U.S. Patent no. 10,258,880: Dynamic selection of voice quality over a wireless system

Issued April 16, 2019 to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
Priority Date June 27, 2008

Summary:
U.S. Patent No. 10,258,880 (the ‘880 Patent) relates to video games and the wireless technology accessories that connect with them. Wireless features such as steering wheels and motion sensors have become increasingly common in current video games. Similarly, microphones and musical instrument controllers are also used frequently. A drawback of this ecosystem is the limited bandwidth available to video game consoles. These various accessories all compete for this limited bandwidth allowance. But there are time periods when voice data does not need to be transmitted for example. As such this data channel may be used for other purposes and thus this invention can help to counteract this limited bandwidth problem. The technology can dynamically select different voice sample rates in a wireless microphone that would then free up bandwidth for other operations.

Abstract:
Various systems, methods, and computer readable instructions are disclosed herein for dynamically allocating fixed bandwidth over a wireless link between a video game console and a wireless peripheral device. In an embodiment, the voice sample rate in a wireless microphone may be dynamically adjusted to free up bandwidth that can be repurposed for other operations. The sample rate adjustment can range from maximum where the bandwidth is filled with voice data to a lesser sample rate. In the case where the sample rate is less than max, the freed up bandwidth can be for used for other operations.

Illustrative Claim:
1. A method of allocating finite data transmission capacity over a wireless link between a first computing device and a second computing device, the method comprising: determining, by the first computing device, a distribution of the finite data transmission capacity based at least in part on content of data to be transmitted over the wireless link, wherein the data is associated with an application configured for execution on the first computing device; executing the application on the first computing device; during execution of the application on the first computing device, receiving an indication of a desired data quality for at least a portion of the content to be transmitted over said wireless link, wherein the indication is determined based on a real-time context of the executing application; and adjusting the distribution of the finite data transmission capacity in accordance with the indication of desired data quality.