US 8,103,009 · Granted 2012-01-24

The Patent That Let Your Speakers Talk to Each Other Over Any Network

Imagine being able to send music and audio from one device to speakers and headphones all over your house, whether they're connected by WiFi, cables, infrared, or even your power lines. This patent covers a flexible system that lets audio bounce around your home through almost any connection method available.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a method and system architecture for transmitting audio signals between an input device (like a music player or receiver) and multiple output devices (speakers, headphones) using various network types—wireless, wired, infrared, RF, and powerline. What's protected here is the ability to route audio flexibly across these different transmission methods, and also the concept of having output devices relay audio signals to other output devices in the network.

Why it matters

This patent addresses a core problem in home audio: getting sound from a single source to speakers scattered throughout your house without running cables everywhere or being locked into one wireless standard. By protecting a multi-network approach filed in 2003 and granted in 2012, it covers the fundamental architecture that would later enable wireless multi-room audio systems. The broad scope—accepting wireless, wired, infrared, RF, and powerline transmission—suggests the inventor anticipated many future connection standards.

Real-world use

When you stream a song to speakers in your living room while your headphones play the same audio in the kitchen, you're using a system built on this kind of multi-path audio routing technology.

Original USPTO abstract

A method and system for communicating audio signals between an input device and an output device via a network. The output device can include loudspeakers and headphones. In some embodiments an output device, for example a center channel speaker, transmits audio signals to other output devices. In some embodiments, the output device is coupled to, or combined with, a speaker stand or speaker bracket. The network can be wireless, wired, infrared, RF, and powerline.

Patent details

Publication number: US 8,103,009
Filing date: 2003-01-27
Grant date: 2012-01-24
Assignee: Ksc Industries, Inc.
Inventor(s): MCCARTY WILLIAM A., RODRIGUEZ YADIR
CPC class: H04R27/00

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