NetStreams, a company recently acquired by ClearOne, an HD conference provider announced it received a patent for its Audio Network Distribution System.

 

The United States Patent Office awarded Patent No. 7,643,894 to NetStreams this month for streaming synchronized time-sensitive audio and video over Local Area Networks. This is the second patent for NetStreams. The firm in 2003 received Patent No. 241405 in Australia is to stream AV over Local Area Networks.

 

The new patent for the StreamNet technology provides offers users a solution to stream media applications, including digital signage, audio and video distribution, command and control centers, corporate AV communications systems and audio paging over data networks. Essentially, it ensures that every device is in synch over an IP network, Scott Wooley, ClearOne’s (News - Alert) director of product management, multimedia and networking products, told TMCnet in an interview.

 

For example, picture a room with a number of video displays. With the patent, content on the display will appear at the same time. What’s more, users won’t experience any more delays or choppiness with audio content, Wooley said.

 

Like video, audio content can be sent to an amplifier across the network in a large room with multiple zones. As it goes through the switchers, often users can experience audio delays. But with patented technology

 

“This technology ensures that all of the audio arrives at the speaker zones at the same time,” Wooley said.

 

The patented StreamNet technology helps integrators deliver IP-based audio/video distribution services over TCP/IP networks. It offers end-to-end IP ecosystem for plug-n-play connectivity, A/V signal synchronization, high performance A/V reproduction, automatic device discovery and configuration, network control, ClearOne said.

 

When StreamNet endpoints are plugged into the IP network, automatic device discovery and configuration occurs. Endpoints advertise their capabilities, which reduces the need to configure the entire audio video network system from scratch.

 

The technology is often used for group settings with ClearOne’s professional products. That can include classrooms and courtroom settings, corporate training rooms and corporate boardrooms and meeting rooms, Wooley said.

 

“A fundamental problem with using TCP/IP to distribute digital audio to multiple zones is the synchronization of this time sensitive data,” Michael Braithwaite, senior vice president of technology for ClearOne, said in a statement. “Without this synchronization, audio can cut out, crackle and echo. StreamNet technology provides a simple and elegant solution by removing the effect of network delays.”