Abstract: A speech-processing system can engage in time synchronization between audio capture devices so that if multiple devices detect and process a same utterance, the system may determine which device is closer to a speaker of the utterance by comparing time stamp data from the multiple devices. The devices may synchronize their individual clocks to some time standard that may be disseminated among the devices and/or to a server. When an utterance is captured, the capturing devices may create a time stamp corresponding to when the respective devices detected the utterance. The time stamps may be linked to the synchronized time standard or may be converted to the time standard by another device. The system may then compare the audio data for incoming utterances, and if the same utterance comes from multiple devices, may use the time stamp data to determine which device first detected the utterance.

Abstract: DTS Interactive provides low cost fully interactive immersive digital surround sound environment suitable for 3D gaming and other high fidelity audio applications, which can be configured to maintain compatibility with the existing infrastructure of Digital Surround Sound decoders. The component audio is stored and mixed in a compressed and simplified format that reduces memory requirements and processor utilization and increases the number of components that can be mixed without degrading audio quality. Techniques are also provided for “looping” compressed audio, which is an important and standard feature in gaming applications that manipulate PCM audio. In addition, decoder sync is ensured by transmitting frames of “silence” whenever mixed audio is not present either due to processing latency or the gaming application.