) simultaneously within one system, it protects the core idea that different signals can take different paths depending on what's most efficient for each room and device.

Real-world use

When you stream music wirelessly to a Bluetooth speaker in your kitchen while your TV receives video over HDMI and another room's speaker gets audio through your home's electrical wiring, you're using the kind of multi-network routing this patent describes.

Original USPTO abstract

A method and system for communicating audio, video, and/or control signals within a home entertainment system. One or more signals are communicated between an input device and one or more output devices via one or more networks. The output device can include loudspeakers, display devices, and headphones. In some embodiments an output device, for example a center channel loudspeaker, transmits signals to other output devices. For example, the center channel loudspeaker can transmit a combined audio signal and control signal to a remote loudspeaker over a first network and transmit a video signal to a display device over a second network. The display device displays the video signal. The networks can be wireless, wired, infrared, RF, and powerline.

Patent details

Publication number: US 7,853,341
Filing date: 2004-02-20
Grant date: 2010-12-14
Assignee: Ksc Industries, Inc.
Inventor(s): MCCARTY WILLIAM A., RODRIGUEZ YADIR
CPC class: H04B3/54

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